Set in Kawaguchi in the early 60s, this simple story chronicles the lives of foundry families and one girl's dreams of higher education.
Acting
Sayuri Yoshinaga's hopeful restraint will wreck you.
Cinematography
Industrial haze made weirdly beautiful.
Direction
Urayama lets silences scream.
Director
Kirio Urayama
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kawaguchi was Japan's industrial heartland; the film captures the 1960 Income Doubling Plan's human cost.
Sayuri Yoshinaga became the face of Japanese cinema after this; she was 17 and had never seen a foundry before filming.
JP
