Tokyo Story

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Lore & Background

Tokyo Story was inspired by the 1937 American film Make Way for Tomorrow, which it loosely adapts to the Japanese context and Ozu’s style. Noda, a long-time collaborator of Ozu, initially suggested the plot of the older film to Ozu, who had not seen it. The script was developed by Ozu and Noda over a period of 103 days in a ryokan called Chigasakikan in Chigasaki, Kanagawa. Shooting and editing took place from July to October 1953. Filming locations were in Tokyo (Adachi, Chūō, Taitō and Chiyoda), Onomichi, Atami and Osaka. Ozu used the same film crew and actors he had worked with for many years. The film's pacing is slow, though Ozu called it his film "that tends most strongly to melodrama." Ozu favored a stationary camera and believed strongly in minimalism. A distinctive camera style is used, in which the camera height is low and almost never moves; film critic Roger Ebert noted that the camera moves once in the film, which is "more than usual" for an Ozu film. The low camera positions are reminiscent of sitting on a traditional Japanese tatami mat. Themes include the break-up and Westernization of the traditional Japanese family after World War II and the inevitability of children growing apart from their parents. It contrasts the urban life of the children in Tokyo with the rural life of their parents. The film takes place in 1953 post-war Japan, a few years after the new Civil Code of 1948 stimulated the country's rapid re-growth and embraced Western capitalist ideals, while simultaneously destroying older traditions such as the Japanese family and its values.

Reader's Guide

Tokyo Story is widely regarded as Ozu's magnum opus and one of the greatest films in the history of cinema. It was voted the greatest film of all time in the 2012 edition of a poll of film directors by Sight and Sound magazine. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international recognition and was considered "too Japanese" to be marketable by Japanese film exporters. It was screened in 1957 in London, where it won the inaugural Sutherland Trophy the following year, and received praise from U.S. film critics after a 1972 screening in New York City. In Japan, it was the eighth-highest-grossing film of 1953 with ¥131.65 million in distributor rental earnings. The film is considered a Shomin-geki film for its depiction of ordinary people. Its influence is seen in its enduring critical acclaim and its place in film history as a masterwork of slow, minimalist storytelling. The plot follows retired couple Shūkichi and Tomi Hirayama, who travel from Onomichi to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Their eldest son Kōichi, a physician, and eldest daughter Shige, who runs a hairdressing salon, are both too busy to spend time with them. Only their widowed daughter-in-law Noriko, whose husband Shōji was missing in action and presumed dead during the Pacific War, goes out of her way to entertain them. After a failed trip to a hot spring spa at Atami, the couple splits up for the night—Tomi stays with Noriko and deepens their emotional bond, while Shūkichi gets drunk with old friends. Tomi falls critically ill on the return journey and dies shortly after arriving home. After the funeral, Kōichi, Shige, and Keizō leave immediately, leaving only Noriko to stay. Kyōko criticises her siblings for their selfishness, but Noriko explains that everyone has their own life and the growing chasm between parents and children is inevitable. Noriko gives Shūkichi a watch from Tomi as a memento, and he encourages her to remarry.

Did You Know?

• Tokyo Story was inspired by the 1937 American film Make Way for Tomorrow, which Ozu had not seen; his collaborator Noda suggested the plot from memory.
• The script was developed by Ozu and Noda over 103 days in a ryokan called Chigasakikan in Chigasaki, Kanagawa.
• The film was the eighth-highest-grossing film of 1953 in Japan, earning ¥131.65 million in distributor rental earnings.
• It won the inaugural Sutherland Trophy in 1958 for the most original and creative film.
• Film critic Roger Ebert noted that the camera moves only once in the entire film, which is 'more than usual' for an Ozu film.