It is almost unheard of for a ninkyô or jitsuroku yakuza to have an even halfway happy ending.
A killer who only hits people who deserve it is tricked into killing an innocent man. He then seeks revenge against the people who employed him.
In a village subsisting on its herring fishery, a one-eyed criminal named Jakoman terrorizes the inhabitants. One of them, the son of the head of one of the fish companies by the name of Tetsu, decides to overthrow Jakoman and his cohorts.
Young yakuza Shujiro Hanada (Takakura) goes to prison after losing his cool in a rigged gambling game and slashing a few other players. When he's released in 1927, the world has changed. ...