Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.
Tatsuya Nakadai
Akira Ishihama
Shima Iwashita
Tetsuro Tamba
Masao Mishima
Ichirō Nakatani
Kei Satō
Yoshio Inaba
Hisashi Igawa
Tōru Takeuchi
Yoshirō Aoki
Tatsuo Matsumura
Akiji Kobayashi
Kōichi Hayashi
Ryūtarō Gomi
Jo Azumi
Nakajirō Tomita
Shichisaburo Amatsu
Kenzō Tanaka
Shin Nakahara
Tsuneo Ikeda
Minoru Miyagi
Takaaki Kadota
Ichiro Yamamoto
Gen Takasugi
Satoshi Nishida
Tetsuro Komiyama
Shûichirô Narita
Noboru Kasuga
Shinpachi Kura
Kenji Hayashi
Shōtarō Hayashi
Shimezo Kataoka
Bunya Ozawa
Konosuke Takemoto
Rentaro Mikuni