(Voice actor) Mr.David Radtke

In modern criminal law, revenge is prohibited. No matter who the defendant is, the punishment is decided by trials. Therefore, if one took sanctions without going through court, that will also be considered crime. However, it was different during the Tokugawa regime. If one was a samurai and a relative was killed unreasonably and the offender was not caught, he could request a revenge to their master and if he received approval, could kill the offender himself. In 1868, in the Akizuki domain of Chikuzen (now Fukuoka prefecture), a samurai named Watari Usui was murdered. Watari’s son, Rokuro (then 10 years old) was able to escape, but he lost his father and mother. Rokuro was determined to take revenge. It was a natural decision for the son of a samurai. Eventually, it was found out that the perpetrator was a member of the Senjo unit within the same Akizuki domain. But the Senjo unit was influential within the domain and had strong ties to anti-Tokugawa regime people, so the Akizuki domain could not impose harsh disciplinary action against them. Rokuro tried to find the killer and take revenge without waiting for the domain’s decision, but those around him stopped him. since he was inexperienced still with the sword and at this rate, he would be the one killed. He spent time training his sword for a while. But during that process, he found out that Naohisa Ichinose of the Senjo unit was the perpetrator. Rokuro pursued Naohisa. Eventually, the era changed from the Tokugawa regime Edo period to the Meiji period. The Meiji government promoted modernization and changed the laws as well, banning revenge as a barbaric act in 1873. In the Edo period, it was a samurai’s honor if one took revenge. But in the Meiji period, revenge would be punished as a homicide. But Rokuro lived for revenge. He wanted to defend his honor as a samurai rather than be tied down by the new law. Rokuro searched for his nemesis while making his living as a rickshaw man in Tokyo. And he learned that the killer of his father and mother, Naohisa Ichinose, was working in the court as a judge. Rokuro knew that killing a government official was a serious crime. But he could not forgive Naohisa Ichinose, living comfortably as a judge for the Meiji government after killing his parents. And on December 17th, 1880, Rokuro Usui found out that Naohisa Ichinose would go to the mansion of the former lord of the Akizuki domain (now near the 6th street, Ginza, Chuo ward, Tokyo) to play a game of go. Rokuro put a memento of his father, a dagger, into his vest and went to the Akizuki domain lord’s mansion.