Kabuki of Samurai film 'Samurai Vengeance': Spoilers Only Summary
This film is based on a novel.
The film skillfully incorporates elements of Japanese culture, such as cityscapes, Kabuki, swords, swordsmanship, Joruri, Nagauta, kimonos, and flowers. The more you know about Japanese culture, the more you’ll enjoy this film.
This text was translated from Japanese using AI.Please excuse any awkwardness in the text.
A Revenge Killing in Kobikicho Right from the Start
In 1810, a theater can be seen beyond the snow-rippled water’s edge. Inside, the final performance of Chushingura (a well-known true story of revenge in Japan) was taking place. The audience is shown, completely engrossed in the climax.
As the play ends, snow begins to fall outside. A bird’s-eye view shows the area in front of the exit. People, still excited from the play, open their umbrellas one after another. A colorful array of umbrellas sways and spreads out vibrantly.
Suddenly, a burly man with a picture-perfect villainous face spots a woman dressed in a red kimono and holding a red umbrella—a woman of picture-perfect beauty—and gives chase.
As the man’s hand grabs the woman’s sash, it unravels in a whirl, and she casts aside her red kimono like a matador’s red cape. A young samurai in a white kimono appears.
“I am Kikunosuke, son of a samurai. You are Sakubei, my father’s killer. Let us fight!” His voice echoes with the standard phrase used in a vendetta.
“This is a real vendetta,” calls out Ippachi (played by Koji Seto).
Everyone gathers, and the scene is illuminated by the three spotlights that had been used in the theater just moments before.
Swords clash, sending sparks flying. The battle goes back and forth. Kikunosuke (played by Kento Nagao), grabbed by the collar by Sakubei (played by Kazuki Kitamura), is swung around and thrown into a small hut nearby.
Sakubei follows him into the hut. A moment later, a blood-curdling scream echoes through the air.
Kikunosuke holds the severed head aloft before his chest and proclaims, “I have slain him!” He then pushes his way through the crowd to report the news to the police station.
This opening scene reappears in its entirety in the second half.
In the second half, it is even more serious—and even more comical—than in the opening.
As the principle that “the more serious it is, the more comical it becomes” builds up, the laughter grows with each successive scene in the second half.
What Is Revenge Killing?
Revenge killing was a form of vigilante justice reserved exclusively for samurai. It was subject to a notification system with the town magistrate’s office; once the notification was approved, the avenger was forbidden from returning to that town until the revenge was carried out, no matter how many years passed.
According to the novel, Sakubei was a servant, not a samurai; however, since his master (Kikunosuke’s father) occasionally permitted him to carry a sword, he was portrayed as a samurai in order to legitimize the act of vengeance.
The protagonist is a man who never uttered a single word in the novel.
A year and a half after the incident, Mr. Kase (played by Tasuku Emoto) arrived in Edo (now Tokyo) from Kikunosuke’s hometown. He claims to be investigating Kikunosuke’s revenge, but something about him seems suspicious.
He goes to speak with Ippachi, a geisha who solicits customers; Hotaru, the second-generation onnagata (female role; played by Kazuya Takahashi); Yosaburo, the master choreographer of sword fights (played by Kenichi Takito); Kyuzo, the prop master (played by Bokuzo Masana); and Kinji, the playwright (played by Ken Watanabe).
These key figures are people who were cast out of society due to their “beliefs, gender, social status, and lineage” and ended up at the Morita-za theater. Each of them knows the pain of the heart.Ippachi was born and raised in Yoshiwara (a town where prostitution was permitted) and has experienced being treated like an object by clients.
Hotaru comes from a crematorium and has experienced discrimination.
Yosaburo was framed by a rival and lost his status as a samurai.
Kyuzo, the prop master, has lost a child.
Each of them tells Kase about witnessing the incident and how they gradually came to adore Kikunosuke at the time.
The Background to the Revenge
Kikunosuke’s father (played by Makiya Yamaguchi) lost his mind and tried to slash his son, Kikunosuke, but Sakubei, unarmed, stepped between them. As the father and Sakubei struggled, they fell into the garden and disappeared from Kikunosuke’s view. There was a moment of silence, then a groan was heard. The father had been killed by Sakubei. “Run! Sakubei!” Kikunosuke shouted. Sakubei fled the estate in a panic.
After that, even though he was still just a child, he found himself compelled to seek revenge.
The Chatty Oyone!
Kyuzo, who is taciturn and says nothing but “Uh-huh” and “Mm-hmm,” has a chatty partner named Oyone (played by Ayako Imoto). She goes so far as to say that Kyuzo and Kinji used to talk enthusiastically back when Kikunosuke was around. Realizing the truth is about to be exposed, Kyuzo introduces Kase to Kinji. Kinji is the third son of a hatamoto family whose adoption fell through, forcing him to give up his samurai status (and lose his social standing). The woman involved at the time was Kikunosuke’s mother (played by Yasuko Sawaguchi). The samurai class is governed by a strict system of hereditary succession.
The Truth Behind My Father’s Madness
Everyone—Ippachi, Hotaru II, Yosaburo, and Kyuzo—gathered in Kinji’s room and surrounded Kase. While Kase was probing into the revenge plot, Kinji and the others were, in turn, trying to figure out what kind of person Kase really was. Kase seemed suspicious.
When Kinji and the others pressed Kase on his true identity, he began to recount the details of an incident known only to Kikunosuke’s father, Sakubei, and himself.
Kikunosuke’s hometown is a small town (Gifu) located in central Japan. One of the town’s sources of revenue was taxes on the sale of paper (Mino washi), and there was a senior retainer (played by Renji Ishibashi) who had contributed to the development of that paper industry. At some point, however, this retainer began pocketing the tax revenue for himself. Acting on a secret order from the town mayor (played by Shuhei Nomura), Mr. Kase and Kikunosuke’s father investigated and discovered that half of the retainers were involved in this corruption. Realizing this could become a major crisis that would divide the town, the father and his associates secretly sought a solution. Just then, one of the merchants (a taxpayer) brought the senior retainer’s secret ledger to them. Just as they were plotting to use this evidence to convict the senior retainer, the merchant was tortured by an unknown assailant and found hanged by the riverbank. The letters exchanged between the merchant and the father fell into the senior retainer’s hands. Instead, through the senior retainer’s scheme—aiming to force my father into seppuku(Harakiri) —rumors were spread that my father was embezzling tax money for personal use, manipulating public opinion to push for his stripping of rank.
Faced with this, my father devised a plan.
Simply committing seppuku(Harakiri) would be a waste of a life. “Revenge” is a samurai’s honor. Therefore, let’s make it appear as though my father was killed by Sakubei, so that his son can take revenge. That way, the loss of status will be avoided, and by revealing the secret ledgers at the appropriate time, the town’s finances can be protected. The servant Sakubei is asked by his father to flee with the secret ledgers and to die at the hands of Kikunosuke for the sake of the family. (What is loyalty, anyway! It’s infuriatingly unreasonable, yet I can’t help but be moved by it.)
Then, accompanied by the father’s feigned madness and Sakubei’s act of rebellion against his master, the scene of the father’s suicide is reenacted. Sakubei had not killed his father. Sakubei was not the one who had avenged his father’s death.
Let’s stage a “sacrificial fight” where no one dies.
Kase’s true objective was to bring back to town the secret ledger that Sakubei had surely protected to the very end. He had been searching the area where Kikunosuke told him Sakubei’s head had been buried, but it was taking too much time. That was why he had been asking everyone at the Morita Theater.
After hearing Kase’s story, Kinji ordered Kyubei to bring Sakubei’s severed head. There, waiting for him, was a prop severed head that looked exactly like Sakubei.
Kinji and the others decided to reveal the details of the vendetta to Mr. Kase. The story returns to the time when Kikunosuke was at the Morita-za.
Kikunosuke confessed that he had come to Edo to take revenge on Kyubei and his partner, Oyone. “Sakubei is the man who saved my life by protecting me from my father, and a dear friend who has cherished me since I was a child. I must carry out this vendetta, but I do not want to.”
Kinji, too, had been asked by Kikunosuke’s mother to “be a support to Kikunosuke.”
“Let’s carry out a vendetta where no one dies.”
With that, Kinji wrote the script titled “The False Revenge in Kobikicho.”
As a second-act interlude in the kabuki play, he treated the entire audience as witnesses, and top-tier performers transformed the amateurs Kikunosuke and Sakubei into magnificent young samurai and villains. He then succeeded in having everyone who witnessed the “revenge” (especially Oyone) testify to its authenticity.
Various Curiosities
Swords: Kikunosuke’s father gives Sakubei a small dagger (kotsuka) as a memento. It is about the size of a letter opener and is concealed within the hilt of a large sword (odachi).
Swordmanship: Regarding the sword techniques used for revenge, Yosaburo recommends the “Cyujo-ryu” school to Kikunosuke. Since it uses a short sword, even the petite Kikunosuke—who has not yet undergone his coming-of-age ceremony—can practice it without tiring easily. Furthermore, because he adopts a half-side stance like in fencing during combat, it looks impressive.
Kabuki 1: Kikunosuke, acting as a stagehand, performs the “hikidashi” technique frequently used in “National Treasure.” The kimono changes from red to white in an instant.
Kabuki 2: When Kinji and Kase meet on the catwalk, the play hanging in the booth is likely the “Terakoya” scene from “Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami.”
Kabuki 3: The design on the scene panel features floral arabesques with blank spaces; standing in front of it creates a framing effect like a picture frame. When Yosaburo and Kikunosuke practice swordplay on stage, it looks like a painting.
Joruri: Kyubei also undertook work on the mechanical mechanisms of the puppets used in Bunraku. Kase-san strokes the head of the monk and exclaims, “It’s so smooth!” Oyone-san startles Kase-san by instantly transforming the princess puppet’s head into a demonic “GABU” expression. After that, Oyone-san continues to manipulate the puppet in sync with her own movements. I couldn’t help but grin when I saw her listening to the evening bell with the same movements as the puppet.
Nagauta: A celebratory songs performance was held in front of the shop. The only word I could make out was “Banzai.” I decided I want to study more so I can enjoy it in the future.
Food: The “Edo Soba” treated by Ippachi to Kase-san, the “Yanagawa Loach Hot Pot” treated by Yosaburo, the “rice balls” wrapped in bamboo leaves given by Omitsu (played by Reika Manaki), who is in love with Yosaburo, and the “simmered bamboo shoots, greens, pickles, and rice” served by Oyone-san all looked delicious. Kase’s “Wow!” is great. I’m glad I bought popcorn and went into the theater. It would have been terrible if I’d been hungry.
Kimono: The second-generation Hotaru wears her kimono beautifully. You can enjoy the free-spirited styling of 1990s-style kimonos, such as mismatched patterns on the upper and lower halves, pattern-on-pattern matching, and layered shawls.
Street Scene 1: The vacant lot where the revenge killing took place is a “firebreak”—a strip of land designed to prevent the spread of fire.
Street Scene 2: Edo was once a city of canals. Timber was transported to Kobikicho, and from there, shipped to various locations. While there is no river in present-day Higashi-Ginza, the film captures a river, boats, and the houses beyond.
A Reunion in the Pit
Sakubei was alive. He had been doing heavy labor in the dark pit, taking care to avoid being spotted by anyone—including the staff at Kikunosuke’s Edo residence. And he had managed to protect the secret ledger entrusted to him by his master and safely deliver it to Mr. Kase.
Live for Yourself
Upon returning from his hometown, Kase handed Kikunosuke a long, narrow object wrapped in white paper. When he unwrapped it, he found it was the small sword his father had given to Sakubei as a keepsake. Unfolding the white wrapping paper, he saw the words written in messy handwriting:
“Live for yourself.”
Having completed his coming-of-age ceremony, Kikunosuke smiled with genuine happiness. His mother, watching over him as she arranged flowers, was also relieved. The household was secure.
Could it be that Sakubei, the servant, was illiterate? Perhaps he couldn’t read the “secret ledger” and simply guarded it for his master’s sake?
Sakubei, who had likely learned to write from Kanji or someone else,
“I will live for myself,”
seemed to convey this to Kikunosuke, and it felt as though the message had reached him.
Grand Finale
In the daimyo’s procession leaving the Edo residence, Mr. Kase stands beside the lord’s palanquin. That corrupt senior retainer has been forced into retirement. The lord announces that he wishes to greet the people of Moritaya.
Mr. Kase runs ahead as the herald, and the people of Moritaya greet the lord properly (as usual?).
The lord spots Sakubei and calls out to him. Although the lord and Sakubei are from such different social classes that the lord shouldn’t recognize him, he must have looked into his eyes and been certain.
“I am grateful for your kindness,” he says.
A platform covered in scarlet felt is set up in front of the shop, and the Nagauta performers stand by. They sing a celebratory Nagauta, and the story reaches its grand finale as they see the lord off.
Reflections
There was one scene with a particularly intriguing staging choice. In a bamboo grove, Yosaburo and Mr. Kase faced off in a tense standoff—“Shall I strike?”—and the staging showed Yosaburo mentally simulating his opponent’s movements based on Mr. Kase’s build and mannerisms.
Just as he concluded they would kill each other and resolved to strike, Omitsu appeared with a rice ball and called out to Yosaburo, defusing the tension. A small stroke of chance saved his life. To Omitsu, however, it simply looked like a lighthearted exchange between Yosaburo and Kase—a man with whom Yosaburo had even shared personal stories—as they parted ways.
In this film, there were two distinct simulations and perspectives:
The simulation (performance) set up by the father and how it appeared to Kikunosuke
The simulation (performance) set up by Kanji and how it appeared to the public (represented by Oyone)
And in the film, the public’s perspective was shown first.
These two performances overlapped, saving lives, being saved, and ultimately saving politics as well.
In the world of sports, including shogi, it seems they run numerous simulations to do their best. My life, on the other hand, is one of winging it and simply tackling whatever challenges come my way. No matter how much I have AI run simulations for me, that sense of winging it doesn’t change. I don’t possess the complex commands needed to instruct AI. That is precisely why, in this movie, I was able to feel the satisfaction of seeing the simulations fit together so perfectly.
original text(Japanese ver.) is here ↓
