Edo, 1630. Tsugumo HanshirÅ arrives at the estate of the Ii clan and says that he wishes to commit seppuku within the courtyard of the palace. To deter him SaitÅ Kageyu (RentarÅ Mikuni), the Daimyo's senior counselor, tells HanshirÅ the story of another rÅnin, Chijiiwa Motome â formerly of the same clan as HanshirÅ.
Motome arrived at the palace a few months earlier and made the same request as HanshirÅ. Infuriated by the rising number of "suicide bluffs", the three most senior samurai of the clanâYazaki Hayato, Kawabe Umenosuke, and Omodaka Hikokuroâpersuaded SaitÅ to force Motome to follow through and kill himself. Upon examining Motome's swords, their blades were found to be made of bamboo. Enraged that any samurai would "pawn his soul", the House of Ii forced Motome to disembowel himself with his own bamboo blade, making his death slow, agonizingly painful, and deeply humiliating.
Despite this warning, HanshirÅ insists that he has never heard of Motome and says that he has no intention of leaving the Ii palace alive. After a suicide pavilion is set up in the courtyard of the palace, HanshirÅ is asked to name the samurai who shall behead him when the ritual is complete. To the shock of SaitÅ and the Ii retainers, HanshirÅ successively names Hayato, Umenosuke, and Hikokuroâthe three samurai who coerced the suicide of Motome. When messengers are dispatched to summon them, all three decline to come, saying they are suffering from a life-threatening illness.
After provoking their laughter by calling bushido a facade, HanshirÅ recounts his story to SaitÅ and the Ii retainers. He did, he admits, know Motome after all. In 1619, his clan was abolished by the Shogun. His Lord decided to commit seppuku and, as his most senior samurai, HanshirÅ planned to die alongside him. To prevent this, HanshirÅ's closest friend performed seppuku and left a letter assigning to HanshirÅ the guardianship of his teenage sonâMotome. Despite HanshirÅ's pleas, his Lord forbade him to kill himself.
In order to support Motome and his own daughter Miho, HanshirÅ rented a hovel in the slums of Edo and worked numerous menial jobs. Despite this, he retained a firm sense of personal and familial honor. Realizing the love between Motome and Miho, HanshirÅ arranged for them to marry. Soon after, they had a son, Kingo.
When Miho fell ill with a fever, Motome could not bear the thought of losing her and did everything to raise money to hire a doctor. When Kingo also fell ill, HanshirÅ was enraged when Motome claimed to have already sold everything of value. Motome, however, calmly explained that there was another way to raise money and that he would return very soon. For hours, HanshirÅ and Miho anxiously awaited his return. Late that evening, Hayato, Umenosuke, and Hikokuro, had brought Motome's mutilated body home. They explained how Motome had come to the Ii palace and had been forced to kill himself. They then displayed his bamboo blades in order to mock their victim before his family. After they left, Miho spent hours weeping inconsolably over her husband's body. Then, she returned to her sickbed next to Kingo. Having had no idea that Motome had sold even his sword blades to save Miho, a devastated HanshirÅ implored his son-in-law's forgiveness for his own carelessness. Soon after, Kingo died from his illness. Having already lost the will to live, Miho followed after him the next day.
Completing his story, HanshirÅ explains that his sole desire is to join Motome, Miho, and Kingo in the next world. He explains, however, that they have every right to ask whether justice has been exacted for their deaths. Therefore, Hanshiro asks Saito if he has any statement of regret to convey to Motome, Miho, and Kingo. He explains that, if Saito does so, he will die without saying another word.
SaitÅ, however, insists that Motome was "a despicable extortioner" who got exactly what he deserved. He boasts that all other suicide bluffs who come to the Ii palace shall be treated in the same fashion.
HanshirÅ then reveals the last part of his story. Before coming to the Ii house, he had tracked down Hayato and Umenosuke, easily defeated them, and cut off their topknots. Hikokuro then came to HanshirÅ's hovel and, with great respect, challenged him to a duel. After a brief but tense sword fight, Hikokuro suffers a double disgrace: his sword is broken and his topknot was taken as well. As proof of his story, Hanshiro removes their labelled topknots from his kimono and casts them upon the palace courtyard.
With deep contempt, Hanshiro reminds everyone that, for a samurai to lose his topknot is a disgrace so horrendous that even suicide can barely atone for it. And yet, the most revered samurai of the House of Ii âHayato, Umenosuke, and Hikokuroâ lack the fortitude to commit the suicide they would demand from anyone else. Instead, they are concealing their dishonor, feigning illness, and waiting for their hair to grow back. Hanshiro concludes that, despite the Ii clan's pride in its martial history, it seems that the Code of the Samurai is a facade even for them.
Having now lost face very badly, an enraged SaitÅ calls Hanshiro a madman and orders his remaining samurai to kill him. In a battle which rages through the palace, HanshirÅ kills four samurai, wounds eight, and contemptuously throws down the antique suit of armor which symbolizes the glorious history of the House of Ii. In a final confirmation of the clan's Machiavellian ways, three Ashigaru arrive armed with matchlock gunsâa weapon seen as beneath contempt. As HanshirÅ begins seppuku, he is simultaneously shot by all three gunmen.
Terrified that the Ii clan will be abolished if word gets out that "a half starved ronin" killed so many of their retainers, Saito announces that all deaths caused by Hanshiro shall be explained by "illness". Hayato, Umenosuke, and Hikokuro are to atone for losing their topknots by committing seppuku. Saito angrily orders that a squad of soldiers are to be sent to their houses "to make sure they do it."
As the suit of armor is lovingly re-erected, the visitor's book of the House of Ii clan is heard in voiceover. Hanshiro, who was clearly mentally unstable, had to be forced, like Motome before him, to commit suicide. The Shogun, it is said, has issued a personal commendation to the Ii clan for how they handled the suicide bluffs of Motome and Hanshiro. At the end of his letter, the Shogun praises the House of Ii and their samurai as the perfection of the Code of Bushido. However, while cleaning the courtyard, a janitor finds the severed topknot of Hikokuro, and secrets it away in his shirt. Presumably, the truth of Ii's dishonor will soon be known.
What is Hanshiro's explanation for the deaths of the retainers?
Illness