''Times of Joy and Sorrow'' (USA title), ''The Lighthouse'' (UK title), or , is a 1957 color Japanese film directed by

Keisuke Kinoshita was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Ronald Berganbr>"A satirical eye on Japan: Keisuke Kinoshita" ''The Guardian'', 5 January 1999. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and ...

, who shot on location at 10 different lighthouses throughout Japan, including opening scenes at Kannonzaki, the site of the country's first lighthouse.

Plot

In 1932, a young

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

returns from his father's funeral with a new bride, who quickly learns the importance of the marital bond to members of her husband's profession, which is often characterized by the hardships of physical isolation and sudden reassignment. Over the next 25 years they transfer to ten different lighthouses throughout Japan, raising two children and befriending multiple colleagues and their families. They endure wartime attacks on the strategically relevant lighthouses as well as a tragedy involving one of their children, ultimately celebrating the other's marriage and settling together into middle age.

Cast

Hideko Takamine was a Japanese actress who began as a child actress and maintained her fame in a career that spanned 50 years. She is particularly known for her collaborations with directors Mikio Naruse and Keisuke Kinoshita, with '' Twenty-Four Eyes'' (1954) ...

as Kiyoko Arisawa *

Keiji Sada is the stage name for a Japanese cinema actor active from the late-1940s to the early 1960s. His real name was Kanichi Nakai. He won the award for best actor at the 7th Blue Ribbon Awards for and . He was the father of the actor Kiichi Nakai an ...

as Shiro Arisawa *

Takahiro Tamura was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1954 and 2005. He and his younger brothers Masakazu and Ryō were known as the three Tamura brothers. They were sons of actor Tsumasaburo Bando. Biography Tamura graduated from Dos ...

as Mr. Nozu *

Katsuo Nakamura is a Japanese actor. Nakamura is a former Kabuki actor as well as his older brother Kinnosuke Nakamura. His first film appearance was in the 1955 film ''Furisode Kenpo''. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 5th Japan Academy Prize ...

as Kotaro * Yōko Katsuragi as Fuji Tatsuko *

Kōji Mitsui was a Japanese movie, TV, and stage actor. He appeared in more than 150 films from 1925 to 1975, including 29 of ''Kinema Junpo''’s annual Top-10 winners and three of its 10 best Japanese films of all time. In 2000 the magazine named him one ...

as Mr. Kanemaki * Kuniko Igawa as Itoko Suzuki *

Shizue Natsukawa was a Japanese actress. Career Natsukawa was born in Tokyo and first appeared on stage at age seven. She joined the Nikkatsu studio in 1927 and came to fame through such films as ''Kantsubaki'' and Kenji Mizoguchi's ''Tokyo March''. She married ...

as Mrs. Natori *

Masako Arisawa Masako (written: , , or in hiragana) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * *, (1888–1940), 6th daughter of Emperor Meiji *, Japanese long-distance runner *Masako Ebisu (born 1945), Japanese voice actress *, ...

as Yukino *

Hiroko Itō is a common feminine Japanese given name. Name meanings Hiroko can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *裕子, "kind child" *弘子, "Beautiful child" *寛子, " small child" *浩子, "large child" *博子, "wise child" ...

as Masako *

Noboru Nakaya Noboru (written: , , , , in hiragana or katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, official in the government of Japan's Okinawa Prefecture *, former professional sumo wrestler and current politician fr ...

as Shingo Natori *

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 Postmaster *

Ryūji Kita was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 280 films from 1937 to 1972. Career Kita started out in the film industry in the scenario department at the Shochiku studios, but moved to Nikkatsu in 1937 and made his acting debut in Tomu Uchida ...

as Natori *

Mutsuko Sakura was a Japanese actress. Her hobby was golf. She started work at Shochiku in 1950, and played supporting roles in some of Yasujirō Ozu's films. She was a constant in Japanese film and TV drama for half of the 20th century. Selected filmograp ...

as Mrs. Kanemaki

Featured Lighthouses

Kannonzaki Lighthouse Kannonzaki Lighthouse (観音埼灯台) is a lighthouse on Cape Kannon, on Miura Peninsula, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. History The original Kannonzaki Lighthouse was the first lighthouse built in Japan. It was one of the eight lighthouses wh ...

Miura Peninsula is a peninsula located in Kanagawa, Japan. It lies south of Yokohama and Tokyo and divides Tokyo Bay, to the east, from Sagami Bay, to the west. Cities and towns on the Miura Peninsula include Yokosuka, Miura, Hayama, Zushi, and Kama ...

Kanagawa is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagaw ...

* Ishikari Lighthouse - Ishikari, Hokkaido
Izu Oshima Lighthouse
-

Izu Ōshima is an inhabited volcanic island in the Izu archipelago in the Philippine Sea, off the coast of Honshu, Japan, east of the Izu Peninsula and southwest of Bōsō Peninsula. As with the other islands in the Izu Island group, Izu Ōshima form ...

Izu Islands The are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo Prefecture. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ōsh ...

Mizunokojima Lighthouse is an active lighthouse located in Japan's Bungo Channel. Specifications The structure is located on Mizunokojima, a small rocky island roughly east-northeast of the city of Saiki, in the middle of the Bungo Channel. The light itself is abo ...

Bungo Channel The is a strait separating the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Shikoku. It connects the Pacific Ocean and the Seto Inland Sea on the western end of Shikoku. The narrowest part of this channel is the Hōyo Strait. In the English-speaking world, ...

, Oita * Meshima Lighthouse -

Gotō Islands The are Japanese islands in the East China Sea, off the western coast of Kyūshū. They are part of Nagasaki Prefecture. Geography There are 140 islands, including five main ones: , , , , and . The group of islands runs approximately ...

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in th ...

Hajiki Saki Lighthouse
-

Sado Island is a city located on in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Since 2004, the city has comprised the entire island, although not all of its total area is urbanized. Sado is the sixth largest island of Japan in area following the four main islands and O ...

, Niigata *

Omaesaki Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on a hill at the outermost extremity of :fr:Cap Omae, Cape Omae south of :ja:御前崎港, Omaezaki Port, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. A lighthouse was built at Cape Omae as early as 1635, when the Tokugawa Shogunate reco ...

Omaezaki 270px, Omaezaki City Hall is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Omaezaki is located at the tip of Omaezaki Peninsula on Japan's Pacific coast. , the city had an estimated population of 32,422 in 12,095 households and a population ...

, Shizuoka *

Anorisaki Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the top of Shima Peninsula in the city of Shima, Mie Prefecture, Japan. History The Anorisaki Lighthouse was designed and constructed by British engineer Richard Henry Brunton and was first lit on April 1, 1873. It is ...

- Shima, Mie * Ogijima Lighthouse -

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osa ...

, Kagawa * Hiyoriyama Lighthouse -

Otaru is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular t ...

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

Legacy

The highly-popular film has been remade three times for Japanese television, and in 1986 Kinoshita himself reworked it as ''

Big Joys, Small Sorrows is a 1986 Japanese film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, revisiting his melancholic earlier work, '' Times of Joy and Sorrow'' (1957), of a lighthouse keeper and the transient lifestyle he and his family endure. Shot at 10 different lighthouses, f ...

'', the Western version of its actual title (新・喜びも悲しみも幾歳月), which translates roughly as ''New Times of Joy and Sorrow''. Its rousing,

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous theme song was a major hit for Akira Wakayama and became a cultural touchstone of 1950s Japan. In 1993 a statue depicting the movie's two stars in an iconic pose from publicity materials was erected at Hajikizaki Lighthouse on Sato Island, one of the filming sites, as a tribute to lighthouse staff nationwide.

Availability

Although the film has not been released on disc or for streaming in the United States, Kinoshita's remake ''

'' was among the inaugural films available in Spring 2019 for streaming on The

Criterion Criterion, or its plural form criteria, may refer to: General * Criterion, Oregon, a historic unincorporated community in the United States * Criterion Place, a proposed skyscraper in West Yorkshire, England * Criterion Restaurant, in London, Eng ...

Channel.

References

External links

* 1957 films Films set in the 1980s Films directed by Keisuke Kinoshita Shochiku films Films set in the 1940s Films set in the Shōwa period Films set in Hokkaido Films set in Mie Prefecture Films set on islands Films with screenplays by Keisuke Kinoshita Films set on the home front during World War II Films about families Films about military personnel Works set in lighthouses Maritime culture Seafaring films 1950s Japanese films {{1950s-Japan-film-stub