Jirocho Fuji is a 1959 film from Japan directed by Kazuo Mori.
It is a story about the early career of Real Life (but semi-legendary) 19th century yakuza boss Shimizu Jirocho
. The story opens with Jirocho confronting a rival yakuza boss, Yasugoro, as Yasugoro is having lunch with the big boss, Korugama. It seems that Yasugoro is giving shelter to a ronin, Kodai Kogoro, who killed one of Jirocho's men. Jirocho demands satisfaction.
Yasugoro tries to blow Jirocho off, but Korugama allows Jirocho the privilege of having a duel with Kodai for satisfaction. The duel ends with Jirocho killing Kodai, but spilling blood on Yasugoro's household holy shrine in the process. Yasugoro and Korugama basically use this as an excuse to declare Jirocho an outlaw and take over his territory. Who will win? (The famous guy with his name in the title, that's who.)
Machiko Kyo appears briefly as Okatsu, a hostess.
Tropes:
- Conscience Makes You Go Back: An amusing example with the geisha who twice defeats Ishi in a Drinking Contest and steals his wallet when he's passed out. The second time she's leaving when she hears that the big battle between rival gangs is underway. She hesitates, then goes back, wakes Ishi up, and gets him dressed so that he can go save the day (he's dumb, but he's Jirocho's best fighter). She keeps the wallet.
- Conversation Cut: Tokujiro starts telling Jirocho's men how a rival yakuza, Nikichi, has muscled in on the local gambling operation with Korugama's support. The scene then cuts between sentences to a flashback where Tokujiro is learning this story from one of his own men.
- Decapitation Presentation: Subverted. Jirocho's men have killed Yasugoro and taken his head as a trophy, but one of Jirocho's lieutenants tells them that they're in trouble for fighting without permission and burning down a civilian's barn. The head remains in a bag, unpresented.
- Drinking Contest: Ishi gets into a drinking contest with a geisha, because he's an idiot. She drinks him under the table and then steals his wallet. He meets her again towards the end, and because he's really an idiot, she goads him into another contest, drinks him under the table again, and again steals his wallet.
- Duel to the Death: Jirocho gets one with Kodai after he demands satisfaction for the murder of his man. He wins, but gets in more trouble when he spills blood on a shrine.
- Enemy Eats Your Lunch: Done by the good guys. Ishi makes a show out of stopping and drinking from a water trough at Yasugoro's place, in the middle of a huge brawl between the gangs.
- Flipping the Table: Jirocho arrives at Yasugoro's, and demands satisfaction for the murder of his man. Yasugoro and Korugama ignore him, instead concentrating on their game of Go. So Jirocho flips their game board over and demands satisfaction more forcefully.
- Historical Domain Character: Not just Jirocho; his minions Omasa, Komasa, and Mori no Ishimatsu ("Ishi") are all based on real people.
- Jidaigeki: Rival gangsters battle for supremacy in 19th century Japan, in the late Edo period. The changing times are symbolized when Nikichi, one of Jirocho's men, is killed in a big battle by a rifle rather than a sword.
- Neighbourhood-Friendly Gangsters: This film is a romantic portrait of 19th-century yakuza in which the yakuza don't seem to do anything criminal except 1) run gambling dens and 2) fight each other. Gang boss Jirocho gets angry when his men do harm to "straight people" and gives them a "The Reason You Suck" Speech when they burn down a civilian family's barn while fighting a rival gang.
- Roof Hopping: Yasugoro's men resort to escaping via roofs when Jirocho's men show up. Eventually they're cornered and a fight breaks out.
- Smart People Play Chess: And crafty schemers play Go, as Yasugoro and Korugama are doing in the opening scene when Jirocho shows up to demand satisfaction.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Jirocho Shimizu was absolutely a real person but his life has been heavily mythologized in a manner similar to Davy Crockett in American folklore. The real Jirocho definitely did fight turf wars with rival yakuza, but the events of this story are made up.
- Women Are Wiser: As demonstrated by Okatsu in her brief appearance. The two rival gangs are about to start brawling when Okatsu steps out and tells them to knock it off, because if they fight they'll wreck the inn. They comply.
- Worthy Opponent: Koji, who is loyal to Korugama but has respect for Jirocho. Koji insists that they let Jirocho's messenger go when the others had just assumed that they'd Shoot the Messenger. At the end of the climactic battle Jirocho's men have surrounded Koji and are about to kill him when Jirocho calls him off, because Kurogama is dead and the battle is over. Koji for his part hails Jirocho as the new boss before going off with what's left of his gang to bury Kurogama.
- Yakuza: A family-friendly story of 19th-century yakuza in which they have an honor code and don't prey on the innocent.
