Shôfû Muramatsu

During the 1880's a young swordsman, Saotome Gengo, on his way to Tokyo stops at an inn in a small town. But he does not know that his prowess has already attracted envious attention and that Senzo, the boss of the local gang, plans to have him killed. Seiji, the disowned son of the innkeeper, has run up a big gambling bill and, to settle it, the hoodlums decide to kill him. He is saved, however, by Hanako, star of the dancing troupe also staying at the inn. Gengo meets Hanako and learns that the troupe cannot open their show because the local police corruptly demand too much of the receipts. After another fight, Gengo sees the police-chief on behalf of the troupe, but is refused. So he suspects that the police and the hoodlums are implicated with each other. There seems no way to open the show until they hear that the governor is coming to the town for a local banquet. They appeal to him and he promises to investigate. It is decided that a duel will settle the matter...

1884. The samurai days have come to an end. Capitalism and democracy flourished across Japan. But in Chichibu, an area just north of Tokyo, samurai spirits still lived. Out of the many schools that taught Japanese swordsmanship, the school of Ono and Kogen were most dominant. Every year, they each selected a master swordsman to fight a dedicatory match held at the Chichibu Shrine. Gengo (Hideki Takahashi) represented the school of Ono. His opponent Danhichiro of the Kogen school was feared by many as the "Devil".

The first story concerns an attractive young woman who works in a Tokyo nightclub. Her plan for a solid financial future has a double whammy. In the second story, a beautiful young woman is employed by an unscrupulous real estate agent to convince male clients to invest in worthless property. The last story is about a widowed geisha who has no real financial worries and who falls in love with a forger.

19세기 말의 도쿄, 기쿠노스케는 가부키계 명가에 양자로 들어간다. 그러나 기쿠는 자신을 향한 후한 평가는 모두 아버지의 후광에 힘입은 것이며 등 뒤에선 모두 자신을 흉본다는 것을 안다. 집안의 유모 오토쿠만이 기쿠의 단점을 솔직하게 지적하고 격려한다. 그러나 기쿠가 하녀와 가까이 지내는 것을 염려한 집안에서는 오토쿠를 내쫓고 그녀를 사랑한 기쿠는 오토쿠와 함께 떠나게 되는데...

A man attacks the shogun, but does not succeed in his assassination attempt. He flees to the mountains and hides in a shed. There he finds an old man and a girl. The latter is the daughter of Shogun's former wife and also has revenge on her mind. The former is also connected to the castle. Separately a girl lives at the shogun's castle and believes in god.