A Samurai Chronicle

A Samurai Chronicle, known in Japanese as Higurashi no Ki (蜩ノ記), is a 2014 Japanese period drama film directed by Takashi Koizumi. Distributed by Toho, the 129-minute film was released in Japan on October 4, 2014.

Plot Summary

Set near the end of the Edo period, low-ranking samurai Shozaburo Danno receives an order from the domain's prime minister, Nakane. His task is to monitor Akiya Toda, a samurai who has been placed in confinement for killing a servant seven years prior. Toda is scheduled to perform ritual hara-kiri after three years of confinement while working on a mandate from the former daimyo to compile the family tree into a historical record. As Danno observes Toda, his wife Orie, and his daughter Kaoru, he begins to question the official narrative of the past crime and decides to investigate the incident independently.

Production and Adaptation

The film is adapted from the novel Higurashi no Ki by Rin Hamuro, which was published by Shodensha on October 26, 2011, and won the 146th Naoki Prize. The screenplay was written by Takashi Koizumi and Motomu Furuta, with Minami Ichikawa serving as producer. Principal photography took place from late April 2013 through late June 2013 across ten locations, including Iwate Prefecture and Nagano Prefecture.

Cast

Actor Koji Yakusho portraying Akiya Toda — Koji Yakusho

Actor Junichi Okada portraying Shozaburo Danno — Junichi Okada

Actress Maki Horikita portraying Kaoru Toda — Maki Horikita

Actress Mieko Harada portraying Orie Toda — Mieko Harada

Actor Munetaka Aoki portraying Shingo Minakami — Munetaka Aoki

Actress Shinobu Terajima — Shinobu Terajima

Actor Kazuyoshi Kushida — Kazuyoshi Kushida

The principal cast features:

Koji Yakusho as Akiya Toda
Junichi Okada as Shozaburo Danno
Maki Horikita as Kaoru Toda
Mieko Harada as Orie Toda
Munetaka Aoki as Shingo Minakami
Shinobu Terajima as nun
Shiro Mifune as Kanemichi Miura
Hisashi Igawa as Buddhist Priest Kyongson
Kazuyoshi Kushida as Hyoemon Nakane

Additional cast members include Mantaro Koichi, Rei Nakano, Maiko Kawakami, Kenjiro Ishimaru, Kenichi Yajima, and Tetsu Watanabe.

Awards

Promotional scene still from A Samurai Chronicle — Article image

At the 39th Hochi Film Awards held in December 2014, Takashi Koizumi received the award for Best Director. At the 38th Japan Academy Prize presented on February 27, 2015, Junichi Okada won the award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.