Bridge of Japan

Bridge of Japan (1956)

RomanceDrama

Ichikawa's 1956 adaptation of Nihonbashi was the first to take the work of Kyoka Izumi— until then regarded as a writer of common tragic melodramas—and re-evaluate it as a tanbi-ha work of decadence, aestheticism, and intrigue. Ichikawa's film presents the tragic plot of the young geisha who is unable to enact her love for a man publicly in any way other than a histrionic story of torment, a heart-rending tale of lovers being crushed by fate. Instead, Ichikawa shows the contest of wills that transpires as two geisha, Oko and Kiyoha fight for the top spot in Nihonbashi, the pinnacle of the Tokyo geisha world. Nihonbashi is an elegant, if steely, exposition of manners. The young doctor, Shinzo Katsuragi, is the object of affection for both women, but appears to be more the choice reward for the plotting and thieving of these two early modern superwomen, than a lover they swoon over.

Director: Kon Ichikawa
Writer: Natto Wada

Casts

	Chikage Awashima as Otaka Inaba
	Ayako Wakao as Ochise
	Fujiko Yamamoto as Kiyoha Takinoya
	Ryūji Shinagawa as Shinso Kuzuki
	Hiroshi Kawaguchi as
	Eijirō Yanagi as Shinpachiro Kasahara
	Eiji Funakoshi as Shinpachiro Kasahara
	Eiichi Takamura as Kiyoha's Husband
	Kan Sugi as
	Teruko Kishi as
	Kumeko Urabe as
	Sadako Sawamura as
	Natsuko Kahara as
	Kiyoko Hirai as
	Mantarō Ushio as
	Kōichi Itō as
	Koh Sugita as
	Tsutomu Nakata as
	Kôji Minami as
	Keiji Aoyama as
	Shōzaburō Date as
	Toshiyuki Ohara as

Crew