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Five Sisters / 女の暦 / Onna no koyomi (‘A Woman’s Calendar/Almanac’, 1954)
Obscure Japanese Film #177 Kyoko Kagawa Yoko Sugi Their parents now deceased, two adult sisters now live together in their old family ...
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Deep River Melody / 風流深川唄 / Furyu Fukagawa uta (‘Elegant Fukagawa Song’, 1960)
Obscure Japanese Film #176 Hibari Misora Fukagawa, Tokyo, c.1925. Daughter (Hibari Misora) wants to marry childhood sweetheart (Koji Tsu...
Golden Demon / 金色夜叉 / Konjiki yasha (1954)
Obscure Japanese Film #175 Jun Negami and Fujiko Yamamoto 1890. Miya (Fujiko Yamamoto) is a young woman in love with her adopted broth...
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The Flesh is Weak / 美徳のよろめき / Bitoku no yoromeki (‘Faltering Virtue’, 1957)
Obscure Japanese Film #174 Yumeji Tsukioka 28-year-old Setsuko (Yumeji Tsukioka), a former member of the aristocracy, has come down in t...
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Tales of the Inner Chambers / 大奥絵巻 / Ooku emaki (1968)
Obscure Japanese Film #173 Yoshiko Sakuma Edo Castle, c.1790. When virginal chambermaid Aki (Yoshiko Sakuma) catches the eye of the shog...
Auto-tagged Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, Colorful
Kokosu sezu / 告訴せず / (‘No Charges Filed’, aka ‘Without Complaint’, 1975)
Obscure Japanese Film #172 Kyoko Enami and Yukio Aoshima Kitani (Fumio Watanabe) is a conservative politician running for re-election wi...
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Cards Are My Life / 花札渡世 / Hana fuda tosei (‘The Flower Card Business’, aka ‘Flower Cards Chivalry’, 1967)
Obscure Japanese Film #171 L-R: Chitose Kobayashi, Tatsuo Endo, Toru Abe, Tatsuo Umemiya The early Showa period (1930s). Ryuichi Kitagaw...
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The Ladder of Success / 夜の素顔 / Yoru no sagao (‘The True Face of the Night’, 1958)
Obscure Japanese Film #170 Machiko Kyo in the moonlight scene 1944. Akemi (Machiko Kyo) is a traditional dancer entertaining the troops at...
Clouds at Sunset / あかね雲 / Akane-gumo (1967)
Obscure Japanese Film #169 Shima Iwashita 1937. After a prologue in which we see two soldiers deserting – one of whom is quickly capture...
Oyafuko dori / 親不孝通り (1958)
Obscure Japanese Film #168 Hiroshi Kawaguchi and Yoko Katsuragi Katsuya ( Hiroshi Kawaguchi) is a cynical student who studies as little ...
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Four Sisters / 山麓 / Sanroku (‘The Foot of the Mountain’, 1962)
Obscure Japanese Film #167 Isuzu Yamada Yoshiko Mita Sonny Chiba Modern-day Tokyo. Masako (Yoshiko Mita) is a young woman who wants to...
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Ai sureba koso / 愛すればこそ / (‘Only If You Love’, 1955)
Obscure Japanese Film #166 Isuzu Yamada This omnibus film comprised of three stories was an independent venture co-produced by two compani...
The Gate of Youth / 青春の門 / Seishun no mon (1975)
Obscure Japanese Film #165 Tomohiro Tanabe and Sayuri Yoshinaga Based on the first part of a bestselling doorstop novel by Hiroyuki Itsu...
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Shunsetsu / 春雪 / (‘Spring Snow’, 1950)
Obscure Japanese Film #164 Yasuko Fujita Takako (Yasuko Fujita) is a young woman who works on the ticket desk at her local train station...
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Why Did These Women Become Like This? / 何故彼女等はそうなったか / Naze kanojora wa so natta ka (aka Girls’ Reform School, 1956)
Obscure Japanese Film #163 Kyoko Kagawa and Masako Nakamura This social conscience picture from Shintoho studios stars Kyoko Kagawa as Mis...
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Kodomo no me / 子供の眼 / (‘Eyes of a Child’, 1955)
Obscure Japanese Film #162 Hideko Takamine Kiyoko (Hideko Takamine) is a young woman living in Tokyo with her older brother, Shunji (Hiros...
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Junpaku no yoru / 純白の夜/ (‘Pure White Nights’, 1951)
Obscure Japanese Film #161 Michiyo Kogure Ikuko (Michiyo Kogure) is a young woman happily married to Tsunehiko (Seizaburo Kawazu), a banke...
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When Women Lie / 嘘 / Uso (‘Lies’, 1963)
Obscure Japanese Film #160 L-R: Eiko Takashiro, Junko Kano, Nobuko Otowa Following the template of their earlier picture A Woman’s Testame...
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The Crab Cannery Ship / 蟹工船 / Kanikosen (1953)
Obscure Japanese Film #159 So Yamamura Based on the 1929 novel of the same name by communist writer Takiji Kobayashi (tortured to death by...
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The Wild Goose / 雁 / Gan (1966)
Obscure Japanese Film #158 Ayako Wakao Tokyo, 1880. Otama (Ayako Wakao) is a young woman back living with her widowed father (Tomosaburo...
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The Perennial Weed / 昭和枯れすすき / Showa kare susuki (1975)
Obscure Japanese Film #157 Kumiko Akiyoshi and Hideki Takahashi Harada (Hideki Takahashi) is a young police detective assigned to the Nish...
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Asakusa no yoru / 浅草の夜 (‘Asakusa at Night’, 1954)
Obscure Japanese Film #156 Ayako Wakao and Machiko Kyo Setsuko (Machiko Kyo) is a dancer at a theatre in Asakusa, where she’s been havin...
A Portrait of Shunkin / 春琴抄 / Shunkinsho (1976)
Obscure Japanese Film #154 Momoe Yamaguchi Doshomachi, Osaka, early Meiji era (c.1870s). Okoto (Momoe Yamaguchi), the youngest daughter ...
The Twilight Years / 恍惚の人 / Kokotsu no hito (‘Senile Person’, 1973)
Obscure Japanese Film #153 Hideko Takamine and Takahiro Tamura Akiko (Hideko Takamine) is a middle-aged woman with an office job who lives...
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The Kii River / 紀ノ川 / Kinokawa (1966)
Obscure Japanese Film #152 Yoko Tsukasa Wakayama, 1899. Hana (Yoko Tsukasa) is a young woman from a highly-respected family who marries ...
The Naked Executive / 裸の重役 / Hadaka no juyaku (1964)
Obscure Japanese Film #151 Hisaya Morishige Hidaka (Hisaya Morishige) is a widowed office manager with a grown-up daughter, Keiko (Yuriko ...
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On This Earth / 地上 / Chijo (1957)
Obscure Japanese Film #150 Hitomi Nozoe and Hiroshi Kawaguchi Kanazawa, central Japan, c.1920. Heiichiro (Hiroshi Kawaguchi) is a student ...
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Tokyo Onigiri Girl / 東京おにぎり娘 / Tokyo onigiri musume / (aka ‘Triangle Moods’, 1961)
Obscure Japanese Film #149 Ayako Wakao and Ganjiro Nakamura Ganjiro Nakamura and Murasaki Fujima Mariko (Ayako Wakao) is the daughte...
The Makioka Sisters / 細雪 / Sasameyuki (‘Light Snowfall’, 1959)
Obscure Japanese Film #148 Junko Kano and Fujiko Yamamoto Junichiro Tanizaki’s novel Sasameyuki is widely recognised as a classic of Japa...
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The Pit of Death / 怪談おとし穴 / Kaidan otoshiana (aka ‘The Ghostly Trap’, 1968)
Obscure Japanese Film #147 Mikio Narita Kuramoto (Mikio Narita) is an ambitious salaryman working at a company based in a tower block sa...
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Shojo yutai / 処女受胎 (‘Immaculate Conception’, 1966)
Obscure Japanese Film #146 Ayako Wakao This Daiei production stars Ayako Wakao as Aiko, a modernist oil painter who has hit a creative w...
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Love in the Mountains / わかれ / Wakare (‘Parting’, 1959)
Obscure Japanese Film #145 Haruko Wanibuchi and Isuzu Yamada Teenager Kimiko (Haruko Wanibuchi) helps out at a ryokan (traditional inn) i...
The Tycoon / 傷だらけの山河 / Kizudarake no sanga (1964)
Obscure Japanese Film #144 Ayako Wakao and So Yamamura Having delivered a mega-hit for Daiei studios with Shinobi no mono (1962) and also...
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Hot Spring Doctress / 温泉女医 / Onsen joi (1964)
Obscure Japanese Film #143 When a new doctor arrives to replace the old drunk Dr Yabuuchi (Ichiro Sugai) at a hot spring resort in…
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While Yet a Wife / 妻の日の愛のかたみに / Tsuma no hi no ai no katamini (1965)
Obscure Japanese Film #141 Ayako Wakao Chieko (Ayako Wakao) and Kitahara (Eiji Funakoshi) are country schoolteachers who get married and a...
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The Blue Beast / 青い野獣 / Aoi yaju (1960)
Obscure Japanese Film #140 Tatsuya Nakadai Yasuhiko Kuroki (Tatsuya Nakadai) is an ambitious young man working for a magazine publishing c...
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Women and Miso Soup / 女と味噌汁 / Onna to misoshiru (1968)
Obscure Japanese Film #139 Junko Ikeuchi Chikako (Junko Ikeuchi) is a geisha who works under the name of Temari. Such an occupation gives ...
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She Came for Love / 女が愛して憎むとき / Onna ga aishite nikumu toki (‘When a Woman Loves and Hates’, 1963)
Obscure Japanese Film #138 Ayako Wakao Toshiko (Ayako Wakao) is the madam of a bar in Osaka who tries to keep her private life private and...
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The Invisible Wall / 眼の壁 / Me no kabe (‘Wall of Eyes’, 1958)
Obscure Japanese Film #137 Keiji Sada Masao Oda This Shochiku production stars Keiji Sada as Hagisaki, the deputy head of an accounts de...
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Bara no ki ni bara no hana saku / 薔薇の木にバラの花咲く / (‘Roses Bloom on the Rose Bush’, 1959)
Obscure Japanese Film #136 Ayako Wakao Rieko Sumi and Ayako Wakao Reiko (Ayako Wakao) is a senior university student majoring in English w...
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A Hole of My Own Making / /自分の穴の中で / Jibun no ana no nakade (1955)
Obscure Japanese Film #134 Rentaro Mikuni, Mie Kitahara and Jukichi Uno Tamiko (Mie Kitahara) is a young woman living at home with her s...
Bury Me Deep / わたしを深く埋めて / Watashi o fukaku umete (1963)
Obscure Japanese Film #133 Jiro Tamiya Nakabe (Jiro Tamiya) is a lawyer returning to Tokyo after a long holiday in Kyushu. In his absenc...
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A Rainbow at Every Turn / 虹いくたび / Niji ikutabi / (1956)
Obscure Japanese Film #132 Machiko Kyo and Ayako Wakao Before I begin, I should point out that, although I don’t usually write a synopsis ...
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Ojo-san / お嬢さん (‘Young Miss’, 1961)
Obscure Japanese Film #131 Ayako Wakao Kasumi (Ayako Wakao) is a young woman of marriageable age prone to daydreaming who believes that ar...
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Story of a Blind Woman /女めくら物語 / Onna mekura monogatari (1965)
Obscure Japanese Film #130 Ayako Wakao This Daiei production stars Ayako Wakao as Tsuruko, an orphan who loses her sight at the age of 16 ...
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The Beloved Image/ 顔 / Kao (‘Face’, 1960）
Obscure Japanese Film #129 Machiko Kyo and Ryo Ikebe This Daiei picture opens with young executive Ko (Ryo Ikebe) being seen off at Haneda...
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The Time of Reckoning / 不信のとき / Fushin no toki (1968)
Obscure Japanese Film #128 Jiro Tamiya and Ayako Wakao Asai (Jiro Tamiya) is an artist who designs advertising posters for a printing comp...
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A Town Not on the Map / 地図のない町 / Chizu no mai machi (aka ‘The Jungle Block’, 1960)
Obscure Japanese Film #127 Yoko Minamida Ryoji Hayama Shinsuke (Ryoji Hayama) is a young doctor who has had to resign from his post at a...
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Furin / 不倫 (1965)
Obscure Japanese Film #126 Ayako Wakao Saburi (Keizo Kawasaki) is a writer who has just won the Newcomer of the Year Award for…
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Bonds of Love / 愛のきずな / Ai no kizuna (1969)
Obscure Japanese Film #125 Mari Sono and Makoto Fujita Suzuki (Makoto Fujita) is a low-level manager at a travel agency who drives a mod...