Japanese films - We're broke, my Lord 2023

Daimyō bankruptcy
大名倒産

Daimyō Tōsan
We're broke My Lord

Trailer

Daimyō Tōsan is a samurai comedy from 2023. The Domain of Nibuyama is heavily in debt. The daimyo therefore appoints a previously unknown illegitimate son as his successor and retires. This son is now supposed to solve the financial problems.
The film makes fun of the samurai. We see some familiar faces from the Jidaigeki films and lots of colorful pictures.
The story is based on a serial novel by Jiro Asada, which appeared in the magazine Bungei Shunjū from 2016 to 2019 and was published in book form at the end of 2019. A paperback edition followed in 2022.

Movie Data

Title: 大名倒産 Daimyō Tōsan - Daimyō Bankruptcy
International Title: We're Broke, My Lord
Published: 2023
Length: 121 minutes

Staff
Director: Tetsu Maeda
Script: Jiro Asada (novel), Kentaro Ushio, Kazuhiro Inaba
Musik: Yohihide Otomo

Cast
Ryunosuke Kamiki: Koshiro Magaki/Matsudaira
Fumiyo Kohinata: Sakubei Magaki
Aoi Miyazaki: Natsu Magaki
Hana Sugisaki: Sayo
Koichi Sato: Ikkosai Matsudaira
Kenichi Matsuyama: Shinjiro Matsudaira
Dori Sakurada: Kisaburo Matsudaira
Tadanobu Asano: Heihachiro Isogai
Shinya Kote: Saheiji Hashizume
Midoriko Kimura: Tatsu Tengenya
Zen Kajihara: Daizen, Chuzen, Shozen Amano
Masanobu Katsumura: Suonokami Itakura
Renji Ishibashi: Settsunokami Nishina
Nobuhiko Takada: Ecchunokami Koike
Sawako Fujima: Ohatsu Koike
Ikuho Akiya: Ichinoshin Kuroda
Shinsuke Kato: Shinzaemon Shirota
Hiccorohee: Shino Hashizume
Ryohei Kondo: Shikibu Hasegawa

PLOT

Japan 1840. 21-year-old Koshiro Magaki suddenly gets to know that he is not the son of the fishmonger Sakubei Magaki, but an illegitimate son of the 12th Daimyo Ikkosai Matsudaira, the lord of the Nibuyama fief. The 12th Daimyo himself wants to retire. The fief is in debt to the tune of 250,000 ryo, which according to the film's conversion would be equivalent to around 60 million euros today.
The abdicated daimyo is living a good life with tea ceremonies, calligraphy and flower arranging. The young successor tries to find out the reason for the high level of debt and starts to save money.
In his efforts he is hindered by the puppet masters in the palace and in the capital Edo and is put in a difficult situation by the abdicated daimyo.

Seppuku and Harakiri

The film repeatedly addresses the solution to problems through Seppuku.
Seppuku (切腹) is a ritualized form of male suicide that was widespread in Japan among the samurai class from the middle of the 12th century and was officially banned in 1868.
A man who had lost face because of a dereliction of duty could restore his family's honor through seppuku. Seppuku was a punishment for breaking the law and was also committed by followers who had lost their daimyo and followed him to his death if he had given them written permission.
The term harakiri (腹切り, from 腹 hara "belly" and 切る kiru "cut" - reverse order of the kanji) is used primarily in Europe and America. It goes back to Christian missionaries in Japan, who wanted to express their aversion to this practice..
Most non-Japanese subtitle versions speak of harakiri, whereas the original Japanese audio version always uses the term seppuku.

Salmon from Murakami

The fictional domain of Nibuyama in the film is located in what is now Niigata Prefecture.
The coastal town of Murakami there is known for its salmon, which is caught in the rivers, treated with salt and dried in the air. This method has been used for over a thousand years. This salmon is known as shiobiki-zake (塩引き鮭). The local climate and the geographical characteristics of the region have given rise to this speciality (see, for example, Bündnerfleisch, Grison meat).
The salmons are treated with coarse-grained salt and hung on roof eaves and ceiling beams to dry. The taste of shiobiki-zake differs from other salmon preparations such as aramaki-zake (荒巻き鮭, salted salmon) or shio-zake (塩鮭, salted salmon). The mighty salmon that dangle from ceilings and roof beams in many places are part of the cityscape in Murakami.