The Abe Clan

is a 1995 Japanese historical television film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. It is an adaptation of the 1913 Japanese short story "Abe ichizoku" by Mori Ōgai, which had previously been adapted into a 1938 theatrical film directed by Hisatora Kumagai and released by Toho. Plot The film is set during the Tokugawa period. Hosokawa Tadatoshi, feudal lord of the Higo Province., falls ill in the spring of the 18th year of the Kan'ei era. Tadatoshi and his son Mitsunao both forbid Tadatoshi's vassals from committing seppuku, yet after Tadatoshi's death his vassals one by one commit junshu loyalty suicide out of a sense of duty to their lord. The only one who obeys his lord's last wish is Abe Yaichi'emon. After he is treated as a coward by his comrades he also commits seppuku to honor his family. Mitsunao, who has succeeded his father and is now the new feudal lord, punishes the Abe clan for Yaichi'emon's failure to obey this order. The Abe clan shuts itself up in its manor in protest of the unfair treatment as Mituano's troops approach. Cast Tsutomu Yamazaki as Abe Yaichi'emon Kōichi Satō as Abe Yagobei Hiroyuki Sanada as Matashichirō Yumi Asō as Tae Mariko Fuji as O'ichi Renji Ishibashi as Hayashi Geki Keizō Kanie as Abe Gonbei Noboru Nakaya as Hosokawa Tadatoshi Tetta Sugimoto as Takeuchi Kazuma Production The film is a television film adaptation of the 1913 short story "Abe ichizoku" by Mori Ōgai (translated into English under the titles "The Abe Family" as well as "The Abe Clan"), which was inspired by the junshi loyalty suicides committed by Russo-Japanese War hero General Nogi Maresuke and his wife on the day of the funeral of Emperor Meiji. The short story had previously been adapted as a 1938 theatrical film directed by Kumagai Hisatora and released by Toho, followed by three television adaptations broadcast in 1959, 1961, and 1993 before Fukasaku's production. Filming took place in 2003.