, also titled ''An Older Brother and His Younger Sister'', is a 1939 Japanese

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by

Yasujirō Shimazu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, and a pioneer of the ''shomin-geki'' (common people drama) genre at the Shōchiku studios in pre-World War II Japan. Biography Shimazu was born in Tokyo, the second son of merchant Otojirō Shimazu ...

. Together with ''

Our Neighbor, Miss Yae is a 1934 Japanese comedy-drama film written and directed by Yasujirō Shimazu. It is regarded as one of Shimazu's major films, and a representative work of the shōshimin-eiga ("lower middle class film") genre. Plot In a Tokyo suburb, Keitar ...

'' (1934), it is regarded as one of Shimazu's major films, and a representative of the shōshimin-eiga genre.

Plot

Office worker Mamiya regularly returns home late from playing go with his employer Mr. Arita. Not only do his wife Akiko and his younger sister Fumiko, who lives with them, comment on this, his habit is also the talk of his colleagues. Mamiya's envious colleague Yukita schemes against him behind his back by alleging that Mamiya is an informer for Arita. Arita asks Mamiya to negotiate between his nephew Michio and Fumiko, whom Michio wants to propose to. When the self-confident Fumiko refuses the proposal, Mamiya accepts her decision, but Yukita spreads the rumour that Mamiya uses his sister to appease Arita. On the day of his promotion as head of the department, Mamiya is attacked by former accountant Hayashi, whom Yurita made believe that he lost his position due to Mamiya's informings. When Yukita's scheme is revealed, Mamiya slaps him and resigns from his job. Mamiya, uncertain how to deliver the bad news to Akiko, visits his former colleague Utsumi, who now runs his own company. Utsumi offers Mamiya to work for him in

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

, as his company is expanding. Mamiya accepts and resettles to Manchuria with Akiko and Fumiko.

Cast

Shin Saburi was a Japanese film actor noted for his leading roles in a number of films by the director Yasujirō Ozu including ''Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family'' (1941), '' Tea Over Rice'' (1952), ''Equinox Flower'' (1958) and '' Late Autumn'' (196 ...

as Keisuke Mamiya *

Kuniko Miyake was a Japanese actress. She appeared in nearly 200 films between 1934 and 1991. Career After graduating from Kuki High School, Miyake joined the Shochiku film studios in 1934 and made her film debut the same year with ''Yume no sasayaki''. She ...

as Akiko Mamiya *

Michiko Kuwano was a Japanese film actress. Career Kuwano was born in Shiba ward, Tokyo. After graduating from Mita High School in 1932, she first worked as a "sweets girl" for Morinaga & Company before entering the Shochiku film studios in 1934, where she g ...

as Fumiko *

Ken Uehara was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1990. He starred in ''Entotsu no mieru basho'', which was entered in the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. His son is the singer and actor Yūzō Kayama. Sel ...

as Michio Arita * Reikichi Kawamura as Fujio Gyoda * Ryōtarō Mizushima as Soroku Shimura *

Chishū Ryū was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting 65 years, appeared in over 160 films and about 70 television productions. Early life Ryū was born in Tamamizu Village, Tamana County, a rural area of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu, the most southe ...

as Seisaburo Utsumi *

Ichirō Sugai was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1930 and 1971. Sugai often worked with Kaneto Shindo, Kenji Mizoguchi and Kōzaburō Yoshimura. Selected filmography * ''The Water Magician'' (1933) * ''Spring on Leper's Island ...

as Kiyoshi Arakawa *

Takeshi Sakamoto was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1926 to 1965. Selected filmography External links * 1899 births 1974 deaths Japanese male film actors Actors from Hyōgo Prefecture {{Japan-film-actor-stub ...

as Mr. Arita

Release and reception

''A Brother and His Younger Sister'' was released in Japan on 1 April 1939. It ranked #4 in Kinema Junpo's list of the ten best Japanese films of 1939.

Legacy

In later years, ''A Brother and His Younger Sister'' has been shown at film museums and institutions such as the

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA, formerly abbreviated as BAM/PFA) are a combined art museum, repertory movie theater, and archive associated with the University of California, Berkeley. Lawrence Rinder was Director from ...

in 1985 and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brother and His Younger Sister, A Japanese comedy films Japanese drama films Japanese black-and-white films 1939 films 1939 comedy films 1939 drama films 1930s Japanese films Films set in Tokyo