The Romance of Yushima

The Romance of Yushima is a 1955 Japanese romance drama film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. It is based on the 1907 novel Onna keizu by Kyōka Izumi.

Plot

The film follows the tragic love story between student Chikara and his mistress Otsuta, a geisha.

Cast

Fujiko Yamamoto as Otsuta
Kōji Tsuruta as Chikara Hayase
Masayuki Mori as Shunzo Sakai
Sumiko Fujita as Taeko Sakai
Yasuko Kawakami as Yukiko Matsumura
Haruko Sugimura as Koyoshi
Daisuke Katō as Menoso

Background

Izumi's novel, first published in serialised form in 1907, became popular as a shinpa play the following year, which added the title giving Yushima setting originally not contained in the book.

TV version

A TV dramatisation was broadcast between Thursday 9 June and Thursday 16 June 1966, again starring Fujiko Yamamoto.