Tama

A provincial community readies itself for the arrival of a foreign professor, triggering elaborate household renovations, ritualized preparations, and the assignment of samurai guards. Excitement mingles with unease as servants and townspeople speculate about unfamiliar customs, peculiar domestic demands, and a string of petty thefts blamed on a local mountain witch. Conversations among retainers expose tensions between duty, personal honor, and fear. Through a bitter winter the household adapts food, furnishings, and servant routines to receive the guest, while local superstition and social hierarchy shape expectations and anxieties about his presence.