Law and order squares off against vigilante vengeance in Shield of Straw, a Japanese police drama directed by Miike Takashi.
Eight years ago, Kiyomaru Kunihide (Tatsuya Fujiwaru) was convicted and imprisoned of murdering a young girl, but released due to police incompetence. Now free, he's apparently struck again, and his victim is the granddaughter of Ninagawa Takaoki (Yamazaki Tsutomu), a powerful figure in Japanese politics and finance. Three months later, the grief-stricken Ninagawa puts a one billiion yen ($10 million in 2013) bounty on Kiyomaru's head. Kiyomaru, realizing how utterly screwed he is, turns himself in to the police in Fukuoka. Veteran cop Mekari Kazuki (Osawa Takao) is in charge of the five-person squad responsible for delivering Kiyomaru from Fukuoka to Tokyo, where he will face trial. However, there are 550 miles between the two cities, and a ton of people have a taste for Ninagawa's promised bounty waiting for them. The cops are forced to fight for their lives - and Kiyomaru's - against an angry mob, and more than one of them might be tempted into letting their loathsome charge bite it...or pulling the trigger themselves.