Synopsis

Naonori Matsudaira is an unfortunate lord who, despite being a descendant of the great shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, is forced to move across Japan from west to east seven times, saddling him with the nickname “the vagabond lord.” In the Edo period, it cost an absolute fortune for a lord to transfer from one fief to another, and if the shogunate reduced their stipend as well, numerous samurai had to be released from service and rendered masterless, making it a cruel fate for all involved. The strain of these repeated relocations takes its toll on Matsudaira, and after he passes away, his mantle is inherited by the ineffectual, paralyzingly shy, and generally wet-behind-the-ears Shunnosuke Katagiri. To make matters worse, he has picked up a few derisive nicknames of his own, such as “snail” and “shut-in samurai.” Shunnosuke is forced to take on a task that no one else wants, and if he puts one foot wrong, he could be ordered to commit ritual suicide. He seeks the aid of his childhood friend Takamura, as well as the advice of Oran, the beautiful but headstrong daughter of a former magistrate in charge of relocation, and makes a desperate attempt to survive his seemingly hopeless predicament with no manpower, no money, and no experience... Will Shunnosuke’s outlandish schemes, inspired by intelligence, ingenuity, and irrationality, succeed in getting him and his people from the Himeji domain in Harima province to Hita in Bungo (now Oita Prefecture), thousands of kilometers away?

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