"Minbo" is a method of extortion in which the yakuza engineer scenarios where other people owe them something, then strongarm them into paying money to avoid litigation or violence. They'll bring a dead cockroach into a restaurant, plant it in their own meal, then lambaste the staff and demand compensation. In retaliation for exposing this phenomenon, the yakuza murdered this film's director, Juzo Itami. In this movie, the yakuza frequently visit the Europa Hotel to conduct these scams. At first, the Europa's executive staff assigns two low-level accountants the job of figuring out how to make the yakuza leave. But there's nothing they can do on their own but pay the yakuza to leave one scam at a time. So, the Europa brings in a specialist: Mahiru Inoue, a lawyer who defends civilians from minbo. What ensues is an arms race of strategies. The yakuza come up with ever more elaborate and punishing scams, while Inoue comes up with ways ...
"We are in the world, not against it." - Ursula K. Le Guin