Himiko

A lone traveler named Takehiko appears from the mountains and enters the unnamed forest of ancient Japan. Himiko, the shaman and prophetess of the Sun God, greets his arrival with quiet curiosity. Their meeting sets in motion a fateful connection between the Sun God Kingdom and the outside tribes.

In a royal council, the king Ohkimi discusses the visions Himiko has seen and the possibility that Mimaki could succeed the throne. Nashime believes Himiko will be the Sun God's chosen successor, reinforcing her authority. Mimaki and Ikume voice doubt about Himiko's prophetic powers.

Takehiko visits Himiko in her quarters after dark, revealing that he is her half-brother. Despite this, Himiko seduces him and they have sex, while Adahime watches from a distance. The court's gaze shifts as desire and loyalty collide with prophecy.

Himiko addresses the court, declaring that the Sun God requires the people to acknowledge the Land and Mountain Gods as valid. King Ohkimi accuses her of losing prophetic power, but Nashime assassinates the king amidst the distraction of her speech. The balance of power in the kingdom begins to tilt.

With Ohkimi dead, Himiko ascends to the throne and issues brutal edicts against dissenters, ordering anyone who did not believe in the Sun God's words to be buried alive in the mountains. The ritual authority of the Sun God is now solidified by fear. The kingdom braces for a harsher rule.

Takehiko resists remaining with Himiko and departs the kingdom, seeking distance from the court's intrigue. Adahime follows him and professes her love, asking him to sleep with her; he yields, further complicating loyalties. Himiko reacts with horror at the perceived betrayal.

Himiko orders Takehiko's arrest after the affair is revealed. He is captured and subjected to torture before banishment, a punishment tied to both political maneuvering and personal betrayal. The Mountain People later carry him toward the mountains.

Takehiko is carried up the mountain by the Mountain God People, while Adahime reunites with him on the ascent. Their reunion is symbolic of a new, doomed alliance formed in the highlands. The couple's fate becomes a pawn in the broader power struggle.

Back in the capital, Nashime consoles a broken Himiko while Mimaki and Ikume plot to challenge and dethrone her. Nashime then keeps Himiko confined in her room, isolating her from the political theater surrounding the throne.

Mimaki takes the throne as king, and Nashime informs him that Toyo will become the next shaman, effectively replacing Himiko. The kingdom's future leadership is reshaped as rivals maneuver for ultimate control.

Toyo declares that the Sun God remains within Himiko and calls for political power through the Sun God's will, including offerings from Wei. Mimaki and Nashime are unsettled by the potential consequences of Toyo's words. The balance of the realm trembles on the edge of war.

Takehiko and Adahime flee but are ambushed and killed by Mimaki's soldiers. Their corpses are shown to Himiko, who is devastated by the loss and the cruelty of the power struggles that swallowed them. The tragedy confirms the price of royal intrigue.

In a separate ridge duel, Mimaki murders Ikume, eliminating a rival and consolidating his hold over the succession. The violence underscores the brutality of the new regime.

Mimaki's power struggle leads to the Mountain People being imprisoned, but Nashime frees them; they torture and kill Himiko. Nashime's guilt over her death is palpable as he calls out to her in the mountains. The old order collapses into ruin.

Nashime walks the forest years later, haunted by loss. He looks up to see a helicopter and discovers that the forest sits atop a kofun, an ancient burial mound, now surrounded by a suburban Japan. The film closes on aerial shots of tumuli and modern life coexisting with ancient memory.