What Did the Movie "Kokoku" Leave Unsaid? Decoding the Blanks and the Finale

The movie "Kokoku." I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the visuals and the authentic performances of the actors. However, as the story progressed, I gradually felt left behind outside of that world. There were many omissions in the story, and I couldn't quite connect with the emotional journeys of the characters.

Frustrated by that, I picked up the original novel and searched for meaning in the gaps of the story.Then, upon my second viewing, it struck me as deeply as if it were a completely different film. This note is an explanation of the insights I gained at that time. Whether you felt left behind by the story like I did, or you have already enjoyed "Kokoku" as a masterpiece, I hope this serves as a clue to savoring this work more deeply.

And at the end, I decode the meaning of the final scene, which I suspect most people have not noticed. Please stay with me until the end.

※Please note that the following contains full spoilers.

◉ Why did Harue leave Kikuo?

Watching the movie, this was the first point that bothered me. Harue (Mitsuki Takahata), who had gotten a tattoo with Kikuo (Ryo Yoshizawa) in their youth and even said, "I can't live without Kiku-chan," left with Shunsuke (Ryusei Yokohama). Why did she do that?

First, it is important to understand that Harue did not betray Kikuo. The evidence for this lies in the fact that she turned down Kikuo's marriage proposal just before she disappeared.

On the futon in their apartment, Harue replies to the proposal: "Kiku-chan is an actor. You are at a crucial point in your career. I will work hard and become your biggest supporter." However, we cannot take these words at face value. While it is certainly a crucial time for Kikuo, if they truly loved each other, they could have married when the timing was right.

Perhaps Harue thought: "Kikuo, who is forging ahead on the path of art, no longer needs me. It is best for him if I step aside." There is a scene that suggests this. When Harue comes to Osaka and reunites with Kikuo in the apartment after a long time, Kikuo only talks excitedly about his rehearsals and does not look at Harue. And even when he proposes, although they are together, they do not try to meet each other's eyes. Harue may have already seen through the essence of Kikuo, who later said that he needed nothing but to become better at Kabuki through his "deal with the devil."

The morning after she turned down the proposal, Harue does not see Kikuo off as he leaves; she stands with tears in her eyes, her shoulders trembling. I believe that was the moment their relationship as a man and woman completely ended. Knowing that she was not needed by the Kikuo she had intended to follow anywhere, Harue must have been deeply hurt.

A while later, Shunsuke, heartbroken after not being chosen by his father as a substitute, comes to see Harue. "Just sheltering from the rain," "Come in," "Yeah, I'll go home. See ya." A brief near-miss between two wounded people. Perhaps Harue realized later that Shunsuke had come to rely on her at that moment. While her relationship with Kikuo, who no longer needed her, had ended, Shunsuke needed her.

Then, the scene where Kikuo performs as the substitute in "Sonezaki Shinju." Seeing Kikuo's art from the audience, Shunsuke is cast into the depths of despair. However, Harue was also sitting there, deeply hurt and having lost her way in life. Yet, she did not despair and was trying to live a new life once more. That is why she was able to respond to Shunsuke's tearful words, "I'm not running away," with "I know..." At that moment, Shunsuke looks surprised. Then, as if to emphasize it, Harue says "I know" once more. Only Harue understands him. It was because that conviction was born that Shunsuke was able to reveal the depths of his heart, saying, "I want to become a real actor." Harue accepted those words, and I believe she decided to bet her next life on supporting him. The day Harue took his hand was not a "betrayal" or an "escape," but a "fresh start in life." Isn't that what it was?

◉ Why did Shunsuke return to the Kabuki world?

Eight years after Shunsuke disappeared, Byakko (Ken Watanabe) vomits blood during the name-succession performance, is carried off stage while muttering "Shun-bon... Shun-bon..." and passes away. Two years later, Shunsuke finally returns. Why did he decide to return at this timing, even though he didn't show his face at his father's funeral? The answer is, because he had become a "real actor.", I think.

The key to understanding this is "The Lion's Cub Drop." The play "Renjishi" that Shunsuke performed with his father when he was a teenager. The white-haired parent lion and the red-haired cub lion were both shaking their manes magnificently. In this play, the white parent lion drops its cub into a valley and waits for it to climb back up. It is likely no coincidence that the father who played this white lion later succeeds to the name "Byakko."

The father choosing Kikuo as the substitute was not because he had given up on Shunsuke as his successor. Rather, it was the "cub drop" itself. It was a ruthless choice to teach the severity of the path of art to Shunsuke, who had shown weakness in various places, such as standing on stage with a hangover. His father must have believed in and waited for Shunsuke to overcome adversity and climb back up.

When Byakko was vomiting blood and dying, Shunsuke was touring strip clubs. Not being there for his father's death and missing the funeral must have been a painful decision, but he was likely in the middle of desperately climbing the cliff. Two years later, he returns as a "real actor." The fact that he was immediately taken in by Mankiku is the best proof of this. Kikuo also says, "It's Mankiku-san. He must have judged him after seeing him."Shunsuke was the "world's biggest unfilial son" for not making it to his father's final moments, but he climbed the cliff with his own power and reached the place where his father was waiting.

◉ Why was Kikuo only given bit parts?

Shunsuke, who returned after ten years, appeared on television as the prince of the Kabuki world and was taken in by Mankiku. Meanwhile, Kikuo is putting on makeup in a shabby communal dressing room. There is no trace of the young star he once was. It is exactly as the saying goes: "No blood means no head." However, would Kikuo, who had art that surpassed Shunsuke and was so celebrated by the public, fall so easily just by losing Byakko's backing?

Another reason why Kikuo was pushed into bit parts where he didn't even get lines. It is expressed in the line by Takeno (Takahiro Miura): "People think you stole the name Hanjiro from the previous generation." This is, of course, different from the truth, but cold gazes were likely directed at Kikuo, who was an existence outside the order of the Kabuki world..

Furthermore, there is another hidden reason. It is that “Mankiku (Min Tanaka) is performing a ‘child-dropping.’” In this story, there is a contrasting structure where Byakko drops Shunsuke off a cliff, and Mankiku drops Kikuo off a cliff.

When Kikuo leads Byakko by the hand onto the stage at the succession ceremony, Mankiku stares at him intently. However, Kikuo looks away as if terrified. This is likely an implication that “Kikuo does not yet have the skill to inherit the name of Hanjiro.” In the first place, the double succession was born from Byakko’s ambition to “bloom once more,” and Kikuo himself had not reached the level of ability to be promoted from “Ichi” (Toichiro) to “Ni” (Hanjiro). When Byakko vomits blood at that ceremony, while other actors panic, Mankiku only moves his head slightly. Mankiku watches Kikuo with a cold gaze as Kikuo sheds tears, saying “Shun-bon… Shun-bon…” to the groaning Byakko.

If there is anyone who can promote Kikuo, who has the art even without the bloodline, it is none other than Mankiku. However, he likely would not lend a hand until Kikuo possessed the art worthy of the name.

On the other hand, Mankiku selects Shunsuke, who has returned as a “true actor,” and trains him. Kikuo watches this from the side. Recognizing his presence, Mankiku speaks to Shunsuke, but clearly in a way that Kikuo can hear, explaining the path of an actor. “You hate Kabuki so much, don’t you? But that’s fine. You’ll still do it. That’s what we actors are, isn’t it—to stand on stage regardless.” This was likely Mankiku’s own way of encouraging Kikuo, who had even had his scandals exposed, to climb back up. After this, Kikuo is banished from the Kabuki world, but as if following Mankiku’s words, he continues to stand on stages in rural traveling troupes.

◉ Why was Kikuo banished from the Kabuki world?

Kikuo approaches the young Akiko (Nana Mori) and has a physical relationship with her to gain a backer to replace Byakko. However, he incurs the fierce anger of her father, Sengoro (Ganjiro Nakamura), and Kikuo’s wretched plan is shattered. Genkichi (Tokio Emoto), a clerk at Tanbaya who once brought Kikuo to Osaka, asks Shunsuke with a tearful voice, “Will Kiku-bon no longer be able to stay in the Kabuki world?” What happened?

“I have smeared mud on the name of Tanbaya,” Kikuo says, bowing his head. Upon hearing this, Sachiko (Shinobu Terajima) tries to say something, but ends up saying nothing and goes to her grandson, Kazutoyo. Shunsuke, who calls out to Kikuo from behind as he is about to leave the mansion, also says, “Forgive me. It’s for Kazutoyo’s sake.”

Judging by the phrase “smearing mud on the name,” the incident with Sengoro may have been turned into a gossip article, drawing strong backlash from the public. Shunsuke could have fought if it were only himself being blacklisted. However, thinking of his son Kazutoyo’s future, he decided, after consulting with Sachiko, to reluctantly cast Kikuo out. The sight of the two of them punching each other once in front of the mansion was a painful scene, contrasting with the “flick on the forehead” they did to relieve tension before the stage.

◉ Why did the elderly Mankiku call Kikuo back?

Kikuo, banished from the Kabuki world, is touring with Akiko. With each passing day, Akiko’s expression becomes more severe. She seems to realize that the love Kikuo once whispered was a lie. Still, she is likely supporting Kikuo out of stubbornness.

Just like Shunsuke in the past, Kikuo’s art seems to have been polished through his touring. At a banquet, one of the guests, bewildered by Kikuo’s allure, staggers up and approaches him. After being assaulted by those guests backstage, Kikuo begins to dance while drinking sake on the rooftop. In response, Akiko drapes his fallen haori over him from behind and says, “Let’s stop this.” Perhaps Akiko still had a shred of love left for Kikuo. However, perhaps noticing that Kikuo’s eyes are not focused, she says, “Where are you looking?” and leaves. Kikuo mutters, “Where was I looking?” and dances wildly, laughing while crying. His face, with the white makeup peeling off, was inhuman, possessing an eeriness that suggested a deal with the devil. Perhaps his art reached a certain height after he abandoned his humanity.

As if knowing this, the next day, Mankiku, who has been retired for three years, calls Kikuo out. On the way, when Kikuo asks, “Why now?”, Takeno says, “He’s finally decided to acknowledge you, hasn’t he? You don’t intend to go to the afterlife leaving only your art behind, do you?” In other words, Mankiku has left no bloodline. Instead, he intended to leave behind, in the Kabuki world after he was gone, not only Shunsuke, whom he had taught directly, but also Kikuo, who had crawled up from the cliff.

By the way, why is Mankiku, who climbed to the status of a national treasure, alone in a cheap inn? In the original work, it is depicted that this is by Mankiku’s own will, not due to dementia or financial distress, but the truth remains “in a grove.” Even in the movie, judging by his words, “There’s nothing clean here, is there? Somehow, it’s a relief. It’s as if someone finally told me it’s okay to stop,” it may be something he wished for himself.

This impressive line from Mankiku seems to connect to his words when he first met Kikuo: “Truly, what a beautiful face. But, you know, if you’re going to be an actor, that face is a hindrance, a huge hindrance. Someday, you will be consumed by that face.” Kikuo, with his beautiful face, is haunted by it wherever he goes. Kikuo, who has struggled while carrying the karma of never being able to escape from beauty, may have been the one who should have inherited the art of the national treasure Mankiku and carried the next generation of onnagata.

◉ Why was Kikuo able to return to the Kabuki world?

Kikuo, who performed his dance before Mankiku, returns to the Kabuki world and dances “Futari Dojoji” with Shunsuke. The detailed process leading to his return is not depicted and is left to the audience’s imagination.

Shunsuke said, “Someday I will call Kiku-chan back.” Although those words did not reach Kikuo at the time, I believe Shunsuke kept that feeling all along. The same was likely true for Harue, who said, “I will be Kiku-chan’s number one fan.”

Even three years after retirement, if there is a recommendation from the national treasure Mankiku, those around him have no choice but to acknowledge it. I imagine that with Mankiku’s seal of approval given to the art of Kikuo, who crawled up from the child-dropping, the environment for Shunsuke to finally call Kikuo back was prepared.

◉ How was the feud between Kikuo and Shunsuke resolved?

Between Kikuo and Shunsuke, who perform “Futari Dojoji” just as they did when they were young, the old resentment seems to have disappeared. After Byakko’s death, Kikuo took on his remaining debts and protected Tanbaya. Shunsuke, on the other hand, cast Kikuo out for the sake of his own son’s future. Can the thaw between the two really come so easily?

One major reason is likely that Shunsuke worked hard for Kikuo’s return. And another is that Kikuo experienced the same touring as Shunsuke and felt its hardship in his bones. Although Kikuo spat out, “In the end, isn’t it all about blood?”, by knowing firsthand how much Shunsuke suffered to polish his art, the view of him as “the one who ran away” was wiped away. Because they both crawled up from the cliff in the same way, I believe they became a pair who could understand each other even more deeply than before.

◉ In the end, is it blood? Or is it art?

The theme of the first half of the story is the conflict between art and blood. It was about whether Kikuo or Shunsuke would come out on top. For viewers who watched with that as the axis, they might have felt bewildered when Shunsuke, having lost a leg, took on the role of Ohatsu in "Sonezaki Shinju," and Kikuo, who should have been the onnagata, switched to the role of Tokubei.

In the first half of the story, the theme was "which prevails, art or blood," but in the second half, it shifts to "the resonance of the souls of the two who embody art and blood."

What suggests this is that the "To-Han" duo of Toichiro and Hanya became the "Han-Han" duo of Hanjiro and Hanya. At Harue's snack bar, the young Shunsuke (Hanya) complains to Kikuo (Toichiro), "Why is it To-Han? It should be Han-To." This is likely an expression of the competitive relationship the two had at the time, where they were wondering who was superior. However, in the "Han-Han" duo, there is no relationship of who is superior.Half and half, two as one. They became a relationship where each is the other's "other half."

Just then, Shunsuke loses his left leg due to the same diabetes as his father. Shunsuke, who had been protected by blood, was also cursed by blood. Even so, Shunsuke stands on stage and joins forces with Kikuo to perform "Sonezaki Shinju."

Shunsuke becomes Ohatsu, saying, "I want to hear your resolve to die." Byakko once said that "the fear of dying and the joy of being able to die with the man you love" were contained within it.It seems that Shunsuke's lines also mingle the fear that his acting career is ending with the joy of being able to face it together with Kikuo.The right foot he is extending is also beginning to necrotize.

Shunsuke collapses on stage and desperately walks to the wings. Following Takeno's words, "Let's stop now," Kikuo says, "We'll do it to the end. You can do it, right?" and Shunsuke replies, "Of course. Who do you think you're talking to?" This scene is truly the Han-Han duo, two as one. It makes one feel the resonance of their souls.

◉ What did the devil take away?

To backtrack a little, before taking the name Hanjiro, Kikuo reveals to Ayano, his daughter with Fujikoma (Ai Mikami), that he made a deal with the devil. "I asked him, 'Please make me good at Kabuki.' 'Please make me the number one Kabuki actor in Japan.' 'In exchange, I don't need anything else.'" What did this devil take from Kikuo?

First, what we know is the lives of Fujikoma and Ayano. When she is an adult, Ayano says to him with resentment, "You should be grateful to the devil." In the sense that Kikuo deceived Akiko with underhanded methods, I think Akiko's life was also taken by the devil.

However, this alone is not enough for Ayano's words: "How many people have cried and been hurt so that you could receive applause?"I think the devil also took Byakko's life and Shunsuke's legs.Of course, Kikuo never thought that would happen. However, the devil takes his share properly. And, it was precisely because Shunsuke, Kikuo's other half, became a sacrifice that Kikuo was able to become a national treasure. That is why, after the "Sonezaki Shinju" with Shunsuke, the story jumps all at once to the scene of the national treasure certification.

When he becomes a national treasure, Kikuo answers the interviewer, "It is all thanks to everyone." If these words contain the realization that "I have come this far by taking away the happiness of the people around me," then what is there might not be gratitude, but repentance.

◉ What was the scenery Kikuo was looking for?

When asked by that interviewer, "Where will the third generation, who has mastered the onnagata, head from here?" Kikuo replies, "There is something I have been looking for for a long time. It is a piece of scenery."

This is likely the scenery when his father, Gongoro (Masatoshi Nagase), fell in the snow.The figure of his father, revealing his tattoo in the snow, which is rare in Nagasaki, being shot by bullets and falling while bleeding. At first, Kikuo was crying and screaming, but eventually, he begins to show an expression as if he is captivated by that scenery.

The thing that showed him something closest to this scenery was Mankiku's "Sagi Musume" (Heron Maiden). The paper confetti dancing in the air overlaps with the snow that fell on his father's back. When Kikuo performed "Futari Dojoji" and "Sonezaki Shinju," moments where he caught a glimpse of that scenery are also depicted.

Having mastered his art while sacrificing many people, and finally reaching the scenery he was looking for, Kikuo mutters, "It's beautiful." Just as Byakko told him, "Someday you will take revenge through your art," his long-cherished wish of avenging his father is also fulfilled here. And he was blessed by his daughter, who said, "Father, you really became the number one Kabuki actor in Japan."Kikuo, who lived for his art, also walked a life guided by blood.

◉ What does the last scene really mean?

Finally, we step into the deepest part of the story. I have already touched upon the last scene, but I cannot help but think that a deeper meaning lurks there.

Kikuo heads to the stage for "Sagi Musume." In the dressing room, there is a photo of the young Kikuo and Shunsuke practicing, and a photo of Byakko, who taught him strictly but with love. On the path backstage, the large bell from "Futari Dojoji" and the wisteria from "Futari Fuji Musume" are placed. The path Kikuo walks is like the lantern slide one sees at the moment of death.

Kikuo dances the same "Sagi Musume" (Heron Maiden) that the great star Mankiku once performed. At the end of the dance, the Heron Maiden struggles in agony, exhausts her strength, and dies. Kikuo also collapses on stage, and the curtain falls. Then, in the next moment, he opens his eyes as if waking from a deep sleep and staggers to his feet.

There is something strange here.Even though the curtain should have fallen, there is no curtain in front of Kikuo; instead, the audience seating stretches out before him.A spotlight is shining on him from the front. And finally, he whispers, "It's beautiful." This depiction has a strangeness that is impossible in reality. What on earth does this mean?

Kikuo, playing the Heron Maiden, died both within the play and in reality. I believe the depiction after he opens his eyes is not of this world.I suspect many will find this interpretation absurd, so I will unravel the reasons for it by looking back through the story.

While rehearsing for "Sonezaki Shinju," Shunsuke says on stage, "Something is always watching from over there," and Kikuo replies, "I wonder what it is." At that moment, Shunsuke's gaze is directed exactly toward the light source of the spotlight in the final scene.

The theme song that plays at the end is "Luminance." It is an English word meaning "the intensity of light emitted from a specific direction." This light is not just a stage prop; it is a key that connects to the depths of the story. Perhaps Shunsuke noticed its presence before Kikuo because his own life was nearing its end.The true nature of the light watching them seems to be connected to the afterlife.Perhaps the late Byakko was watching the two of them, who had grown beyond recognition.

At the end of "Sonezaki Shinju," Kikuo, playing Tokubei, sheds tears while raising a short sword toward Shunsuke, who plays Ohatsu. It signified the death of Ohatsu and, at the same time, the end of Shunsuke's life as an actor. After the curtain falls, Kikuo rejoices in having finished the performance while holding Shunsuke's body, but Shunsuke is staring off somewhere, lost in thought. Could Shunsuke have seen that light? If so, why was it only visible to him? The reason must be that his death as a Kabuki actor, and his physical death, were approaching.

On the other hand, Kikuo still has a future. This gap carries great significance. It is because the two are performing a "shinju" (love suicide) play. Kikuo puts an end to Shunsuke's acting career by plunging the short sword into him, but he himself survives.Carrying the burden of failing to complete the double suicide, Kikuo lives on alone for sixteen long years.

And that leads to the final scene. The lyrics of the theme song "Luminance" that plays afterward provide a major hint for decoding it.

I would like to decode it one line at a time.

A place without pain or fear. Attachments and thoughts fade away like mist. It truly seems like a metaphor for the afterlife.

While it is possible to interpret the "death of Kikuo" mentioned so far metaphorically as the "completion of his life as an actor,"the expression "unraveling this body" clearly indicates physical death."You" must be Shunsuke. He can finally head to where Shunsuke, who passed away first in their double suicide, is waiting.

The death depicted here is by no means sad. It is gently wrapped in applause and blessings.

Here, "light" appears. The light shines on Kikuo like a welcome from the other side. He can finally become one with Shunsuke, with whom he had many missed connections while alive and whom he could not even touch after he had passed to the other side.Hanjiro and Hanya. The two who were each other's other half finally become one.

A double suicide is, by nature, an act intended to pledge eternal love. Only the joy remains forever. The double suicide that Kikuo and Shunsuke could not fulfill has finally reached its completion after a long passage of time.


What did you think? At first glance, the movie 'National Treasure' appears to be a story depicting the artistic path of a single actor named Kikuo. However, deep within it, the story of two people who, despite having their souls resonate, could never quite become one, breathes quietly.Sixteen years after Shunsuke's death, which resulted in an incomplete double suicide, the two were finally able to fulfill the continuation of their promise and become one, I believe.