It's the late 16th century, when Japan was in the vicelike grip of rich and ruthless warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Things were good at the top, but the rest of Zipang (Japan) was poor, hungry and repressed. Welcome to "Zipang Punk — Goemon Rock III."
Enter Ishikawa Goemon, a revered Japanese version of Robin Hood who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. In real life, he was captured and executed by being boiled alive along with his baby son. In this story, he's still at large and teaming up with girl thief Neko-no-me Ogin (Cat's Eye Ogin), who's decked out in fish-net stockings. Together, they go after a golden Buddha statue that once belonged to celebrity monk Kukai in the eighth century. Then they discover that Kukai's secret code, which leads to a vast booty of treasure — is hidden inside the statue.
The secret gets out and the stakes go up when others go after the statue — including Buddhist nun Shunrai and Hideyoshi himself. Hideyoshi right-hand man, Ishida Mitsunari, hatches a plan to outwit Goemon and Ogin, while the pair is pursued by a strangely modern detective named Akechi Shinkuro.