A teenage girl struggles to understand her self-sacrificing mother in Mikio Naruse’s subversive take on the hahamono
Dec 24, 2021 • Subscribe
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Lightning (稲妻, Mikio Naruse, 1952)
An aspirant young woman envisages a different life herself than the dissatisfactory marriages of her mother and sisters in one of Mikio Naruse’s more hopeful drama.


Untamed (あらくれ, Mikio Naruse, 1957)
A rebellious woman strives for independence in a patriarchal society but nevertheless finds herself hamstrung by feckless men in Naruse’s Taisho-era drama


Wife (妻, Mikio Naruse, 1953)
An unhappily married woman contemplates independence but struggles to see herself as anything other than a “wife” in Naruse’s bitter marital drama
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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Mikio Naruse: Adventures on Harumi Island
I got a pleasant surprise recently when I watched Mikio Naruse’s AUTUMN HAS ALREADY STARTED (1960). At a key point in the narrative, the two child protagonists living…


Repast (めし, Mikio Naruse, 1951)
An unhappily married woman fed up with the drudgery of her existence considers other options but finally concludes there are none in Naruse’s bleak melodrama


Kanasando (かなさんどー, Toshiyuki Teruya, 2024)
A young woman gains a better understanding of her parents and her culture when told her estranged father has not long to live in Toshiyuki Teruya’s poignant island…


Late Chrysanthemums (晩菊, Mikio Naruse, 1954)
Four former geishas struggle to find their place in a changing society in Miko Naruse’s melancholy melodrama.


Flowing (流れる, Mikio Naruse, 1956)
The denizens of a moribund geisha house contemplate visions of independence in post-war Japan Mikio Naruse’s thriving ensemble drama.


I Go Gaga, Welcome Home Mom (ぼけますから、よろしくお願いします。~おかえりお母さん~, Naoko Nobutomo, 2022)
In a followup to her hugely popular documentary, Naoko Nobutomo follows her parents as her mother’s health continues to decline.


Anchor Yuri Senryū (あんかー百合川柳)
Today we are going to discuss exactly why I love the idea of doujinshi so much. Think about some schmaltzy mid-20th century American movie in which, oh, I…


Image of a Mother (母のおもかげ, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1959)
A little boy’s difficulties in accepting his new stepmother express an anxiety about the changing nature of the family in Hiroshi Shimizu’s familial melodrama.


A Wife’s Heart (妻の心, Mikio Naruse, 1956)
When plans to start a new business go awry, a dejected wife finds herself at a crossroads in Mikio Naruse’s martial drama.


A Woman’s Place (女の座, Mikio Naruse, 1962)
The young women of post-war Japan struggle to define themselves in a changing society in Mikio Naruse’s uncharacteristically hopeful family drama


A Wanderer’s Notebook (放浪記, Mikio Naruse, 1962)
A determined young woman seeks a way out of poverty in Mikio Naruse’s biopic of author Fumiko Hayashi.


To Mom, With Love (お母さんが一緒, Ryosuke Hashiguchi, 2024)
Three sisters embark on an ill-advised family trip to a rundown onsen to celebrate their difficult to please mother’s birthday but eventually discover a kind of serenity in…


The Angry Street (怒りの街, Mikio Naruse, 1950)
A sociopathic student takes revenge on a changing society by seducing wealthy women in Mikio Naruse’s brooding noir.


Sound of the Mountain (山の音, Mikio Naruse, 1954)
A failed patriarch resolves to set his unhappily married daughter-in-free in Mikio Naruse’s post-war marital drama


Hit and Run (ひき逃げ, Mikio Naruse, 1966)
A grief-stricken mother hatches a desperate plan of revenge against the woman who killed her son in Mikio Naruse’s dark psychological drama.


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A Little Girl’s Dream (夢は牛のお医者さん, Yoshiaki Tokita, 2014)
Yoshiaki Tokita’s documentary follows a little girl for 25 years as she achieve her dreams of becoming a vet.


Enma-san (えんまさん, Tomoki Suzuki, 2022)
A young woman with the ability to see people’s true thoughts thanks to a magic mirror becomes consumed with hatred for the world’s duplicity but finds unexpected connection…


The Approach of Autumn (秋立ちぬ, Mikio Naruse, 1960)
A small boy finds himself trapped between the new society and the old in Mikio Naruse’s often deceptively cheerful childhood drama.


Ise-san and Shima-san, Volume 2 (伊勢さんと志摩さん)
It’s been a couple of years since I read Volume 1 of this manga about two friend, who share daily “challenges,” by Tokuwotsumu. At the end of that…


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Five Men in a Circus (サーカス五人組, Mikio Naruse, 1935)
A 5-piece jinta brass band ends up performing as ringers at strike-stricken circus in Naruse’s melancholy anti-authoritarian comedy


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Miss Oyu (お遊さま, Kenji Mizoguchi, 1951)
Oppressive social codes and repressed desire provoke a tragic love triangle in Mizoguchi’s adaptation of the story by Tanizaki.


Goto-san (ゴトーさん, Hiroshi Gokan, 2020)
A young man’s peaceful dropout existence is disrupted by potential romance, a deadly virus, and economic instability in Gokan’s deceptively quirky drama


Hero-san to Moto Onna Kanbu-san, Volume 3 (ヒーローさんと元女幹部さん)
In Volume 1 we met Honjou Hayate, a woman with a secret identity as the hero Rapid Rabbit and her evil arch-rival Honey Trap. Honey leaves the presumably…
ShinRa-Bansho – ははうさぎ (Mother Right Heron)
The other day I was looking for a feel-good song to use as a post theme for my Nagano mountains post and came upon this one, ははうさぎ, or…


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Yuri Manga: Hero-san to Moto Onna Kanbu-san, Volume 2 (ヒーローさんと元女幹部さん)
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Mom, Is That You?! (こんにちは、母さん, Yoji Yamada, 2023)
Disillusioned with the salaryman dream a middle-aged man returns home to his mother only to find her busy with a life of her own in a touching drama…
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...


Hey! Our Dear Don-chan (おーい!どんちゃん, Shuichi Okita, 2022)
A trio of actors undergo a coming-of-age tale of their own when a baby is suddenly abandoned on their doorstep in Shuichi Okita’s charming slice of life dramedy


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The wastrel brother of earnest man running a taxi firm gets a wakeup call after picking up a runaway woman from an upperclass family in Shimazu’s genial comedy.


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Model-chan to Jimi Mane-san, Volume 2 (モデルちゃんと地味マネさん)
In Volume 1, we met Okabe-san, a new manager for top model Yuria-san. Yuri appears cool and remotes but that may well be because she’s so beautiful no…