This film is adapted from the novel by Tomiko Miyao.
Any resemblance with people living
or having lived is purely coincidental.
A TOEI film
KAI
Buy my plums.
Freshly picked this morning.
My beautiful plums ripened by the sea winds.
Kochi, 1914, beginning of summer.
They're really beautiful.
They're very tasty.
Buy them quickly now while they're still fresh.
You don't want my plums?
I picked them this morning.
They're very tasty.
Thank you for buying many of them each year.
Thank you.
They're as fresh and tasty this year as every year
Don't wait to eat them.
I'll put some more.
A free gift.
One, two...
Those plums sell very well.
''The fruit is big and the stone is small... ''
Good quality.
"Plums... ''
"... the best ones."
End your sentence.
They learned it by heart.
Go give the neighbors some.
Come with me, Kame.
Do eat, children.
That one is perfect, really ripe.
The plums are here!
Thank you, it's too much.
When you eat some... you have a better summer.
And they say you live a longer life.
The boss and Kiwa are very generous.
Say thank you to them.
We'll keep the best ones for dad.
If we hang them here,
they'll remain nice and fresh thanks to the draught.
These plums mean that it is summertime in Kochi.
You've just been back?
Everything all right?
You're back.
Come in.
Iwago Tomita placement bureau.
Quickly.
Oh, it's you, boss.
Good evening.
It's dirty.
Sorry.
Dad!
You were good?
Did you have a nice trip?
But who is this child?
I don't know where she is from, but we'll keep her with us.
Let's call her ''Kiku, chrysanthemum'',
since her kimono has chrysanthemum pictures.
Take care of her.
Heat water for a bath.
She is very dirty. She must be cleaned.
Don't move.
Go away.
Boys should not see this.
She's covered in such thick dirt
that you have to clean her again and again.
We'd need a scraper.
She's not a pot.
She hurt me. Damn kid!
What's going on? Come back here.
Catch her!
No way!
Tell me how Iwago found that child?
The boss paid 10 yen for her at the port in Kobe.
Ten yen?
Let go! Damnit! Let go!
Are you deaf?
Will you obey, you nasty little thing!
Who are you?
I'll buy her from you.
Will that be enough?
You don't want her?
You can have her.
Kiku would have been sold in China.
Over there, they make drugs using fresh livers
coming from young girls.
God, how cruel!
With that depression,
many children are left alone.
Nothing we can do about it, but...
Iwago wanted to save that little girl.
Thank you, brother,
I'll give it back to you as soon as I can.
Take it.
Iwago spends everything he earns.
Here's what I've got.
Thank you, sister in law.
They're old kimonos, but it's quality cloth.
Come see this, Kiku.
You like this one better?
It suits you.
You look beautiful with it on.
You want wee wee?
It's there.
No, over there.
Actually...
she is always afraid to go inside the toilet.
Why?
She can't eat properly neither does she brush her teeth.
I must teach her everything.
Which is more... she's never uttered a single word.
Is she dumb?
I don't think so.
Your husband has added a new burden to your heavy lot.
Yes... if I ever manage raising this little savage,
everything else will seem easy.
Outside, Iwago behaves as if he were a prince
but here, at home, he gives you a rough time.
Stick it on straight...
Don't forget it's a talisman.
Stick it on properly.
It's the Five Mountains talisman, it protects from diseases.
It must not...
It mustn't be slanting.
What are you doing?
You can't even stand up!
Nasty brat!
Ouch
Stop it!
Help!
Stop it!
Kiku, you must not hurt the child of the house.
This time, I'll tell the boss.
No!
I saw the whole thing. It's Ken's fault!
But... Ryu!
Come!
Eat.
The Osaka patrons won't like your daughter, go see somewhere else.
Maybe, we...
We were expecting you.
Boss!
Do come in.
Hello, Maki.
Have your meal with your daughter before you go back.
You won't see her any time soon.
No, thank you.
You're the Madame?
Your husband is always very nice to us.
This is my daughter, Toyo...
Mum, aren't you well?
It's nothing.
Mrs, Mr Tomita,
and all of you here
thank you for taking care of my daughter.
Be all thanked.
Listen.
You must work well and become a good geisha.
Earn a lot of money; that will make your mother happy.
You understand?
Make her have a bath and find her clean clothes.
Yes.
Tomorrow, we'll sell her to the Daisada.
To the Daisada?
The Daisada madame will make a good geisha out of her.
Eat as much as you want.
At the Daisada, you won't eat so much.
Aren't you eating?
You must try and understand the poor girl.
She does not want to go there.
Here I eat three times a day,
when my brothers and sisters have got nothing to eat.
I have good white rice, but they haven't got anything.
I'm ashamed.
Because of that, I can't eat.
How courageous that girl is!
She did it again. What a dullard!
You should follow Toyo's example.
She's a better girl than you are
Yet, you're the same age.
I wish I could keep Toyo here some more.
She would be Kiku's sister.
We cannot.
The Daisada Madame is expecting me to sell her.
To become a good geisha, a girl must start training young.
But the Madame is too harsh.
She makes her trainees cry.
It's the right thing to do for a girl, to help her parents in need,
even if she's got to sell herself for that.
The poor have no other way to cope.
All the same!
She is so nice. I feel sorry for her.
In those slums she was living in,
she was starving.
She'll fare better at the Daisada.
You can trust me on that.
Darling...
I sent the maid back to her home because her mother is ill.
I hope it is not dysentery!
Go bring rice at Maki's.
Maki's?
Toyo's mother.
Don't worry, she hasn't got dysentery.
We haven't got enough rice for our own use.
Bring her what we have left.
And what shall we do?
I'm going to bed.
The doctor said she was tired, that's all.
She'll be all right in a couple of days.
Good news!
Take good care of your wife.
Please.
Be nice to her.
Thanks, neighbors!
It's not dysentery!
I'm sorry.
It's Heaven's punishment.
I went to Maki's too late.
It is not your fault. The world works that way.
If I could stop doing this despicable work, I would.
I do it because the money is good.
What's wrong with you?
If you can find a way,
I want you to stop doing that job.
I knew you didn't like what I'm doing for a living.
But thanks to it, I can help the poor.
Poverty is evil.
It corrupts people's hearts.
Neither you, nor my children must witness this.
Kiku!
Did you cook this gruel?
It's true?
How nice you are...
Mum...
Twelve years later, at springtime.
You're not very nice.
Make a better price.
Five cent for three.
You want my death, don't you?
Well... then I'll tell your wife that I saw you coming out
of the brothel in the lower district.
Tell me, Kiku.
No, I didn't say anything.
I give in. All right for 5 cents.
- Thanks. - Kiku, won't you buy anything from me?
Look how beautiful my fish is!
Caught this very morning.
Your tits have swollen. Were you stung by a bee?
- Your buttocks too. - Stop talking nonsense.
Don't you want that octopus? Tomita loves it.
- If you accept a date with me, it's free. - I'd rather date an animal.
She always has a ready reply.
She talks like a boy. She must be one actually.
- Say that again, Takeichi! - Kiwa's coming.
Kiku.
Are you finished?
Let's go back.
Kiku is a beautiful girl and she has her head screwed on.
You should marry her.
I don't want to get in trouble with Tomita, he is a terror.
Buy my beautiful fish!
A young girl must pretend she doesn't hear.
But they're so annoying...
Move away!
Make way!
This is geisha Someyu from the Daisada.
People say she exhausts her customers. It's Tanigawa's turn.
Someyu will take everything from him, even his gold teeth.
Someyu is Toyo, the pauper who used to come with her mother
and beg rice from us.
That's history.
Kiku, you must never talk about people in this way.
All right.
I've still got something to do. You go home.
All right.
So?
I borrowed 50 yens.
And I sold my kimonos and accessories for 30 yens.
All the other theaters are under Tanigawa's control.
So I chose this one.
You really think people will care for a street singer?
It's been some time since this popular singing has no success.
I will succeed.
It will be the first show I produce.
It must succeed.
- Where were you? - I was at the market.
Ryu, you're really improving. Have mum listen to you.
I'll start from the beginning. Listen carefully.
All right. But you must eat first.
Ryu!
Look at that.
Dad will invite a genuine street singer from Osaka.
Do you know where that flier comes from?
From the Mill café which has just opened.
They have sexy waitresses there.
I'll take you there with me.
Ken, that's enough. I'll tell mum about you.
You could put on some make-up from time to time.
You'd look much nicer.
It's none of your business.
''It's none of your business,
''she says to me grumbling."
It makes you wonder if he really is top of his form.
Now, do eat.
My brother, Ken...
He laughs at me because my bad health
prevents me from going to school.
You're wrong. In spite of the way he behaves,
he's really worried about you.
I don't want to eat.
Do. You promised.
You're tiresome.
You're wasting good food.
God, forgive Ryu for behaving this way and doing wrong.
Tell me, Kiku...
Let's say...
If I had tuberculosis
what would you do?
Would you avoid me?
I would never do that.
Is it true?
Of course.
It's natural.
Mum already told you to go and see a doctor.
Doctors have a cure for everything these days.
In fact, it would have been better for you
if I had died from my disease, last autumn.
If i had died, your parents wouldn't have banished you
because of our love.
Though I caused this misfortune
never will I be able to forget you.
I am racked with remorse.
My regrets will accompany me in my former life.
Even if our adultery love was impossible,
I wish I could have stayed beside you.
What a great voice!
She is the embodiment of the greatest tradition.
The hope of being able to meet you, even only from time to time,
had helped me to bear my sadness until today.
I had better let myself die from my disease last fall.
Our forbidden love is the source of your misfortune.
Yes, I had better die then when I think it over.
It's been a long time.
Someyu, what do you want to talk to me about?
About this show.
Tanigawa says he did not agree.
I had proposed him to be the co-producer but he wouldn't.
Tanigawa is in a mad rage.
That singer's shows are successful.
Tanigawa is afraid you'd take his place.
Everything frightens him. Be careful.
I'll remember.
Someyu, we're waiting for you.
I know.
I still remember
the day when you bought me.
You've become the best geisha, as I said you would.
Enjoy life.
What's with you?
Do you think I'm a customer?
I'd always dreamed I could
feel you in this way.
Since I was a little girl, you're the man of my life.
If it was not for your wife, I'd seduce you.
You frighten me. You're very single-minded.
How could I convince you?
Please...
Take care of your wife.
Don't hang on too much to that singer, Tomokichi.
If you do, I will never forgive you.
At fall last year...
La, la, la...
When I was young, I studied in Osaka.
I heard that sort of song at that time
for the first time.
It was like love at first sight.
I sold my cloths and my books
to buy tickets to go to the shows.
And that young singer, Tomokichi
is so much like the great singers of that time,
that I was really thrilled.
When she tours Japan,
she'll become really famous, no doubt.
Iwago, you must be happy.
Owing to the patronage of the chairman of Shikoku shipyards
your production will get prestige
I entrust you with organizing it all.
You have a free hand.
- Thank you, Chairman - Excuse me.
Someone is asking for you.
Excuse me please.
Madame... Can I trust him?
Since I have been a partner in this business,
I have heard lots of thing about this Iwago.
It is true that he is one of the most pathetic scum
Chairman...
I know he practises a most detestable trade but I vouch for his honesty.
I've known Iwago
since I came here from Osaka to settle down here, in Kochi.
He's got strong principles.
Where others hesitate, he is not afraid of moving forward.
And that attitude of his is the cause of much hostility towards him.
Ryu has got tuberculosis?
Fortunately, we diagnosed it in the first stages.
With the right treatment, he'll recover.
For now,
I advise you to send him where he'll get pure air and sun.
All right.
I'll talk about it with my husband.
Thank you, Doctor.
You must be happy, Ryu. It was nothing but the flu.
Next time, I'll invite you.
I've saved 30 yens.
That's nice!
Mum says: ''Great oaks from little acorns grow. ''
You're always talking about mum.
She's the most important person in the world to me.
And you're the second most important one. Suits you?
Well...
Hello, lovebirds!
Hello.
Did you have an appointment here?
So what?
Ken, is this boy your brother?
I am Someyu. Glad to meet you.
Ken often comes to our place.
Someyu!
Yes?
Don't you remember me?
We met at Tomita's when we were little girls.
Who is she?
She is our maid.
Ah, she is the maid!
And do you remember?
You often came and begged for rice from my mother
when you were young children.
Stop laughing at our past.
She's right. Apologize.
I only told the truth.
You're crazy, aren't you?
Stop, Ken.
Ken!
Kiku is not the maid.
She is the child of the house.
She is our sister.
She is no sister to me.
Let's not get mixed up in this.
Let's go.
Sit down.
Are you hurt?
No, I'm all right.
I'm sorry, it's my fault.
It's my fault.
It is not.
It's Ken's.
The more it goes, the more he imitates dad's ways.
He wants to show he is important.
I am sure
he'll end up badly.
He'll certainly end up with the yakuzas.
''Though I was the cause of your misfortune,
"I'll never be able to give you up."
I'd like to talk to my husband.
About my son. It's important.
We must speak about it tonight.
Madame...
I am Tomokichi.
Your husband takes good care of me. I thank you.
You know, I...
He never tells me what he does outside.
Don't worry.
I've go it. I'm coming home.
I apologize...
for disturbing you.
I'll leave now.
Good evening.
Ryu has a lungs disease?
Yes but the doctor says it can be cured.
That boy is such a weakling!
He's always had poor health.
Can we send him to a sanatorium?
Do so.
I got a letter from Ken's school, asking me to come.
I hope it's nothing serious.
He's often spent the night away from these days.
I know what they will tell you.
He sees a girl.
A girl?
Yes, Someyu's sister. He's asked me for money to take her out.
He's only in High school and he already chases girls?
It's no use forcing him to study.
You care so little.
You bother too much about those kids.
Tomorrow, I'm going on a trip.
With that singer? You go on tour with her?
I have nothing going on with her.
"Yes, I had better die when I think it over. "
Your wife...
Does she know about me?
People say she is as rigid as a bamboo pole.
She does not condone my seeing you.
To show how discontent she is with me
she even went to live at her brother's.
I'm so sorry.
I only bring trouble to you.
Well, as for me,
I'm not sorry at all.
My father was a barber.
He hung himself because of gambling debts.
My mother was no better. She abandoned me
and she ran away with a younger guy.
I was five then.
I still hold it against her.
I hate her deep in my heart.
What you're telling me is really frightening.
Why are you telling me about this?
Because you're not like the other girls.
You never ask me for anything.
You're unselfish with men.
I'm tired of Kiwa. I'm through.
You mustn't say so. Heaven will punish you.
Don't talk any more.
I'm not asking any questions.
I feel good when I'm with you.
So good I could die here right now.
Yes, die.
Hello, Mrs Daisada. You're most welcome.
Thank you for your kindness.
I was told Kiwa is living here. I need to talk to her.
Call her.
Kiwa!
Mrs Daisada wishes to see you.
- Take this. - Thank you.
I must talk to her alone. Do not disturb us.
I'm going up.
Kiwa, what's going on?
You pretended you were unwell so that you could come and live at your brother's.
But your convalescence is really lasting too long.
I am sorry.
You don't look ill enough to remain in bed.
Well, I'll go straight to the facts.
Yesterday, your husband came to see me.
He thinks you're not coming back home
because of that singer, Tomokichi.
That's right, isn't it?
Having one or two mistresses
is a sign of prosperity for a man.
You're not a young girl any more.
For a wife, jealousy is a shortcoming.
And what did my husband tell you?
If you stop showing you're jealous
and you come back home, he will leave her.
Iwago acknowledges he was hard with you.
But he wants you to adopt the child.
The child?
Indeed!
Tomokichi is pregnant.
I didn't know about that.
It is not possible.
Quiet down, will you?
It's natural for two people sleeping together to have a child.
The mother is young.
I don't want anything to do with this.
In the world, many women
bring up the children their husband had with their mistresses.
There's nothing weird about that.
I wish I were deaf.
Look at the state of you! For such a small thing!
If you knew what Iwago really thinks about you...
You see, Iwago...
Iwago is unable of being proud having you as his wife.
What do you mean by that?
Talk straight.
You know what job he is doing; try putting yourself in his place.
Your fine clothes...
Your easy life... They come from the misfortune of thousands of poor girls.
How can you pretend you don't know this and lead a respectable life?
Listen to me. If Iwago is so interested in Tomokichi,
it's because he's always wanted a responsive wife. Don't you know that?
If that is the case, why did he send you for me?
If I am useless in the Tomita House, leave me alone.
But who do you think you are?
In that case, he will leave you.
Whatever I'm told, I won't adopt that child!
It's the last straw!
I wear myself out talking sense to you and you stand up to me.
I said no.
Even if I must die.
And if no one wants it, you can kill it!
Kiwa, stop barking!
Say it again!
You always use me to sort out your problems!
Nothing can be done with her.
She really is insufferable.
You should leave her and live with Tomokichi.
I've decided...
I'll leave Tomokichi...
for good.
But will you be able to?
In for a dime, in for a dollar.
What will you do with the child to be born?
If Kiwa won't raise it,
I'll hire a wet nurse.
A wet nurse? That's a good idea.
You're really unlucky to have a wife such as this one.
Make your plays.
All bets are placed?
Place your bets, please.
Here's my bet.
No more bets!