Kichinosuke who came to Amami Oshima as KIKUCHI Gengo feels out of place but rediscovers himself after encountering Tuma. And in 1859, the ships of sugar trade from Satsuma has come again. But the squeezer of sugar cane doesn't work well and though being a woman, Tuma reaps cane to make brown sugar to meet the deadline. Then Kichinosuke asks her to cook rice from Satsuma. The children who helped their parents make sugar are delighted with the rice balls of white rice. Kichinosuke suggests to RYŪ Samin to change the
wooden wheels of the squeezer to iron ones. But Samin tells
Kichinosuke not to make the villagers eat white rice. Though Kichinosuke says the rice is more that he can eat, Samin emphasises white rice is
dream-like food here(*) and asks him not to make them dream because
someday he returns to Satsuma.
Kichinosuke (Ryōhei Suzuki) reads a letter from Ōkubo Shōsuke
Tuma washes a leaf of Japanese banana (bashō**) and hangs the shell of a spider conch(***). She remembers the words of Yuta that her husband comes. One day Kichinosuke receives ŌKUBO Shōsuke's letter from KOBA Dennai but Tuma snatches it away. She thinks he goes crazy when he reads a letter from Satsuma. She
makes him promise not to behave violently and returns it to him. The letter says it
needs time to send iron wheels of the squeezer to Amami Oshima and not to
give people of the island an unfavourable impression of Satsuma domain. It also says that Shōsuke works on the executives of the domain to
make Kichinosuke return to Satsuma. Kichinosuke tells Tuma that it needs time to
receive iron wheels because the domain is unstable now. And he tells her
that she belongs to Satsuma domain also but she says she cannot share
the same dream with him because he will return to Satsuma someday. However she
takes a fancy for him on the other hand.
Kichinosuke suspects the farmers taken by the officials really hide the sugar
Tomiken, elder brother of Tuma wonders why Kichinosike works in the fields but Samin tells him that he teaches studies to children includes Také besides the crop work. At that moment, they see the farmers of a nearby village with cangues and handcuffs (****) are taken by TANAKA Kennosuke, magistrate of the island with his followers. Kennosuke says they keep sugar hidden but Tuma opposes him and insists that he shows the farmers to them as a warning. Kichinosuke suspects it but Tomiken says Yamatonchu cannot understand how people of the island feel and Samin asks him not to concern with the affairs here any more. Tomiken decides to go to Satsuma to appeal Kennosuke's injustice to the domain but Samin stops it by referring to his father who went to Satsuma and never returned.
Tanaka Kennosuke (Yoshimasa Kondō) takes a bag of sugar out of a pot in Samin's house but it is his put-up job.
Then Kennosuke appears and searches an entire house with his followers. He arrests Samin and Tomiken on a charge of hiding the sugar but in reality, it is a put-up job of Kennosuke himself. Dennai tells Kichinosuke about it and says,
"Please stand it, SAIGŌ Kichinosuke."
Kichinosuke is surprised that he knows his real name. Dennai is asked by Ōkubo shōsuke to watch him not to make a disturbance. But Také appears there and Tuma tries to rush in the officie of magistrate that is illegal. Kichinosuke also departs for the office and tells Tuma rushing in the office doesn't solve any problem. But she ignores him and follows Kennosuke and finds Samin and Tomiken, both of whom are tortured and are imprisoned.
Koba Dennai (Ayumi Tanida, right) is asked by Ōkubo Shōsuke to watch Kichinosuke and tries to stop him
Kennosuke tells her that she cannot go out from here alive either. Tuma says she prepares to die and swings up a sickle but it is taken away by Kennosuke. He tells her that he will release them if she becomes his ango (local wife). Tuma says she will die if that's the case and tries to cut throat with kogai(***) but Kichinosuke appears and stops her. Then he advises him to put an end to such a thing. Though Kennosuke says it's the order of the domain, Kichinosuke tells him what he does denigrates the dignity of Satsuma domain. He adds that administers shouls allow people's claims and breaks the lock of the jail with the sickle. Kennnosuke who is angry with it and tries to submit a written statement but Dennai hands Shosuke's letter that says Kikuchi Gengo is Saigo Kichinosuke to him before it. Kennnosuke learns that Kichinosuke is alive and is lost for words.
Tuma (Fumi Nikaidō) intends to rush in the office of magistrate to save Samin and Tomiken
This affair is kept secret to the domain. Samin and his wife learns that Kichinosuke is a man with strong sense of justice and drive. After that Tuma is with Yuta and she sees into the future. In the future she is with Kichonosuke bu later she becomes alone. Later she visits him and asks to make her his ango but he says he will marry her formally. At the ceremony of their marriage, Samin worries about their future but his wife Satochiyogane tells him that Tuma enjoys her life at present. That night Tuma asks her husband to rename her according to the custom of Amami Oshima. He names her Aikana and then reveals his real name.
"Arigassama ryōta, wan-nutu" (Thanks you, my darling), says her.
Kichinosuke and Tuma get married and Tuma is renamed Aikana
(*) As the harvest of rice was very small in Amami Oshima and sugar cane was planted in Amami Oshima. Though Kichinosuke tries to behave friendly and improve the lives of the people of the island, he is still thought to be a stranger who will return to Satsuma soon.
(**) The fiber of the leaf is used for weaving bashō-fu, the cloth of bashō that is light and smooth. The kimono Kichinosuke wears at his wedding ceremony is made of bashō-fu.
(***) This is said to protect the family from evil and the fire.
(****) As far as I know, using both cangues and handcuffs for criminals was uncommon in Japan. It seems the custom was from China.
(*****) A kind of hairpin used for woman's hairdressing. Its point is sharp and can be used as arm.
The image are from the official website of "Segodon".
(Revised on the 24th of May, 2018)