Japanese character actor equally adept at comic or seriously unsavory roles. Chiaki graduated from the University of Chuo with degrees in economics and commerce, but almost immediately found that his interest lay more with the theatre. In 1937, he began to study with the Shin-Tsukiji Gekidan ("The New Tsukiji Theatre Troupe"). During the Second World War, he served as director of the Bara-Za theatre company. Director Akira Kurosawa saw Chiaki in a stage production of the play "Dataii" (from which Kurosawa would later adapt for: The Quiet Duel (1949) ) and advised him to enter films. Chiaki became a favorite of the great director, who cast him in Stray Dog (1949) and nearly a dozen other films. Chiaki was notable as the good-natured Heihachi in Seven Samurai (1954) and as the comic deserter Tahei in _Kakushi toride no san akunin (1958)_. In 1975, Chiaki suffered a stroke. He recovered and in 1985 won Japan Academy Award for Best Actor in Hana ichimonme (1985). The last survivor of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai title players, Chiaki died of coronary and pulmonary failure in 1999.
A billionaire on the eve of his 75th birthday, invites his estranged children back home out of fear that tonight someone or something is going to kill him. He puts each of their inheritances on the line, to make sure they'll help.
When the body of a powerful businesswoman disappears from the morgue, the inspector in charge hunts for the truth. But when he questions her husband he realizes that there is much more to the case than meets the eye.
