Tokyo Story
Japanese theatrical release poster
Directed by	Yasujirō Ozu
Produced by	Takeshi Yamamoto
Written by	Kōgo Noda Yasujirō Ozu
Starring	Chishu Ryu Chieko Higashiyama Setsuko Hara
Music by	Kojun Saitō
Cinematography	Atsuta Yuharu
Editing by	Yoshiyasu Hamamura
Studio	Shochiku
Release date(s)	November 3, 1953 (1953-11-03)
Running time	136 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Tokyo Story (東京物語, Tōkyō Monogatari^?) is a 1953 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. It tells the story of an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. The film contrasts the behavior of their children, who are too busy to pay them much attention, and their widowed daughter-in-law, who treats them with kindness. It is often regarded as Ozu's masterpiece, and has appeared several times in the British Film Institute lists of the greatest films ever made.

Plot [edit]

A retired couple, Shukichi and Tomi Hirayama (played by Chishu Ryu and Chieko Higashiyama respectively) live in the town of Onomichi in southwest Japan with their unmarried youngest daughter Kyoko (played by Kyoko Kagawa). The couple travel to Tokyo to visit their son and daughter and daughter-in-law.

Their eldest son, Koichi (So Yamamura), is a pediatrician with two sons. Their eldest daughter, Shige (Haruko Sugimura), runs a hairdressing salon. Koichi and Shige are both busy with work and their families, and do not have much time for their parents. Only the couple's widowed daughter-in-law, Noriko (Setsuko Hara), goes out of her way to entertain them. She takes them on a sightseeing tour of metropolitan Tokyo.

Koichi and Shige pay for their parents' stay at a hot spring spa at Atami, but the parents return early because the nightlife at the hotel interrupts their sleep. When they return, Shige explains that she sent them to Atami because she wanted to use their bedroom for a meeting. Tomi goes to stay with Noriko, whose husband died eight years ago in the war. Tomi advises Noriko to remarry. Shukichi, meanwhile, gets drunk with some old friends, then returns to Shige's salon.

The couple remark on how their children have changed, and they leave for home. During the journey Tomi is taken ill, and they make an unplanned stop at Osaka, where they had planned to meet their youngest son, Keizo (Shiro Osaka), without dismounting from the train. When they reach Onomichi, Tomi becomes critically ill. Koichi, Shige and Noriko rush to Onomichi, on receiving telegrams, to see Tomi, who dies shortly afterwards. Keizo arrives late as he is outstationed.

After the funeral, Koichi, Shige and Keizo decide to leave immediately, with only Noriko not returning. After they leave, Kyoko complains to Noriko that they are selfish and inconsiderate. Noriko responds that everyone has their own life to lead and that the drift between parents and children is inevitable.

After Kyoko leaves for school, Noriko informs her father-in-law that she must return to Tokyo that afternoon. Shukichi tells her that she has treated them best despite not being related by blood. Noriko insists on her own selfishness; Shukichi credits her protests to humility. He gives her a watch from the late Tomi as a memento, and advises her to remarry. Noriko breaks down in tears and confesses her loneliness. At the end, the train with Noriko speeds from Onomichi back to Tokyo, leaving behind Kyoko and Shukichi.

Cast [edit]

• Chishu Ryu as Shukishi Hirayama
• Chieko Higashiyama as Tomi Hirayama
• Setsuko Hara as Noriko Hirayama
• Haruko Sugimura as Shige Kaneko
• So Yamamura as Koichi Hirayama
• Kuniko Miyake as Fumiko Hirayama
• Kyōko Kagawa as Kyōko Hirayama
• Eijirō Tōno as Sanpei Numata
• Nobuo Nakamura as Kurazo Kaneko
• Shirō Osaka as Keiso Hirayama
• Hisao Toake as Osamu Hattori
• Teruko Nagaoka as Yone Hattori
• Mutsuko Sakura as a Patron of the Oden Restaurant
• Toyo Takahashi as Shukichi Hirayama's Neighbor (as Toyoko Takahashi)
• Tōru Abe as a Train employee
• Sachiko Mitani as Noriko's Neighbor
• Zen Murase as Minoru Hirayama, Koichi's son
• Mitsuhiro Mori as Isamu Hirayama, Koichi's son
• Junko Anan as a Beauty Salon Assistant
• Ryōko Mizuki as a Beauty salon client
• Yoshiko Togawa as a Beauty salon client
• Kazuhiro Itokawa as a Student
• Keijirō Morozumi as a Police agent
• Tsutomu Nijima as Noriko's office boss
• Shozo Suzuki as Noriko's office colleague
• Yoshiko Tashiro as a Hotel maid
• Haruko Chichibu as a Hotel maid
• Takashi Miki as a Singer
• Binnosuke Nagao as the Doctor at Onomichi

Production [edit]

Ozu (far right) on set during shooting.

The script was developed by Yasujirō Ozu and his long-time collaborator Kōgo Noda over a period of 103 days in a country inn in Chigasaki. The two, together with cinematographer Yuharu Atsuta, then scouted locations in Tokyo and Onomichi for another month before shooting started. Shooting and editing the film took place from July to October 1953. Ozu used the same film crew and actors he had worked with for many years.^[1]

Reception [edit]

Tokyo Story has appeared several times in The British Film Institute polls of "greatest films" of directors and critics published in Sight & Sound. On the critics' poll, it was third in 1992, fifth in 2002, and third again in 2012. On the director's poll, it was 17th in 1992, tied at number 16 with Psycho and The Mirror in 2002, and in 2012 it topped the poll, receiving 48 votes out of the 358 directors polled.^[2][3][4][5]

It holds a 100% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 34 critical reviews, with also the highest average critical score on the website at 9.7/10.^[6] John Walker, former editor of the Halliwell's Film Guides, places Tokyo Story at the top of his published list of the best 1000 films ever made. Tokyo Story is also included in film critic Derek Malcolm's The Century of Films,^[7][8] a list of films which he deems artistically or culturally important, and Time magazine lists it among its All-Time 100 Movies. Roger Ebert includes it in his series of great movies,^[9] and Paul Schrader placed it in the "Gold" section of his Film Canon.^[10]

Style [edit]

Like all of Ozu's sound films, Tokyo Story's pacing is slow.^[11] Important events are often not shown on screen, only being revealed later through dialogue. For example, the train journeys to and from Tokyo are not depicted.^[12] A distinctive camera style is used, in which the camera height is low and almost never moves; film critic Roger Ebert notes that the camera moves once in the film, which is "more than usual" for an Ozu film.^[9]

Release [edit]

Tokyo Story was released on November 3, 1953 in Japan.

Home media [edit]

The film was restored and released on DVD by The Criterion Collection as a two-disc DVD set (Region 1) and by Tartan Video in Region 2. In 2010, the BFI released a Region 2 Dual Format Edition (Blu-ray + DVD).^[13] Included with this release is a standard definition presentation of Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family.

See also [edit]

• List of films considered the best

References [edit]

Further reading [edit]

• Desser, David (1997). Ozu's Tokyo story. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-48435-9. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tokyo Story

• Tokyo Story at the Internet Movie Database
• Tokyo Story at Rotten Tomatoes