Takemitsu Zamurai

On a New Year’s morning, the wandering samurai Senou Souichirou arrives in Edo’s Katagi tenements, where the residents meet his cheerful manners with fear and suspicion. Kankichi, a carpenter’s son, wonders if he is even human, while the neighborhood cats say he reeks of blood. Souichirou ignores their distrust, pawns his sword, and wears a bamboo imitation in its place as he settles into an ordinary life. He befriends Kankichi and gradually wins over the children and adults, eventually becoming the neighborhood’s schoolteacher. Though the months pass peacefully, Souichirou knows that trouble and disaster follow wherever he goes.