Kiyoshi Yamamoto

The film opens with kidnappers of a corporate executive making an unusual ransom demand: that a wizened executive from another company haul large bags of money through downtown Tokyo as the media documents his every move. When the first old man almost dies from exhaustion, a second, and eventually a third elderly corporate fat cat is ordered to do the same. The police detective assigned to the case (Tetsuya Watari) and his younger partner (Masatoshi Nagase) are livid with indignation at this sorry spectacle. They learn that these four men were involved in a massive industrial spill that poisoned an entire rural hamlet 20 years previous. Suddenly, the detective -- who studied in the States and apparently absorbed some John Wayne-like mannerisms in the process -- isn't sure who are the victims and who are the villains.

Michael Chan plays Charlie Chan, a boxer who goes to Japan to take on a local hotshot in the ring. A gang of yakuzas pressure him to take a dive, but Charlie beats his opponent senseless instead, resulting in a life-or-death chase in which Charlie and his coach try to escape from the angry gangsters. They are spared by the yakuza boss Yakoda, and their eagerness to impress him leads them to pretend that they are the leaders of an influential triad organization known as the Marlboro Gang. That gang doesn't really exist, and their ruse only leads them to further endangerment after Yakoda is murdered by one of his employees. Yakoda's widow sends their daughter (who speaks Cantonese) to Hong Kong so that she won't be next on the hit list, and Charlie -- still pretending to be a powerful triad gangster -- agrees to protect her. He and his friends must save the girl from assassination attempts and kidnapping along the way, as well as coming to the rescue of Yakoda's widow.

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.

A shoe company executive who has mortgaged everything he has becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped and is conflicted over whether he should pay the ransom.

UFOs appear on Earth, and people who actually see them suddenly find that their blood has turned blue. Soon panic and hysteria result in the new "blue-bloods" being persecuted by the rest of mankind, and eventually certain all-too-familiar measures begin to be taken against them.