Original subtitles

This story is a work of fiction. Any similar names or events are merely coincidental.

TOEI FILM COMPANY, LTD. Presents

- As the Meiji era began, the feudalistic Tokugawa Shogunate was replaced by the new government.

They knew early on that they needed to develop Hokkaido's reclaimed lands

for the sake of the new westernized Japanese Government.

However, the unbelievably harsh weather and sparse population

made it impossible to enter the area and development was substantially delayed.

As a result, the Hokkaido pioneer group's leader, Kuroda Kyotaka

met with Governor Ito Hirobumi and they

decided to send all the prisoners in Japan to Hokkaido to do the work.

In the 14th year of Meiji (1881),

about 75 miles north of Sapporo by the Ishikari river, they built Kabato prison.

This story starts early in the winter

of the 16th year of Meiji (1883).

Two years after the prison opened.

FIREFLIES IN THE NORTH (Kita no Hotaru)

A TOEI / HAIYUZA MOVIE BROADCASTING CO-PRODUCTION

Produced by: TAKAIWA Tan SATO Masayuki

Producers: SATO Kazuyuki Planning by: ZUSHI Mineo YABE Hisashi ENDO Takeshi SATO Masao

Supervisor: Screenplay by: AKU Yu TAKADA Koji

Art Direction: NISHIOKA Yoshinobu YAMASHITA Kenji Lighting by: Photography: MASUDA Yoshiaki MORITA Fujio

Sound Recordist: Ass't Director: HIRAI Kiyoshige SHIMIZU Akira Film Editor: Sound Mix by: ICHIDA Isamu ARAKAWA Teruhiko

Set Construction: 2nd Ass't Director: NISHIMURA Saburo NAGAOKA Shoji Continuity: Set Decoration: Set Design: TANAKA Misae FUKUI Keizo NOJIRI Hiroshi

Tattoo Artist: Wardrobe: MORI Seiji MATSUDA Takashi Fight Choreographer: Make-up by: DOI Junnosuke TOWA BISHO Horse-Riding Instructor: Script Supervisor: WATANABE Takama TERAUCHI Fumio

Music by: Composed by: SATO Masaru MIKI Takashi Theme Song: Sung by: Lyrics by: (KITA NO HOTARU) MORI Shinichi AKU Yu Victor Records

Shamisen Instructor: HONJO Shutaro Dialect Coaches: Traditional Japanese Music: TESHIMA Hideto NAKAMOTO Toshio KATSUYAMA Junko TSUBAKI Ryuji Dance Coach: MIYAGAWA Tamaki FUJIMA Monzo

Publicity: Stills: SASAKI Shiro NAKAYAMA Kenji ONISHI Hiroyuki Production Manager: Production Publicity: YAMAMOTO Yoshio MARUKUNI Kan

TOSA COOKING OFFICE TOEI KYOTO ARTCENTER TOEI ACTORS CENTER In Cooperation with: FUKUI CITY EGAMI TOWN HOKURI MIDORI PLAZA, SHIBAMASA

Cast

NAKADAI Tatsuya

IWASHITA Shima

SAOTOME Ai SATO Koichi

MITAMURA Kunihiko RYU Daisuke

NAKAMURA Reiko TAKAZAWA Junko KARIYA Shunsuke YAMAYA Hatsuo KIMURA Shiro

ARASE NIHEl Masaya SATO Kinzo MIYAUCHli Hiroshi TSUKITEl Happo SATO Kyoichi

ATO Kai AZUMA Ryumei MASUO Toru ARIKAWA Masaharu NARUSE Tadashi INABA Yoshio

HOSHINO Yu FUJISHIMA Kumi MARUHIRA Mineko TSUNAMI Rin WATANABE Takama KUMAMOTO Yoshinari

TANBA Tetsuro

TAKAMORI Mariko TSUKUBA Midori TANAKA Kozue ARISUGAWA Yoshiko ISHIHARA Yu OKAWA Katsuko

MIYAGAWA Tamaki TAKAHASHI Toshimichi KURIHARA Satoshi SEKINE Daigaku SASAKI Shunji FUKUMOTO Seizo KITANI Kuniomi

Tankuro SUGATA Shun TAMURA Yoshimi YAMAMOTO Koichi TSUBAKI Ryuji TSUKASA Yusuke SHIRAI Jiro

MINE Rantaro HORI Shinichi KAWABE Toshiyuki EBARA Masaichi INAZUKI Minoru TAKEMOTO Takashi NAKAJIMA Shunichi

NATSUME Masako NATSUKI Isao (Narrator) KOIKE Asao

NARITA Mikio NATSUKI Mari

TSUYUGUCHI Shigeru

Directed by: GOSHA Hideo

- Charge!

- Attack!

Go, go, go, go, go!

- Come on! Show some spirit!

Don't use your swords, use your body's strength!

What are you doing!

Take off your pants and put a girl's petticoat on!

Hey, stupid!

What are you doing! - Yes, Sir!

- Headquarters sent new guards here...

They just arrived by boat a little while ago!

He is Warden Tsukigata Tengoku-dono!

Hey everybody, say hello to Tengoku-dono!

- Yes, from Echizen Nagaoka, my name is Kumagai Tomosaburo!

- Former Bushu ronin, Yagi Eizo!

- Nagakura Shinpachi...

- After working under the Shinsengumi's vice-leader,

he lived in obscurity in his hometown of Matsumae.

He is a expert of the Shinto Munen ryu.

Hey! Show us your prowess!

- Hey, you ladies,

these are the new girls! Show them to their rooms.

- Wow, it's cold, cold!

- The search party is back!

- We're back, sir!

- Who is she?

- She was unconscious in the snow.

- Is she a street entertainer?

- What is this?

- We were attacked by a brown bear on Mt. Pinnesiri.

- It's terrible!

- Reporting, sir... - Report later!

Treat her now! - Sir.

- Get rid of this! - Sir!

- Then, take a break! - Yes! -Yes! -Yes!

- Chief guard Kagami.

I give you credit for capturing all the escapees,

but you can't be excused for letting them get out in the first place.

According to the regulations, you are demoted to regular guard.

Your salary will be cut in half for one year.

The nine guards in charge of the second cell,

will be punished with a 50%% % salary cut for 6 month.

We will cut 1 cup of rice from the prisoners' rations for next 3 days.

And any prisoners who were in the same cell with an escapee,

will be put in ankle chains!

- Yes, Sir!

What is the punishment for prisoner No. 62?

- Behead him!

- Warden, we can't do that!

Beheading is beyond punishment!

- Who cares!

Nagakura-kun... - Sir!

- You are to execute him.

Prisoner number 62 who tried to assassinate a government official

is a former shogunate official himself.

None of the guards here are any good at decapitation.

The young guards will learn from you. - Sir.

- Tengoku, please leave this task to me!

Prison guard Maeda was killed by Convict 62.

- Tengoku. Guard Kagami is an expert at cutting!

- Alright!

Execute him tomorrow at 3:00 in the afternoon.

All the prisoners in Cellblock 2, his prison block,

must witness his execution.

- Sir!

- Are you the one beheading me?

From a retainer of Lord Aizu to a dog of the Satsuma...

You've betrayed those of the Aizu clan who died

while being faithful to the Tokugawa until the very end!

Shame on you!

- Shut up!

- Have you no shame!

If you're a real samurai, kill Warden Tsukigata, not me!

That monstrous killer is the one who deserves to die!

Hokkaido is filled with the bones of thousands of his victims,

all for the sake of his own success!

- What are you waiting for! Execute him!

- Big samurai... - Shut up!

- Can't you kill Tsukigata?

I know you can't!

You've abandoned the samurai code!

Is survival as a dog now your priority?

- Grab him! Grab him!

- Beat him!

- Shut up!

- Calm down!

- Take your dirty hands off of me!

You're a lousy rat from Fukuoka! Do you think that you're king?

I am a samurai of Lord Matsudaira's Aizu clan,

Kagami Kaneyoshi!

I don't need scum like you to help me!

Let go of me! Stay out of this...

- Wash off the blood.

Get all of it!

- Tengoku, I've brought the woman who was picked up!

Warden, aren't you surprised?

As you see, the highest grade of female imaginable!

I questioned her, but she didn't say a word.

She has this fine quality Shamisen with her.

- It's expensive.

Street performers can't afford one this fine.

- I agree.

Tengoku, look at this plectrum.

Let's leave the warden to find out about her himself.

- That's a good idea, let's go.

- Talk to me.

Where did you come from?

Anything you would like to tell me?

You are not sick. You are not insane.

Did you lose your soul somewhere?

"Kan kan no..."

"Kyuren su kyu wa kyu de kyu..."

"Sanshonara Ei..."

"Saiho shikansan..."

"Penpen taitai nanno..."

"Menko ga kuwaite kyurenso..."

"Kan kan no kyurenso..."

"Kyu wa kyu de kyu..."

"Sanshonara Ei..."

"Saiho shikansan..."

"Penpen taitai nanno..."

"Menko..."

- One, two, one, two... One, two, one, two...

- Change of the guard!

All is serene.

- How does it feel?

Does it feel good?

- Hey! What's up with our order?

- Yes, it's coming right now!

- We're still waiting for sak�! - Yes it's coming!

- Oh, my dear, two or three months not seeing you would kill me!

Can't you come see me sooner?

- Don't make it difficult!

I must go to Muroran and Nemuro.

- Do you have to go that far away?

- I can get a high price for whale oil on the black market.

Without oil, a gun gets rusty. Do you understand?

- Then, will you buy me a coral hair ornament in Sapporo?

- Of course, of course! I'll buy you one.

- You'll be able to see your man in prison this month.

- Do you really think so?

- Tsukigata Tengoku-sama is very considerate.

Thank him and tell your children the good news.

- Yes! Thank you very much! Thank you very much!

- Just to see her man for the one day,

she works here the whole year for nothing.

I don't know whether the woman is stupid or the warden is a devil.

He profits by running this brothel and taking bribes from merchants.

Tengoku's making a fortune from the prison.

- What are you saying? You take bribes, too.

Oh, it's too noisy!

I don't like the song!

- What's wrong? You're in a bad mood.

The truth is,

Tengoku fell for that woman, but it wasn't my fault. I didn't introduce her...

- I have a busy day. Leave me alone.

What are you doing?

- It's all right. Tengoku is having fun with that woman, too.

- Stop it!

Say something before you enter. - Yes.

- She's new, isn't she?

- The black market broker Marutokuya brought her.

She's from Tokyo, so I paid a lot,

that's why I hired her... I didn't check her too much...

- No wonder she looks so polished.

- Are you interested?

- How much?

- Will you buy her out? - Yeah.

- Well...

This much?

- Too expensive. She isn't a virgin.

- But she is only 21 years old.

- Twenty yen is enough. Anyway the warden is milking the profit.

- No matter what you say, I trust him.

Or I wouldn't have been able to live in this hellish place for three years.

- I wonder what makes women so crazy about him.

Is it because he is so well-endowed?

Okami, please give mine a chance.

- Sir, you pay �30 or get nothing.

- Twenty yen.

That's three months pay for a regular prison guard.

- Then, 25, not one yen less.

- 22...

- A civil contractor would charge over �30,000...

and take 3 years for this job.

But prisoners can do it for �2,500 and complete it in one year.

In Kabato Prison, we have a workforce of 1,300 prisoners.

They work seven days a week.

We'll finish Minenobu Road before next summer.

The construction of Kamikawa Road will start next autumn.

Soon we'll have a network of roads throughout Hokkaido.

- I'm impressed, Tsukigata-dono.

As the director of the Development Agency, I greatly appreciate your efforts.

- Sir!

- By the way, is Mt. Pinnesiri, the place inhabited by brown bears around here?

- It's here.

- Are they in hibernation now?

- No. Once they taste human flesh, they don't hibernate.

These 'cave-less' bears hunt in villages year round.

But if they appear, it will be exciting.

My officers are all skilled marksmen.

- Not only gunners, Sir.

We have a famed master swordsman on our staff.

Former Shinsengumi member, Nagakura Shinpachi.

- I see... you are that Nagakura-dono!

- Yes, sir.

- That's great!

Your men are strong fighters.

If this were the age of civil wars,

Kabato would make Hokkaido an impregnable fortress, Tsukigata-dono!

- Madam, hello!

You look great as usual! Even younger than

the last time I saw you.

- The gentlemen from Tokyo are the prison warden's very important guests.

Entertain them well, Kyoto style.

You work hard, don't you?

Maybe, your man's sentence will be shortened by 3 years.

- Lf so, I'd be glad, but...

- Hey quiet down!

- Honestly, I don't think the warden can do it.

My man killed two people because of me.

- I'll tell that to Tengoku-sama.

Your man got 15 years?

- By the way, Madam, who is that woman?

Tengoku-sama seems to be in love with her.

- It's nothing!

It's his bad habit to fall for girls.

I can't be jealous each time he has sex with a new girl.

- I don't think it's a game this time.

- Crabs are passing!

- They could be from Prison House 1. - Women and children, make way!

- Look after this for me!

- Crabs are passing! - What are "Crabs"?

- You'll know when you see them.

- "Red crabs are marching in..." - "Red crabs are marching in..."

TOGETSU INN

- I've really enjoyed myself!

Only you could make me happy like this.

- Thank you for the compliment.

But you've enjoyed only the first stage of my plan.

- No, no, you've done enough!

Now you must cede the spotlight for others and take a break.

- Huh?

- Take a rest!

- Did you say "rest"?

- It means a promotion!

I'll arrange with Minister Kuroda

and the others to prepare your advancement.

- Sir, you don't understand!

Minister Kuroda entrusted this prison to me for at least 4 more years!

- I'm aware of that.

But Hokkaido is going to be drastically changed.

We'll divide it into three prefectures: Sapporo, Hakodate and Nemuro.

- Three prefectures?

- Enough dancing, you may go.

- Is Ishikari district becoming a part of Sapporo Prefecture?

- That's right.

- Have you chosen someone for governor?

- No, not yet.

In Tokyo,

I'll consult with Minister Kuroda and the others before I make a choice.

Tsukigata-dono, you're one of the candidates.

- Will I be governor? - Yes.

- But...

- Excuse me!

Ishikura no Gozen and gentlemen, I will introduce our new hostess.

This is her very first engagement in this salon.

Ko-Yu!

Come.

Please be kind to her!

- My name is Koyu. I'm looking forward to your patronage.

- Are you from Kyoto?

- Yes.

- Before the Restoration, she was the most popular Geisha in Gion.

- Gion... no wonder she is so beautiful!

Tsukigata-dono, not even in Tokyo, can you find such a beauty!

Play something!

Play a song of Tsukigata-dono's homeland.

It's Hakata-Bushi! Please play Hakata-Bushi!

- Yes, but it's a difficult song.

Let me try just the beginning.

- "Hakata... Obi shime..." (Put on a Hakata belt... )

- This is going to be a heavy snow.

- Share this with everybody.

- How about you, Nagakura-san? - No need for me.

- Do you have a personal grudge against Tsukigata?

- Ah... Oyu-san, what's going on?

Oh, these pants are too tight for me.

"Hakata..."

"Obi shime..."

- May I have some sak�, too?

- Oh...

You're really quite a drinker.

- I may not look it, but I can drink with the best of them.

Please look at this.

- What is it?

I see.

As I thought, you were hiding something.

You're the political prisoner's woman.

All right!

I'll let you see him as you wish.

But in exchange, go upstairs and make that dirty old man happy!

- Lf I do that, will you release my man?

- What did you say?

- You can do that, can't you?

- Of all the nerve!

Don't underestimate me.

You can't make me violate the rules even if you cut my head off!

Go upstairs or get out of the village!

Choose!

- Why don't you come to Tokyo with me?

Although Tsukigata is from a samurai family,

in fact, the lowest rank close to farmers,

his career has come to a dead end.

If he were from Satsuma or Choshu, he might have a chance.

But he's from Fukuoka, Hakata.

Prison warden is the best a sewer rat like him can achieve.

After all, he is a clown...

Although he thinks he's reigning over Hokkaido.

- Convict 720, punishment is over. Come out.

Stand up!

- Are you Ojika?

What does the woman see in you?

Let him bathe! - Sir! -Sir!

- He's too dirty to see his woman.

- Hey!

- You devil!

- Watch your mouth! Move it!

- He's from the line of the Tsugaru clan's chamberlain.

Unlike the other prisoners, he is very bright.

You'd better execute him!

- A devil, me?

Kito-san,

when will the last ferry go down the Ishikara River?

- Sir! Tomorrow at 7, for Ebetsu.

After that, no ferries come until next spring.

- Life is short, and death occurs in a flash.

So, day and night, every person literally has

millions of different thoughts.

When this town is buried in snow, tears will break out from my heart.

I see it as a world

where both life and death exist side by side.

- These are red eels!

- They're from the swamp behind the Prison.

- When the convicts in red prison garb die with regrets,

they'll return to this world as red eels.

- Really? - Really? - Really?

- Well, shall we go see our men before they become red eels?

KABATO PRISON

- Listen, everybody!

Today, our warden compassionately allows you

to have visitors!

Be grateful!

- You must not bring in anything without the guard's consent!

Is that clear?

- Listen carefully!

After the body check, you must obey the guard's instructions

and enter the meeting chambers.

Anyone who acts strangely shall be punished immediately!

Do you understand?

- Get us out! - Get us out! - Get us out!

- You can stay until the bell rings!

- Yu!

- Forgive me for coming here so late!

Please be patient.

There's a chance you can be pardoned.

- Be careful!

The warden will know everything we say.

- Don't worry!

I know what I'm doing.

- I'm glad you came.

I never thought I'd be able to see you again.

- It's your father! Call him father!

- Father!

- It's your father! - Father!

- Thank you...

Thanks to the warden's kindness, I can see you again...

Tengoku-sama is a living Buddha! Thank you!

- Eat this dear...

- Convict 130 died of sickness the day before yesterday.

- It can't be.

When I saw him this spring he was fine.

- Lf you want to see him, go to the cemetery.

- Lf he was sick, why didn't you let me know?

I am his wife!

- It's your bad luck to have married a criminal!

- But why?

Why didn't you let me know!

I am his wife!

Why?

- You said there's a way to get me released.

How?

I'm heavily sentenced for helping my cellmates escape from prison.

Hard to believe that Tengoku would let me go so easily.

- Dearest, I'll do anything to get you out of here!

- Anything?

Yu...

I don't need to be released.

Kill Tsukigata...

I'll break out.

- Break out? - Yes, break out of prison!

I don't want freedom only for myself.

I want to free all 1,300 prisoners!

- You'll be executed this time for sure!

- I am... I am ready to die here.

If 1,300 vicious prisoners escape from here,

Hokkaido... no, the entire nation of Japan will be in chaos!

The Meiji Ishin government's policy of westernizing is inhumane!

The way inmates in Kabato Prison are mistreated, symbolizes it!

Destroying this prison, will bring shame on them!

Yu...

If you're willing to die, you can do anything.

Remember your courage when you sheltered me in Kyoto?

You have to fight!

You're a victim of human trafficking because of your family's poverty!

Yu!

Kill warden Tsukigata,

or you...

you'll end up as just a whore!

- Time is up. Come out!

- The boat is leaving!

We won't return until the snow melts next year!

This year's last ferry!

Keep well! - Good-by! Be well!

Good bye! Take care of yourself! Good bye!

- I hear your man got a life sentence.

If you plan to kill the warden, I will help you.

- It's you!

You came to assassinate me!

What for?!?

What for?

- Warden!

- Go... Go!

- Warden! - Warden! - Warden! - Warden!

- Warden! - Warden! - Are you all right? - Warden!

- Warden! Warden! Are you all right?

- This is �22.

- Are you sure? I'll burn her bond of debt.

- Go ahead!

- Setsu, go and put your things together.

Starting tonight, you'll live with this deputy warden.

By the way, sir. - Yeah?

- Is it true that Tengoku-san was attacked and injured by assassins?

- Who told you that?

- So, it's true.

- Not life threatening...

- But why do they keep it a secret from me?

I went to see him, but Kariya-san turned me away at the door.

- Because that woman is with him.

- You mean Oyu?

- She takes care of him day and night.

- That bitch! What a sneaky fox!

- Anyway, a dark shadow hangs over his future.

He'll be lucky to become governor.

We'd better consider our future. - Are you going to betray Tengoku-san?

- Not so loud! We just prepare for the worst case.

Hey! What do you want?

- Sir! The warden woke up and sent me to get you.

- Oh yes, I am coming right now.

Kariya. What else do you want?

- Nothing, excuse me, sir!

- Setsu, don't give him the eye.

Prisoners aren't the only hungry wolves!

Understand?

- Tengoku...

- Kito-san,

the prisoners don't know about my eyes, do they?

- Of course not!

- Don't let them know about the assassins.

Tell the guards not to let them know.

And don't investigate...

- But we must find out who sent Nagakura.

- No questions about him!

Just forget it.

- Sir.

Yes, sir!

- Sapporo...

Tobetsu...

Tsukigata...

and Minenobu.

By the time the snow melts next spring,

we must complete Minenobu Road.

We must start to build Kamikawa Road

from Takigawa... Chippubetsu... to Abashiri.

The 200-mile central highway system must be completed...

within 5 years.

Or development of Hokkaido will fail!

Damn it! Damn it!

I won't give up yet!

I can't die yet!

One hundred thousand farmers are waiting.

Waiting for me to open the roads across Hokkaido!

They are poor farmers who were cheated and sent to Hokkaido

by lying officials of the new government!

If I don't help them, who will build the roads for them?

Blow wind, blow harder!

Cover the whole land with snow and keep the officials away!

Hokkaido is... Hokkaido is mine!

My eyes...

I can't see! I am blind!

But Hokkaido is mine!

Nobody can take it from me!

Yu?

Please stay by me forever!

I'm surrounded by enemies.

I can't trust anyone!

Please be my eyes...

Be my hands and feet...

- Warden! Warden!

It's Kariyu!

- What do you want?

Come in! - Excuse me!

Warden, Chief Inspector Yuhara has just arrived from Sapporo

to see you on an urgent matter!

- Yuhara is here?

Does he know about the assassination attempt?

- No, he said nothing about it.

- That sneaky raccoon is here to spy on me.

Very well, I'll see him!

Let him wait. - Sir!

- The warden is here!

- Hello, Yuhara-san.

What brings you here in this terrible season?

- Tsukigata-san, I received an urgent order from the State Ministry.

I've been assigned here to replace you as warden.

Effective on April first.

But, before that, I think we have something to discuss.

- There's nothing to discuss!

- We know your contribution to the construction of the roads.

But it's outrageous

that over 400 prisoners lost their lives in two and a half years.

The person responsible for your assignment, Minister Kuroda,

will be the Prime Minister when the next cabinet is organized.

You're a jinx for him... - Get lost!

Tell him neither the Prime Minister nor Development Agency Director

can handle the development of Hokkaido!

Only a bad luck charm like me can bring light to Hokkaido.

- How dare you!

- You just relax and come back when the snow melts.

By then, I will have finished the Minenobu Road,

and started the construction of the Kamikawa Road.

After that, even a fool like you can easily finish it!

Kito-san,

please take the Inspector to the Togetsu Inn!

Don't forget to give him money and a woman.

- Yes. Yes! I will do that!

- Deputy Warden Kito,

tell Tsukigata, he'd better send his resignation immediately.

Or else, I'll have the army take over the prison!

- It sounds like a war.

- Tsukigata started it!

This is treason!

Treason deserves death!

- Very well!

- "Yama ga naku. Kaze ga naku..." (Mountains cry, the wind cries,)

"Sukoshi okurete Yuki ga furu..." (and a little later, the snow cries.)

"Onna setsunaku Hokage ga yurete..." (A woman cries as the flame flickers.)

"Shiroi karada tokerukoro..." (and her white body melts in the light.)

"Moshimo watashi ga shindanara..." (If I die... )

"Mune no chibusa o tsukiyaburu..." (bursting through my breasts,)

"Akai hotaru ga tobudeshou..." (a red lightning bug will fly.)

"Ho ho hotaru tondeike..." (Fly, lightning bug, fly away.)

"Koishii otoko no mune ni ike..." (to the heart of the man I love.)

"Ho ho hotaru tondeike..." (Fly, lightning bug, fly away.)

"Urami wasurete moeteike..." (let go of your malice and fly away.)

"Yuki ga mau Tori ga tobu..." (Snow falls, a bird flies,)

"Hitori hagurete Yume ga mau..." (I miss a chance and my dream disappears.)

"Onna itsuka omoi mo tokete..." (A woman dances when her wish comes true.)

"Akai inochi ga tsukirutoki..." (and her 'red' life ends.)

"Tatoe toku ni hanaretemo..." (Even though she is far away from her man.)

- Dearest!

Dear it's me!

Dearest! Dearest... - Get away!

- Dearest, it's me!

Dear, I came to see you!

Dear, did you forget me!

Dearest...

I came to see you!

Dearest...

You're all going to die!

You won't come back alive!

Dearest!

"Ho ho hotaru tondeike..." (Fly, lightning bug, fly away.)

"Urami wasurete moeteike..." (Let go of your malice and fly away.)

- Tengoku-sama...

- Suma?

I'll give you Togetsu Inn.

- Huh?

- You've worked hard for a long time.

- You're getting rid of me?

I see, now I know.

This woman is replacing me now.

Very well!

You two can go to hell together!

I'll watch you from above!

I will not move from here!

- Yu...

You must go back to Kyoto, as well.

You saw the procession of prisoners, didn't you?

Your man is not coming back.

The Minenobu Road will be piled high with their bones.

Death makes all equal.

They'll become respectable under Buddha's care.

Isn't that nice?

- What are you doing?!

- You're serious, aren't you?

Now I know... I'm sure you love me.

Come here.

Come here...

Come here.

Hold it!

Wait...

I want to see your face before you kill me.

If possible, don't kill me!

I love you so much...

I love you.

- "Kan kan no kyurensu..."

"Kyu wa kyu de kyu..."

"Saishonara ei..."

"Saiho shikkarisan..."

"Ippin taitai yango..."

"Menko ga kyuaku de kyurenso..."

"Kan kan no kyurensu..."

"Kyu wa kyu de kyu..."

"Saishonara ei..."

"Saiho shikansan..."

"Ippin taitai yango..."

- Open the gate! Open the gate!

- Reporting from the construction site!

The prisoners can't work without heavy jackets!

They need long johns, gloves, and socks, too!

38 prisoners have died already from the cold and exhaustion!

- We don't have heavy coats or long johns.

Did you say they need socks and gloves? Don't spoil the prisoners!

- But... - I'll go there myself to inspect!

Until then, keep on schedule.

If they fall behind, no guard will get paid for one year!

Go back to work! - Yes, sir!

- Warden, are you really going to inspect?

- I wish we could at least have food for them.

- Northeastern Japan's Ouchi region had severe famine.

I asked the State Minister and the Development Agency to send us food.

But they ignored my request.

It seems their intent is to ruin us!

- I'll direct the construction myself.

- You can't do it!

I know you are... almost totally blind.

- No, I can see!

My eyes aren't that bad!

- I don't care what you say, I can't let you die now!

You have to listen to me this time!

I'll go there with an iron hand and direct them to work harder!

Will you leave it to me?

- Kito-san!

- Saigo Takamori, Okubo Toshimichi,

and Kuroda Kiyotaka... hah?

Just like me, they all came from Satsuma!

They've become ministers while I remain a mere deputy...

I am the unlucky one.

I'm ready to quit!

Why should I die following an insane prison warden?

Ridiculous!

I'll quit!

- Sir, aren't you going to the Minenobu constrution site?

- Setsu, let's go to Karafuto (Sakhalin)!

I have plenty of money.

- You promised to take me to Minenobu with you.

- You have no idea what kind of living hell Minenobu site is!

There's no way out from this hell on earth!

Lf...

we go to Karafuto,

I'll let you run a big restaurant.

Isn't that nice?

Karafuto... Karafuto...

- This snow and the curse of red eels

make everything crazy.

This money is the only good thing around here.

Why don't we go to Karafuto and run a brothel together?

You're more like a pimp than a businessman.

- Are you going to replace the warden with me?

- Yes... But this time, I'll eat men alive, just like a brown bear.

- All right.

It will be fun to be eaten by a female brown bear!

- Setsu... why?

Why... did you... do... this?

- Excuse me, Deputy. I'm Kariya. The warden sent me to get you.

Oh!

What happened?

- He abused me so badly that I couldn't take it anymore...

and tried to escape!

- Get away now! If you're caught, you'll be executed!

- Let me die! Please let me die!

- Run!

- Let me die... - Hurry!

- But... - No buts... Go!

Hurry up!

- Was she your woman?

- No, sir!

- Then, why did you let her escape?

- I felt pity for her.

- Felt pity?

Kariya, are you ready for punishment?

- Yes.

- Wait there!

- No, you can't!

- What does a woman know? Kito was my dearest friend!

We'd been together since this prison was built!

- It isn't right!

- Move it! Go on!

I know...

I know...

You're right.

I will leave... for Minenobu tomorrow for inspection.

I'll make the road before I die and become the soil of Hokkaido.

You must... go back to Kyoto.

You have nothing here. This is a land of nothingness.

No matter how long you wait, flowers will never blossom here.

- Is this all?

- One more trunk.

Wait while I get it.

- Hurry up! If the guards find us, we're finished!

- What are you doing?!

You thieving cat! Put the money back!

- I'll give you what you deserve!

Damn slut!

Drop dead!

Don't you underestimate me!

- Giddyap!

Giddyap!

- "Kankan no Kyurensu..."

"Kyu wa kyu de kyu..."

"Sanshonara ei..."

"Saiho shikansan..."

"Penpen tataite yanno..."

"Menko ga kuwakure kyurenso..."

"Kankan no Kyurensu..."

"Kyu wa kyu de kyu..."

"Sanshonara ei..."

"Saiho shikansan..."

"Penpen tataite yanno..."

"Menko ga kuwakure kyurenso..."

"Kankan no Kyurensu..."

"Kyu wa kyu de kyu..."

"Sanshonara ei..."

Yu, do you know the meaning of this song?

"Kankan no kyurensu" means nine puzzle rings that can't be separated.

It symbolizes the inseparable tie between a man and a woman in love.

"Kankan no Kyurensu..."

="Kyu wa kyu de kyu..."

="Sanshonara ei..."

="Saiho shikansan..."

="Penpen tataite yanno..."

="Menko ga kuwakure kyurenso..."

="Kankan no Kyurensu..."

="Kyu wa kyu de kyu..."

="Sanshonara ei..."

="Saiho shikansan..."

="Penpen tataite yanno..."

- It's coming! Hey! It's coming!

- Hey, pull the rope!

- Hey, what's wrong?

- He's sick.

- Sick? He's only pretending!

You lazy dog!

- Damn you!

- What are you doing!

- Kishi!

Doba! Where is Doba!

- Warden, I see a woman in the snow!

What's wrong? Get up!

Over there...

- Don't move!

Dismount!

- Hurry up!

- It's you...

- As you guess, there was a festival at Minenobu Road!

- Take your clothes off! And drop your guns and sabers!

- Hurry up, or I'll kill the woman next!

- Do as he says!

- Hey young man, hurry up and strip!

You are the stupidest fool.

- Damn you!

- Dismount.

- How can you be so cruel?

- Shut up!

I'm carrying the grudges of tens of thousands of prisoners who were murdered!

- Hurry up!

- Hurry it up! - Hurry up and strip!

- Tie them up!

I'll let them live a little longer.

Let them suffer in the living hell of prisoners!

You're our prisoners... and I'll pass judgment!

It'll be too dangerous to follow the road!

Yakichi, turn left!

- We'll leave footprints!

- Don't worry! The snow will cover our tracks!

Go!

- Get down!

- Hey, get off the horse!

- Tsugaru-dono, where are we going?

- We're going down the Ishikari River to the Ocean!

It's not too far to the river!

- But it's much farther to the ocean isn't it?

- We'll spend the night in Saikaku Village!

- The police will be pursuing us!

- Don't worry! That's why we have hostages.

Get some wood and build a fire.

Sugano, what is this?

- Claw mark of a brown bear.

- This cottage was attacked by a brown bear?!

- No! I heard bears don't attack in the winter!

- No big deal, they don't attack the same place twice.

- Are you sure?

- Yeah, I was told so by a hunter.

- What shall we do?

- Take turns keeping watch.

- Yoshimatsu, go over there! - Yeah.

- It's sak�! I found sak�!

- Hey, Tsugaru, Yu is growing weak from the cold.

Can you let her sit by the fire?

- They act like lovers, don't they?

That's why I don't trust women.

If she were my woman, I'd kill her.

- Dearest, I'm all yours...

Only yours...

Dearest!

Dearest, I wanted you so much!

- Cut it out!

- Let her get what she wants! That untamed shrew set us free.

- Dearest... Dearest, I wanted this!

I could die for you!

Dearest...

Darling...

- Bastards!

- Stop it!

Tomezo!

- Take off your clothes!

Strip!

What's wrong? Do as I say!

- Lf you don't strip, I'll kill the warden!

- Tsugaru, stop him.

- Why hesitate now?

Do you still have a sense of shame?

- Tsugaro, stop her.

Yu wants to die.

She'll kill herself.

Can you let her do that?

Yu is going to die...

Can you let her?

Yu, follow me!

- Dearest!

- Hey, get up, you bastard!

- Tsugaru!

- Dearest, aren't we in Tobetsu yet?

We've walked more than 5 leagues (12 miles).

Are we lost?

- One league feels like 5 in the snow.

I'm sure we're on course!

- Yu...

- Please go on without me!

Go ahead...

Go ahead...

- What are you saying?

We are together.

It's the river!

Under here it's the Ishikari River!

- What?

- It's flowing down that way.

Tobetsu is...

The ocean is that way!

- No, it's opposite!

The water runs this way!

The ocean is very close!

We're close to the sea!

I was right!

- Dearest! We made it.

- Wait!

Wait! Believe me...

I know the Ishikari River better than anyone!

The ocean is not there!

- Yakichi, go!

- No, the ocean is this way!

- The ocean is that way!

It's that way! Go!

- This way! - Just go!

- Dearest...

- The ocean...

The ocean! It's the ocean!

- It's impossible!

- What a surprise.

It's my prison...

Yu, look at that... We're back.

Back at Kabato Prison...

We wandered all night and ended up back where we started.

This is Hokkaido!

It's Hokkaido!

- Dearest, let's get away!

Now that we came this far, they can't take you away from me!

- Right, we can't get caught!

Tsugaru-san, will you come with us?

- Go!

You two, get away!

Try to live...

Live, no matter what happens!

Go on...

- Warden! It's amazing you came back alive.

By the way, the new warden has already arrived.

You'd better go to your room and take a rest...

- Clear everyone out of this prison now!

- I can't do that! - It's an order!

I am still in charge of Kabato Prison!

Give me the keys!

Yu...

Wait here.

I'll be back soon.

- It's you...

You're alive...

You're a lucky man!

But there's no place for you here!

Why don't you go to a fishing port and open a brothel?

That would be perfect for you.

- To place you as warden

those politicians in Tokyo

must have been snowblind!

- What?

- Development of Hokkaido will be set back 100 years.

- Throw him out!

He's blind!

- Yuhara-san...

I wish you a long life.

- He's totally insane!

Shoot him! Shoot him to death!

- I can see, I can see.

Lightning bugs are flying.

Spring must be coming...

It's spring time soon.

THE END