A Ninjin Club Production
Produced by Shigeru Wakatsuki
Original Story by Yakumo Koizumi Screenplay by Yoko Mizuki
Director of Photography: Yoshio Miyajima
Sound effects by Toru Takemitsu
THE BLACK HAIR
Michiyo Aratama-Misako Watanabe Rentaro Mikuni
THE WOMAN OF THE SNOW
Tatsuya Nakadai Keiko Kishi
HOICHI, THE EARLESS
Katsuo Nakamura Tetsuro Tanba
IN A CUP OF TEA
Kanemon Nakamura Osamu Takizawa-Haruko Sugimura
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
THE BLACK HAIR
In old Kyoto there was a young samurai
who had been reduced to poverty by the ruin of his lord.
He decided to leave his home
and take service with the governor of a distant province.
Goodbye.
Stay well. I can't live here with you. I have a future.
For men, advancement is the most important.
I can't give it up just because of you.
I can't bury my future here.
Must you leave Kyoto?
I'll work harder than before. I'll weave day and night.
I'll slave for a better living.
If I lose this chance, I'll be finished.
Don't try to stop me. The new post will bring me fortune.
If you can remarry a man of some distinction,
you'll have fortune too.
There's nothing more to say.
I've had enough of poverty!
You're going to leave early in the morning.
So you better go to bed now.
Take her to the bridal chamber.
My daughter is finally married.
I feel relieved now.
I'm glad to have you in my family.
Thank you.
He knows his obligation. He'll serve her well.
Please, take care of my daughter.
Yes.
The samurai could not understand the value of love.
He divorced his good wife
and married the daughter of a noted family to gain position.
And he took her to his new post.
It was the thoughtlessness of youth
and the experience of desire.
His second marriage did not prove a happy one.
His new wife was selfish and callous.
He soon found every cause to recall with regret his Kyoto days.
Then he discovered he still loved his first wife -
loved her more than he could ever love his second.
And he began to realise how unfair
and how ungrateful he had been.
Memories of a woman he had wronged -
her gentle speech,
her smile,
her pretty dainty ways,
her impeccable patience...
...continuously haunted him.
I quit!
The same old game!
I'm tired of it!
Girls, you're dismissed.
You better go to bed now.
Your husband is still reading.
How ungrateful you are!
You've gained position because of my family's social prestige.
You only used me.
You're always cherishing your old memories.
You're walking out on me!
The dew won't help.
Please, go to your bedroom
and nurse her ladyship.
Nurse her? That's your duty.
Don't say that.
She may return to her parents tomorrow if she wants to.
I can't stand seeing her dissatisfied look any more.
Tell her so.
After all, I was young and thoughtless.
I'll find my ex-wife whom I deserted
and make amends for my sinful act.
The years went by.
And his official term expired.
It was September 10th when he reached the street of Kyoto
where his first wife used to live.
It was midnight and the city was as silent as a cemetery.
When did you come back to Kyoto?
Now. Just now.
How did you find your way to me, through all those black rooms?
Stay seated.
Don't bother.
I'll get supper.
I don't want it.
You haven't changed a bit.
You look just like you did before.
Your face that I couldn't forget for a moment...
and your voice that was so dear to me!
Forgive me.
I was cruel. I was a fool.
I deserve your hatred.
Until the day my official term expired,
how I longed to come back to you!
How deeply I regretted my selfishness!
How wretched I was without you!
How I loathed myself for divorcing you!
How long I've hoped and planned to make amends!
As soon as I became free.
I wanted to come back to Kyoto and find you.
I hurried here in the dark.
It's very kind of you
thinking about me so much.
Forgive me.
Please forgive me.
I was such a fool!
Don't reproach yourself.
It's wrong to allow yourself to suffer on my account.
I always felt that I wasn't worthy of being your wife.
Don't...
I knew that, but I couldn't help trying to be near you.
Anyway, it was very cruel of me to have divorced you.
It was because of poverty.
While you lived with me, you were always kind.
Why should I think ill of you?
I prayed for your good fortune every day and night.
I'll make amends.
Forget it. You came a long way home.
What greater happiness than to see you again...
even if only for a moment?
Only for a moment!
Make it the length of seven lifetimes!
Unless you forbid it,
I'll live with you always... always!
Nothing shall ever separate us again.
Your fragrant hair! It's the same as before.
The same glossy hair...
dark eyes...
Iovely nose...
soft cheeks...
and...
I've forgotten my sorrow.
Many things have happened in Kyoto since you went away.
I imagine so.
I can't tell you everything in a night.
Soon it'll be dawn.
Yes. This room is very dear to me.
It was our bridal chamber.
We spent several nights here.
I don't want to sleep now.
I want to talk of the past and the present and the future with you
and feel as happy as I am now.
I also feel as if this were a dream.
I don't want to sleep for a moment
so I can keep you forever.
THE WOMAN OF THE SNOW
In a village of Musashi Province
there lived two woodcutters: Mosaku and Minokichi.
Mosaku was an old man
and Minokichi, his apprentice, was a boy of eighteen.
Everyday, they went to a forest a few miles away
from the village.
One cold day, a great snowstorm overtook them on their way home.
The boatman had left his boat on the other side of the river.
It was no day for swimming.
I intended to treat you like the other man.
But I couldn't help feeling pity for you
because you're so young.
You're a handsome boy.
I will not hurt you now.
But if you ever tell anybody - even your own mother
about what you've seen tonight, I'll know it.
And then I'll kill you.
Remember that.
Understand?
I'll be going now.
We sell wood for a living.
You can't work for some time, not before spring.
The terrible cold night made you ill.
Eat the porridge.
Take care of yourself, son.
Or you'll be frozen
and dead like that old Mosaku
whose blood was all gone.
If this happens to you again,
you won't survive.
Are you listening?
You've said nothing about that night.
A year passed.
As soon as he got well, he resumed working.
Every morning, he went to the forest alone
and returned with bundles of wood after sunset.
Where are you going in the evening?
Edo.
Now?
Yes.
I lost my parents.
My relatives in Edo might help me find work as a servant.
Brothers?
None?
You'd need connections
to find work in Edo.
Is it so hard to get work
when you don't know anyone?
You could get married...
With you?
Come!
That's my house.
Why don't you take a rest?
There's nobody you have to mind.
But...
Only my mother and I live there. Come!
Your name is Yuki? I see, I see.
Going to Edo alone
sounds very dangerous.
People are not always kind.
Young girls must be careful
not to be bothered by bad men.
Come eat while it's hot.
And Yuki bore him three children,
handsome and very fair of skin.
She acquired a fame for being a good wife among the villagers.
Take a moment to reflect on Grandma's grave.
Show her you've grown up.
Give her your flowers.
It seems she never gets old.
Really.
She's as young today as on the day she first came into the village.
She's a wonder.
Were you at the grave?
Yes. It's my mother-in-law's memorial day.
That's good.
She must be pleased to see her nice grandchildren
praying for her.
She's happy.
She died praising her son's wife.
It's not very common.
No.
Usually, a mother-in-law talks ill of her son's wife.
No matter how good the wife is.
That's not true.
Thanks to you, I'm happy.
What a happy couple, you and your husband!
He must be happy.
He has such a good and beautiful woman for a wife.
Naturally.
What a young wife!
Most peasant women age early
after having three children.
She still looks like a girl.
She's a wonder.
Put them on.
Is it too small?
And the children's?
I made them.
How nice! All ready... the sandals for the holiday season!
If the thongs are too tight, I'll fix them.
Now try them on.
Yes.
How beautiful! Why the red thongs?
You're still young.
I'm a mother of three children.
Red is still your colour.
Your feet look beautiful.
It fits well.
Not too tight, not too lose.
It's exactly my size.
Your sandals look beautiful and sturdy
so people come to you for special orders.
This pair is exceedingly good.
I made them so that they'll match your kimono.
As if I were going away on a journey!
I can't buy you a new kimono, so at least you have sandals.
With your sandals and my kimono
our children will have a wonderful holiday.
How is it going?
A few more stitches.
Why are you watching me so intently?
I just remembered that night ten years ago.
It's strange to recall it now after so many years.
You're sewing with the light on your face
and I'm looking up at you like this.
That's why I remembered that night...
What night?
A strange thing happened that night.
I can remember it well as if it happened yesterday.
I was eighteen then. I never told anybody about that night.
I'm not sure it was real or a dream.
It was the night that old Mosaku was frozen dead
as if his blood were all gone.
I saw with my own eyes a woman who was bending over him.
And she was blowing her breath like a white smoke upon him.
Then he became stiff and couldn't move.
That woman stooped over me, too.
And I got almost numb.
Then,
the eyes of the horrible woman
looked very, very beautiful.
She was so beautiful
and white like you.
Yes!
You looked exactly like her just now.
That's why I remembered.
Once the memory haunted me day and night.
I became sick after that.
I tell you, it was when I spent
the terrible snowstormy night in the ferryman's hut.
I saw very clearly the weird woman who killed old Mosaku.
I've never seen in my life a woman as beautiful and white
as her except you.
Of course, she's not a human being and I was afraid of her.
She was the Woman of the Snow who was hungry for warm blood...
...or a dream.
Not a dream.
I...
It was me.
Me!
It was Yuki.
You promised that night you'd never tell anybody.
You finally broke the promise.
It was a pledge for life for both of us.
I told you if you broke it, I would kill you.
You betrayed me!
Ah, if it were not for those children asleep there
I would kill you this moment!
From now on
you'd better take good care of those children.
If they have any reason to complain about you
I'll treat you as you deserve!
Intermission
HOICHI, THE EARLESS
The time had come.
It was dawn on March 24th
in Year 1 of the Genryaku era (1185)
The armies of the Genji and Heiké clans were determined
to fight one last time at Dan-no-ura, off Kyushu
in the Shimonoséki Strait.
Procurator Kanzo from Kumano
had hoisted the Kongo-Doji flag
and placed on the frontline
the boats belonging to Kawanano Michinobu, inhabitant of the Province of Lyo.
He'd decided to side with the Genji
with his warriors, on board two hundred ships.
The Genji and their allies thus created a mighty navy
comprising of three thousand warships
with the aim of encircling the Haiké navy.
The Genji an Heiké couldn't wait for the hostilities to start.
Both armies flung themseves at each other.
It is a well-known fact that the Genji army had been put under the high command
of General Yoshitsuné from Genji.
At Dan-no-ura of Shimonoseki Channel
the last battle was fought between the Genji and the Heike clans.
The Heike were defeated in many battles and escaped to the west.
And here, the clan perished with the infant emperor.
Notonokami Noritsune knew this was his last day.
The Genji samurai were no match for him.
He wanted to cross swords with Yoshitsune, the Genji commander.
"Come on, Yoshitsune!"he called.
The high waves prevented them from landing the shore.
And the Genji ships blocked the one possible escape to the sea.
They waited with arrows in their bows.
The crew were all dead
and the Heike ships had no where to go.
Some sank, some went adrift.
The long contest between the two samurai clans
was reaching its end.
Lady Nii saw the end of the battle.
She held the infant emperor in her arms.
"Woman though I am, I won't let my enemy kill me.
I'll escort His Majesty to the next world.
If you have loyalty, follow me."
have been haunted for seven hundred years.
Thousands of strange crabs
called Heike crabs
which have human faces
on their backs are found there.
After Amidaji temple was built at Akamagahara
to console the dead samurai's souls
many strange things took place.
Hoichi!
Here you are.
Be careful not to fall into the well, Hoichi.
Yes.
The Priest wants you to take care while we're away.
We're going to perform a service at the house
of a dead parishioner.
Yes.
There's a piece of watermelon for you in the kitchen.
Eat it while it's cold.
Yes. Thank you.
All right.
I told him to take care.
He's new here. I'm afraid.
I think he'll be all right.
Who is it?
Are you back, Priest?
No one would visit here at this hour of night.
Maybe I only imagined I heard a sound.
Hoichi!
Who's calling?
I'm blind.
I've not been living here long.
I thought somebody was in the garden, but I was not sure.
Pardon me.
Forgive me.
Nothing to fear.
I'm stopping near this temple
and have been sent here with a message.
My present lord, a person of exceedingly high rank
is now staying at Akamagahara with his numerous attendants.
He wanted to view a scene of the battle of Dan-no-ura
so we went there today.
Now, my lord heard of your skill in reciting
the story of the battle.
They say you even surpass your teacher.
So he desires to hear your performance.
Take your biwa and come with me to our house at once.
It's very kind of him.
But I'm afraid I'm not good enough.
You wouldn't disobey his commands, would you?
I believe your lord is a very noble person.
Yes. Usually you couldn't be in his presence.
It's good fortune.
Open the gate!
Someone in there!
I've brought Hoichi!
Take your shoes off now.
Another dead one?
The tide washed him back
Another ghost ship?
I saw wills o' the wisp last night.
Yasaku!
Good morning.
Hoichi?
He isn't in.
Not back yet?
No.
Is it true that none of you knew when he left last night?
Yes. I thought he had gone to bed.
Another ship sank last night.
Whose?
Gon-emon's. He went out fishing.
His family came here to request a service.
Is that so?
I told the Priest.
I see. I'm very sorry.
Does a ghost ship really exist?
It seems so.
I haven't seen it. I wonder if it really exists. Don't you, Donkai?
It exists only for those who believe it does.
You make me confused again.
I really believe it.
Don't fool me.
I'm serious. You always...
I'm serious, too.
Is Hoichi back?
Yes. Are you going out?
How is he?
It seems he's sleeping in his room.
What? When did he...?
None of us knows when he came back.
I see.
He must have had a pleasant night.
I told him to take care of the house.
What an untrustworthy fellow!
Well, I must get ready for a service for Gon-emon.
We'll have another wake tonight.
It'll be hot today.
How I was scared! You're sitting in the dark like that.
I wondered who it was.
What's the matter?
"What's the matter?"
Everybody's out. Matsuzo went home today, so I'm alone.
And I thought you were asleep.
I took you for a ghost.
Oh, I got soaking wet.
I'm so sorry.
That's all right. You didn't eat your breakfast yet.
Where on earth were you last night?
Your breakfast is ready here. It hasn't gone bad.
Now eat it.
The boiled eggplants for supper are there too.
Thank you.
Donkai and the Priest were very anxious about you.
Where did you go and what did you do?
Were they that anxious?
You should have known that. "That anxious"?
You're too young to stay out all night, aren't you?
So you have a girl now, is that it?
Of course not.
I went out because I remembered some business I had to attend.
Really?
Your girl must be blind too.
So you make love groping for each other like this.
Hoichi!
It's the time we promised. I've come to take you.
Yes, sir.
You didn't tell anybody?
No, I didn't.
Don't say a word about it.
I understand.
This is very good.
These rice cakes and wine are all I brought from home.
Give some to Hoichi.
He'll get up soon.
He'll be hungry when the sun sets.
Oh? What does he do during the day?
He sleeps like a dead man.
He's very pale.
It's because of the shining green leaves.
No.
And...
Who's there?
Oh, it's you, Yasaku.
Oh, Matsuzo!
When did you come back?
You were asleep when I came back so I didn't wake you.
I'm afraid you're sick.
No.
It's this hot climate, that's all. I'm all right.
Well,
I've been thinking I must ask you
where you go every night.
Why do you stay out nights, eh?
Tell me the reason why you leave the temple
every night at so late an hour.
What do you do while you're away from the temple?
Everybody is suspicious of you.
But I've told them we could trust you.
At any rate, to go out blind and alone is dangerous.
I could have had Matsuzo or Yasaku accompany you.
Where have you been going?
Won't you tell me?
Forgive me.
It's nothing serious.
I remembered some business I had to do.
So I went out late at night. I'll be careful from now on.
What is it?
Nothing really.
I'm sorry I worried you.
I see.
Priest! Priest!
Yasaku, what happened?
Hoichi...
What's the matter with him?
He went out again just now.
Went out? What are you waiting for? Follow him immediately!
Go with Matsuzo. Don't let him find you. Hurry!
Take this. Hurry!
And Matsuzo?
Come on, hurry!
I can't light it.
Better get blind. Then you wouldn't need light.
- Hurry! - You go first.
But it's dark.
Of course. Night is never bright.
The thunders!
Never mind! Go now! Matsuzo!
Yasaku!
Matsuzo!
What are you waiting for? Go and get him!
Where'd he go?
Over there?
He can't be very far.
Go that way.
Run!
Yasaku!
Yasaku, you must come with me!
Matsuzo!
His Majesty wants you to be at home.
Yes, Your Majesty.
You play the biwa beautifully.
And you recite the long story of Heike
that consists of one hundred songs every night.
His Majesty is highly pleased.
We're very glad too.
Thank you very much.
As I told you
there are nineteen secret songs and five secret poems
besides the main story.
It takes many nights to perform all of them.
I'd like to chant the part you like most tonight.
He is right.
The battle of Dan-no-ura.
That is the most moving part of the story.
The chant of the last battle.
Of Dan-no-ura.
Then, Hoichi, chant the battle of Dan-no-ura.
Certainly.
Let's go home, Matsuzo.
It's terrible.
That kid makes us suffer.
It's unfair.
They shot arrows at each other for a time
Then the Genji ships moved in the rapid current
and sailed into the middle of the Heike ships
The ships of both clans crossed one another
and covered the surface of the channel
like dead leaves carpet the waves of a river
...And then General Tomomori proclaimed
in front of his assembled soldiers:
Depends upon this battle.
There should be no regrets in life.
Fight like the good men you are!
Think of nothing else!"
"The fate of the Heiké clan
Shouted General Tomomori repeatedly.
"A born emperor you may be", said Lady Nii,
"your day is done."
The heavens will welcome you,
call the holy name of Buddha
There is a capital beneath the waves and there you will be crowned
Hoichi! Hoichi!
Holding the infant emperor in her arms
she throws herself into the deep sea
Hoichi!
What are you doing?
Don't interrupt me before this distinguished assembly!
What are you saying?
You must be mad.
You're bewitched!
Let's go home!
You'll be dead if you stay here.
Let's go.
You'll be punished if you interfere.
Let go of me!
Listen to us. Come home!
Let go of me!
Leave me alone.
Come home! It's the Priest's order!
Let go of me!
Are you mad?
Let me go!
Why didn't you tell me this sooner?
Poor boy!
You're now in great danger.
They must have wanted you because
you have wonderful skills in music.
You've not been visiting a house
but a cemetery.
That place is the home of the spirits
of the Heike samurai.
You've been passing your nights among tombs.
By this time you must be aware of that. Understand?
You were sitting before the tomb of Emperor Antoku last night.
It has all been a vast illusion
except for the calling of the dead.
Then, it was the spirit of the dead that came here?
Yes. It was in fact that the spirit of the dead came.
You have put yourself in their power.
If you obey them again,
they'll tear you in pieces.
But in any event they'd have destroyed you sooner or later.
Will the spirit come again tonight?
Tonight,
as soon as we go away
you must seat yourself outside and wait.
Then the spirit will call you.
But, whatever may happen, do not answer.
I understand.
And do not move.
I understand.
Say nothing and sit still
as if meditating.
Yes.
Understood?
Should you move a muscle or utter a cry,
you will be torn to pieces.
To get rid of the spirits, you must stay calm
and never call for help.
Even if you call out, no-one will be able to help you.
You mustn't speak. Alright?
Yes
If you follow this advice,
there may be hope for you.
I won't move. I won't cry.
Understand?
Whatever may happen?
I won't.
Donkai, you've written the holy text upon his body?
On his entire body, from head to toe.
Good.
Help me, Buddha!
Hoichi!
No answer? That won't do!
I must see where the fellow is.
Here is the biwa.
But of the biwa player I see... only two ears!
That explains why he didn't answer.
He had no mouth to answer with.
There is nothing left of him but his ears.
This is very strange.
I will take those ears to my lord
to prove his commands have been obeyed
as much as it's possible.
It's blood!
Priest!
ウォルマート骨髄！
It leads to the rear gate.
Hoichi!
Are you there?
Hoichi!
My goodness!
Hurry, clean it!
Yes.
What happened to Hoichi?
His ears were torn off.
What?
His ears?
But why the ears?
Both of them torn off?
- Donkai! - Yes.
Does the ghost like ears?
He should eat the ears of a dried cuttlefish instead.
It's our fault.
I thought I wrote everywhere on his body.
We forgot to write the holy text on his ears.
I'm sorry.
It's too late. Ears don't grow again.
It was wrong of me not to make sure you had done it.
It's my grievous fault.
I never imagined it would take his ears away.
Well, it can't be helped now.
We can only try to heal his wounds.
Yes.
But cheer up.
The danger is now over. His ears were a trade off for his life.
Then, we won't see those visitors again?
They'll come no more.
We wish to hear the famous Hoichi-the-Earless play the biwa.
My lord heard of the strange story.
He will pay Hoichi generously.
By his order, I've come to take him with me.
- He's here again. - What?
With attendants!
A noblewoman came also with her attendants.
I can't tell if they're real.
Maybe the ghost is among them.
Hoichi. You'd better refuse them. You have so many offers.
No.
I'll play the biwa
as long as I live.
I'll play to console those sorrowful spirits
and make them rest in peace.
Many noble persons came to the temple with large gifts of money
so that Hoichi-the-Earless became a wealthy man
The Year 1900.
Now, in old Japanese books,
there have been curiously preserved
certain fragments of fiction
Why were they left unfinished?
Perhaps the writer was lazy
Perhaps he had a quarrel with the publisher
Perhaps he was suddenly called away from his little table
and never came back
Perhaps death stopped his writing brush
in the middle of a sentence
But no mortal could ever tell why
I select a typical example
It was today 220 years ago
New Year Day of the fourth Tenwa
IN A CUP OF TEA
It was when Lord Nakagawa Sado paid a New Year's visit
He stopped with his entourage at a temple in Hongo
You're on duty tonight.
I'll relieve you in the morning.
Yes.
I'm Shikibu Heinai. I met you today for the first time.
You don't seem to recognise me.
I don't recognise you.
Will you tell me how you gained entrance to this house?
Ah, you don't recognise me!
No, I don't.
This house is strictly guarded at all times.
No one can enter unannounced.
I don't understand why you don't recognise me.
This morning you dared to wound me!
Intruder!
Come out, everybody!
There's an intruder in the house!
Kannai. No stranger was seen entering or leaving the house.
But I saw him.
No one in his house has ever heard of "Shikibu Heinai".
Anyway I thrust him.
To death?
Strangely, no.
We can't even find a stain of blood.
Kannai!
Well, it sounds strange, but he went through the wall soundlessly
Through the wall?
Do you mean he vanished into the wall?
Yes.
Soundlessly?
Yes.
That explains why we couldn't find him.
After all, he vanished into the wall.
You're tired, so you had a nightmare.
No. I'm sure I saw him.
Men! Men!
Men! Where did the intruder go?
Don't you know?
He runs fast!
Will you go to bed, Brother?
It's late.
Umm. How are Mother and Father?
They're asleep now.
Will you tell the servant to bring wine?
Are you still worried about last night?
No. I'm off duty tonight.
I want to sleep well.
Sir...
What is it?
We have guests, sir.
What?
Who?
Where?
At the front.
At this hour of night?
What do they want?
Well, a little conversation with you, sir.
Didn't they give their names?
No. There are three of them.
I'm Kannai.
I'm Matsuoka Bungo.
I'm Dobashi Kyuzo.
I'm Okamura Heiroku.
We're retainers of Shikibu Heinai.
Shikibu... Heinai!
Yes.
When our master visited you last night
you struck him with a sword.
He was hurt badly
and went to a hot spring to tend to his wound.
I sympathise.
But on the 16th day of the next month he will return.
And he will then repay you for the injury done to him...
"And..."
Here the old narrative breaks off.
Well, I didn't see him go out.
He has been writing all day.
I made him hurry.
I'm the publisher.
Oh. I never thought he went out.
Well...
I just dropped in to say New Year's greetings to him.
- Why don't you come in and wait? - I will.
I can imagine several possible endings.
But none of them would satisfy your imagination.
I prefer to let you attempt to decide for yourself
the probable consequence of swallowing a soul.
The man who swallowed a soul...
by: Masoud GR from Japanese to English