Masako, the daughter of an impoverished itinerant tinsmith, wins a grammar school composition contest with an essay about her neighborhood. The much publicized essay ends up causing the family problems and their chronic money troubles threaten Masako's further education.
Acting
Hideko Takamine's breakthrough at age 14 — heartbreaking naturalism.
Direction
Yamamoto's deft balance of social critique and warmth.
Director
Kajirō Yamamoto
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Akira Kurosawa's first credited screenplay. He was 28 and learning at Yamamoto's feet — you can feel his social conscience forming.
The film quietly documents Japan's rural poverty just years before wartime nationalism would render such stories politically dangerous. Masako's 'shame' about her tinworker father hits different knowing what's coming.
JP
