The Extraordinary Sacred Tree

Senior police officer Goro Yabike (played by Hiroshi Yakusho) mishandled a kidnapping case, resulting in the kidnapper and the hostage councilman being shot to death. After this, he was ordered by his leadership to rest. The kidnapper had a mysterious message about "restoring the law of the world" on his body. Yau Chi was very curious about this, so he used his vacation to go to the forest where the kidnapper had been. The mountain was once covered with dense beech trees, but with the arrival of an unknown tree, the surrounding flowers and trees died incredibly quickly. This tree secretes venom from its roots, and no other plant can escape its clutches. Here, Yabuchi meets Naoto Kiriyama (played by Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), a young man who worships the tree as a god. Kiriyama firmly believes in the theory of "survival of the strong", so he does not hesitate to confront the forest guard Nakasone (played by Ren Osugi) who insists on cutting down the sacred tree. On the other hand, botanical expert Mitsuko Jinbo (played by Kazuki Yuna) and her sister Chizuru (played by Dongguchi Yiko) have different opinions on the treatment of the sacred tree. Yabuchi, who was originally just curious, was unknowingly involved in this strange incident... This film won the 2000 Japan Film Professional Awards Best Film Award.