is a

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...

directed by Yoshitaro Nomura and is based on a novel by Seicho Matsumoto.

Plot

One week into newlywed Teiko Uhara's marriage, her husband, ad agency manager Kenichi, leaves on a short business trip to

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もて� ...

and doesn't return. With a pair of old photographs she found among his belongings, Teiko travels across Japan to search for him, first with the help of her husband's employer, later on her own. After a series of mysterious deaths, including a reception girl of the agency's Kanazawa branch, who turns out to be Kenichi's common law wife, and Kenichi's alleged suicide, all clues lead to Sachiko Murota, wife of a wealthy business partner of her husband. Teiko confronts Mrs. Murota and blames her for murdering Kenichi and everyone who knew of her past as a prostitute in the

post-war era In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...

. Yet, as Mrs. Murota's confession reveals, the truth is even more complex than that.

Cast

Yoshiko Kuga is a Japanese people, Japanese actress. Biography and personal life Kuga was born in Tokyo, Japan. Her father, , was a marquis and a member of the House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. In 1946, while still attending Gakushuin Junior High Sc ...

as Teiko Uhara * Hizuru Takachiho as Sachiko Murota / Emmy * Ineko Arima as Hisako Tanuma * Koji Nambara as Kenichi Uhara *

Kō Nishimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as Akira Kurosawa's ''The Bad Sleep Well'' and '' Yojimbo'', Kihachi Okamoto's ''Sword of Doom'', Yoshitaro Nomura's ''Zero Focus'', and Kon Ichikawa's '' The Burmese Harp'' ( ...

as Sotaro Uhara *

Yoshi Katō was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 175 films between 1949 and 1988. He won the award for Best Actor at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in '' Hometown''. He married the actress Isuzu Yamada in 1950, but ...

as Mr. Murota *

Sadako Sawamura was a Japanese actress. She appeared in more than 140 films between 1935 and 1985. Her brothers were the actors Daisuke Katō and Kunitarō Sawamura. Her autobiography, ''My Asakusa'', has been translated into English. Sawamura married fellow ...

as Sotaro's wife *

Takanobu Hozumi , better known as , was a Japanese actor and voice actor from Ōhito, Shizuoka (now Izunokuni, Shizuoka) attached to Mausu Promotion. He died of gallbladder cancer at the age of 87. Filmography Live-action Film * '' Baka ga Tank Deyattekuru'' ...

as Mr. Honda

Awards

*1961 Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress (Hizuru Takachiho)

Legacy

Seicho Matsumoto's novel was again adapted in 2009 by

Isshin Inudō is a Japanese film director. Career Inudo began making films on his own in high school, with one of his works being selected for the 1979 Pia Film Festival. After attending Tokyo Zokei University, he found work at Asahi Promotions where he beg ...

with Ryōko Hirosue as Teiko Uhara.

References

External links

* * * * {{Yoshitaro Nomura 1961 films Japanese black-and-white films 1960s Japanese-language films 1960s mystery films Films based on Japanese novels Films directed by Yoshitaro Nomura Japanese mystery films Films scored by Yasushi Akutagawa Films set in Ishikawa Prefecture 1960s Japanese films