It is 1855, the year following the Treaty of Peace and Amity between the United States and Japan. 26-year-old samurai Ibuya Manjiro succeeded his father and has been serving at the Hitachifuchu domain's residence for four months. He trains more seriously than everyone else to the extent that he gets on the wrong side of the other samurais.
Tezuka Ryoan, a doctor of Western medicine, distresses his father Ryosen who practises at a public clinic in the Hitachifuchu domain, because of his womanising.
One day, Manjiro, who has joined the training hall of Chiba Shusaku, encounters trouble with his fellow pupils. He crosses swords with a senior pupil and sustains a severe gash after a hard fight. Ryoan visits a reluctant Manjiro in place of his father and stitches up the wound. While this is in fact his first surgery, he handles it with an unerring hand. |