is a 1946 Japanese film directed by

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

, Hideo Sekigawa and

Kajirō Yamamoto was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor who was known for his war films and comedies and as the mentor of Akira Kurosawa. The combined list of his efforts as a director for documentaries, silent, and sound films includes over 90 ...

(who was also co-writer).

Purpose

The film was produced to illustrate the purpose of the

workers' union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

at the

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

film studios, as the Allied Forces endorsed the formation of unions as part of the democratisation process during the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...

. Toho's studio stars

Hideko Takamine was a Japanese actress who began as a child actress and maintained her fame in a career that spanned 50 years. She is particularly known for her collaborations with directors Mikio Naruse and Keisuke Kinoshita, with ''Twenty-Four Eyes'' (1954) a ...

and Susumu Fujita appear playing themselves.

Plot

The sisters Chieko, a

script girl A script supervisor (also called continuity supervisor or script) is a member of a film crew who oversees the continuity of the motion picture including dialogue and action during a scene. The script supervisor may also be called upon to ensure wa ...

working at a big film studio, and Aiko, a revue dancer, are daughters to anti-unionist father Gintarō. When the workers at a railway company, including the family's subtenant Seizo, go on strike, Chieko and her co-workers demonstrate their solidarity and call for strike as well to achieve financial security for the film studio's staff. Meanwhile, Aiko and her dancing troupe decide to get organised in opposition to the theatre's mean stage manager. When Gintarō is fired together with a large group of employees at his company, he finally gives up his reluctance and joins the unionists, impressed by their earnestness.

Cast

* Susumu Fujita – Fujita *

– Takamine * Kenji Susukida – Gintarō Okamoto, father * Masayuki Mori – Seizō Hori, chauffeur * Chieko Takehisa – Kin Okamoto, mother *

Takashi Shimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He appeared in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films (more than any other actor), including as a lead actor in '' Drunken Angel'' (1948), '' Rashomon'' (1950), '' Ikiru'' (1952) ...

– Theatre manager * Yonosuke Toba – Okamoto's colleague *

Masao Shimizu was a Japanese actor. His wife was actress Yumi Takano. His first starring role in the film was in ''Momoiro no Yuwaku'' in 1931. In 1947, he formed the Mingei Theatre Company. Shimizu often worked with Akira Kurosawa. He appeared in more than ...

– Section chief * Hyō Kitazawa – Director * Chieko Nakakita – Yoshiko * Mitsue Tashibana – Aiko

Background

As a result of the first strike by the Toho labor union in March 1946, a production administration committee was established, allowing the union to take part in decision-making. At the suggestion of the Allied Forces' Civil Information and Education Section, the film was planned by the union, produced in a week, and released on

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also called Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of Wage labour, labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every yea ...

, the celebration of which had been banned in Japan since 1936. Kurosawa later distanced himself from the film, calling it "an excellent example of why a committee-made film is no good," and refused to mention it in his autobiography.

Reception

Critical and commercial reception of the film was not positive. Kyuichi Tokuda, chairman of the

Japanese Communist Party The is a communist party in Japan. Founded in 1922, it is the oldest political party in the country. It has 250,000 members as of January 2024, making it one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party is chaired ...

, called the film "too intellectualized and uninteresting."

Legacy

''Those Who Make Tomorrow'' was screened as part of a retrospective on actress Hideko Takamine by the

National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo The , also known as MOMAT, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art. The museum, in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, is known for its collection of 20th-century art and includes Western-style and ''Nihonga'' artists. It has a bra ...

in 2004.

References

External links

* * {{Akira Kurosawa 1946 films 1946 drama films 1940s political drama films Japanese drama films Japanese propaganda films Japanese black-and-white films Films directed by Akira Kurosawa Films produced by Sōjirō Motoki Toho films Films directed by Kajiro Yamamoto