Based on the original work by Shuji Hojo, Itohan Monogatari depicts the fate of a clumsy and kind-hearted woman in the Taisho era.
Acting
Machiko Kyō's heartbreaking clumsiness.
Production
Lavish Taisho-era sets and costumes.
Direction
Itō's masterful emotional restraint.
Director
Daisuke Itō
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Daisuke Itō was already legendary for samurai films; this melodrama showed his range. Machiko Kyō reportedly practiced 'clumsy' walking for weeks.
The Taisho era (1912-1926) represented Japan's brief flirtation with liberalism—making Okatsu's failure to rise above her station even more poignant.
JP
