The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka

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Presented for the 1967 Arts Festival

A Daiei Film

The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka

Kae was 8 when she first saw Otsugi.

She was with her nurse Tami and peeked into the herb garden behind the house.

Look, there's Otsugi. She's beautiful.

She's not just beautiful. They say she's clever too, Everyone speaks well of her.

Otsugi's father, Naomichi, was a poor doctor and very unkempt in appearance

He would come down from Hirayama and visit Kae's house.

Her grandfather was retired and enjoyed Naomichi's bragging and tales ...

Kae could never believe this man was the husband of the beautiful Otsugi.

You and Otsugi are a real beauty and the beast combination.

You did well marrying her.

I had my eye on her for ages ...

... but she was the carefully protected daughter of a big land owner who dealt in indigo and dyed cloth

She was well out of my league.

But then there was a godsend illness.

She was 16 and had a terrible skin condition which all the doctors tried but failed to cure.

I seized my chance and forced my way into the house ...

... saying I would try to cure her and if I succeeded they should let me marry her.

I used the Dutch medicine I'd studied in Nagasaki and wangled myself a wife!

You're a cunning devil.

But a doctor's job is to save his patients

When a patient dies I always wonder how I might have saved them...

... my regret is enormous if I lose someone.

Anyway, I though I could get a beautiful and clever wife and we will have a kid who'll be a better doctor than me.

So I worked frantically to cure her.

Fortunately Unpei is a splendid son.

He's a brilliant doctor so my plan has borne fruit.

Listening to your bragging really helps me sleep!

When Kae's grandfather died she saw O-tsugi again.

Otsugi next came to Kae's house 3 years later in the late spring.

Is Naomichi well?

He's rather down about the death and it's aged him. So I've come to as his representative.

So formal ....

What is this about?

I'd like to humbly ask for Kae's hand in marriage for Shinpei

This is very unexpected.

Unpei's in Kyoto now, isn't he?

Yes, he went this spring and will be back in 3 years with good training

Ir's my duty to find him a wife who can help him make the most of this.

The first thing a doctor's wife needs is good health, the second is to be firm.

A farmer's daughter shocked by the sight of pus or blood is not going to cope with life as a doctor's wife.

A merchant's daughter will be no good either. There's no call for toting up accounts on the abacus ...

... illness comes without respecting wealth and patients who can't pay are common.

You are respected samurai with a large stipend and a long family history - and Kae would be the ideal wife.

This was unexpected so I want time to think before I reply.

Perhaps it is presumptuous for a country doctor to make such a request but ...

Please ask if she she will marry uneventfully into a big family, or build a castle by developing a poor family ....

Please ask her from me whether she might consider that.

Our social difference is too high.

Hanaoka's bragging has even infected his wife it seems!

They say disease gets worse as it spreads! Otsugi is crazy!

But Kae is 21 now.

None of the proposals to date have been pleasing.

Rather than Kae marrying into a big old family and suffering ...

.. she would be happier in a lesser family ...

That's true but isn't that Naomichi's idea rather than yours?

For generations our family has intermarried with the great families. I must maintain the tradition.

If the dowry worries you we can give her without one! Why not ask about that.

I know the mother's social class is a problem but ...

I was talking with her and although she didn't say it exactly, I think she wants to go to the Hanaokas.

Does Kae know Unpei?

No. But Kae has always said she admires Otsugi's beauty and wants to be her daughter!

What's all this?

In what kind of family does a mother come and ask for a daughter in law like this?

If Otsugi wants her Kae will be ecstatic. If you don't allow it she will be weeping all night ...

Kae, I want you to tell me what you really feel.

I wish to go to the Hanaoka family.

Produced by Masaichi Nagata

Script by Kaneto Shindo after the novel by Sachiko Arikichi

Cinematography by Setsuo Kobayashi, Lighting by Hiroshi Mima, Sound recording by Masao Okado, Art Direction by Yoshinobu Nishioka

Editing by Kanji Suganuma,

Music by Hikari Hayashi, Costumes by Yoshio Ueno. Narrated by Hanako Sugimura.

Starring

Raizo Ichikawa as Unpei 'Seishu' Hanaoka

Ayako Wakao as Kae

Hideoko Takamine as Otsugi

Yonosuke Ito as Nomichi Hanaoka and Misako Watanabe as Koriku

Yatsuko Tanami, Chisako Hara, Chieko Naniwa

Taketoshi Naito, Saburo Date, Kezo Tabu

Kanji Uehara, Kiyoshi Ito, Shinjiro Akatsuki, Mineko Takagi, Noboru Taki

Directed by Yasuzo Masumura

In Unpei's absence I have placed here the guardian deity of this house...

... the great Ming dynasty book of herbs.

My father Unzen Hanaoka copied it and he, and I ....

... and my son Unpei have pored over and handled this book.

All the Hanaokas are here apart from two of Unpei's younger brothers.

One is studying to be a Buddhist priest and the other in a merchant house learning the trade.

This is Ryoan Shimamura, my apprentice

Let us begin.

Unpei was born 23 years ago.

Otsugi was sweating and groaning and the midwife calling for hot water ....

... the mid day sun suddenly grew dark.

There was heavy rain, lightning and thunder which shook the ground.

I held Otsugi and kept saying "you can do it", "you can do it".

In the midst of the storm It was I who delivered Unpei.

I remember it clearly even now.

I remember him wriggling in my arms and the healthy first cry he gave.

Then I noticed the sky had cleared.

A crow was flying high in the sky.

I couldn't help but cry out that here was a genius, a wonder child.

I gave him his name using characters 'tremble' and 'cloud' because of the thunder.

In Unpei are combined my father - a great doctor - and I with my tenacity.

This is no empty boast.

This prodigy will bring glory to the house of Hanaoka and be the genius of Japanese medicine!

Let us conclude here with this anecdote,

The girls around here make cotton to supplement their dowry money.

But our girls are different. They do it so we can send money to Unpei.

I can weave. Please show me what to do.

Don't hurry or the threads will tangle.

The young doctor's wife made this? The stripes are well woven,

She wasn't brought up to do it but does it very well.

We have a good wife for Unpei. I am satisfied with her.

I will pay the money to Unpei when I return to Kyoto.

Yes please.

Okatsu, these are the bran bags that Otsugi uses in the bath.

They're full of molasses and bird droppings. She throws them away after using them just once.

I collect them and use them another couple of times.

Please let me use them too.

I'd like to be as beautiful as her.

Okaasan, what illness are these Datura flowers used to treat?

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