In
late medieval Japan, Kai (
Keanu Reeves) is a half-Japanese, half-English outcast who lives in the Ako
domain, which is ruled by the benevolent Lord
Asano Naganori. When Kai was young, Asano found him lost in the forest and accepted him into his household. Kai and Asano's daughter, Mika, eventually fall in love despite Kai being scorned by her father's samurai due to his lowborn status and mixed ancestry. Before a planned visit from
Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Asano is visited by the Shogun's master of ceremonies, Lord
Kira, who wants to take Ako for himself. Kira enlists the help of a shapeshifting
Kitsune named Witch who sends a
Kirinto kill Asano in the forest of Ako. Asano's samurai struggle in their battle with the monster so Kai joins in riding an abandoned horse. As the monster charges him, Kai recovers a lost sword that he uses to slay it. Shortly thereafter he spots a white fox with
different coloured eyes watching from the underbrush—Witch in her fox form. Later during the Shogun's visit, Kai sees that one of the Shogun's concubines has the same two-colored eyes which leads him to assume that she was the fox from the forest. He tries to warn Asano's principal counselor and samurai,
Oishi, that she is a witch but Oishi doesn't believe him.
