1952 film Lightning Inazuma Japanese movie poster Directed by| Mikio Naruse Written by| * Sumie Tanaka * Fumiko Hayashi (novel) Starring| * Hideko Takamine * Mitsuko Miura * Chieko Nakakita Cinematography| Shigeyoshi Mine Edited by| Toyo Suzuki Music by| Ichirō Saitō Production company Daiei Film Distributed by| Daiei Film Release date * 9 October 1952 (1952-10-09)[1] Running time | 87 Country| Japan Language| Japanese Lightning (稲妻, Inazuma) is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on the 1936 novel by Fumiko Hayashi and was the second in a series of adaptations of Hayashi's work by Naruse after the 1951 Repast. ## Contents * 1 Plot * 2 Cast * 3 Awards and legacy * 4 References * 5 External links ## Plot[edit] 23-year-old Kiyoko works as a tour guide in Tokyo. Like her single mother and her three older siblings, all from different fathers, she lives in the city's Shitamachi area. From her siblings, Kiyoko is closest to her sister Mitsuko, who runs a clothing store with her husband Rohei. Her brother Kasuke is an unemployed war veteran, who wastes his time in pachinko arcades. Her oldest sister Nuiko has her husband Ryuzo invest in a hotel enterprise by baker Tsunakichi, who secretly is Nuiko's lover. Nuiko pushes Kiyoko to date Tsunakichi, and even slaps Kiyoko when she refuses to see him. When Rohei dies, his mistress Ritsu approaches Mitsuko and claims a share from Rohei's life insurance because he his the father of her new born child. Also Nuiko, Kasuke and the mother want to borrow money from Mitsuko for their own pursuits. Mitsuko eventually decides to use the money partly for Ritsu's demands and for opening up her own coffee shop. Kiyoko becomes frustrated with the tensions in her family and moves out into a flat of her own. She becomes acquainted with Shuzo and Tsubomi, a brother and sister her age living next door, and Kiyoko and Shuzo slowly develop an interest in each other. During a visit to Mitsuko's new café, Kiyoko is repelled to see that Tsunakichi is now involved in her sister's business as well and possibly her lover, and has to fight off his obtrusive advances. When her mother comes to look for the missing Mitsuko at Kiyoko's place, they have an argument about the many fathers Kiyoko grew up with and start crying, while a thunderstorm passes by. Afterwards, Kiyoko offers to buy her mother new summer clothes and walks her home. ## Cast[edit] * Hideko Takamine as Kiyoko * Mitsuko Miura as Mitsuko * Chieko Murata as Nuiko * Chieko Nakakita as Ritsu * Kenzaburo Uemura as Ryuzo * Kyōko Kagawa as Tsubomi * Jun Negami as Shuzo * Sakae Ozawa as Tsunakichi * Maruyama Osa as Kasuke * Kumeko Urabe as mother ## Awards and legacy[edit] Lightning won the 1952 Blue Ribbon Award for Best Film, Best Director (Mikio Naruse) and Best Supporting Actress (Chieko Nakakita).[2] It was also awarded the 1952 Mainichi Film Concours for the best film score by Ichirō Saitō and again for Best Supporting Actress (Chieko Nakakita).[3] Film historian Donald Richie called Lightning an "almost perfect realization of Fumiko Hayashi's novel" and "a balanced union of literature and cinema".[4] ## References[edit] 1. ^ (in Japanese) http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1952/cb002190.htm accessed 13 June 2009 2. ^ "Blue Ribbon Awards 1952 (official site)" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2021. 3. ^ "Mainichi Awards 1952 (official site)" (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 January 2021. 4. ^ Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1959). The Japanese Film – Art & Industry. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company. ## External links[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lightning (film). * Lightning at IMDb * Lightning at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese) * v * t * e Films directed by Mikio Naruse * Flunky, Work Hard! (1931) * No Blood Relation (1932) * Apart From You (1933) * Every-Night Dreams (1933) * Street Without End (1934) * Three Sisters With Maiden Hearts (1935) * Wife! Be Like a Rose! (1935) * The Girl in the Rumor (1935) * Morning's Tree-Lined Street (1936) * The Whole Family Works (1939) * Sincerity (1939) * Travelling Actors (1940) * Hideko the Bus Conductor (1941) * Battle of Roses (1950) * Ginza Cosmetics (1951) * Repast (1951) * Mother (1951) * Lightning (1952) * Husband and Wife (1953) * Wife (1953) * Older Brother, Younger Sister (1953) * Sound of the Mountain (1954) * Late Chrysanthemums (1954) * Floating Clouds (1955) * Sudden Rain (1956) * A Wife's Heart (1956) * Flowing (1956) * Untamed (1957) * Anzukko (1958) * Summer Clouds (1958) * When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960) * Daughters, Wives and a Mother (1960) * The Approach of Autumn (1960) * As a Wife, As a Woman (1961) * A Wanderer's Notebook (1962) * Yearning (1964) * The Stranger Within a Woman (1966) * Scattered Clouds (1967) * v * t * e Blue Ribbon Award for Best Film 1950–2000| * Until We Meet Again (1950) * Repast (1951) * Lightning (1952) * An Inlet of Muddy Water (1953) * Twenty-Four Eyes (1954) * Floating Clouds (1955) * Mahiru no ankoku (1956) * The Rice People (1957) * The Hidden Fortress (1958) * Kiku to Isamu (1959) * Her Brother (1960) * Pigs and Battleships (1961) * Foundry Town (1962) * The Insect Woman (1963) * Woman in the Dunes (1964) * Red Beard (1965) * Shiroi Kyotō (1966) * The Fossil (1974) * Lullaby of the Earth (1976) * The Yellow Handkerchief (1977) * Third Base (1978) * Vengeance Is Mine (1979) * Kagemusha (1980) * Muddy River (1981) * Fall Guy (1982) * International Military Tribunal for the Far East (1983) * MacArthur's Children (1984) * Ran (1985) * House of Wedlock (1986) * A Taxing Woman (1987) * The Silk Road (1988) * Dotsuitarunen (1989) * Childhood Days (1990) * A Scene at the Sea (1991) * Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1992) * All Under the Moon (1993) * Like a Rolling Stone (1994) * A Last Note (1995) * Boys Be Ambitious (1996) * Bounce Ko Gals (1997) * Hana-bi (1998) * Taboo (1999) * Battle Royale (2000) 2001–present| * Spirited Away (2001) * The Twilight Samurai (2002) * Akame 48 Waterfalls (2003) * Nobody Knows (2004) * Break Through! (2005) * Hula Girls (2006) * Kisaragi (2007) * Climber's High (2008) * Mt. Tsurugidake (2009) * Confessions (2010) * Cold Fish (2011) * Our Homeland (2012) * A Story of Yonosuke (2013) * Samurai Hustle (2014) * The Emperor in August (2015) * Shin Godzilla (2016) * Wilderness (2017) * One Cut of the Dead (2018) * Fly Me to the Saitama (2019) * Fukushima 50 (2020) * Last of the Wolves (2021) *[v]: View this template *[t]: Discuss this template *[e]: Edit this template