Edo's deadliest needle doctor misses his mark—now a broke ronin must finish the job.
46 minSeason 1 • Episode 33
LatestA shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry out the killing. However, the professional killer Baian fails to bring down Tatsumiya. Hanemon then looks to another shikakenin, the ronin Sanai Nishimura for the role. Although Sanai's ability with the sword is good, he lives poorly in a tenement, and accepts this commission on the condition that it is kept a secret from his wife and child. Here, they close in on Hanno and Tatsumiya again...
Acting
Ken Ogata's Baian—charming, terrifying, desperately alone.
Writing
Killing as labor union drama; contracts, conditions, codes.
Production
1972 Toei grit—claustrophobic tenements, rain-soaked streets.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shikakenin were real Edo-period contractors who handled socially necessary killings—assassination as regulated trade, not crime.
Ken Ogata became the definitive screen image of Baian; he reprised the role in a 1989 theatrical revival when the series proved too influential to stay buried.
JP
