Apartment Wife: Secret Rendezvous

Shuichi and Nobuko are an ordinary, young couple, a promising company employee and his pretty wife. They think nothing can mar their peaceful life but nothing is permanent in this world and Shuichi's company goes bankrupt. Shuichi feels lost. He misses the good times he had at bars and cabarets, especially Hiromi, a hostess. Nobuko offers to work while he hunts for a job and finds an opening at an advertising company. But as Nobuko makes the rounds of restaurants and cabarets, she finds she cannot get ads just by dint of hard work alone. All the shop owners and managers expect her to sleep with them for each big ad they buy. At first, Nobuko is shocked but, to eat, she must meet their demands.

Directed by Shōgorō Nishimura, Apartment Wife: Secret Rendezvous leans on a strong ensemble — Kazuko Shirakawa, Keiko Aikawa, Eriko Oka — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about screen titles of 1972.