5. Tokyo Story
-Hello and welcome to Japan Media Tour. I’m your host Stephen T. M., and today we’re going to be talking about Yasujiro Ozu’s legendary 1953 film Tokyo Story -Ozu is one of Japan’s most legendary filmmakers, and this movie in particular
Consistently finds its way onto lists of the greatest films of all time, so I’m honestly a bit nervous to try and analyze it -The film, in its simplest form, is about an old couple from a small town in Japan who go to Tokyo to visit their children
-The most universal theme in the film is that of intergenerational conflict, and the isolation we tend to feel as we grow older -So now is the time I’ll give you the standard Spoiler Warning as it
Will be necessary for me to give away some plot points in order to break down the film properly -But before we get deeper into our main topic of the episode, I’d like to talk about cats in Japan -I know these little rambles at the beginning of each episode may seem random,
But I want to provide a full 360 degree view of Japan, and in order to do that I want to give you a bit of news or a little slice of daily life in Japan -With these, along with the media that make up the body of each episode,
And the recommendation I give as an outro, I hope to give you the listener a more organic feel for Japanese culture, and something less sterile and detached from everyday life -Anyway, all I want to say today is that there are tons of stray cats, or ‘noraneko’ in Japan
-Nora means stray, and neko means cat -In pretty much every neighbourhood I’ve been to in Japan there have been at least a few stray cats hanging around -While I know this is common in many parts of the world,
It’s pretty rare to see a stray cat where I’m from in Canada, so I always found it interesting -In my neighbourhood in Nagoya I would even see an elderly woman who went down to the nearby river every evening to feed the strays -Some of the cats seemed quite sweet,
While others would hiss when you walked by and others still were battle tested with missing tails and scars on their faces -I guess they have a pretty complex social hierarchy -These cats really add to the atmosphere
Of the Japanese streets though, and I think they reinforce the idealized version of Japan we get in our heads when we watch anime or read manga, as they are pretty heavily featured in these -That being said I’m sure they decimate local bird populations
-Japan also has multiple cat islands, as well as a rabbit island which is quite interesting, but I’ll talk about that another time -One of the cat islands is Aoshima, in Ehime Prefecture -You can go there, buy a little
Cat food, and walk around feeding the noraneko -Just like the street cats in the big cities, some of these cats look pretty rough, but they’re still cute -So that’s one way you can spend time with cats in Japan
-Of course, another way is to visit one of the many cat cafes that are found all over the country -You can go there and play with cats, without having to travel to a faraway island in the middle of the inland sea -But back to the
Strays – why are there so many in Japan? -There are a lot of contributing factors, but it probably comes down to less spaying and neutering of cats in Japan -There are also a lot of different attitudes toward the noraneko, with some seeing them
As a problem, and others seeing them as no less a part of Japanese life than us humans -Either way, they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon -Now let’s get to our feature presentation, Tokyo Story, or Tokyo Monogatari in Japanese
-As I mentioned, the film was directed by Yasujiro Ozu, who is one of the two legends of Japanese cinema, along with Akira Kurosawa -The movie opens in the small town of Onomichi, Hiroshima, where you see children walking to school, an old freight train passing through,
And some scenic shots of the town and surrounding hills -The first question I think we need to ask about this film is: is it relevant or important that this post-war film begins and ends in Hiroshima Prefecture? -This movie has been studied and dissected so much that several different schools of
Thought have emerged on how we should look at it -There are those who look at this film as a simple and universal story of aging, and of family relationships, and those certainly are the most important themes in the movie, but I find it hard to ignore the post-war Japanese perspective
-Some may argue that the movie is made somehow less great by limiting it to a Japanese perspective, but that’s not what I’m saying – I think it’s a great movie when viewed for its universal truths, made even greater by an understanding of postwar Japan
-It’s both a study of intergenerational family relationships, and of a rapidly changing Japan dealing with the aftermath of World War 2 -And where better to start and end such a story than Hiroshima Prefecture -A poetic place to tell a story about a time of great change
-So let’s set the scene a little more – you see an old couple, Tomi and Shukichi Hirayama, sitting on tatami mats in their house, and their daughter, Kyoko, comes in to bring them their lunch -It’s immediately made clear that she takes good care of her parents
-Ozu does a great job showing the simplicity of small town life in Japan – Laundry hanging out to dry, kids going to school, and Kyoko, the local teacher on her way to work -Ozu is well known for these peaceful transition shots
-However, the peaceful atmosphere will slowly melt away when the old couple heads to Tokyo to visit their other children, Koichi and Shige -And I do say that it happens slowly on purpose, this movie has very few sudden shifts, it’s a gradual build that gives us time to introspect
And take in the subtleties of each interaction -It’s all about the subtext – there’s not much outright action, but rather emotions slowly build and you start to get ideas in your head about what different characters might be thinking – the tension
Builds slow like that which would seep into the relationships of a family over years and years -The film jumps to Tokyo where a young woman, Fumie, is preparing for her in-laws to come to town -This is where we get our first little bit
Of conflict as her kids are complaining that they have to move their stuff to make space for their grandparents -They’re making it clear that the grandparents are seen as somewhat of a burden -It’s small, but it serves to establish the theme of intergenerational conflict that will continue throughout the film
-This movie might be more relevant than ever in a modernized Japan with a rapidly aging population -It’s becoming less and less common for 3 generations to live under one roof, at a time when it would probably make more sense than ever -And that goes for most Western countries as
Well – it would be difficult to watch Tokyo Story without thinking about the elderly and how we treat them -There are lots of little hints early on in the film about how busy the Tokyo residents are, and we begin to wonder how much time they’ll have for
The elderly patriarch Shukichi, and his wife Tomi -This builds gradually as the film gains momentum, reaching its pinnacle at the end of the film back in Onomichi -One daughter-in-law, Noriko is too busy to meet the old couple at the station, though she still
Makes an effort to see them later on that evening -This is a tiny detail, but it helps to establish the character of Noriko – she’s a busy young widow, who nevertheless does her best to make time for others -Forgive me if it seems like I’m mentioning
Unnecessary details, but I aim to capture the subtle way in which the story unfolds -Ozu tries to show us that the younger generation are not bad people, the world is just a changing place, and life in Tokyo moves a lot faster than it does in rural Japan
-Since the older couple’s kids, Koichi and Shige are so busy with work, Shukichi and Tomi end up sitting around the house a lot, just doing nothing, rather than exploring the thriving metropolis -During these moments we see the implementation
Of Ozu’s famous Tatami Shot – which is when he sets the camera just a couple feet above the floor to make it feel as though you are sitting on a tatami mat with the family -It’s a very intimate shot which allows you to empathize with the characters on
Screen who often happen to be looking directly into the camera as they speak -It feels like Ozu is asking the viewer how we would react in that moment -He leads us to understand others’ feelings, and to confront our own
-There’s really no more immersive shot than this, and it will surely make you feel as though you are sitting there with the Hirayamas, and getting to know how they are feeling in the current moment -This is also said to be a distinctly Japanese camera angle, as it is far more
Common for people to be seated on the floor there than in Western countries -Interestingly, the tatami shot was kind of controversial in the West, as that low angle was associated with a powerful character looking down at others who were lower than them
-This was not how Ozu intended it though, and Japanese audiences understood that -This is one of the reasons why Ozu is often said to be the most Japanese of filmmakers, as opposed to someone like Kurosawa who was much more action oriented, and whose movies are perhaps
More similar to those made in Hollywood -Though their careers overlapped, Kurosawa gained acclaim in the west about a decade earlier with his breakout film Rashomon in 1950, which I must say is a masterpiece -Ozu’s films are much more serene as he very
Rarely even moves his camera – maybe only once during the entirety of Tokyo Story – that sounds wrong even as I say it, but I’m pretty sure that’s the case – the camera was almost always stationary -While the camera remains still, the characters are often moving around it
-People walking in and out of rooms while we, the viewers, are stationary -Is this how the old couple feels with their kids who are too busy for them? -This also comments on the ephemeral nature of life. People move in and out of our lives without
Us having any control over them, and without a clear view of where life is heading in the future -When people talk about this film they will often use the term ‘mono no aware’ which refers to the impermanence of things -It’s almost like an emotional connection to
The transient nature of things, and the awareness that all things eventually must come to an end -In contrast to the intimate tatami shots, scenes are sometimes shot from a distance, where we can’t see the characters’ faces in full, as though we are being shut out
-We sometimes feel as though we are seeing them from another room, not too far away, but certainly not with the same closeness as the tatami shots -One more bit of cinematography I want to quickly mention is the number of symmetrical shots in the film
-These of course convey the peace and serenity of everyday life, and make it feel as though nothing is out of the ordinary – this is how life is -His style is all about minimalism, which we can add to the long list of Japanese themes running through Tokyo Story
-In fact, Ozu’s films actually didn’t really reach the West until the 60s as they were seen as being too Japanese for Western audiences -This looks pretty ridiculous now as a film like Tokyo Story is full of universal truths that we all must face at some point
-So back to the story – eventually the burden falls on the kindhearted Noriko to show her in-laws around the city -This is when we find out that Noriko’s husband died fighting in World War 2 -There’s a really good line here from
Her husband’s mother, she says: “he lived so far from us that it felt as though he were still alive somewhere” -Really nice dialogue in this film – it has to be good as there isn’t much action to hide behind -It unfolds more like a great novel than the
Type of movie we’re used to seeing in theatres these days -Just think about that line spoken by Tomi about her son who died in the war. What does it mean? -I think there are many different ways we can take it, but I’ll post just one interpretation
-When we don’t see someone for a long time we keep an idealized representation of them in our minds, and in a way that person lives on in our heads, whereas if we were to see them again it would likely break the mould we’ve kept for all that time
-In this case Tomi doesn’t get to see her son, but just being in the place where he had once lived was enough to awaken her from the dreamlike state that kept her son’s existence intact within her mind -Anyway, you can ignore that interpretation
As I think explaining that line is kind of like explaining a joke – We all understand what she’s talking about when she says it, and I’ve probably only taken away from it by reading into it -So Koichi and his sister Shige eventually decide that they’re so busy that they’d rather just put
Together some money and send their parents to an onsen, or hot spring resort in Atami -By paying for their parents to go on this trip, they’re essentially paying for the inconvenience that is their parents to go away -Now more than ever we are paying to make
Our lives more convenient. I wonder how much we lose by doing this. How many interactions, and how many experiences -Anyway, Atami is still a popular vacation destination, and you’ll see it if you take the train between Tokyo and Central or Western Japan -The tension has slowly been building throughout the movie,
And Atami is where it really starts to hit -The elderly couple arrive at the hotel which is full of young people and really loud and lively at night. There is even a band playing while they are trying to sleep -You feel so bad for them at this point
-Somehow Ozu has managed to make a bad night’s sleep in a hotel evoke stronger emotions than other directors could with the death of a loved one or something like that -You can just feel the disappointment of the old couple, even as they try to
Smile through it – they remark that the spa is meant for the younger generation -It’s a great performance by both actors, and Chishū Ryū who plays the husband is often praised for his role in Tokyo Story -Ryu, by the way was a frequent
Collaborator with Ozu and something of a legendary figure in Japanese cinema -The next day they go for a walk along the seaside away from the lively atmosphere of the hotel -They talk about going home to their unmarried daughter Kyoko, who still takes good care of them
-The film really does a great job of bringing our thoughts and feelings to the surface -As we watch we think about how we tend to discard the older generation -I wonder if we do this even moreso in the West than they do in Japan
-I think we probably do, and it certainly seems like there are fewer three generation households in the West -While in Atami, Tomi begins to feel dizzy, and has trouble standing up -This is the final straw that leads the elderly
Couple to leave Atami early and head back to Tokyo -Once they arrive back at their daughter’s house, Shige seems disappointed to see them -She was happy to have them out of mind for a while, and assumed they would have a nice relaxing time in Atami
-Again, it’s not that the grown children are necessarily bad people, they are just busy with their lives and careers, and at least a little bit selfish, but who isn’t? -Unfortunately, Shige is having a get-together with her friends at the house,
And so the old couple must find somewhere else to stay – They’re being pushed away once again -So Shukichi goes to meet his friend from their hometown of Onomichi, who now lives in Tokyo -He tells his friend that Onomichi is remarkably unchanged, as it was
Fortunately not bombed during the war – in other words, it represents pre-war Japan -We see the war mentioned several times throughout the movie – though it’s not a main point of emphasis, it still sets the backdrop for the film and reminds us of the
State of Japan at the time the movie was made -Shukichi’s friend, Hattori, mentions that he is renting a room in his house in Tokyo out to a young man who is always gambling and staying out all night, when he should be studying -It’s not just the Hirayama’s who are
Dealing with intergenerational conflict – it is part of life for almost everyone in Japan -Mr. Hirayama ends up going drinking all night with Hattori and another friend of theirs -They reminisce about their youth and complain about the younger generation
-They’re nostalgic talking about their younger years, and how Japan was once a better place -At one point Hattori mentions that he lost both of his sons in the war, to which their other friend, also originally from Onomichi, remarks: “to lose your children is hard,
But living with them isn’t always easy either” -I think this line goes pretty well with the one from Tomi that I mentioned earlier, about how the distance between Onomichi and Tokyo made her feel that her son was still alive -So old man Shukichi ends up getting
Really drunk and the police bring him to his daughter Shige’s house late at night – along with one of his friends -She is furious and mentions how her father used to do the same thing when she was a kid too -At this moment we start to feel that no one
Is perfect, which is of course true – but throughout most of the movie we’ve stood firmly on the side of the older generation -Now we can understand the complexity of the situation – Though he wouldn’t have ended up going out drinking if his family
Just found the time to hang out with him -And of course, I will say, after watching the movie you will still be on the side of the old couple, if you’re choosing sides at all -Meanwhile, the old woman, Tomi spends the night at her daughter-in-law
Noriko’s tiny bachelor apartment -Even when her own children kick her out, Noriko kindly takes Tomi in -Noriko continues to show this side of her character for the rest of the film, and the actress, Setsuko Hara became legendary for playing this type of role -Just like Chishū Ryū, Hara was featured
In several of Ozu’s films, and usually played a very kind, self-sacrificing woman who put the needs of her family ahead of her own -Sidenote, though she was most well-known for working alongside Ozu, she also appeared in Kurosawa’s 1946 film, No Regrets For Our Youth
-Hara has been compared to Greta Garbo, and is famous for her smile which shows kindness and sadness all in one -In Tokyo Story she seems to smile to hide and the pain and loneliness after having lost her husband to the war -She will no doubt be your favourite character in the movie
-Tomi remarks that it is a treat to sleep in her dead son’s bed – I don’t have anything to add here, I just thought it was an interesting line -Even with all that the elder Mrs. Hirayama is going through on this trip, she still says to Noriko that she feels sorry for her,
And that she would be happy if she remarried so that she could once again enjoy her life -Another theme is brought to light here – how widowed or unmarried women are treated in Japan -The war was obviously a major cause of this in 1950s Japan, but it’s still a relevant topic of
Conversation today as many women might feel they are too busy with work to go out and find a husband, among other factors of course -There’s a looming fear of loneliness hanging over the entire film, and over all of our lives -This, in tandem with life being a perceived race
Against time will get the hands of the clock moving in your mind as you watch -Noriko again tries to smile through the pain saying that she’s not that young anymore -I’m sure this is something we all think now and again – we’re not young enough to do something in
Life, whether it’s getting married or learning a new skill – but it’s really never too late -Both the women end up crying themselves to sleep – everyone is worried about getting older, being lonely, and the changing world -And what a time of change
This was – the Showa era -This is a time in Japanese history that is really hard for me to put my finger on – so much happened, and the beginning of the era looked nothing like the end -Luckily it’s often split into two distinct
Timeframes – those of course being the pre World War 2, and postwar eras -Prewar Showa was all about Nationalism and empire building, and putting Japanese values first, whereas I would say the postwar Showa era is when Japan became truly obsessed with American culture
-I really enjoy going to izakaya and bars from the postwar Showa era – you really can’t beat the atmosphere, and they might not be around for much longer, so you should try to get to some if you can -I’ve actually had a few instances where older
Japanese people will strike up a conversation with me at these spots wondering what I’m doing in there, and it often ends with them buying me a beer or some fried chicken or something -All right so I’ll reiterate that there will be spoilers, and they’re going to hit pretty
Hard soon, so escape now while you still can -Tomi mentions to Noriko that she won’t be returning to Tokyo again, but that she’d love for Noriko to come visit Onomichi -Noriko says she’d like to, but that it’s quite far away -The old couple gets on the train back home to Onomichi,
But Tomi unfortunately falls quite ill somewhere along the way, and they decide they need to get off in Osaka, where their other son Keizo lives -Keizo quotes Confucius in a line that sums up one of the major lessons of the film when he says “none can serve his parents beyond the grave”
-Appreciate them while they’re still here, and help them to enjoy the latter half of their lives -Another interesting line, this time spoken by Shukichi is that “some grandparents like their grandchildren better than their children, but that he actually likes his children better”
-I didn’t really know how to take this line, as his own children didn’t treat him very well throughout the movie, but it isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of his grandchildren -Another line which I really like is that “a married daughter is like a stranger”
-There is some bitterness in this, but it’s also clear that Shukichi understands that once his daughter got married she had more people relying on her and her attention shifted toward her husband -There are a lot of things in this movie
That we all feel from time to time, but that Ozu is able to put into words, and the actors are able to convey with their expressions -Meanwhile, it seems like Koichi and Shige are delusional, talking about how they think their parents enjoyed their trip to Tokyo
-It is around this time that they get a telegram informing them that their mother is critically ill -In the house where Tomi is fading from this world, we see a moth circling the light fixture -Moths are often seen as as messengers from the underworld, or symbols of death,
And this is true in Japan as well -Moths are such a perfect symbol of our lifecycle, as we see them transform from caterpillar, to pupa, to full grown moths -You see a moth and you can instantly contemplate your own mortality, you also think of the night,
Which I guess is the death of a day, only for the sun to rise again in the morning -By the time her children arrive in Onomichi, the mother has slipped into a coma, and so is not able to speak with them one last time -It’s revealed that she is
Likely to die the next morning -The father says “so, this is the end”, as though it’s the end of his life as well – he knows he has no escape from his loneliness and it will only get worse from here on out -Koichi and Shige both prepared for their mother’s
Death and so brought mourning clothes with them, whereas Noriko did not – perhaps she had more hope that her mother-in-law would survive -Unfortunately, she does not -The youngest son, Keizo from Osaka, arrived too late to see his mother because he was so
Busy with work, and admits at the funeral that he wasn’t a very good son to her -He then repeats the line he said earlier: No one can serve one’s parents beyond the grave -Shige says she wishes her father had died first as once her younger sister Kyoko gets married,
Shukichi will have no one to take care of him -This shows the role women had in taking care of men at the time, and to a certain extent still have today -Japanese women are still more likely to be homemakers today than their Western counterparts,
And I’ve actually heard that this is part of the reason Japan’s economy has lagged since the bubble of the 1980s burst, as it severely limits the size of their workforce -Not saying this is a bad or a good thing, but anyway that’s a story for another day
-Shige seems to move on quickly from her mother’s death, and starts focusing on which of her mother’s possessions she’d like to take back to Tokyo with her -Koichi and Shige go back to Tokyo, leaving Noriko and Kyoko to chat with each other,
In once of the most famous scenes in the movie -Young Kyoko tells Noriko that she thinks her siblings are selfish and that they should have stayed in Onomichi longer to mourn and to spend time with their father -She says that even
Strangers would have been more considerate -This is interesting because I think sometimes we actually tend to be kinder to strangers or people we don’t know as well, and then we show our darker side to our families and those we are close to -Noriko says it’s just a natural part of life
That happens as you get older, you drift away from your parents and start worrying more about your own life -”Isn’t life disappointing”, says Kyoko in perhaps the most quoted line in the entire movie -”Yes it is”, replies Noriko -She doesn’t sugarcoat this response as she had done at other points throughout the film
-This just makes you feel like it must be true, if even the kind and perfect Noriko says it so matter-of-factly – life is disappointing -Noriko breaks down a bit, saying she too is selfish and that she wants to find love in order to end the loneliness that
Has enveloped this chapter of her life -Shukichi ends up giving her a watch, which seems like it is probably the most prized possession of Tomi, and he tells Noriko that she has done more for him and his wife than his own children, which of course we already knew
-There is then a shot of Kyoko in class, working as a schoolteacher -She looks at her watch, then looks out the window to see a train passing -Noriko is on the train heading back to Tokyo -You get the feeling that the train
Is just extracting people from the countryside and carrying them to Tokyo -It seems like destiny, and you wonder if Kyoko too will be pulled in that direction -Away from the old Japan, and toward the postwar era -Away from the Japan that Tomi knew, and into an uncertain future
-Shukichi’s neighbour stops by for a chat in which Mr. Hirayama says he thinks the days will start to get very long now that he’ll be without his wife -The final shot is a ship slowly going out to sea, moving from left to right across the screen, perhaps symbolizing our path through life,
Until it passes off into the darkness and we can no longer see it -Ozu’s films tend to end in the same place they begin, perhaps showing the cyclical nature of life on Earth -This theme comes up again and again in
Japanese media, as we saw when we looked at Lady Snowblood in episode one, and in the importance of the seasons in Japanese art -Tokyo Story feels so simple as the movie is playing, until at some point you realize Ozu has made you reflect on so many different ideas of
Life, loneliness, family, mortality, and modernity -The film is a true masterpiece and everyone should watch it at least once -Tokyo Story makes us more conscious of our mortality, which is scary, but also clears our mind of less important things
-In this way the film is cleansing, and shows us the importance of spending time with family, and taking the time to consider the needs of others around us -After you watch it you’ll see that Ozu’s understated filmmaking style inspired many modern filmmakers such as Hayao Miyazaki and Hirokazu Koreeda,
Both of whom are masters in their own right -I’m sure you’ve all seen at least one Miyazaki film, but if you haven’t seen any from Koreeda you should definitely check out Nobody Knows or Shoplifters, which are two of my favourite movies -These movies, including Tokyo Story, fall into
The category of shomin-geki, or shōshimin eiga, which means petit bourgeois film, and is a genre of Japanese film that depicts the lives of ordinary people -Every moment of Tokyo Story feels real – there’s absolutely nothing fake or contrived about it
-It’s slow and meditative – you just go through the movie engaged in each moment as though it’s real life, and then when something breaks that it’s all the more impactful -As opposed to certain movies that throw so much at you hoping something will stick
-I’ve compared Ozu’s style to some modern filmmakers, but I really hesitate to compare Tokyo Story to other films, and think that it is rather best compared to life itself -I don’t know if that’s a bit much, but the point is,
This is one of the best films ever made and you should watch it if you haven’t already -But that’s it for Tokyo Story, now stay tuned for this week’s recommendation -This week’s recommendation is… not Atami -Nothing against Atami, it’s a beautiful place,
And you should check it out some time, but it just wouldn’t be appropriate after the unfulfilling trip to Atami the elderly couple in the movie had -I don’t really want to send you to Tokyo either, so I guess I’ll recommend something in Onomichi, the beautiful place where our story began and ended
-The place you should check out is the Mionomichi Cafe -It’s a beautiful old house that’s been converted into a cafe, with a small, but high quality menu including pasta, cakes, and coffee -Oh and did I mention you can stay there?
-It’s a bed and breakfast as well, and while I haven’t stayed there myself, I’ve heard nothing but good things -However, the place is pretty small, and gets busy, so if you want to stay I’m guessing you’d have to book quite far in advance
-Mionomichi cafe has a really nice atmosphere, and even a nice garden you can look at and feel the serenity of an Ozu film -Anyway, Onomichi is a beautiful little city, and you’ll recognize some of the scenery from Tokyo Story, which is nice
-I hope you enjoyed hearing my take on Tokyo Story by the way. I probably could have talked about it a lot longer, so maybe I’ll revisit it at some point and dig deeper into some of the themes, as there are a lot of them packed into 2 hours and change
-Next week I’m going to do something a little different – I’m going to talk about a baseball team – I’m not sure how this fits within the parameters of the Japan Media Tour, but I promise you the story of the Hanshin Tigers is really interesting,
Even if you don’t care about baseball at all -Until then, this is Stephen T.M. signing off, and I’ll see you next time to talk about, the Hanshin Tigers
In episode five we analyze Yasujiro Ozu’s legendary 1953 film Tokyo Story. We discuss intergenerational conflict, postwar Japan, and family dynamics. We also chat about stray cats, hot springs, and quaint cafés.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro/Cats in Japan
4:34 Tokyo Story
35:39 Recommendation
Mionomichi Cafe:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/QFEgt7Z4avAxgQXx7