In Japan, suicide has traditionally been utilized as a means of social protest. The development of a new merchant class transforms samurai society in this 1703 film. Elements of the social compact are unraveling, and some unscrupulous individuals took advantage of these developments before the social order was re-established. In this tale, a wealthy businessman pays his employee with an IOU instead of cash. When the destitute clerk gives the paper to the merchant at the agreed upon time, requesting payment, the guy jumps into a rage, claiming he never wrote it and accusing the clerk of attempting to swindle him. Then, he orders his minions to beat the cashier.