Twin Sisters of Kyoto

1963 Japanese film

Twin Sisters of Kyoto

Theatrical release poster

Japanese name
Kanji| 古都
| Transcriptions

Revised Hepburn| Koto
Directed by| Noboru Nakamura
Written by|

* Toshihide Gondo (screenplay)
* Yasunari Kawabata (novel)

Produced by| Ryōtarō Kuwata
Starring|

* Shima Iwashita
* Hiroyuki Nagato
* Seiji Miyaguchi

Cinematography| Tōichirō Narushima
Edited by| Hisashi Sagara
Music by| Toru Takemitsu

Production
company

Shochiku

Distributed by| Shochiku

Release date

* 13 January 1963 (1963-01-13) (Japan)

[1][2]

Running time

| 106 minutes[1][2]
Country| Japan
Language| Japanese

Twin Sisters of Kyoto (Japanese: 古都, Hepburn: Koto) is a 1963 Japanese drama film directed by Noboru Nakamura, based on the novel The Old Capital (1962) by Nobel Prize laureate Yasunari Kawabata.[1][2] The film was Japan's submission for the 1964 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[3]

## Plot

[edit]

20-year-old Chieko is the daughter of Kyoto-based kimono designer Takichiro. She doubts her parents' story that they stole her as a child and raised her as their own, convinced that she is an orphan. In Kitayama, she meets a young labourer woman, Naeko, who looks exactly like her. Chieko learns that they are twin sisters, and that their natural parents died long ago after abandoning Chieko. Hideo, the son of weaver Sosuke, a business associate of Takichiro, mistakes Naeko for Chieko and pleads with her to allow him to design an exclusive obi for her. Chieko clarifies Hideo's mistake and asks him to make obis for both her and her sister. Although Chieko's parents offer to accept Naeko as their second daughter, Naeko returns to her home village after spending one night at her twin sister's home. While Chieko plans to take over her father's business with the help of her future husband Ryusuke, Naeko considers marrying Hideo, even when she knows that for Hideo she is mainly a surrogate for Chieko.

## Cast

[edit]

* Shima Iwashita as Chieko / Naeko
* Hiroyuki Nagato as Hideo Otomo
* Seiji Miyaguchi as Takichiro Sada
* Teruo Yoshida as Ryusuke Mizuki
* Tamotsu Hayakawa as Shinichi Mizuki
* Eijirō Tōno as Sosuke Otomo
* Yoshiko Nakamura as Shige
* Michiyo Tamaki as Masako
* Chieko Naniwa as madam

## Awards and legacy

[edit]

Twin Sisters of Kyoto received the Mainichi Film Concours for Best Supporting Actor (Hiroyuki Nagato) and Best Cinematography (Tōichirō Narushima).[4]

The film was Japan's submission for the 1964 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, which eventually went to Federico Fellini's 8½.[3]

Kawabata's novel was adapted again as Koto by Kon Ichikawa in 1980 and by Yuki Saito in 2016.

## See also

[edit]

* List of submissions to the 36th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
* List of Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "古都 (Twin Sisters of Kyoto)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
2. ^ a b c "古都 (Twin Sisters of Kyoto)" (in Japanese). Kinenote. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
3. ^ a b "The 36th Academy Awards (1964) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
4. ^ "1963 Mainichi Film Awards" (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 May 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Twin Sisters of Kyoto at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

* Rashomon (1951)
* Gate of Hell (1954)
* Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1955)
* The Burmese Harp (1956)
* Aruse (1957)
* The Ballad of Narayama (1958)
* Fires on the Plain (1959)
* Late Autumn (1960)
* Immortal Love (1961)
* Being Two Isn't Easy (1962)
* Twin Sisters of Kyoto (1963)
* Woman in the Dunes (1964)
* Kwaidan (1965)
* Lake of Tears (1966)
* Portrait of Chieko (1967)
* The Sands of Kurobe (1968)
* Profound Desires of the Gods (1969)
* The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan (1970)
* Dodes'ka-den (1971)
* Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)
* Coup d'État (1973)
* The Fossil (1974)
* Sandakan No. 8 (1975)
* Mount Hakkoda (1977)
* Empire of Passion (1978)
* Gassan (1979)
* Kagemusha (1980)
* Muddy River (1981)
* Onimasa (1982)
* Antarctica (1983)
* MacArthur's Children (1984)
* Gray Sunset (1985)
* Final Take (1986)
* Zegen (1987)
* Hope and Pain (1988)
* Rikyu (1989)
* The Sting of Death (1990)
* Rhapsody in August (1991)
* The Oil-Hell Murder (1992)
* Madadayo (1993)
* Pom Poko (1994)
* Deep River (1995)
* Gakko II (1996)
* Princess Mononoke (1997)
* Begging for Love (1998)
* Poppoya (1999)
* After the Rain (2000)
* Go (2001)
* Out (2002)
* The Twilight Samurai (2003)
* Nobody Knows (2004)
* Blood and Bones (2005)
* Hula Girls (2006)
* I Just Didn't Do It (2007)
* Departures (2008)
* Nobody to Watch Over Me (2009)
* Confessions (2010)
* Postcard (2011)
* Our Homeland (2012)
* The Great Passage (2013)
* The Light Shines Only There (2014)
* 100 Yen Love (2015)
* Nagasaki: Memories of My Son (2016)
* Her Love Boils Bathwater (2017)
* Shoplifters (2018)
* Weathering with You (2019)
* True Mothers (2020)
* Drive My Car (2021)
* Plan 75 (2022)
* Perfect Days (2023)
* Cloud (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Noboru Nakamura

* Home Sweet Home (1951)
* Nami (1952)
* Doshaburi (1957)
* Twin Sisters of Kyoto (1963)
* The Kii River (1966)
* Lost Spring (1967)
* Portrait of Chieko (1967)
* Nichiren (1979)

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