All language subtitles for Diary.Of.A.Shinjuku.Thief.1969.JAPANESE.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG

GREENWICH MEAN TIME

3:00

NEW YORK

22:00

PARIS

4:00

MOSCOW

6:00

BRAZZAVILLE

4:00

BEIJING

11:00

SAIGON

11:00

JAPAN STANDARD TIME

Thief!

Hurry up! Take them off!

What are you accusing me
of stealing?

Shut up, you son of a bitch!

You must have something in mind.
Tell me what I took!

A plastic pipe.

Take your pants off too!

Fine, I'll take them off.

Pull 'em down further.

Wait a minute.

You think
I've got something in here?

You wanna see what's inside?

How about it?

We're terribly sorry!
Forgive us!

This is Ali Baba

Town of mystery

Someone asks you

Morning in the sea

Noon on a hill

Night in the river

Who is it?

Bero-bero, a little boy

This is Ali Baba,
town of mystery

DIARY OF A SHINJUKU THIEF

Even if we'll fade away...

A SOZOSHA PRODUCTION

Produced by
MASAYUKI NAKAJIMA

Screenplay by
TAKESHI TAMURA, MAMORU SASAKI

Cinematography by
YOSHIOKA and SEIZO SENGEN

Production Design by
JUSHO TODA

In Cooperation with
KINOKUNIYA BOOKSTORE

Starring

TADANORI YOKOO

RIE YOKOYAMA

MOICHI TANABE

TETSU TAKAHASHI

KEI SATO

ROKKO TOURA
FUMIO WATANABE

JURO KARA and the
JOKYO GEKIJO THEATER GROUP

Directed by
NAGISA OSHIMA

SHINJUKU

SUMMER 1968

SATURDAY

5:30 P.M.

This is All Baba

Town of mystery

Someone asks you

Morning in the sea

Noon on a hill

Night in the river

Who is it?

Sir, he's the one.

And who might you be?

I'm your employee.

My employee?

Well, never mind.

- Jean Genet?
- Yes.

Diary of a Thief.

Are we going to the police?

- You're a fool.
- Let me go.

- Three times.
- What?

Before they take you to the police.

See you tomorrow.

How may I help you?

Come on, let me do it.

Come on.

Come on.
Why stay a virgin?

I'll rape you.

We can do it tomorrow.

Tomorrow?

Tomorrow, the day after,
the day after that?

Why not today?

It's my first time.

Think you can make me feel
"the ecstasy blues"?

- I know I can.
- You sure?

THE NEXT DAY, SUNDAY

SHINJUKU

5:30 P.M.

UBU ROI
HOMAGE TO CATALONIA

ARRABAL

THE SEXUAL LIVES OF SAVAGES

ART FANTASTIQUE
ART ABSTRAIT

THE TEARS OF EROS

NEKRASOV: RUSSIAN WOMEN

ATLAS OF HUMAN SEX ANATOMY

Three times, right?

This is quite a selection.

He warned me yesterday
he'd strike again today,

so I think it best
to call the police.

So yesterday was the warning,
and today was the real thing.

Are you a cinephile?

- What's your name?
- Do I have to say?

I'm glad you like books so much,

but these are merchandise.

I'll give you mine,
which isn't for sale.

CONVERSATIONS
WITH A NUDE STATUE
BY MOICHI TANABE

- My name is Okanoue (Hilltop).
- That's an unusual name.

Is this how you write it?

That's right.

Torio Okanoue.

"Tori" as in "bird,"
"o" as in "man."

At school we had a song
called "Hilltop."

The bird in the gingko tree

Sings and sings

I don't sing very well.

I apologize.
That's not my real name.

- My real name is Gropey Shinagawa.
- "Gropey"?

Stop kidding around.
Was it Vickers Hall...?

He wants special treatment because you
share an alma mater. I won't allow it.

"Around the entrance
to Vickers Hall,

intertwined trumpet creepers.

They make me sentimental.

See how they still grow
without withering.

Clear bright skies of autumn,

and the edge of the sea
at Shinagawa Bay.

I lean against the wooden fence

and enjoy the view."

I'd know that much even
if I weren't from the same school.

So that doesn't tell me
whether you are or not.

"Winter exams are close at hand.

I can't understand
a single line of French.

Ah, to be 20 years old.

I went to school for six years.

Sake, song, tobacco, and girls --

that's all I ever learned."

All I learned was shoplifting.

If you're going to use
a false name,

you could at least
use Haruo Sato,

which would be easier
to write in the dedication.

But please take this.

You seem oddly fascinated with him.

Nobody else brings
shoplifters to me like this.

I'm fond of this store
and of you, sir.

You're embarrassing me.
What's your name?

Suzuki.

Miss Suzuki...

you needn't bring
every shoplifter up here.

I'm quite busy.

Didn't he give it to you?

I don't want
to go to dinner with you.

He told us to be friends.

- There's no point.
- I'll wait here until you're off.

WASHINGTON -- SUNDAY 5:30 A.M.

NEW URBAN CENTER SHINJUKU
SUNDAY 7:30 P.M.

I have a date
with a man at 8:00.

- To do what?
- Sleep together.

Is sleeping together that great?

What are you doing?

Your touching me like this
feels better than sex.

What does it feel like?

I almost ejaculated.

That only happens
when I shoplift.

Good-bye.

What about the money?

I don't want it.

How about 2,500 yen each?

I said you can have it all.
Use it for the hotel tonight.

Mr. Birdman Hilltop.

What?

You're wealthy.

You could buy any book you want.

I'm poor.

On a bookstore clerk's pay --
- You barely get by.

That's right.

Nonsense.

- Those books you're holding --
- You can have them.

The book the president
dedicated to "Birdman Hilltop."

There's a textbook on sex.
It'll help you tonight.

Take them.

I get what you're feeling.
- Like hell you do.

"To Miss Whosit Suzuki."

Pick them up.
They're expensive.

I feel humiliated!

Then steal something.

This is Ali Baba

Town of mystery

Someone asks you

Morning in the sea

Noon on a hill

Night in the river

Who is it?

Bero-bero, a little boy

This is Ali Baba

Town of mystery

An unsolvable solvable riddle

Tonight the owl won't hoot

Congratulations.

Wait.
You've got to see me in it.

Like a camel's humps

Or two gourds

How mysteriously
we resemble one another

From the number of our hairs
to what it looks like down there

We even love the same guy

We even say the same things

In our sleep

On a lonely night

We embrace before a mirror

Even a wilted pomegranate blooms

A lonely winter's night

We gouge out
our Siamese cat's eyes

And stuff them in our mouths

The dead give birth in their graves

As long as we

Resemble each other so

There's nothing at all

In the world

The whole world is quiet

A pig's navel

You should have told me before.

So how was it?

Not at all.

I'm asking whether
it hurt or not.

Not at all.

You actually enjoyed
your first time?

Not at all.

Will you clean out my ears?

Not at all.

- Maybe the ear pick...
- Not at all.

enjoys it more than the ear...
or not.

My anger and frustration
aren't going away at all.

PARIS

PRESIDENT DE GAULLE

GREAT VICTORY

- What was that?
- Why's she doing that?

Is she nuts?

Hey, cut it out!

Stop that!

Stop that!

Take her home!

- Let's go.
- You go!

- Listen, you --
- Let me go!

Let me go!

No!

Let me go!

Shut up!

SUMMER 1968 -- MONDAY
UMEKO SUZUKI WAS HELD

AT YOTSUYA POLICE STATION
FROM 4:00 TO 9:00 A.M.

MR. TANABE GOT
UMEKO SUZUKI OUT OF JAIL.

THIS WAS
AT UMEKO'S REQUEST.

I heard about you two

from Mr. Tanabe.

I think I understand
a few things about you.

My approach is very rigorous,

so I'd like you to tell me

a bit about yourselves.

What I think is --
Sorry to do all the talking.

Take off your jacket.
It's so hot.

We must gradually
lift the veils.

After all, a boy and a girl --

it's quite normal and natural.

From what I've heard,
my feeling is that

the young man is too --

I'll put it this way:
He's a pretty boy.

The young woman
is too proper and mature.

That's the fundamental problem.

Well, neither of you
is very mature,

but the young man --

Mr. Mountaintop?
No, Mr. Hilltop, was it?

You're still suckling
at the breast.

You're still a breast-feeding baby,
so to speak.

As for you --
Umeko, was it?

You seem quite mature,
but I don't think you really are.

I don't think either of you
really understands

what's happening.

I'd like you to look at some
of Takehisa Yumeji's work.

Have you seen shunga erotic prints?
- Yes.

- How about you?
- No.

You look at them first.

Yumeji didn't do many shunga.

Yes, they're rare.

This is quite --

Yes, please pass each to her
when you're done.

You too, look closely.

This one kind of gets to me.

- It makes you feel something?
- Yes.

So what she's saying...

about this drawing
seems to indicate

that she has a desire
for group sex.

You also seem to have

homosexual tendencies.

Homosexual tendencies?

Yes, a desire for women.

People call it
lesbianism these days.

This drawing is of two women
and one man.

Since it made
such an impression on you,

I think you have such tendencies.

As for you...

I think you're --

You're still not being honest.

You have to get naked.

One can't become naked
just by talking.

There are still many veils.

At least take off your tie.

Come on.
Make yourself comfortable.

You still haven't bared
your souls to me.

either of you.

I mean...

your waist --
I mean your hips.

they're wide for a boy.

They're as wide as my chest.

Exactly as wide?

- Have you taken your measurements?
- No, I haven't.

But judging from my trouser size --

That's good.

But at the same time,

I think it shows
a certain weakness.

I don't mean to offend,

but I feel you have
many feminine elements.

I want to see
the two of you naked...

in both body and soul.

As for you, Umeko...

I think your narcissism --

that is, loving only yourself.

I think that deep inside you

there are lesbian feelings,

or you're susceptible
to lesbian tendencies.

Maybe it stems
from your bond with your mother

or some other woman.

Then that turned into narcissism,
focusing solely on yourself.

That's why you won't get naked.

I think you want
to protect yourself.

What do you think?

I think both of you

are wearing

a kind of armor
that's weighing you down.

You're both basically
incapable of anything.

That's how I feel.
I want you to undress.

Could you get naked
just because someone said to?

If I'd been alone -- physically,
personally, panhumanly--

I would have stripped naked
right there.

But it’s about whether she and I
can bare ourselves to each other.

Besides, she was a virgin.

She left her cherry blossom
on my sheets.

"Not at all... not at all..."
That's all she could say.

For things to end that way
with a girl like that--

If she pops into my head
over breakfast one day when I'm 80,

I think it would bother me.

People say that without sexual
liberation, human beings won't be free.

If all the girls in the world
stopped saying "not at all,"

the world would stay the same.

I'm sure
Professor Takahashi wanted us

to take the first step by stripping.

He told us to forget
about the world and strip bare,

but it was impossible.

Mr. Tanabe's efforts
were also in vain.

It was a difficult discussion.
I should have ended it.

I didn't have to make such a big deal
out of a cherry blossom.

It's pretty vulgar of them
to come ask us for sex advice.

Yet we don't really
have much choice

but to try to respond.

But nobody present tonight
is really an authority on the subject.

How would you know?

That's insulting!

No, it isn't.

Nobody here
has a great sex life.

Nonsense!

Okay, let's hear what the guy
who said "Nonsense!" has to say.

Do you have a solution
to their troubles?

Well, how do you
define satisfaction?

You're the only one here
who's satisfied.

No, I'm satisfied too.

I'm not satisfied!
Absolutely not!

I am.

I am too.

Let's set all embarrassment aside.
I'll be the MC, okay?

Okay?

I'll take the lack of clapping
as consent.

Rokko Toura...

do you know anything

about sexual fulfillment?

I do, but I --
You continue.

Fine, I'll ignore Rokko Toura...

and pan over
to Masao Matsuda.

Masao Matsuda, are you
or are you not sexually satisfied?

That's not the issue.
Everyone here is sexually satisfied.

- Are you sexually satisfied?
- I'm having sex.

And now, on to today's guest.

Mr. Tadashi Yamazaki.

Are you sexually satisfied or not?

- Sex...
- Are you getting any?

Having sex? I sure am.

In other words, sex is not --

It's not a duty, is it?
- It's --

Do you consider sex a duty?
- No, I don't.

Okay, let's say I tell you
that I love a woman.

Why do you think I'd say
something so embarrassing?

How should I know?

Rokko Toura has announced
that he loves a woman.

I find that rather hard to believe.

If I may be so bold
what is love exactly?

- Well --
- Please answer.

Let's ask Kei Sato.

Love? Love isn't
something you talk about.

Kei Sato
on TV you look as if you've been

bleached out psychologically.

What's that like?

Shut up, boy!

What about it?
- What about what?

You're worse than a boy!

I have my doubts.

On TV,
instead of playing a character,

you look to me like
you're simply being yourself.

So when you appear as yourself,
as Kei Sato,

I'm not sure what to make of it.

- Why?
- It's just confusing somehow.

- That's my intention.
- That's your intention?

What kind of woman do I love?

That's an utterly trivial point.

That's something you either
just understand or you don't.

One doesn't have to reveal
everything about one's sex life.

- You're being difficult.
- I'm what?

- Explain why you're being difficult.
- How am I doing that?

In various ways.

You think I'm being difficult,

but I don't think I am at all.

Well --

You're being ridiculous,
thinking that about me!

Don't be absurd.
You're damn annoying.

When pigs fly!
This is a waste of time.

So, Kei, if your partner
doesn't matter here,

how is sex different
from masturbation?

Let me put it this way:

As a phenomenon,

or physiologically,

during the act of coitus,

you fall into the illusion
of becoming one with your partner.

But I think men and women
experience that differently.

Nonsense.

- Why?
- I think it's nonsense.

- Why?
- I'll explain.

- Please do.
- I'll answer.

Answer, please!

Yes, I'm getting to it.

The question is
"What is sex?" generally speaking.

You mean for me?

I mean, I want to answer
the question "What is sex?"

I'm thinking hard

about what to say.

But since it's not something
I usually think about,

I really have to think hard.

For instance,

when I feel it's "sex time,"

when I think
"just now sex time" --

or her shoulder,
or neck, or tits --

you usually don't see
the nipples --

but even when I see
the upper part,

I think and think about it.

So are a woman's arms

simply there to allure men?

Are they just for embracing men?
No, they're not.

Her arms are for washing cups,
washing this, cleaning that.

Clearly they're there
for that as well.

Simple example:
During the Olympics --

Why is Toura explaining
to everyone how he and his woman

are getting so serious?

My woman and I...

are pretty deeply involved...

but I doubt she's as hot for me
as I am for her.

I even doubt my own feelings.

Because I feel this uncertainty,
I want to go on living.

If nothing's in doubt,
I feel no desire to go on living.

When we talk about sex,
I want to talk about everything...

about how best to live.

That sums it up.

I don't think
sexual liberation is possible.

In the end,
it's up to each individual.

It should be left at that.

I find that much more beautiful.

Things like that report
by Masters and Johnson,

all that information and statistics --
they mean nothing.

So...

Okay... well...

a man and a woman
sleep together,

and there's a result.

I'm not talking about
whether a child is born or not.

I'm just saying...

are they glad
they had sex or not?

That's the point.

You're basically saying
their enjoyment

depends on their partner's genitals.

Earlier you were talking about
the Olympics and arms and whatnot.

You're just talking
about parts and pieces.

Whether her genitals
feel good or not --

that's just something
she was born with.

You're talking nonsense.

Don't you appreciate
something that's well-made?

That's irrelevant.
Whether they're good genitals or not,

good sex means making
the best of them, understand?

Even if they're not the best,
even if they're awful...

good sex means
making them tasty.

Okay, then just what is sex?

"Sex" should end with an S.

It's got to be plural.

That is, a man and a woman.

It can't just be masturbation.

"Having another person watch
can also be enjoyable.

MAYOR OF THE NIGHT
Then there was the 'kelp roll.'

Explanation may be superfluous
but I offer it anyway.

Until around January 20th,
geisha wear

a long kimono decorated
with a thick, heavy sash.

They usually remove
this sash after getting into bed,

but in this case they leave it on --
thus becoming a 'kelp roll'--

which is considered lucky if done
in the first week of January.

When I heard that,
I thought it sounded like fun.

So I agreed.
But that wasn't enough.

So I made a suggestion:

'I'll be the subject
for an experiment.

Let's have everyone
hide and watch.'

Everyone was sure to agree.

So we arranged everything

and called in a young geisha.

The older geisha
hid behind a shutter in the hall

and held their breath.

The young geisha
was cuter than I expected.

I felt it was a bit cruel,

but I’d made a promise.

Now it was my duty
to put on a good show.

To aid viewing, I pulled her out

FIVE DAYS LATER,
SATURDAY AGAIN
To aid viewing, I pulled her out

FIVE DAYS LATER,
SATURDAY AGAIN

onto the tatami.

PARIS -- RAIN
onto the tatami.

PARIS -- RAIN

PARIS -- RAIN
She resisted, so I said, 'It's good luck,'
and she was finally convinced.

She resisted, so I said, 'It's good luck,'
and she was finally convinced.

SAIGON -- SUNNY
She resisted, so I said, 'It's good luck,'
and she was finally convinced.

SAIGON -- SUNNY

NAHA -- SUNNY AND 99 F
She relented, but right in midcourse,

SHINJUKU -- CLEAR
someone in the hallway coughed.

97 F, HUMIDITY 70%
Panicking, I coughed twice as loud.

DISCOMFORT INDEX: 85
We concluded without incident.

After she left,
we had a debriefing:

'Which of you coughed?'

The culprit didn't step forward.
Our game had gone a bit too far.

If she'd heard the cough,

she might have complained
about a violation of her human rights.

Even the older geisha
would be in trouble."

A lonely winter's night

We embrace before a mirror

Even a wilted
pomegranate blooms

A hungry winter's morning

We gouge out
our Siamese cat's eyes

And stuff them in our mouths

The dead give birth in their graves

There's a place across the river.

It's called the Shower Inn.

As it is with cars,
so it is with relationships.

There's an element of timing
in starting the engine.

When the timing is good...

it suddenly begins to rain

at exactly the right moment.

See, when a man and a woman

are caught together
in the rain,

it works out very well.

In other words,

if the woman says
she has to leave,

and it starts raining,

especially if the rain starts

when you're having trouble
keeping up a conversation,

you both suddenly feel
very close.

Everything at the inn
is so well arranged

for the man and the woman.

The owners create
an atmosphere of passion.

They're very attentive
to those things.

They really do their best.

If you can't close the deal
in a place like that, forget it.

That's how good it is there.

As I said before,
in front there's a little door.

It’s like the door to a tearoom.

You walk into an eight-mat room.

Because of how tearooms are built,

it looks larger than eight mats.

Surprisingly,

the entire floor

is covered wall to wall
with futons.

It's-- how shall I put it?

It arouses sexual desire
as if by magic.

If you go there
and nothing happens,

come back and we'll talk again.
But go try.

I stole this
from Dr. Takahashi's place.

Let's do her!

Let's do her!

Help!

Help!

Help!

Don't kill me.

Ali Baba

Town of mystery

Someone asks you

Morning in the sea

Noon on a hill

Night in the river

Who is it?

Bero-bero, a little boy

This is Ali Baba

Town of mystery

An unsolvable solvable riddle

Tonight the owl won't hoot

UMEKO SUZUKI WAS RAPED

BY TWO MEN

WHAT WAS BIRDMAN DOING?

TOKYO, SHINJUKU: FAIR

SAIGON: JAPAN-CLEAR SKIES

I'm going.

Birdman!

BIRDMAN!

UMEKO SAID TO BIRDMAN:

"IS IT OVER?"

OF COURSE,
BIRDMAN DIDN'T ANSWER

"LET'S DO IT."

BIRDMAN: "..."

Let's do it.

SHINJUKU

SUNDAY

You wanna see the goods?
I'll show you.

Juro Kara, pretty boy
of the Showa Golden Age,

has a huge one!

Dad and Mom embraced,
and I was born from a peach.

Wanna pay your respects?
Hand over the fee!

JURO KARA'S JOKYO GEKIJO
PRESENTS SHOSETSU YUI

Terribly sorry.

We'll get you high. Midnight.

Hanazono shrine.
Come and you'll see!

SHINJUKU
MONDAY 5:30 P.M.

BIRDMAN IS STANDING HERE.

STANDING.

What's Mr. Tanabe's extension?

- His extension?
- 2-0-0.

Hello? Mr. Tanabe, please.

This is Birdman Hilltop.

Is this Mr. Tanabe?

No, it didn't work.

Yes, I'm here.
Of course she's here.

Mr. Tanabe said to meet him
at the Capricorn at 8:30.

8:30.

For the longest time

I was a barber

In Shinjuku behind
the Isetan department store

My mama hustled up business

It was a life free of want

On Sundays
not a cloud in the sky

We'd get all dressed up

And draw the housewives in

And enjoy chopping off their heads

Behold, behold

How the razor dances!

Behold, behold

How the heads fly!

"What a tranquil Sunday!

The little birds
are nibbling on scallions!

Long live the barber!"

I...

was hiding...

in the restroom.

DIARY OF A THIEF

I am Jean Genet.

"Convicts' garb is striped
pink and white.

Though it was
at my heart's bidding

that I chose the universe
wherein I delight,

I at least have the power

of finding therein
the many meanings I wish to find:

there is a close relationship
between flowers and convicts."

THE MYSTICISM OF SIMONE WEIL

THE MYSTICISM OF SIMONE WEIL
"The true witness is one

who bears witness within the depths of
poverty, misery, despair, and disgrace."

COLLECTED WRITINGS
OF SAKUTARO HAGIWARA

"I'll tear up my miserable writings

and throw the scraps
into the Tone River.

I'm as hungry as a wolf.
I clutch at the railing and grind my teeth.

But in vain! Something like tears
flow down my cheeks.

I've been contemptible all along!
Men lead heavily laden horses past.

On this cold day,
the sky darkens over the plain."

COLLECTED WRITINGS VOL. 3
"If it would serve to free the human race,

I believe
that even sex with animals,

or copulation in public view,
or incest should be encouraged."

"But if I said here come Mr. Clay
Mr. Tree, Mr. Fish, Mr. Bird,

you would not know
what color he is until you saw him.

He could be Negro or white
because the people put at

two million Negroes as the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad teaches us here

are named after the masters when
we were freed a hundred years ago."

"My loneliness
was clearly trying to move

to a place
where my soul couldn't follow.

I could discern
the reason I had to become angry

in the shape of my loneliness."

TAKAAKI YOSHIMOTO: POETRY
in the shape of my loneliness."

"When I grew up/Because my lover
was a boy/I had to be a girl

Because everyone except my lover/
Became a girl

TAEKO TOMIOKA: GIRLFRIENDS
I became a boy for everyone else

TAEKO TOMIOKA: GIRLFRIENDS

TAEKO TOMIOKA: GIRLFRIENDS
Because I felt bad for my lover

TAEKO TOMIOKA: GIRLFRIENDS

TAEKO TOMIOKA: GIRLFRIENDS
And because he wouldn't
sleep with me, I became a girl."

And because he wouldn't
sleep with me, I became a girl."

"The question of women in the collective
farms is a big question, comrades.

I know that many of you

underestimate the women
and even laugh at them.

But that is a mistake,
comrades,

a serious mistake."

"She takes out from her pocket
the operating Gikuyu razor.

With a stroke
she cuts off the tip of the clitoris.

As no other part of the sexual organ
is touched, the operation is complete.

In a moment each girl is covered
with a new dress by her sponsor.

At this juncture
the silence is broken,

and the crowd begins to sing
joyously in these words:

FACING MOUNT KENYA

FACING MOUNT KENYA
Our children are brave! Hurrah!

Our children are brave! Hurrah!

Did anyone cry?
No one cried. Hurrah!"

"We shouldn't have learned words

Because we learned Japanese
and a few foreign phrases...

I stand still within your tears...

TAMURA RYUICHI: POETRY

TAMURA RYUICHI: POETRY
and return home,
all alone, in your blood."

and return home,
all alone, in your blood."

"Not being a monk,
I can't seek nirvana at will.

Besides, I have a lust for life.
So I ran away.

That night I burned
old letters from friends,

picked up my son, and went
with my wife to an inn.

Within days rumors had spread
that I’d been arrested or killed,

but of Rou Shi there was
almost no news.

Some said the police
had taken him to Tomorrow Books

to see if he was an editor there.

Others said he was taken
to Bei Xin Books

to confirm he was Rou Shi.

Since he was handcuffed,
his case must have been serious.

Some said he might be
released on bail,

while others said he'd already been sent
to Nanjing. Nothing was certain.

More telegrams and letters
arrived asking for news of me.

Even my mother in Beijing
fell ill from anxiety,

and I had to answer every letter
to quash the rumors.

This went on about three weeks.

The cold grew more bitter,

and I wondered if Rou Shi had quilts
where he was, as we did.

Had the tin bowls reached him?

But then we got reliable news:

Rou Shi and 23 others,

on the night of February 7th
or the morning of the 8th,

had been shot
at the Lunghua Garrison.

There were ten bullets in his body.
So that's what happened.

Late at night
I stood in the courtyard of the inn,

surrounded by piled-up junk.

I felt deeply
my loss of a good friend

and China’s loss
of a fine young man.

When my sorrow and rage
had calmed,

force of habit reasserted itself

and resulted in these verses:

'Used to the long,
sleepless nights of spring

I flee with wife and child,
my temples gray.

In my dream a mother's tears, on city
walls the banners of "great kings."

I can only stand and watch
as friends become ghosts.

I angrily face a thicket of knives
in search of verse.

I chant my poem and look down --
such thoughts cannot be written.

Watery moonlight shimmers
on my jet-black gown.'"

Her last name is Suzuki

Her first name is Umeko

Kinokuniya Bookstore.

I'm on the second floor.

I'm locked in and can't get out.

Let's talk outside.

Let's go outside.

Let's talk outside.

Come on, let's talk outside.

We meet again.

I think I've got the picture.

I've never been averse
to love affairs myself,

so I've put up
with you two this far,

but let's bring
our little drama to an end now.

Pervert!

"A real man is sexual,

yet at the same time
something more.

But a real woman is nothing
apart from her sexuality."

Otto Weininger.

Ms. Suzuki, you're acting strangely.
You should stop there.

I've done a lot of wild things
in my time --

well, a few --

and I don't intend
to pursue you two any further.

In baseball,

if you take it easy
in the early innings,

you'll find yourself
losing in the ninth.

Please buy this girl.

That's enough. I get it.

Please buy her.

That's right.

I'm a whore.

A prostitute.

A good-time girl.

I was gang-raped.

Your bodies make a nice composition,
like a swastika,

but I feel bad for the books.

I am those books.

Please buy her.

The game is over.

I knew from the start you were
only pretending to be my employee.

Umeko Suzuki
has just been bought

with this money.

DIARY OF A SHINJUKU THIEF

Now I've bought you.

DIARY OF A SHINJUKU THIEF

GOING HOME...

THERE ARE ODIOUS
THINGS IN THE WORLD

THE NIGHT DEEPENS AGAIN

AS I TRUDGE HOME

One, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight,
35, 46, 150, 1,000, 10,000 people.

Everybody waiting,
doing nothing but waiting,

waiting to see the show:

Juro Kara's Shosetsu Yui.

Idiots. They could
perform it themselves.

"This is the office
at the Hanazono shrine.

Tonight's performance
is canceled.

Everybody please break it up."

But Umeko and I can't break up.

I have 30,000 yen. They say everyone
leaves you when you're broke.

I took Umeko's money
for when I want to leave.

We're not beggars.
We're really thieves.

Mr. Tanabe
couldn't understand that.

That's why he didn’t join us.

I think Umeko wanted
to steal Mr. Tanabe's manhood,

and I wanted
to steal sex from Umeko.

He wanted no part of it.

He taught us many things,

but he might as well
have taught us nothing at all.

Normally we'd split the 30,000
so I could buy a girl for 15,000

and Umeko could buy a boy,

and we could break up.

But rather than buy a girl,
I wanted to become one,

though I don't know
if Umeko wants to be a boy...

May I make an offering
to the spirits?

Why?

Did you kill someone?
- Not yet.

I'd take one of these
and whip it out.

Or wear a woman's costume.
- Are you an actor?

Watching plays, acting in them --
neither is any fun.

Then why'd you act
like a bookstore clerk?

Perfect fit, huh?
- It's obscene.

What are you looking to do?

I want to try being someone else.

- You mean it?
- Yes.

Then you can be Shosetsu Yui.

Don't do it.

There's something wrong with him.

It's all lies.

He's too spineless
to play Shosetsu Yui.

- Oddballs make better actors.
- But he's a rank amateur --

I can see it in his eyes:
the eyes of a thief.

In 80 years of modern Japanese drama
no thief ever became an actor.

We can use that
as a selling point on the marquee.

The word "kabuki" comes from

means "to act boldly
and dramatically."

The actors weren't the shogun's
retainers but social outcasts

chased into the riverbeds.
That's what made them great.

But I won't show you the trapdoor
that leads to the riverbed, you hear?

You have to find your own.

If you don't find it,

and people start praising you

with terms like
"underground" and "psychedelic,"

you'll start feeling you've made it
before you really have.

Head for sale!

Head for sale!

Who are you?

Shosetsu Yui!

Head for sale!

Your head!

- Give it here!
- Get out, you crazy bitch!

Get out.

What a strange face!

"I'm really getting it tonight."

Why are you helping him?

Who are you?
Tell me your name.

Shosetsu Yui.

"It's not just the town that's crazy!"

That's right.
It's you and him and everyone.

I know you.

You ran away, didn't you?
Coward!

You're the one
who killed your comrades.

You watched
as you had them killed.

"You're the one
who had your comrades killed!"

"Don't confuse me
with someone else, hag!"

"Don't confuse me
with someone else, hag!"

Listen to the crow caw
as it flies away!

Call out his name once more!

Once more! All together!

Caw! Caw!

Caw!

"You dare call me a caw?"

- You dare call me a caw?
- What?

Maruboshi, stand up!

Wait a minute.

Let me hear your name again.

What did you say your name was?

Shosetsu Yui.

Yui: "Can anything compare with"
Shosetsu: "Pure snow"

That voice, those teeth,

those big ears,
that strong odor,

that sash, that expression,
those gestures,

that way of adjusting his loincloth
as he walks without using his hands.

Shosetsu was raised
by me, Yozakura.

Impostor!
You're not Shosetsu Yui.

"That's right!"

"Then who do you say
I am, hag?"

Who do you say he is?

Stop!

Get out of the way!

Impostor!
Shameless impostor!

If you were Shosetsu,
I'd recognize you.

You senile old streetwalker!

I'll strike your vital points!

What the hell are you doing?

A blow to your vital point!

Pure snow... can anything compare?

Stay away from her!

JOKYO GEKIJO
SPIRIT PERFORMANCE

AUDIENCE:

1,000 GIRLS

AUDIENCE:

10,000 POLICEMEN

"A man should never leave
his promises in a woman's hands.

A man should only
pass over a woman.

A man should only
pass over a woman."

"Hurry up and pass over."

"This is also true
of that immense woman, the nation.

Man must not serve woman.

What is a woman?"
- I am!

"Chuya, women are a pitfall.

Women do not wait for men."

"Chuya, men are a pitfall!

Men do not wait for women."

"Women, Chuya,
are waiting below

at your feet...

to swallow you up
like an octopus trap.

They just want you.

They're like octopus traps
that swallow men's dreams.

Chuya, there are no women.

Believe me,

there's no such thing
as a woman in this world!"

- Hey!
- I'm going to clean up.

Wait.

Excuse us.

Hold on.
What are you doing?

I said wait a second!

What costume do I wear next?

Believe me,
there are no women.

Neither what you nor I imagine
as a woman exists.

Water sprite!

Pay no attention to her.

All we need do is close our eyes

and pass over her like a breeze.

But after all,
Japan is an island nation.

She keeps her legs crossed
just like a woman

for fear of attack
from the outside.

Europe seems so much better.

Holland, Italy, Germany,
Afghanistan --

they're all just whorehouses
wearing goddesses' crowns.

In the West,
ten women wait for one man.

But in this country,
one woman toys with ten men.

You're not Shosetsu anymore.
Let's go.

- Hasn't it stopped yet?
- It's still dribbling out.

Chuya, believe that
there is no woman.

Powerful men have always
ruled this country,

but in the end,
the country raped all her rulers.

Men today must raise themselves
above the men of the past.

No, pay no attention to her.

Shosetsu...

stop whining like a mistress's son!
- Damn it!

After all, here we have
a fine woman named Ogin.

With your arbitrary theories
about women,

Ogin won't know
what to do with herself.

Your ideas are just those
of a bachelor's utopia.

Weak!

You're just an undernourished
king of weak ideas.

Oh, poor thing!

Oh, poor thing!

Since my family was poor

I went to work in an oil shop
when I was little

They let me out once a year

To go to the winter
cherry market fair

The boss's wife
was a nasty woman

Who suspected something
between me and her husband

I trembled in fear,
year after year

She shot sharp glances at me
as I swept or served rice

And of course
when I looked at the boss

She paid me so much attention
that the boss started too as well

One night, as I returned home
from the baths

He beckoned me
from behind a trashcan

"Ogin, come here
and show me your ass"

I didn’t like him,
but I let him have his way

It didn't hurt
but I pretended it did

In due course
his wife found out

One night I wrapped
my things in a bundle

And went to work in a bicycle shop --
- Poor thing!

The boss this time had palsy

No worries from him

But his idiot son Yochan

Came crawling
under my covers every night

"Yochan, why do you bring
your freezing feet into my bed?"

No matter
how many times I refused,

Yochan would
burst out laughing and say,

"Ogin, let me suck
your 'winter cherries.'

Where did you pick them?

I'd like to buy some
an suck them dry."

"Don't be silly! Like I'd ever be
the plaything of an idiot like you!"

The shoji whooshed open,
and who was there but the old boss.

With a pump in one hand,
he screams,

"Where's the flat tire?"

He grabs my breast and tries to blow
air into it, cheeks bellowing.

"That's no inner tube!"

Yet he keeps puffing furiously.

Stupid Yochan and his pathetic dad
came to blows over whether...

How awful it must have been!

...whether it was a winter cherry
or a flat tire. What a fight!

Without a word

I fled into the night

And wandered down the road

Holding my sandals in one hand

Trudging along,
where shall I go?

I asked the stars in vain

As the night quietly deepened

The quiet Edo night

I got soaked

In the evening dew

It was then that I learned

With a delighted laugh
of recognition

Just how sad

A woman's fate can be

Woof woof!

What are you doing?

Shall we steal it?

DIARY OF A SHINJUKU THIEF

- It's all your fault!
- I'm sorry!

Go find it!

Hanbei, call my name.

Didn't I tell you
to tell me who I am

whenever I cut down somebody
standing in my way?

You tell me to take off this mask.

My hands are too slippery
with blood!

You tell me to show
my face behind the mask.

My hands slip.

I didn't realize
blood was this oily.

Head for sale!

That head is sold!

You want that head?

Or this one?

Which will it be?

I...

I'll have this head!

No!

What big, fluffy snowflakes!

I am Shosetsu Yui.

Please return my husband's head.

Juro Kara, it's my fault
it was stolen.

So don't stop me.

DIARY OF A SHINJUKU THIEF

What's this?
Where'd you get that scar?

This? I was about 18.

I was walking around Shinjuku

when a boy of about 14

started following me.

I didn't realize
he was following me.

I just kept on walking,

and he suddenly ran towards me

He was probably disturbed.

He stabbed me and then ran off.

What did he stab you with?
Did he attack from behind?

Yes. It seems
it was a random attack.

But he quickly ran off,

so I couldn't tell.

Apparently he stabbed
two or three other girls,

and he was caught
soon thereafter.

I later asked the police.

It seems he was an American.

Did you realize right away
you'd been stabbed?

Only when I started bleeding.

But since he was an American,

alone in Japan without his parents,

I think he just kind of cracked

for all sorts of reasons,
and that's why he did it.

So I felt sorry for him
and didn't blame him.

But I do feel something like rage
toward nothing in particular.

After that...

did you perhaps,
because of what had happened,

develop a phobia of men?

I don't think that had
anything to do with it.

So it has no connection
with sex?

No, there's no connection like that.

But actually...

I was afraid of men
for about a month.

So you don't think that that scar
was also a wound to your heart?

Well, it did have
some effect on me.

Not a good one, I imagine.

Not a good effect,
but it was a singular event,

so in terms of
its place in my life,

I think getting stabbed
was a big deal.

Well, in the case --
how should I put it? --

Maybe you should
treasure that scar.

Yes, of course.

Cops, go home!