Love Letter (1953 film)

Love Letter (恋文, Koibumi) is a 1953 Japanese drama film and the first film directed by actress Kinuyo Tanaka.^[2][3] With her directing debut, Tanaka became the second female film director in Japan after Tazuko Sakane.^[3] The screenplay by Keisuke Kinoshita is based on a novel by Fumio Niwa.^[2]

Love Letter
Yoshiko Kuga and Masayuki Mori
Directed by	Kinuyo Tanaka
Written by	Keisuke Kinoshita Fumio Niwa (novel)
Produced by	Ichirō Nagashima
Starring	Masayuki Mori Yoshiko Kuga
Cinematography	Hiroshi Suzuki
Music by	Ichirō Saitō
Production company	Shintoho
Distributed by	Shintoho
Release date	13 December 1953 (1953-12-13) (Japan)[1][2]
Running time	98 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Cast

• Masayuki Mori as Reikichi Mayumi
• Jūzō Dosan as Hiroshi (Reikichi's brother)
• Yoshiko Kuga as Michiko Kubota
• Jūkichi Uno as Naoto Yamaji
• Kyōko Kagawa as Yasuko
• Shizue Natsukawa as Reikichi's mother
• Kinuyo Tanaka as landlady
• Chieko Seki as office lady
• Ranko Hanai as restaurant owner
• Chieko Nakakita as woman at restaurant
• Keisuke Kinoshita as photo studio owner

Release

Love Letter was shown in competition at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival.^[4]

Awards

• 1953 Mainichi Film Award for Best Screenplay for Keisuke Kinoshita (for Love Letter, A Japanese Tragedy and Sincere Heart)^[5]
• 1953 Blue Ribbon Award for Best Screenplay for Keisuke Kinoshita (for Love Letter, A Japanese Tragedy, Sincere Heart and Ai no sakyū)^[6]