Love and Honor

Love and Honor Trailer (2006)

“Love and Honor” is a jidaigeki film by the master of films, director Yamda Yōji, starring Japanese topstar Kimura Takuya.

The story is about a bushi who lost his eyesight, risking his life to fight for his honor as bushi and to protect his loved ones.

The wife of the bushi bravely supports her husband who had become blind in order to fulfill his duty. The bushi discovers the shocking truth after regaining his spirits with the support of his wife. What did he choose to do then?

The film is a very moving jidaigeki which depicts what the bushi fought to protect, as well as the question of ultimate love. We will be introducing to you the summary, plot and the cast of this film.

Summary of Love and Honor

The jidaigaki film “Love and Honor” released in 2006 is based on the historical novel, “Kodamagaeshi” written by Fujisawa Shūhei. It is one of Yamada Yōji Jidaigeki Trilogy, along with “The Twilight Samurai” and “The Hidden Blade”. The film drew quite some attention because the directing maestro Yamada chose Kimura Takuya, the member of the idol group SMAP who is also an actor, for the leading role.

The title “Love and Honor” means the pride which a samurai must risk his life to protect. The story is set in the later years of the Edo shogunate and centers upon the vengeance of a low class bushi who lost his eyesight. As evident in the title, he engages in what he possibly realizes as a losing battle to redeem his pride as a bushi and to protect the bond with his wife. The story is also a depiction of love between husband and wife; the husband attempts to protect the commitment of a bushi for his wife’s sake, and for him the wife devotes her deepest love.

The protagonist ends up blind after fulfilling a task and goes into despair but with his wife’s support, manages to get back on his feet. However, he soon discovers his wife’s secret and decides to confront the enemy in order to avenge his wife’s dishonor as well as his honor as a bushi.

From the pleasant days of the first half, the despair and agony from becoming blind, his knowledge of his wife’s secret to doing whatever it takes to defend both her honor and his honor as a bushi, Kimura Takuya excellently portrays the bushi, Mimura Shinnojō with his natural acting yet with a strong screen presence. After training his sword skills, the character faces the enemy and the swordplay in this climax scene is one of the highlights of this film.

The loyal wife, Kayo who supports Shinnojō at all times is played by Dan Rei, and this film is Dan’s screen debut. Together with Kimura Takuya, their performance is an emotional depiction of love between husband and wife.

Tokuhei, the servant who watches over the couple from afar is played by the talented supporting actor Sasano Takashi. Shinnojō’s aunt is played by Momori Kaori, his master of swords Kibe Magohachirō is played by Ogata Ken, and Shinnojō’s enemy Shimada Tōya is played by the Kabuki actor Bandō Mitsugorō. The talented supporting cast brings the characters to life and their performance is also worth the watch.

The film was a big hit grossing more than 4 billion yen at the box office. This was the highest grossing Shōchiku film ever made. It also received awards from 12 categories in the 30th Japan Academy Awards, and also won numerous awards such as the Silver Award of the Japanese film category in the 25th Golden Gross Awards. The film gained popularity overseas, being selected to be shown as the opening film in the special Panorama section in the 57th Berlin International Film Festival.

2006 Production by Shōchiku Film Distribution

Director: Yamada Yōji

Mimura Shinnojō: Kimura Takuya

Shinnojō’s wife: Kayo Dan Rei

Tokuhei the servant: Sasano Takashi

Aunt Ine: Momoi Kaori

Shimada Tōya: Bandō Mitsugorō

Master swordsman, Kibe Magohachirō: Ogata Ken

Now, we will explain the plot of “Love and Honor”.

The Plot of “Love and Honor”

The story is set towards the end of the Edo Period in the Unasaka Domain in the Tohoku region. Mimura Shinnojō was a gifted samurai, skilled in both the literary and military arts; however, since he came from a low class, he was unable to move up the career ladder and worked as a food taster for the feudal lord. Although he was not content with his position, he led a humble and happy life with his good-natured and beautiful wife, Kayo.

Shinnojō had a dream of retiring his food taster job and opening a training hall for swordsmanship. He wanted to teach sword skills according to various types of personalities and body types, and Kayo was very supportive of his dream.

One day, Shinnojō falls ill with a stomach ache after tasting the food. This creates havoc inside the castle with people speculating that this is some conspiracy to murder the feudal lord, but it turned out that nobody tried to poison the lord, it was the toxin from a whelk.

Shinnojō is carried to his home where he loses consciousness with a high fever but with Kayo’s devoted care, wakes up after 3 days; however, the toxin from the whelk had blinded him.

Finding out that his eyesight is lost forever and being unable to serve as a bushi anymore or live without the care from others, Shinnojō falls into despair and attempts to seppuku. Kayo cries and persuades him to stop, saying that “she cannot imagine life without him and will follow him into death’. With these words, Shinnojō decides not to kill himself.

【Development】The Plot of “Love and Honor”

Since her husband cannot work anymore, Kayo tries to make money. However, relatives tell her to go seek help from the powerful Shimada Tōya, who Kayo is acquainted with. Soon after, the Mimura family receives good news from the castle that they were “to keep receiving the hereditary stipend of 30 koku”. Shinnojō, relieved that he will not be thrown out of the domain, begins to smile like before. On the other hand, Kayo begins to show gloomy faces when she is alone.

One day, Shinnojō’s aunt, Ine informs Shinnojō of the shocking truth that she saw “Kayo walking with another samurai”. This enrages Shinnojō who has complete trust in Kayo, and asks Ine to leave. However, he begins to get insecure and starts to recall how often Kayo is out lately. He gets his servant, Tokuhei to follow her only to find that Kayo had been secretly meeting with Shimada.

Kayo, who noticed that Tokuhei had been following her, realizes she can never keep the truth concealed and decides to reveal everything to Shinnojō. She tells him that Shimada had offered to help but at a price which was shown by him forcing himself upon her. Following this incident, he requested for additional trysts by threatening her that he will tell her husband.

Shinnojō is devasted to discover that their house had survived with the words of the man who had raped his wife. Kayo asks Shinnojō to kill her but Shinnojō replies “the Kayo I know is dead”. He then divorces her and orders her to leave the house.

【Twist】The Plot of “Love and Honor”

After a few days, Shinnojō is shocked to hear from his colleague Kagayama that the feudal lord saved his house to express his warm appreciation towards Shinnojō, who had risked his life to fulfill his duty and took the poison instead of him.

It turned out that Shimada was not at all involved with maintaining the Mimura family’s stipend. He had been deceiving Kayo all along, making her believe that he was the one making all the moves. Shinnojō is outraged with this discovery. To avenge his wife’s dishonor and to protect his bushi pride, he decides to plan a revenge on Shimada by a duel. However, being blind, there was no possible way Shinnojō was going to beat Shimada, who also happened to be a skilled swordsman.

Shinnojō begins training with a wooden sword to get his intuition back for the sword fighting skills he used to have. He eventually visits the master swordsman, Kibe Magohachirō and asks him to give lessons. Shinnojō shows sharp moves for a man who is blind, but also repeatedly misses his sword swings. Kibe points out to Shinnojō, “You are rushing and making unnecessary moves because you are trying too hard to read the opponent. That is a fault you must fix.”

Furthermore, Kibe tells Shinnojō, “If you engage in a duel with determination, you have the chance of winning. A desperate determination means to live”. Kibe, who had been watching Shinnojō’s desperate training offers to cooperate but Shinnojō declines his offer because he has already decided to do it alone as his “commitment as a bushi”.

【Conclusion】The Plot of “Love and Honor”

Soon, Shinnojō requests a duel with Shimada.

On the day of the duel, Shinnojō is taken by Tokuhei to a deserted plain, and there he waits for Shimada. When Shimada finally arrives, he sneers that Shinnojō, being blind will never be able to beat him.

Shinnojō uses the point of the sword to measure the distance, and by relying on the sound and presence to catch the position of the opponent, he swings his sword with certainty. Shimada is taken aback by the fact that Shinnojō ‘s sword skills have improved.

So that Shinnojō cannot sense his presence, Shimada decides to climb on top of the roof of a hut, then attack him from above. Shinnojō catches his presence straight away, bends himself backward and attacks Shimada by making a deep cut on his left shoulder. As he faces Shimada moaning in pain, Shinnojō says “I have avenged Kayo’s dishonor” and leaves without making the final blow on Shimada.

Shinnojō was ready to be called upon by the domain for the crime he had committed and perform seppuku. However, Shimada who’s bushi pride was deeply hurt for losing a duel against the blind Shinnojō does not tell anybody of this incident and kills himself by seppuku. This was Shimada’s way of showing his commitment as a bushi. Since he was despised by many, there was not a single person who tried to pin down Shimada’s opponent, and this incident came to a closure. Shinnojō’s life was finally peaceful once again. He still thought of his wife but was unable to go visit her.

Soon after, Tokuhei hires a female servant. Shinnojō, who ate the food that she had prepared, realizes from its taste that the servant is actually Kayo. Shinnojō takes Kayo’s hand, thanks her for coming home to him, and the film ends with Tokuhei leaving the room crying happy tears.

Cast of Love and Honer

Kimura Takuya

Born on November 13, 1972

Kimura plays the role of the protagonist, Mimura Shinnojō, who is a low class bushi and the food taster of the Unasaka Domain. Becoming blind from food poisoning leads to the divorce with his wife and he challenges the enemy for a duel, putting his bushi honor at stake.

From 1988 to 2016, he was a member of the idol group “SMAP”. Currently, he works as both an actor and television star. As part of SMAP, he participated in the release of numerous hit songs. Kimura starred as the leading role in a number of television series including ”Long Vacation’ and ‘HERO’, and films such as ‘Masquerade Hotel’. In 2017, he won Best Leading Actor in the 27th Japan Movie Critics Award for his performance in ‘Blade of the Immortal’.

Dan Rei

Born on August 4, 1971

Dan plays Mimura Shinnojō’s wife, Mimura Kayo. The actions she took to support and help her husband causes the couple’s divorce.

Dan was the top musumeyaku actress of the Takarazuka Revue. She left in 2005 and in the following year she made her film debut in ‘Love and Honor’ as the role of the protagonist’s wife. For her performance in this film, Dan won Best Leading Actress in the Awards of the Japanese Academy, Best New Actress award and several other film awards. Following this performance, she starred in the film, ‘Kabei: Our Mother’, and played the lead role in the television series ‘Rebirth’. Dan is an actress who can play both the lead and supporting role.

Sasano Takashi

Born on June 22, 1948

Sasano plays Tokuhei, Mimura Shinnojō’s faithful servant who has worked for the family for a long time. He is an important character in the story as he supports Shinnojō’ when he loses his eyesight, and tries to reconcile the broken bond between Shinnojō and his wife.

Sasano used to be a stage actor of the Jiyu Gekijyo. After he left in 1981, he has starred in numerous films, television series and theater. He was a regular in Yamada Yōji’s nationally popular film series ‘It’s Tough Being a Man’ (aka Tora-san series) and ‘Free and Easy’. Sasano is an extremely versatile actor who can pull off both comical and serious roles. He won Best Supporting Actor in the Awards of the Japanese Academy for his performance in this film.

Bandō Mitsugorō

Born on January 23, 1956, Died on February 21, 2015

Bandō plays the domain’s power figure and expert in swordsmanship, Shimada Tōya. He ends up in a duel with Shinnojō for playing a dirty trick to steal Kayo from him.

Bandō was a Kabuki actor and the iemoto of the Bandō-ryu, a style of classical Japanese dance. He made his Kabuki stage debut at the age of 6 and with the name succession, he became Bandō Mitsugorō X in 2001. He played a wide variety of tachiyaku or lead male roles. He is also an acclaimed expert in odori and contributed to the development of classical Japanese dance. As an actor, he appeared in a number of films, television series and theater with a focus on jidaigeki in particular. In this film, he gave an excellent performance as the villain. Bandō unfortunately passed away from illness in 2005.

Momoi Kaori

Born on April 8, 1951

Momori plays Mimura Shinnojō’s aunt, Hatano Ine. The tale takes a big turn when Ine tells Shinnojō about Kayo’s secret meetings.

Momoi made her screen debut in 1971, and with her performance in the film “No More Easy Life”, she became a highly acclaimed actress. She is famous for her unique voice with a touch of ennui. From 2005, she expanded her international career and began appearing in Hollywood films. Momoi also works as a film director, singer, producer and jewelry designer. In 2008, she received the Medal with Purple Ribbon, making her the youngest actress to have received this medal.

Film Review of “Love and Honor”

IMDb（☆7.7/10）

Yamada Yōji’s ‘Love and Honor’ is truly a samurai’s story; Kimura Takuya is Mimura, a samurai who tests food for poisoning by eating it to prevent the lord of his clan from being poisoned. Mimura becomes blind after being fed an off-season food that can become poisonous if not prepared properly. Unable to provide for himself, Mimura becomes suicidal. His loving wife Kayo declares her support for him, offering to follow him into death. Mimura decides to continue on living, but since he is unable to provide for himself and his family, his wife is left to find a way to support the two. “Love and Honor” is a classic tale which follows the story of a blind man as he struggles to find peace of mind by attempting to follow the samurai code.

This is a really good film. Slow paced, just like real life in the Edo jidai. A good story, excellent acting and it gives good insight to the daily life of a low level samurai. There’s a great atmosphere with not flashy but realistic scenery.

If you are looking for lots of action and swordplay, this isn’t for you. But I found this film strangely moving and quite beautifully arranged.

Well worth seeing.

Rotten Tomatoes（☆4.0/5.0）

An impeccably made classic Japanese period picture in which a nobility of spirit is tested amid the most beautiful of settings, revealing the harshness and hypocrisy of a feudal society of the utmost formality and rigidity.

A meaningful samurai movie, which proves that a blind samurai can overpower a highly skilled samurai without the use of sight.

This is a beautiful film. The last film that completes Yōji Yamada’s loose samurai trilogy, this film catches a seemingly cliche theme of a man looking for sight through blind eyes and makes something extraordinary and anything but cliche. The dialogue is poetic and tragic and the story is passionate and heartfelt. The acting, music, and direction were amazing and the cinematography was as good as it gets. Yamada should never stop making period pieces, all three from the trilogy of films with similar themes were mind blowing. This will be one of my most rewatched films in years to come.

Summary

We provided you with the summary, plot and cast of Yamada Yōji’s film “Love and Honor”.

With Mimura Shinnojō risking his life to fight for his honor as a bushi and for love, and Kayo’s love and dedication towards her husband even after their bond is once broken, the film is unquestionably a very touching masterpiece.

We all have something we have to fight for; how does one protect it? This is the question the film might be asking the modern audience as well.