PONY CANYON

INTERNATIONAL LICENSING

KYOTO HIPPOCRATES

Original Title

幕末ヒポクラテスたち
KYOTO HIPPOCRATES

Where Western Medicine Meets the Samurai Spirit

INTRODUCTION

Set in Kyoto at the end of the Edo period—a time when Dutch-trained practitioners of Western medicine and traditional Chinese-derived herbal doctors coexisted—this film portrays the moment just before the dawn of modern Japanese medicine. It was the final film project conceived by director Kazuki Omori, whose ensemble drama about Kyoto medical students, Disciples of Hippocrates (1980), earned wide acclaim.　

The story is inspired by Fundoshi Doctor (1960), directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Hisaya Morishige and Setsuko Hara, which depicted a warm-hearted physician and his wife left behind by the changing tides of history.

However, in 2022, while preparations for filming were underway, Omori passed away. The project was nearly lost—until, with the cooperation of his alma mater, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, the film was finally brought to life. Akira Ogata (Boy’s Choir, 2000), who had once served as Omori’s assistant director, took up his mentor’s unfinished vision and completed the film.

Kyoto native Kuranosuke Sasaki delivers a generous and spirited performance as Takichi Okura, a Dutch-medicine doctor who saves ordinary people in a rural Kyoto village without regard to wealth or social standing. Surrounding him is a cast of eccentric and endearing characters portrayed by a richly individual ensemble. Takichi's rival is Gensai, a traditional herbal doctor known for prescribing “kakkonto for every illness,” portrayed by Takashi Naito, who made his film debut in Disciples of Hippocrates. Kisetsu Fujiwara, acclaimed for roles in films such as Sasaki in My Mind (2020), plays Shinza, a hot-headed young man whose life is saved by Takichi after he suffers fatal injuries.

Cast and crew with deep ties to Kyoto and to Omori himself come together for this production. Created to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, the film brings the “original generation” of Disciples of Hippocrates into vivid motion once more—this time at the threshold of modern medicine—resulting in a refreshing, exhilarating medical period drama.  

STORY

Late in the Edo period, in a small village outside Kyoto. Takichi Okura is a Western-style doctor who is brave, curious, and never charges poor people for treatment. He often argues with Gensai, a traditional (Kampo) doctor who believes every illness can be cured with "kakkonto"(a herbal medicine). The two are always at odds.

One day, Takichi saves the life of a rough, short-tempered young man named Shinza through surgery. This meeting changes both of their lives. Soon, the village faces a serious danger. As Takichi and the others fight to protect it, what kind of future will they find?