In 1630, 27 years into the Edo period, an extended age of peace causes many samurai to become ronin (masterless samurai). Unable to find work, these ronin have recently been arriving at samurai compounds asking to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) on their premises. Most have no intention of killing themselves however, and happily leave in exchange for a modest handout. The Iyi clan decides to put a stop to this practice by forcing the next beggar that arrives to go through with the suicide in the most unmerciful way possible. A few weeks later another ronin shows up at the Iyi clan’s compound to commit seppuku, but first he has a story to tell them that could shatter the foundation of the samurai code they’ve spent their lives following.
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Tags: akiji kobayashi, akira ishihama, hisashi igawa, ichiro nakaya, jo azumi, kei sato, masaki kobayashi, masao mishima, rentaro mikuni, ryo takeuchi, samurai, seppuku, shichisaburo amatsu, shima iwashita, tatsuya nakadai, tetsuro tamba, yoshio aoki, yoshio inaba