A bored samurai, a fake shogun's son, and a page in drag walk into Edo... chaos ensues.
Around the Genroku era, there was a man named Saotome Shusui-no-Suke, nephew to the senior councilor Matsudaira Sakon Shogen. He was commonly known as the Bored Samurai of the Hatamoto rank. Just as he was engulfed in boredom, Tokugawa Jo-Kaibo, claiming to be the Shogun's illegitimate child, made a grand entrance into Edo. At the behest of Sakon Shogen, Shusui-no-Suke was tasked to investigate Jo-Kaibo's background and had his young page Kyoya disguise as a woman to infiltrate Jo-Kaibo's gun mansion.
Acting
Utaemon Ichikawa's weaponized ennui as the Bored Hatamoto.
Costume
Kyoya's transformation—period drag done with actual narrative purpose.
Direction
Ōsone balances political thriller and bedroom farce without whiplash.
Director
Tatsuo Ōsone
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hatamoto were direct Tokugawa retainers with cushy salaries and often nothing to do—popularly depicted as decadent or restless in postwar cinema.
Utaemon Ichikawa was a superstar of jidaigeki who played Saotome Mondonosuke across multiple films; this 'Bored Hatamoto' persona became his signature.
No ratings yet
1930
1930
1931
1931
1933
1935
1935
1937
1938
1950
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1954
1954
1955
1955
10.01956
1957
1957
5.51958
5.81959
6.01959
1960
6.01960
6.01961
1962
6.01963
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
JP
