A ronin with a secret saves a woman, a building, and maybe your whole mood.
O-Kiyo (Mitsuko Mito), who had escaped from her boss, Shoden, who controlled the Sensoji Temple district, was desperately contemplating suicide when she was rescued by ronin Kojuro Tozawa (Kazuo Hasegawa), who hid her in a dilapidated apartment building. The Shoden clan desperately searched for O-Kiyo, but Kojuro found a huge sum of 50 ryo and ransomed O-Kiyo. Unable to accept this outcome, the enraged Shoden clan attempted to win the favor of constable Jinnosuke Nakayama (Kusuo Abe), seeking to demolish the dilapidated building and transform the area into a pleasure district. However, Kojuro thwarted their plans, bringing joy to the poor residents of the building. After demonstrating his remarkable skills, Kojiro revealed his true identity - he was a prominent hatamoto.
Acting
Kazuo Hasegawa's smoldering ronin-to-hatamoto transformation.
Direction
Saeki's elegant composition of cramped spaces and social strata.
Director
Kōzō Saeki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hatamoto were direct shogunal retainers—Kojuro's disguise as ronin critiques class obsession while secretly embodying it.
Kazuo Hasegawa starred in over 300 films; this 1951 role came mid-career during his onnagato-to-leading-man evolution.
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