Original subtitles

An Art Theatre Guild and Wakamatsu Productions Joint Production

Production and Direction: Kōji Wakamatsu

Mermaids don't just live in the southern sea.

They also live in the northern lands.

"The Mermaid and the Red Candles" by Mimei Ogawa

It would take many, many steeples stacked one on top of the other...

...to reach the bottom of the sea.

It is in that deep place that the sea folk live.

"The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen

A long time ago, there was a fisherman's daughter.

She was unable to die, and lived for eight hundred years.

"After eight hundred years, I have tired of living," she said...

...and entered the cave of Kuuin temple.

By then a nun, she is said to have planted a camellia at the entrance.

"When the camellia dies, you will know that I have died as well."

Even now the camellia does not wither.

Even now water drips from the cave.

"The Legend of Happyaku Bikuni" - Wakasa folktale

Hikohohodemi-no-Mikoto-sama...

You, who stole the daughter of the dragon god...

I am the woman who stole the dragon god's servant.

Do all those who oppose the dragon god suffer as I do?

Immortality is only suffering.

Unable to die for eight hundred years...

Leading the masses to enlightenment...

Can the sin of eating the flesh of a mermaid never be erased?

Sacred Mother Kannon

How about a fortune or charm?

What about a prayer?

Would you like a fortune or charm?

How about one?

Thanks for your hard work.

No. It's just an apology to Toyotama-hime-sama.

To the enshrined goddess?

Yes. The daughter of the dragon god.

What are you doing?

What a strange getup.

It's for my job.

That woman came back again today?

She believes she's the reincarnation of Happyaku Bikuni-sama.

Not right in the head, huh?

Maybe. She lives with that unclean old man.

Don't get too close. It'll spread to you.

- Stop it. - Let's go somewhere.

No way. I have to work.

That should be enough.

Spring will be here soon.

You'll have to go on living once I'm dead.

You're planning on dying?

All humans die.

Omoro!

Let's eat.

Would you like some more?

You're cold. Were you in the sea again?

I think the salt water purifies me somehow.

Why are you worried about something so trivial?

I don't know.

Why are you so kind to me, with my unclean and corrupt body?

I don't know that, either.

You were the only one who would let me stay here.

Sister...

It's been more than thirty years since my body became like this...

...and you're the same as when I met you.

You must truly be a servant of Buddha.

That's right. You're the only one who believes me.

Are you sure? If you do that, death will spread to you.

Let's die together. No, suck up my spirit and live.

It was the Virgin Mary of Urakami...

No, it must have been Zeus who saved me.

But after that, no one from my hometown in the southern islands...

...not even my mother or sisters, would come near my body.

I left the southern islands thirty years ago, and wandered to the far north.

I was in search of a place to live peacefully...

...but I was chased away because of the change in my body.

But it will be over soon. Death is coming at last.

No, you can't die.

I understand. I really do.

Suck me up! Suck me all up!

Let me die in your place.

Eight hundred years... a thousand years...

No, live longer than I did.

Much longer! Much longer!

One, two! One, two! One, two!

Fight! Fight!

Keep going. The district qualifiers are soon. Do your best.

Omoro!

Omoro!

Forgive me.

I sucked you up in the end, didn't I?

Rather than living a thousand years... Ten thousand years...

You're happier this way, right?

Dragon god!

How many deaths must I see?

How long must I live?

Hey, wait!

Hey! Wait!

No, I'm going home!

It'll be alright.

This cave is supposed to go all the way to Kyōto. Isn't that neat?

It's that creepy cave Happyaku Bikuni entered.

Aren't you a shrine maiden?

So it would be strange for me to go in, right?

Let's just see how far it goes. Come on.

No, I have to work.

Sister...

You called me that at last.

Well, I don't know your real name.

The old man died, didn't he?

The priest said you can come and do the cleaning.

Thank you.

People say you're Happyaku Bikuni.

You must have lived for many years.

If you're really her, you must know when she was born.

During the reign of Monmu, the forty-second emperor.

Don't raise your voice.

I'll kill you if make a sound.

Would you please?

What?

You can kill me.

Are you kidding?

Take a good look!

There's blood on this knife, and it's not from a dog or pig.

It's Yamato blood.

Don't look at me like that!

Why? Why won't you say anything?

Why won't you resist?

Because it's what you want.

Fight back! Scream!

Run away like a normal Yamato woman does from an Ainu.

Ainu...

Run away! Scream!

Why are you silent?

Damn it!

Now you're crying.

You're such a hypocrite.

Sad, huh?

No, it's just painful.

You're satisfied already?

Long ago, we walked this land.

All the way from Izumo to the north.

From Musashi to the north was our land as well.

But the Yamato came from the sea and attacked from the south.

We were driven to the far north and brought to ruin.

We ran to the hills like beasts.

Thick fog pouring from our mouths...

Whole families living in trees together...

The Yamato drove us to the north.

Look at us!

Wandering through the hills with the beasts...

Thick fog pouring from our mouths...

I feel as though as I've seen it.

Very long ago...

A host heading north...

Crossing Lake Biwa, covering the Ōmi plains, filling Tsuruga port with ships...

No, you haven't killed.

Kill me as a replacement for the person you couldn't.

Stop it! Yamato bitch!

I see. Maybe you want to be my friend.

Stop!

I knew you were a hypocrite.

What are you going to do?

Violate you.

Rape you.

Rape?

Please. Let me violate you.

No!

No!

I'll rape you. I'll violate every inch of you, Yamato.

Then my children will fill this land.

No! Stop!

Bear my children!

Bear my children until this land is filled with Ainu.

Yamato bitch!

Give birth!

Open up!

Hey, open up!

Open it! We know you're in there.

Hey, open up!

Break it down!

Why are you hiding in a place like this?

Takeru Kaizawa, you're under arrest.

Get dressed!

I let him in.

You threatened her with this...

No.

- He didn't do anything like that. - No, I threatened her.

I threatened and raped the Yamato woman.

But...

Damn straight. I drove it into her.

That's enough!

- Come on. - Wait!

Stop!

This is the end.

It doesn't matter if I get the death penalty.

My people will all be gone sooner or later.

What are you doing?

Kill me!

If you eat my flesh, maybe you'll become immortal...

Immortal?

Ainu...

Unable to die once again...

Ainu!

Ainu!

You were heading north.

Just like the host on that day when I was very young.

Why do those going to their deaths head north?

Thanks for your hard work.

This is from the priest.

Thank you.

Sister...

Happyaku Bikuni-sama...

How did mermaid flesh taste?

I begged for something to eat.

With no song to sing...

With no food to eat...

I stuck a pine branch in the decanter.

A falcon landed on the branch...

...with a small bird in its talons.

Here's some money.

I didn't think there were any more street performers like you.

But listen to me.

I became a man with a very ordinary woman.

But I've never had an abnormal woman.

Bad legs, blind, crazy, pregnant, sick...

In this fine age of pollution, war, nuclear tests...

...there's no lack of women like that.

But I've wandered the South Pacific and Southeast Asia in search of them.

Do you understand?

You look to me like you must have been born possessed by a fox spirit.

How about it?

If it's not enough I can give you a little more.

Hey, wait!

Wait!

No!

- Be still! - Let me go!

No!

You're such a cute girl.

Let me go!

You should have listened to me.

So cute! So cute!

What do you want?

Are you supposed to be the reincarnation of Happyaku Bikuni?

If you want to stay in this town, you'll forget anything you saw or heard here.

I'm the fox of Shinoda!

I'm Kuzunoha!

Let me die!

Just let me die!

It's just a scratch.

I'm sorry.

I'll suck it for you.

You're...

I'm a fox.

A fox?

Yes, I'm the fox of Izumo.

Drink it!

Please drink up all of my blood.

Then maybe you won't have to die.

Please drink it.

Are you really the reincarnation of Happyaku Bikuni-sama?

No one believes me.

Please help me.

If you're really Happyaku Bikuni-sama, then please help me.

I've gone through so many painful things for so long in my village...

...and now you've appeared to save me.

Please open my eyes, Happyaku Bikuni-sama.

Exorcise the fox spirit from my body. Please let me see!

Please let me go home to Izumo.

I want to help you. I want to save you.

But I don't know how.

Please, at least suck up my life and take it as your own.

I'll suck it up.

Let me suck it up.

It's alright. Stab me.

It's no use.

If you're the real Happyaku Bikuni-sama then you won't die.

If you're just a woman, my eyes won't be opened.

Either way, I'm still just a fox.

Give it to me.

Give that fox to me and kill us both.

I will! I'll give everything to you!

Stop!

I really like you.

- We're still in junior high. - Come on, it's OK.

Sorry. Did it get in your eyes?

That was mean.

It was because of what you did.

I'm going to cram school.

I can get into a good high school, then go to a good university.

And then be a salaryman at a top company.

You get it. My whole life has already been decided.

It's decided all the way to my death.

But what you don't get...

...are men and women.

- So it's OK, right? - No!

No way!

No!

Stop it!

You can't! I hate you!

Fox of Izumo...

You're a part of me now.

So why did you do it?

You're really good.

A part of the fox of Izumo still lives.

Are you really so old?

Did you really eat mermaid's flesh?

Do you believe it?

It would be great to live two or three times longer than other people.

Tell me... why do humans grow old?

Why do we have to die?

I don't want to grow old!

I want to stay this way forever.

Which one of us will be here the longest?

Your body is growing old little by little.

That would be such a blessing.

Have you forgotten it yet?

About me and the dead fox-girl.

Maybe I would have if you hadn't brought it up.

I knew you wouldn't forget.

Think about my position in town.

I can have you driven out at any time.

Well?

You probably don't want to leave the place you took so much trouble to find.

Do as you like.

What did you say?

Excuse me.

What is it?

I want you to leave town.

Please.

It's not a good feeling to be watched by the person who knows your secret.

That's just how it is.

I didn't have to get anyone's permission to be here, so I don't have to leave.

A wanderer like you doesn't have to live here to be free.

What I'm saying is... Japan's a big place.

You don't want money if you've never had it.

Are you saying you won't do it?

If there's a change in the wind, maybe I'll soon disappear.

I'm a man now.

No! No! Stop!

Sleep with me!

Please!

Sleep with me!

How is it?

Thank you.

Now I know the pleasure of violating someone.

That's right.

I've been looking for abnormal women for so long.

Now I've done it with both ordinary and abnormal women.

It's a first for me too. I don't want you to kill me.

That's right... this is a strange situation. I need a cover.

Here, take it.

You'll feel better if I do, right?

Happyaku Bikuni-sama...

Did you really live eight hundred years like in the legend?

How did you feel when you realized you couldn't die?

What you did... what you suffered through... Weren't you afraid?

Sister...

I want to ask you something...

Do you really believe you're the reincarnation of Happyaku Bikuni-sama?

Is that strange?

If you do, then you believe you're immortal, right?

Isn't it frightening?

How does it feel?

Why do you ask?

Awful things have been happening lately.

There's a pervert.

My friend and others have been attacked.

Some girls put on a brave face, but others have committed suicide.

Junior high, elementary school, and kindergarten kids...

Everyone says it's a deviant.

I may be attacked too.

It's strange, isn't it?

Gazing upon yourself...

Until now I thought I wanted to die.

But I wasn't able to find a way to do it.

Maybe just having a way to die was more important than death itself.

- He went that way! - Hurry up and get him!

Beat him to death!

Hey, stop!

Beat him to death!

Stop!

Stop, asshole!

That way!

Get him!

Don't let him get away.

Hey, asshole!

Bastard!

You asshole!

Just go out quietly.

Please...

Please, please.

It has to be this way. I'm begging you as your mother.

Die!

Listen to mother!

You have to die, brother.

You have to die!

Die!

Please die!

Please die!

Please! Please!

You've brought so much trouble to your family.

And not just your family...

...to all the villagers as well.

And not just the villagers...

You've brought trouble to innocent people around the country.

You have to understand!

Please die as your apology!

You're one of those extremists.

Your bombs killed or injured dozens of people.

You think it's alright to kill innocent people for your idealogy?

Do you understand how much the power plant has helped the village?

The village is a matter for the gods and Buddha.

You have to die, brother.

It's a mercy to die by these people's hands.

A mercy?

It's a mercy for us too.

If you're arrested, the whole family will be branded criminals.

We don't want that.

Just shut up and die!

You'll be declared missing.

Everyone will eventually forget about what you did.

Please die!

Die as your apology to the world.

I'll be the one to light incense for you in secret.

Go with your mother.

Come on.

Goodbye, brother.

Go peacefully.

Mother...

He's getting away!

Beat him to death!

Get back! Get back!

- He's got a bomb! - Run, run!

You shouldn't be up yet.

Did you tell anyone?

You won't say a word, right?

You didn't call a doctor, right?

Really?

I don't have anything to do with doctors.

Only people who are afraid of dying go to doctors.

You're not afraid of dying?

Are you?

I don't want to die yet. I can't die now.

I understand.

- You're still young... - No!

I want to live to see this world change.

I want to see a revolution.

What change do you want to see?

I'm cold...

Cold...

Damn it!

Is it cold like this before you die?

Cold...

Am I going to die?

Seems like it.

I thought dying would be a beautiful thing.

I thought dying for the revolution would be beautiful, but I won't be able to.

Cold...

So cold...

I'll warm you up.

Why?

Even my own mother told me to die. Why?

You can't die.

Live. Live and see the change in this world.

If what you say is true...

...maybe I can find a way to die at last.

There was an age when the Yamato cavalry held power.

There was an age when the nobility controlled the capital.

There was an age when the samurai had their way.

I've seen many ages.

But...

...the world hasn't changed much at all.

There is always another waiting to take the place of those in power.

If the world can really be changed like you say...

...I'm not sure if it will be good for me or not.

But if this world can really be changed...

If you can die for that cause...

I think we can find a way for me to die at last.

For that... maybe I've lived twelve hundred years for that.

Please, suck up my life and live.

I want to see the change in the world through your eyes.

Come, hurry and make my spirit your own.

Hurry.

You're very kind.

No...

You're far too kind.

Sometimes, such kindness to others is only pride.

But maybe my mother and the others seeking my death...

...showed true kindness.

You...

You were frightened of living such a long life, weren't you?

Toyotama-hime-sama...

The dragon god's fury still hasn't dissipated, has it?

I live through it yet.

Why do you remain in the dragon god's palace at the bottom of the sea?

Make love to me.

Listen, forget about it! Forget about what happened last night.

I want to die...

I want to die already!

I'll make you forget about what the pervert did.

Harder, harder! Make me forget.

I'll make you forget.

No... no... you'll be dirty.

I'm dirty through and through.

I'm scared! That's enough!

Filthy...

Kill me! I want to die! Kill me!

Forget it! I'll make you forget!

Harder... make me forget!

I want to talk to you.

You know what this is about, right?

You've heard about the pervert.

I knew it was you.

You were the one spreading those rumors.

You think it's my fault?

It doesn't matter. You're the only one who knows it was me.

Don't try to escape.

If you think about it, even with my status and position...

...you were the first to show me the ways of pleasure.

That must mean you're my benefactor.

It's a sad thing to deal with your benefactor like this.

I'm just an inconvenience for you, aren't I?

I want you to think about my status and position in town.

And not just that...

If my true nature gets out...

...there may be people who blame it on ridiculous things...

...like radiation from the power plant.

You're spreading rumors that you're the real Happyaku Bikuni.

You say you want to die as soon as you can, don't you?

I can also say...

...that's the most appropriate way to deal with my benefactor.

I won't be killed by your hand.

You don't get to choose the witness to your death.

Come on, get up.

No, help, help!

It's too much trouble for you to go on living knowing my secret.

I don't want to die!

That's right.

Not wanting to die while heading towards an inevitable death is a sign of a true human.

Die!

We learned in school that there are people who believe...

...in an eternal land across the sea.

An eternal land where people never grow old...

Stop! Stop!

She's coming back.

That woman's dead.

But... she's immortal.

It's over when the flesh is destroyed.

Pull it down!

Sister!

Sister!

Sister...

Where did you go?

Did you return to the land of the mermaids?

Did you die?

Humans have to die, don't they?

They're born, and then they have to die.

Isn't that their fate?

Why do you call me back?

Why do I have to return?

You can't die! You're immortal!

Why?

Why can't I die?

For my sake.

For the sake of those who don't want to die, you cannot.

No, you can't die!

Not until the day this world becomes the eternal land.

Please, give me your immortal body.

Planning: Kinshirō Kuzui Kōji Wakamatsu

Screenplay by Mamoru Sasaki

Cinematography by Hideo Itō

Music by Minoru Miki

Cast:

Eiko Matsuda

Atsuko Asano

Osamu Sakuta

Taiji Tonoyama

Keizō Kanie

Eri Kanuma

Yatarō Kitagami

Renji Ishibashi

Directed by Kōji Wakamatsu

Subtitles by nitroblast for ADC Transcription assistance by quaisnord