Those Who Make Tomorrow

Those Who Make Tomorrow
Directed by	Akira Kurosawa; Hideo Sekigawa; Kajiro Yamamoto
Produced by	Keiji Matsuzaki; Sojiro Motoki; Ryo Takei; Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by	Yusaku Yamagata; Kajiro Yamamoto
Starring	Susumu Fujita; Hideko Takamine
Music by	Noboru Ito
Cinematography	Takeo Ito; Taiichi Kankura; Mitsuo Miura
Distributed by	Toho Company Ltd.
Release date	1946
Running time	82 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Those Who Make Tomorrow (明日を作る人々, Asu o tsukuru hitobito) is a 1946 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto (who was also co-writer). It was produced to illustrate the purpose of the workers' union at the Toho film studios, as the Allied Forces endorsed the formation of unions as part of the democratisation process during the post-World War II Occupation of Japan. Kurosawa later denounced the film, calling it "a committee-made film" in which he had been involved only one week,[1] and refused to mention it in his autobiography.[2][3] Toho's studio stars Hideko Takamine and Susumu Fujita appear playing themselves.

Plot

The sisters Chieko, a script girl working at a big film studio, and Aiko, a revue dancer, are daughters to anti-unionist father Gintaro. When the workers at a railway company, including the family's subtenant Seizo, go on strike, Chieko and her co-workers demonstrate their solidarity and call for strike as well to achieve financial security for the film studio's staff. Meanwhile, Aiko and her dancing troupe decide to get organised in opposition to the theatre's mean stage manager. When Gintaro is fired together with a large group of employees at his company, he finally gives up his reluctance and joins the unionists, impressed by their earnestness.

Cast

Susumu Fujita - Fujita
Hideko Takamine - Takamine
Kenji Susukida - Gintaro Okamoto, Father
Masayuki Mori - Seizo Hori, Chauffeur
Chieko Takehisa - Kin Okamoto, Mother
Takashi Shimura - Theatre manager
Yonosuke Toba - Okamoto's colleague
Masao Shimizu - Section chief
Hyo Kitazawa - Director

References

Richie, Donald; Mellen, Joan (1998). The Films of Akira Kurosawa (Third edition). Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-220379.
Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1959). The Japanese Film – Art & Industry. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company.
Hirano, Kyoko (1992). Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo: Japanese Cinema Under the American Occupation, 1945–1952. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-157-1.

External links

Those Who Make Tomorrow at IMDb
Those Who Make Tomorrow at AllMovie
Those Who Make Tomorrow at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)

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[Mellen-Richie-1] Richie, Donald; Mellen, Joan (1998). The Films of Akira Kurosawa (Third edition). Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-220379.

[Anderson-Richie-2] Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1959). The Japanese Film – Art & Industry. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company.

[Hirano-3] Hirano, Kyoko (1992). Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo: Japanese Cinema Under the American Occupation, 1945–1952. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-157-1.