In-Complete (J-Movie) Koto

In-Complete (J-Movie) Koto

Title: 古都

Title (romaji): Koto

Title (english): The Ancient City/ The Old Capital

Genre: drama

Movie 1 (Not Yet)

Release Date: 1963, January 13

Synopsis

Set in Kyoto, 20 year old Cheiko works in her parents' wholesale silk goods store. She was brought up to think her parents stole her as a baby in a fit of passionate desire and becomes profoundly disturbed to learn (after a chance encounter with a girl who turns out to be her sister) that her real parents had abandoned her. Her identity crisis is exacerbated by her need to choose between carrying on her adoptive father's kimono-designing business, now in decay, and leaving home to marry.

Cast

Shima Iwashita as Chieko / Naeko
Hiroyuki Nagato as Hideo Otomo
Seiji Miyaguchi as Takichiro Sada
Teruo Yoshida as Ryusuke Mizuki
Tamotsu Hayakawa as Shinichi Mizuki
Eijiro Tono as Sosuke Otomo
Yoshiko Nakamura as Shige
Michiyo Tamaki as Masako
Kakuko Chino as Geisha Girl
Chieko Naniwa as Madam
Haruo Tanaka as Uemura
Eijiro Yanagi as Sohei Mizuki

Movie 2

Release Date: 1980 December 06

Synopsis

Chieko Sada is the daughter of Takichiro and Shige, who operate a kimono wholesale business in Kyoto. Now twenty, Chieko has known for years that she was a foundling adopted by Takichiro and Shige. Soon after a chance encounter at Yasaka Shrine, Chieko learns of a twin sister Naeko, who had remained in her home village in Kitayama working in the mountain forests north of the city. The identical looks of Chieko and Naeko confuse Hideo, a traditional weaver, who is a potential suitor of Chieko. The novel, one of the last that Kawabata completed before his death, examines themes common to much of his literature: the gulf between the sexes and the anxiety its recognition brings.

Cast

Momoe Yamaguchi

Tomokazu Miura

Keiko Kishi

Movie 3

Release Date: 2005 February 06

Synopsis

Set in the traditional city of Kyoto, Japan, this deeply poetic story revolves around Chieko who becomes bewildered and troubled as she discovers the true facets of her past. With the harmony and time-honored customs of a Japanese backdrop, the story becomes poignant as Chieko’s longing and confusion develops.

Cast

Aya Ueto as Chieko Sada / Mitsuko
Atsuro Watabe as Hideo Ootomo
Shun Oguri as Shinichi Mizuki
Keiko Takahashi as Shige Sano
Tokuma Nishioka as Takichiro Sano
Natsuyagi Ichio

Yukiji Asaoka