A woman who swore off love watching her mother's second act? The irony burns.
Teacher Miyako Hanai, disillusioned by her sisters’ unhappy marriages, rejects love until family conflicts and her mother’s unexpected remarriage lead her to rethink happiness and relationships.
Acting
Yuriko Hoshi's simmering restraint as Miyako steals every scene.
Direction
Tsuboshima frames family dinners like battlegrounds.
Director
Takashi Tsuboshima
Yuriko Hoshi
Miyako Hanai (Fourth Daughter)
Reiko Dan
Junko Nakanishi (Second Daughter)
Akira Takarada
Kiyoshi Nakanishi (Junko’s Husband)
Yōko Tsukasa
Akiko Okabayashi (Eldest Daughter)
Hiroshi Koizumi
Shuji Okabayashi (Akiko’s Husband)
Yōsuke Natsuki
Shiro Kumamoto
Makoto Satō
Sanjiro Kitamura (Toshiko’s Husband)
Aiko Mimasu
Sumi Hanai
Eijirō Tōno
President Sagara
Seiji Miyaguchi
Old Man
Fuyuki Murakami
Saitō (Secretary’s Office Clerk)
Noriko Honma
Kitamura’s Mother
Jun Hamamura
Kitamura’s Father
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during Japan's economic boom, the film quietly interrogates whether new prosperity actually liberated women or just created new prisons.
Yuriko Hoshi was Toho's rising star; this role was deliberately cast against her usual cheerful ingenue type to shock audiences.
JP
