If you want to read my review of National Treasure, read this post. In 国宝, Kikuo, the son of a killed Yakuza boss, is adopted by a family of Kabuki actors and competes for decades with his adoptive brother for the title of National Treasure.
Hanai Hanjiro II (Ken Watanabe) was a Kabuki theater star and Shunsuke Ogaki’s (Ryūsei Yokohama) father. He was on a theater performance tour in Nagasaki in 1964.
“What a talented geisha you have in Nagasaki!”
Gongoro Tachibana (Masatoshi Nagase) was Kikuo Tachibana’s (Ryo Yoshizawa) father and the local Yakuza boss who was hosting and looking after Hanjiro for the year-end celebrations.
“That’s not a geisha. It’s my son, Kikuo.”
A rival gang invades the place and kills the Tachibana’s group members, breaking up the group. Hoping for an honest life for her son, Kikuo’s mother sends him to Osaka to live under Hanjiro’s care.
National Treasure: Kokuhō
Hanjiro’s wife, Sachiko Ōgaki (Shinobu Terajima), didn’t know it was a matter of life and death; Kikuo had tried to kill his father’s assassins.
“I can’t imagine him living with us for years…”
Shunsuke and Kikuo began an exhausting training regime. With their parents as instructors, they could barely sleep. From the very start, Kikuo’s natural talent shone through.
“He absorbs everything like a sponge. He’s so bottomless, it’s scary.”
Kikuo didn’t have the blood of an acting family running through his veins to protect him, so he didn’t take a single day off in seven years.
“If you forget a move, your body will remember.”
Shunsuke lived the life of a star with a devil-may-care attitude, a bon vivant who would show up drunk to performances and was annoyed with Kikuo for not taking success for granted.
“We should take out loans and host parties!”
Kikuo was reserved, grateful for his success, committed to his art and to his childhood love, Harue Fukuda (Mitsuki Takahata).
“Kikuo is all about the performance.”
When Hanjiro suffered a serious accident, he took this difference in behavior and respect for the art of Kabuki into account when choosing his successor. Not his son, not his own flesh and blood.
National Treasure: Kabukichō
A tangential relationship between Kabuki theater and the Yakuza has existed for decades. Kabukichō, which means “Kabuki Town”, is Asia’s largest red-light district.
Now controlled by the Japanese mafia, the site got its name because a Kabuki theater was supposed to be built there, but the project never got off the ground.
To this day, there is no Kabuki theater in Kabukichō, but the name has remained, and control over the bars, nightclubs, and brothels is shared with other mafia groups.
Why you should watch National Treasure
I won’t leave National Treasure ending explained or a download link here, but this Japanese film won awards at the five major Japanese film ceremonies.
At the Japan Academy Film Prize alone, it received 17 nominations and 10 wins, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor.
National Treasure trailer
I really feel that you will like this one. So I decided to do this Kokuho review. Go ahead, immerse yourself in the story, the environment and the soundtrack.
And come back later to tell me what you think in the comments. This Japanese movie won awards at the Mainichi Film, Hochi Film, Blue Ribbon, and Kinema Junpo.
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