The Dagger of Kamui

The Dagger of Kamui (カムイの剣, Kamui no Ken) is a Japanese novel series by Tetsu Yano released by Kadokawa Shoten from 1984 to 1985.

The series was adapted in 1985 into an anime film directed by Rintaro and animated by Madhouse. The screenplay was adapted by Mori Masaki, and character designs were created by Moribi Murano, who also illustrated the novel series. Takuo Noda directed the animation, and the music was composed by Ryūdō Uzaki and Eitetsu Hayashi.

The story begins during the Bakumatsu period of Japan in the last years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It continues through the pre-Meiji period and refers to historical events such as the Boshin War, including the involvement of foreign governments, the Naval Battle of Hakodate, and the Meiji Restoration. There are also references to historical figures such as Captain Kidd, Saigō Takamori, Andō Shōzan, Oguri Kozukenosuke (Tadamasa), Geronimo, and Mark Twain.

Jirō, a young boy of Japanese and Ainu descent, is a foundling raised by a kindly innkeeper and her daughter in the village of Sai on the Shimokita Peninsula.

One evening, a shinobi kills Jirō's adoptive mother and sister while he is away. When he returns home, he finds their bodies and a strange dagger. The angry villagers accuse him of the murders, and rather than face a brutal crucifixion for the grave crime of parricide, Jirō escapes with the dagger. He encounters a Buddhist monk called Tenkai, who works for the Shogunate as an Oniwaban (Secret Police). Tenkai takes the boy to confront the man who supposedly killed his family and provokes him into delivering the killing blow. To cover his tracks, Tenkai has the village set ablaze, and the villagers are slaughtered. Tenkai takes Jirō to his temple on the island of Ezo, and has his subordinates Shingo and Sanpei train him in the ways of the Ninja. Years later, Jirō leaves to find answers to the mystery of his family and his father, Tarōza. Meanwhile, Tenkai has him followed.

Jirō comes across a group of Japanese men beating up an old Ainu man, and he quickly dispatches them. The old man dies of his injuries, but his son Uraka takes Jirō to his home village of Shinopirika-Kotan, unaware the old man's assailants are agents of Tenkai. At Kotan, the village elder recognizes Jirō's dagger as the Dagger of Kamui, which was originally owned by a former village chieftain. It was given to a Japanese ninja who married the chieftain's daughter, Oyaruru. Years later, Oyaruru returned to Kotan alone, but eventually left the village to live upriver by herself.

Jirō finds Oyaruru and learns she is his biological mother. She reveals that Tenkai dispatched Tarōza to the mountain Kamui Nupuri to find a rumored treasure large enough to keep the Shogunate in power. However, Tarōza broke all contact with Tenkai and married Oyaruru. When Tenkai caught up with them, he slashed the face of the infant Jirō and sent him floating downriver in their canoe. Tarōza fought Tenkai's men on the cliff above, but lost an eye to a primitive grenade and his sword arm to Hanzou, then appeared to fall to his death. Jirō comes to the horrifying realization that Tenkai had tricked him, and that the man he stabbed was his father. During their evening meal, Jirō and Oyaruru collapse from a paralysis potion supplied by Shingo, and Oyaruru is killed by Shingo with the Dagger of Kamui. Implicated in her murder, Jirō is imprisoned, but Uraka returns to help free him. Jirō finally realizes that Tenkai has been manipulating him for years into following his father's footsteps, searching for the treasure, and plans his revenge against Tenkai.

Traveling north, Jirō is befriended by the elderly Andō Shōzan and a young Ainu girl. She helps find secret instructions to find a great treasure which is hidden with the hilt of the sword of Kamui. However, Jirō is tracked down by three of Tenkai's formidable assassins, whom he defeats, but not before they kill Shouzan. The Ainu girl helps Jirō escape, but she kills herself when confronted by the following Tenkai. With the aid of the sailor Sam, Jirō books passage on Captain Drasnic's ship to the United States. Onboard, he is attacked by Oyuki, one of Tenkai's shinobi, but he defeats her. He then saves her from drowning, and they develop a strong bond. After arriving in America, Jirō, Sam, and Oyuki become separated, and Jirō travels on alone. Jirō befriends Chico, a French-born Indian woman, and shelters with her tribe. He then encounters Mark Twain on the way the Los Angeles, heading for the island of Santa Catalina, which is apparently the location of Captain Kidd's treasure.