The Tale of Genji (1951 film)

The Tale of Genji (源氏物語, Genji Monogatari) is a 1951 Japanese drama film directed by Kōzaburō Yoshimura. It is based on the early 11th century novel of the same name.^[1][2]

The Tale of Genji
Scene from the film.
Directed by	Kōzaburō Yoshimura
Written by	Kaneto Shindō Jun'ichirō Tanizaki Murasaki Shikibu (novel)
Produced by	Masaichi Nagata
Starring	Kazuo Hasegawa
Cinematography	Kōhei Sugiyama
Music by	Akira Ifukube
Production company	Daiei Film
Distributed by	Daiei Film
Release date	2 November 1951 (1951-11-02) (Japan)[1][2]
Running time	124 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	¥141.05 million[3]

Cast

• Kazuo Hasegawa as Hikaru Genji
• Michiyo Kogure as Fujitsubo
• Machiko Kyō as Awaji no ue
• Nobuko Otowa as Murasaki no ue
• Mitsuko Mito as Aoi no ue
• Yuji Hori as Yoshinari
• Denjirō Ōkōchi as Takuma nyudo
• Chieko Soma as Kiritsubo
• Yumiko Hasegawa as Oborozukiyo no kimi
• Chieko Higashiyama as Kobiden
• Osamu Takizawa as Kiritsubo gomon
• Kentaro Honma as Kashira
• Yuriko Hanabusa as Kiritsubo's mother
• Hisako Takihana as Nun
• Taiji Tonoyama as Priest

Release

The Tale of Genji was released in Japan on 2 November 1951^[1][2] and shown in competition at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.^[4]

Legacy

The Tale of Genji was screened at a 2012 retrospective on Kaneto Shindō and Kōzaburō Yoshimura in London, organised by the British Film Institute and the Japan Foundation.^[5]