As a means of social protest, suicide has long been practiced in Japan. Samurai culture is being reshaped in this film, set in 1703, by the arrival of a new class of traders. As the social order was being re-created, some people took advantage of the social contract's breakdown. Instead of compensation, a wealthy merchant in this tale offers his employee an I.O.U. This happens when an impoverished clerk sends a bill to a businessman who says the clerk is trying to cheat him by failing to pay him on time. Then he orders his henchmen to beat the clerk to death.
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As a means of social protest, suicide has long been practiced in Japan. Samurai culture is being reshaped in this film, set in 1703, by the arrival of a new class of traders. As the social order was being re-created, some people took advantage of the social contract's breakdown. Instead of compensation, a wealthy merchant in this tale offers his employee an I.O.U. This happens when an impoverished clerk sends a bill to a businessman who says the clerk is trying to cheat him by failing to pay him on time. Then he orders his henchmen to beat the clerk to death.
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