A Synopsis

It is July 12th, 1802, the 2nd year of the Kyowa Era in Feudal Japan, specifically, in the Yotsuya district of Old Edo amongst the tightly lined Samurai estates.Ourprotagonist Furuta Kyuzo Masanari (hereafter Kyuzo) -a wealthy elite guard of the shogunate -is under house arrest for dereliction of duty by allowing an unauthorized person into Edo Castle. His fate is as of yet unknown.

As our story begins, Kyuzo`s wife Yoshino has just been told by their son Komanosuke that a man has a message for her. Yoshino hurries to the gate to find no one there. Yet she hears a voice reciting a poem. “Oh Summer night, On the fleeting river of dreams, The warrior goes off into the brightening edge of the Clouds of the West”. The poetic message is from Kyuzo`s close friend Eto who is forbidden to tell Kyuzo directly of the Shogun`s decree that on the following day Kyuzo will be sentences to Seppuku -ritual suicide. It gives Kyuzo one night to ready himself and his family for his death.

Kyuzo has Yoshino prepare his favorite meal. For the first and last time, he shares rice wine with his eleven yearold son. He and his wife talk late into the night and of note Kyuzo mentions a particular folding fan he holds in special regard -a gift from Yoshino and the one thing he wishes to take with him into the afterlife. As his son peacefully sleeps, and the fateful morning inexorably approaches, Kyuzo is forced to come to terms with his fear of death and what it means to be a samurai. Thanks to his wife`s kindness and dignity, Kyuzo is able to overcome his weaknesses and calmly resign himself to his fate.

The next morning, Kyuzo is officially told of his sentence by Eto. Eto also asks to adopt Kyuzo`s son Komanosuke to which Kyuzo is grateful and accepts. Komanosuke is not overly happy with this arrangement wanting to remain affiliated with his father, but is ultimately convinced by Kyuzo.Yoshino is summoned to meet with the overseer Matsudaira. Without Kyuzo`s consent, she requests that her husband be allowed to commit seppuku not with a sword but with the folding fan she had gifted him. (Seppuku is the act of cutting your own belly with a sword. It is extremely rare for someone to actualize the whole act without crying out or not being able to continue to the end. Which is why it was recognized as a suitably honorable way for a Samurai to end his own life. It is also why there was always a second present at the ceremony. His job was to behead the Seppukuist at the first signs of weakness. In the country side it was becoming common practice to not bother with the actual cutting of your own belly but instead to ceremonially do it with a fan or “Sensu” and have your second behead you. Hence the term “Sensu - bara”. It was considered somewhat cowardly.)

Yoshino is asked if her husband is scared to die to which she replies that he is the bravest man she has ever known and at peace with his fate. She then adds that it is merely that he does not want to dirty his ceremonial clothes. Sensing that there is something deeper to the request of this most courageous wife, the overseer agrees to allow it.

The time has come for Kyuzo`s seppuku. Eto, his closest friend, is his second. Time slows into eternity as Kyuzo purposefully brings the beloved fan so thoughtfully arranged by his Yoshino up to his belly...