Ayako Wakao Movies

Princess From the Moon (Taketori Monogatari) is based on an ancient Japanese legend. Toshiro Mifune plays a 9th century bamboo cutter who comes across a curious glass capsule, housing a tiny baby girl who holds a crystal ball in her hand. Once released, the infant instantly becomes a five-year-old; the astonished Mifune, whose own child has recently died, decides to adopt the girl. It isn't very long before the child becomes a beautiful adult (Yasuko Sawaguchi), whose blue eyes--a decided rarity in Japan--attract every man within hailing distance. Mifune hopes to hide his daughter away from predatory males, but the girl is constantly courted by eligible bachelors. By and by, the crystal ball begins to emit a strange sound, alerting the girl that she must return to the Moon, whence she came and where she will reign as princess. See Princess From the Moon only if you have an open mind and open heart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In Zatoichi vs. Yojimbo, one of many Japanese samurai films starring the blind swordsman Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu), he has to battle Yojimbo (Toshiro Mifune), the title character from Akira Kurosawa's famous film. At the beginning of the film, Zatoichi is planning on retiring, yet his village is besieged by outlaws; eventually he fights, then befriends Yojimbo on his way to securing his village. The movie is a light-hearted parody of samurai films and a comic take on the genre, boasting a wonderfully funny performance from Mifune. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

In this Japanese drama, a housewife falls in love with a female model and embarks upon a lesbian relationship. When she must share her new lover with a male lover, the housewife becomes confused. She must also deal with her husband. Eventually all four enter into a suicide pact, but of them, she is the only one to survive. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A jealous doctor and his philandering wife mourn the death of their little girl when she is murdered in this drama taken from the best-selling novel by Ayako Miura. Out of a twisted sense of revenge, the doctor adopts the daughter of the man who murdered his child. Although the mother initially knows nothing of her husband's actions, a key scene has the mother revealing to the girl the circumstances behind her adoption. She later learns she is really the doctor's daughter and not the daughter of the killer in this somber drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Based on a novel by Junichiro Tanizaki, this tongue-in-cheek melodrama by Japanese director Yasuzo Masumura tells the story of Sonoko (Kyoko Kishida), a housewife who becomes obsessed with another woman. Told in a series of flashbacks as she relates her tale to a novelist, the plot follows her entanglement with the young, beautiful Mitsuko (Ayako Wakao), who she meets at an art school for women. After convincing Mitsuko to pose nude for her they embark on an affair that leads to a number of double crosses and deceptions between the two women, Sonoko's husband (Eiji Funakoshi) and Mitsuko's fiancé (Yusuke Kawazu). ~ Tom Vick, Rovi

The intrigue inside the usual overcrowded apartment of an atypical Japanese family recalls the court intrigues of the glorious 11th-12th century Heian period when courtesans who were not allowed outside the court listened behind screens to keep up with current love affairs and manipulations for power (the two not always separate). In this case, the court nobility is exchanged for a mother and father out to get as much money as they can, and a son who has just embezzled millions from his boss. His boss is exceedingly upset not just at the loss of the money, but at the loss of Elvis Presley as well. It turns out he was going to use that money to bring Elvis to Japan and now how can he get government matching funds if he has no funds himself? The sister in the family is living with an up-and-coming writer who can keep her in a style to which she has never been accustomed. The son had given money to his mistress, and she set up a hotel for herself. Now she is the mistress of his recently impoverished boss, and feels she has to do something to get the poor man off the hook - and so she sleeps with the income tax man and manages to considerably lighten her boss's tax burden. All of these characters come in and out of the apartment, the only setting for the story except for one small excursion out to the stairway, and the spying and counter-spying by everyone concerned moves the story along on several levels at once. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This 1959 Ozu production centers on the likable but fallible leader of an itinerant acting troupe ("floating weeds" being the Japanese name for such groups), Kimajuro, played brilliantly by Ganjiro Nakamura. The film opens on a lazy, stagnant river as the troupe lays spread about on a boat deck drifting downstream. It's obvious that they're a ragged bunch as they sit fanning themselves and smoking on deck. The boat pulls into a quiet fishing village where the troupe proceeds to canvass the town, hanging up posters and performing impromptu stunts for the inhabitants. Kimajuro and his actress mistress, Sumiko (Machiko Kyo), head to the theatre and secure their cramped quarters above the theatre's main hall. Kimajuro leaves to pay a visit to a local saki bar owned by Oyoshi (Haruko Sugimura), who, years previous, had conceived a child with Kimajuro. The child has grown into a strapping young man, Kiyoshi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), who has a good job at the post office. Kimajuro, although clearly proud of his son, has refused to take responsibility for the child and Kiyoshi thinks Kimajuro is merely his uncle. Unbeknownst to Kimajuro, Sumiko has discovered his secret, and, infuriated, hires a young actress to seduce Kiyoshi. Terrified that his son is falling for this woman of loose morals, Kimajuro has to decide what's most important: keeping his secret safe or saving his son by acknowledging his paternity. ~ Brian Whitener, Rovi

A timeless tale of honor and revenge, The Loyal 47 Ronin tells the true story of a loyal group of samurai who plot revenge for their fallen master, all the while knowing that they will die after accomplishing their goal. The tragic cycle is set into motion when a powerful Lord commits seppuku after assaulting the court official who insulted him. Left without a master to guide them, the Lord's former samurai become ronin (masterless samurai) and secretly begin planning an assault on the powerful court official's estate. Once the official has been slain, the loyal ronin prepare to atone for their crime by committing seppuku. Katsu Shintaro, Raizo Ichikawa, and Kazuo Hasegawa star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Kenji Mizoguchi's final film was on one of his favorite subjects: prostitutes. After a spate of universally lauded period pieces, Mizoguchi returned to the socially conscious dramas that he made famous in the 1930s. Here, as in Osaka Elegy (1936), he offered a scathing critique of society's hypocrisies and exploitative treatment of women, without the sort of transcendence seen in Life of Oharu (1952). This gritty drama of six working girls in one brothel in Tokyo's Yoshiwara red-light district explores how the women came to work in such a place -- trying to pay for their children's education, trying to bail their fathers out of prison, trying to support their out-of-work husbands -- and how they fight to maintain their dignity in spite of the degradations of their profession. Machiko Kyo gives a remarkable performance as Mickey, a cynical hooker with a heart of stone, who shames and then cruelly propositions her own father, while Aiko Mimasu plays the aging Yumeko, who is emotionally shattered after her son rejects her. This film was reportedly instrumental in the outlawing of prostitution in Japan. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

A Geisha is a 1953 filmed adaptation of a novel by Matsutaro Kawaguchi. Directed by Japanese filmmaker Kenji Mizoguchi, the movie centers on two young geishas, Miyoharu (Michiyo Kogure) and her apprentice Eiko (Ayako Wakao). Near the end of World War II, social attitudes toward females are beginning to shift in Japan, leading the young Eiko to question whether or not she really wants to become a geisha, a position she feels will lower her status within society. Seizaburo Kawazu co-stars as Kusuda, a wealthy businessman who lends the money for Eiko's training and takes a nonfinancial interest in her as well. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi