The Rickshaw Man (1958)
"Muhomatsu no issho" (original title)

A poor rickshaw driver finds himself taking care of a young woman and her son after the woman's husband dies suddenly.

Director:

Hiroshi Inagaki

Writers:

Hiroshi Inagaki, Mansaku Itami,

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Hideko Takamine, Hiroshi Akutagawa

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Toshirô Mifune	...	Matsugoro
Hideko Takamine	...	Yoshiko Yoshioka
Hiroshi Akutagawa	...	Capt. Kotaro Yoshioka
Chishû Ryû	...	Shigezo Yuki
Chôko Iida	...	Otora (innkeeper)
Haruo Tanaka	...	Kumakichi
Jun Tatara	...	Theatre employee
Kenji Kasahara	...	Toshio Yoshioka
Kaoru Matsumoto	...	Young Toshio
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Yoshiko's brother
Ichirô Arishima	...	Medicine peddler
Chieko Nakakita	...	Yoshiko's sister-in-law
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Fencing master
Bokuzen Hidari
Kokuten Kôdô

Storyline

Matsugoro is a poor rickshaw driver whose animated spirit and optimistic demeanor make him a favorite of the town. Matsu helps an injured boy, Toshio, and is hired by the boy's parents, Kotaro and Yoshioko, to transport the boy to and from doctor appointments. Matsu comes to love the boy and his parents. When Toshio's father dies, Matsu becomes a surrogate father, helping to raise the boy and secretly falling in love with Toshio's mother Yoshioko. But Matsu knows there is a great gulf between their classes and there seems no hope that Matsu can ever be more than the rickshaw man to the mother and son.

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Plot Keywords:

forbidden love | remake by original director | remake

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

3 May 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Rickshaw Man

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remake of The Life of Matsu the Untamed (1943)

User Reviews

An excellent film!

Why on earth its so hard to get this film on video? Only an extreme bad English subtitled VHS, a good Chinese subtitle, but no German subtitle or German synchronized. I saw this film 40 years ago in German cinema, and except a Japanese VHS or DVD (see above)there's nothing to receive. This film is so good, that I even can understand the meaning of the Japanese Video. (With the help of my Japanese woman) The tragedy of a Rikshaman is shown in an excellent way, how he helps a young boy, when his father died, and that he cant marry the mother of that boy, because he is from a "lower Kaste". I hope one day I will get a German - or at least an English copy, to understand all the words, they say.