The Million Ryo Pot

The Million Ryo Pot 丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺
Original Film Poster
Directed by	Sadao Yamanaka
Produced by	Nikkatsu
Starring	Denjirō Ōkōchi Shinbashi Kiyozo
Distributed by	Nikkatsu
Release date	15 June 1935 (1935-06-15)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

The Million Ryo Pot (also known as Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryō (Japanese: 丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺, Hepburn: Tange Sazen Yowa: Hyakuman Ryō no Tsubo)) is a 1935 Japanese jidaigeki comedy film directed by Sadao Yamanaka.^[1][2] The plot revolves around a pot, which contains the map to a treasure worth a million ryō, that is lost by its owner and comes into the possession of a young boy, who happens to be under the custody of the great rōnin swordsman Tange Sazen (played by Denjirō Ōkōchi). Unaware that he is in possession of such riches, Tange spends much of his time caring for the boy and bickering with the boy's adopted mother, his love interest, in a manner akin to a screwball comedy. The film is a parody of the more serious samurai films of the time, with Yamanaka transforming Tange from a rebellious, anarchic rōnin (as he was in earlier films) into a child-loving and openhearted homebody.^[3]

The film is the earliest of Yamanaka's three surviving films and he directed it when he was 25 years old, a precocious attainment. In Japan it is considered one of the nation's best films. Kinema Junpo, the leading film magazine of Japan, ranked it the 7th best Japanese film of all time in a 2009 poll of leading critics.^[4] Akira Kurosawa cited it as one of his 100 favorite films.^[5]

• Denjirō Ōkōchi: Tange Sazen
• Shinbashi Kiyozō: Ofuji
• Kunitaro Sawamura: Genzaburo Yagyu
• Reisaburo Yamamoto: Yokichi
• Minoru Takase: Shigeju
• Ranko Hanai: Hagino

Genzaburo Yagyu, who is the adopted son-in-law of a dojo in Edo, received a seemingly worthless jar from his brother as a wedding gift not knowing that it contains the map of the whereabouts of a million ryo left by their ancestors. When the brother discovers the value of the jar, he tries to get the jar back from Genzaburo. Genzaburo becomes angry that his brother wants a gift back but is also suspicious. He threatens the messenger his brother sent with torture and the messenger reveals the truth about the jar. However, his wife Hagino had already sold it to a scrap shop. The pot ends up becoming a fishbowl in the hands of Yokichi, the son of Shichibei, who lives next door from the scrap shop.

Shichibei, a widower, goes every night to an archery booth that is run by Ofuji, where the bouncer is Tange Sazen. One night, Shichibei gets into a dispute with two other customers at the booth. He is attacked by them on his way home and dies. After some deliberation Ofuji decides to take Yokichi, who is now an orphan, to live with her. Meanwhile Genzaburo walks around Edo City in search of the jar and becomes attracted to Oku, who works in the archery booth. Genzaburo later discovers the treasure jar’s location but decides to keep it from his wife Hagino because he doesn't want to be deprived of the freedom to leave the dojo. However, Hagino suspects him of flirting with other women and prohibits him from leaving their dojo.

One day, Yokichi loses an item worth a large amount of money that belongs to a money changer. The money changer blames Ofuji and Tange. The next day, Tange, who has to pay back the money soon, goes out to challenge a dojo for money. The destination is Genzaburo's dojo, and without knowing it, Tange defeats his disciples one after another, and surprises Genzaburo after he finally comes out from hiding. They pretend not to know each other and make a plot where Tange allows Genzaburo to beat him in a duel in return for money. Genzaburo, knowing where the pot is, and now having authorization from his wife, decides not to take it because it would mean that he has to return home to his nagging wife.

Tange Sazen was originally a villain when he first appeared in a newspaper serialized novel in 1927. He was a nihilist and the antithesis of a loyal retainer. He had lost an arm and an eye in a vendetta. It was Daisuke Itō who transformed Tange Sazen into a hero in his 1928 film, Shinpan Ōoka seidan (新版大岡政談). In that film, Tange heroically risks his life for his lord, who then proceeds to betray Tange. Yamanaka transforms Tange Sazen further in this film, making him into a lazy, warmhearted, petulant hired swordsman who squabbles with his female keeper while doting on an orphan boy.^[6] Yamanaka's film also shows fewer sword-fighting scenes than virtually any other Tange Sazen film.^[7]

Mark Schilling of The Japan Times said that the film was "universally considered the best of all the Tange Sazen lot."^[8]

In 2020, Nikkatsu premiered a 4K digital restoration of the film at the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival, including additional scenes (discovered at Kyōto's Toy Film Museum) that were missing from the previous surviving footage. ^[9][10] The Japan Society held the North American premiere of the restored print in 2021. ^[11]

To commemorate Nikkatsu's 110th anniversary, a Japanese Blu-ray of the 4K restoration was released by the company. ^[12]

• The Million Ryo Pot (丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺) at IMDb
• The Million Ryo Pot at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)

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