My Second Brother

My Second Brother (にあんちゃん, Nianchan) is a 1959 Japanese drama film by Shōhei Imamura. The screenplay is based on the diary of ten-year-old zainichi (ethnic Korean Japanese) Sueko Yasumoto, which became a bestseller upon publication.^[1][3]

My Second Brother
Directed by	Shōhei Imamura
Written by	Ichirō Ikeda Shohei Imamura Sueko Yasumoto (book)
Starring	Hiroyuki Nagato Kayo Matsuo
Cinematography	Shinsaku Himeda
Edited by	Mutsuo Tanji
Music by	Toshiro Mayuzumi
Production company	Nikkatsu
Distributed by	Nikkatsu
Release date	October 28, 1959 (1959-10-28) (Japan) [1][2]
Running time	101 minutes
Language	Japanese

Plot

The film tells the story of four orphans living in an impoverished mining town.

Cast

• Hiroyuki Nagato as Kiichi Yasumoto, eldest brother
• Kayo Matsuo as Yoshiko, eldest sister
• Takeshi Okimura as Kōichi, second brother
• Akiko Maeda as Sueko, younger sister
• Kō Nishimura as Gorō Mitamura
• Yoshio Ōmori as Seki
• Toshio Takahara as shop assistant (bicycle shop)
• Taiji Tonoyama as Gengorō Henmi
• Shinsuke Ashida as Sakai
• Kazuko Yoshiyuki as Kanako Hori
• Shōichi Ozawa as Haruo Kanayama
• Natsuko Kahara as Kanako's mother

Reception

Film scholar Alexander Jacoby called My Second Brother an "uncharacteristically tender film" for the director.^[4]

Awards

• Mainichi Film Award – Best Supporting Actress (Kanako Hori), Best Sound (Fumio Hashimoto)
• Blue Ribbon Awards – Best Actor (Hiroyuki Nagato), Best Supporting Actor (Shōichi Ozawa)