One of the pleasures of watching old Japanese movies is that you will be able to re-experience not only the content itself, but also the scenes of the old days reflected in it, life at that time, conversation, etc. Many of the works by Yoshio Naruse, who prefer women, especially women who live autonomously in mizusho sales, feature scenes of Chuo-ku.
Some of the silent works before the war, "Dream every night" (released in 1933), featuring a woman working in a tavern as the main character. Because it was shot on Tsukuda Island, you can see the scenery of Tsukuda Island at that time.
In addition, a work depicting a woman working in a bar in Ginza is "Ginza Makeup" (released in 1951). The main character played by Kinuyo Tanaka is that it is rented on the second floor of Shimotaya in an alley in the old-fashioned townscape of Shintomi-cho, which was still a water town where the Tsukiji River flows. In the theater program, Director Naruse wrote, "Shintomi-cho is a town that retains the old Edo atmosphere that makes you want to tilt your neck if there were such places in the city." . In 1951, Japan was still under occupation. There is a scene where Kinuyo Tanaka walks near Horikawa in Sanjuma, but the river is being reclaimed with rubble that came out during the air raid. There is still a little rubble on the side of the road. And Kinuyo Tanaka in this movie is in a kimono from beginning to end.
Since the age setting of "When a woman climbs the stairs" (published in 1960) was in the mid-1960s, Japan began to transform from post-war reconstruction to an era of high growth. At that time, "bars" were about to reach their heyday. The title "Woman" played by Hideko Takamine is a 30-year-old widow who lost his husband in a traffic accident, and is hired at a bar in Ginza to play Madame, but his parents' home is Tsukuda Island. In the scene where a sick "woman" recuperates at his parents' home, the houses of Tsukuda, the scenery of Tsukuda's ferryboat, and the Torii of Sumiyoshi-jinja Shirine appear. Director Naruse attended Kogakuin University in Tsukiji when he was a teenager, so he seems to have a special feeling in the vicinity of the Tsukiji River, but the Tsukiji River comes out in this work.
One of the works in which the Tsukiji River appears is "Aki Tachinu", which was released in 1960. The two children are the protagonists, but there is a ryokan where the mother works along the Tsukiji River. There is also a scene where they go to a department store in Ginza or go to Harumi Wharf through Kachidokibashi.
(These works can be seen in the You tube.)
Until the Showa 30s, good old scenes and society, which have disappeared completely from high growth through the bubble economy period, still remained. If you look at Naruse's work, you can feel that's true.
