Sleepy Eyes of Death 8: Sword of Villainy (眠狂四郎無頼剣)

Daiei Films Presents

'Sleepy Eyes of Death: Sword of Villainy'

Planning: OKUDO Hishashi Original Story: SHIBATA Renzaburo Script: ITO Daisuke

Photography: MAKIURA Chishi Sound Recording: HAYASHI Chitaro Lighting: YAMASHITA Reijiro Art Direction: SHIMOISHIZAKA Nariuki

Music by: IFUKUBE Akira

Cast

ICHIKAWA Raizo

AMACHI Shigeru FUJIMURA Shiho

KUDO Kentaro SHIMADA Ryuzo

Directed by: MISUMI Kenji

Help! Somebody, please help!

The biggest oil merchant in Edo,

Yahiko-ya, was robbed by a professional thief in the daytime.

That was big news!

The police chief happened to be in the neighborhood,

and rushed into the store!

Oh, thank you for coming.

Who was it? Did he run away?

Well, nobody saw him.

Close the main gate!

Watch the hallway! Close the back gate, too!

What about the warehouse and the cellar?

The inner warehouse is fine.

Nobody went there.

Master's youngest daughter is in the front of it,

playing hide and seek with her friends.

Well, if he isn't here, then?

We keep all the oil barrels from Osaka at the outside warehouse.

How about there?

Take me there!

"Kojimachi, Akasaka... Akasaka no..."

- Are you ready? - Not yet.

"Soon, Ochanomiya"

"It's time for lunch at Ochanomiya"

"I'll buy you a drink"

- Are you ready? - Not yet.

Are you ready? Are you ready?

Yes, I'm ready. I'm ready.

I found the devil in hide and seek!

Oh, you've found me. I give up. I give up.

Now, Uncle, you be the devil.

Yes, yes.

I'll be a scary devil who eats up the whole Yahiko-ya.

However, this devil has a soul.

I don't want to kill innocent people.

Besides, I have accomplished my purpose for today.

Yahiko-ya, I'll take this.

This used to belong to us.

And you,

if you care about your child's life,

don't say anything until after everybody leaves.

Let's go upstairs. And bring the toys with you.

Yes!

I'll teach you a new song.

The beginning of the story is:

A samurai came to sell Yahiko-ya

a very famous and expensive tea cup called Ichimonji.

The daughter of the master was going to get married

to another big merchant also named Ichimonji.

Yahiko-ya thought it would bring great luck

to add the famous tea cup to her bridal furniture set.

However, the samurai set the price too high.

The negotiations seemed to end right there.

Suddenly, the samurai drew his sword.

Well, the samurai tied them all up and went to the inner warehouse

as if he had planned it in advance. Then...

"How much will it be to get in the palanquin?"

"How about 500?"

"How about a little lower?"

Uncle! Let's play together!

Yes, yes.

Then play hide and seek with me. We'll decide who'll be the devil.

What a surprise.

She said to him, "Uncle, let's play!"

Even though she had never met him before.

He was a total stranger to her, you know.

What a brave girl she was!

What a nice line.

- "Uncle, let's play!" - Tetsu.

How did you get this whole story?

Oh, come on.

I'm a well-known hairstylist in that neighborhood.

I see.

I guess Yahiko-ya let you do your work at the inner warehouse.

How rude you are!

Actually, you're right.

I was hiding in the inner warehouse first

because I wanted to steal something from there.

Then, suddenly the samurai came in with the girl to play hide and seek.

I almost had a heart attack!

What was he looking for?

He was looking for something like

contract documents, accounting records, or blue prints.

What were you looking for?

I spotted some merchandise delivered from Echigo,

specifically from Yahiko, which is the store owner's home town.

So I guessed that it was the famous sake from that region called Enmei- shu.

I stole one container and hid it inside my tool box.

How did you escape from the warehouse?

Since his granddaughter was a hostage, Yahiko-ya couldn't do anything.

I used that panic situation as a chance to escape from the warehouse.

Well, I want to taste this special sake with you.

Hey, can I have a hammer and a wooden cup for sake?

People say that if you drink a cup of this sake

you'll extend your life by a year. What great sake. Enmei-shu!

Ugh! Damn!

What is it? What a foul smell!

Spoiled? Or I don't know what.

It's out!

What a surprise!

You can't put it out with water

because it runs on top of the water and spreads.

That's why we have to put it out with our feet.

We call it fukusozui or kusamizu,

and it comes out of the ground in Echigo.

It's just like oil.

Miss, are you from Echigo?

Oh no, no.

I knew because my friends from Echigo told me about it.

- Friends? - Yes.

"The Street Performers from Echigo".

Attention!

Thank you very much. Good day.

There was a man behind the screen.

He was hiding himself there.

The man who ignited the fukusozui.

Was he a samurai?

He seemed like a ronin.

So what?

I just saw him for a second,

but I thought he was Kakunosuke-sama.

So I wanted to check for myself.

That's why I jumped in the restaurant to put out the fire.

But he never showed his face from the screen again.

It's impossible.

Impossible that he could have survived.

Kakunosuke-sama, whom I met in Osaka,

had been badly burned by fire.

I cannot be sure it was his head on display.

I can't get the idea out of my head that

Kakunosuke-sama somehow survived and is living somewhere here in Edo.

Yes.

He was following us from the restaurant.

Are there any rich people in this neighborhood

who can afford a hairstylist?

Damn!

Who are you?

Attention!

This is evidence.

Yahiko-ya stole these very secret plans which had been made by the Senshindo.

From these designs, Yahiko-ya has already started

refining oil from Fukusozu in Echigo for commercial use.

Well, what did you request from Yahiko-ya?

At first, 100,000 ryo.

100,000 ryo?

In cash? Can he afford it?

He was the one who brought the proposal that

for our project of refining oil from Fukusozu

he pay a 100,000 ryo premium.

However, now I know he won't pay a penny.

So that's why I want to blackmail him.

Of course, I don't care if he pays or not.

I just want to push him to the edge.

I want him to suffer!

Yes.

After all, I'm going to kill him anyway.

Since we've got the evidence.

To keep it simple, let's kill him right now!

Yes, kill him!

It's too easy!

The research of Jusai-sama, our great teacher, was destroyed

by others besides Yahiko-ya, was it not?

Yes, of course!

All of the big Osaka merchants who promised to support

our cause to aid the poor, then backed out on their promises.

Konoike Zeiemon to begin with.

Mitsui Hachisoemon, Tenma-ya Gohei!

Uchida Sobei, Yone-ya Heiemon, 24 others!

Merchants.

Any others?

Of course!

Our petition for aid to the poor was crushed

in his hand as if it were trash by the East Magistrate Officer

Atobe Yamashiro.

Then what did Atobe Yamashiro do?

He asked for orders from higher ranking officers in the East Magistrate's office.

That's what people thought!

The truth is Atobe Yamashiro was under the direction of his brother,

Mizuno Tadakuni.

Mizuno, one of the senior councilors to the Shogun, is Atobe's brother?

Not many people know.

Atobe is actually a puppet who's controlled by

his brother Mizuno Tadakuni, one of the Shogun's senior councilors.

Therefore, never forget who actually destroyed our

great teacher Jusai's project and put him to a tragic death!

Never forget his name!

Our ultimate goal is...!

Shima-san?

Finally, Yahiko-ya makes a move.

I heard that Yahiko-ya secretly ordered bodyguards