The Life of Chikuzan (1977)
"Chikuzan hitori tabi" (original title)

Director:

Kaneto Shindô

Writer:

Kaneto Shindô

Stars:

Ryûzô Hayashi, Nobuko Otowa, Mitsuko Baishô

8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ryûzô Hayashi	...	Chikuzan Takahashi
Nobuko Otowa	...	Toyo, Mother
Mitsuko Baishô	...	Chikuzan's 2nd wife
Dai Kanai	...	Sadakichi, Father
Chikuzan Takahashi	...	Himself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Moeko Ezawa	...	Seller
Kotoe Hatsui	...	Farmer
Hiroko Isayama	...	Tomiko
Hideo Kanze	...	Tokura
Atsuko Kawaguchi	...	Otoki
Takuzô Kawatani	...	Senta
Hôsei Komatsu	...	Goto
Akemi Negishi	...	Tami
Junkichi Orimoto	...	Owner
Sumie Sasaki	...	Maid

Storyline

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

17 March 1977 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Life of Chikuzan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jean Jean Company Ltd., Kindai Eiga Kyokai

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

User Reviews

A good biopic

A musical biopic of the blind shamisen (a Japanese string instrument) player Chikuzan Takahashi. Narratively, it's pretty standard - one might call it the Japanese Ray and not be too far off. But it's well acted and well shot, with a lot of interesting settings and period detail (the setting is early 20th Century rural Japan, up to WWII). Ryuzo Hayashi stars as Chikuzan. Kaneto Shindo's wife and frequent star Nobuko Otowa co-stars as Chikuzan's mother. Well worth checking out if you can find it. This was nominated for the Japanese Academy award for Best Picture in the first year of its existence, but lost to Yoji Yamada's The Yellow Handkerchief.