The lord of the Yagyu Clan in Iga discovers the kokezaru pot he used to own contains a treasure map. However, the pot has already been given to his younger brother, whose wife has sold it off to a junk dealer. The pot eventually ends up in the hands of Chobiyasu, a young orphan boy, who is using it as a goldfish bowl. As the chase after the treasure begins, Chobiyasu is taken in by Tange Sazen, a bodyguard who is unaware of the pot’s hidden secret.
Digitally remastered, this film is one of the only surviving masterpieces of Sadao Yamanaka. This monumental work of early Japanese cinema is a spin-off of a popular film series about the character Tange Sazen. While the other films in the series portray Sazen as a nihilistic ronin, The Million Ryo Pot is a comedy drama, where Sazen is characterised with humour and humanity.
You can find the programme notes from The Japan Foundation here.