Jûnana-sai no teikô

Kanako is an intelligent and beautiful girl in her third year of high school, but there was a dark shadow. Raised by her father, Jusaburo, who is the owner of the Matsukawa troupe, she grew up without knowing the love of her mother. She has been on stage since she was a child, but oneday she cried and complained to her father, and she stopped going to school. In a mock exams, Kanako overtook her classmate Tetsuji to take the lead. That evening, Kanako went to the Yasue Theater in the neighboring town with Eikichi, and saw the affair of her stepmother, Yumi, who should have been resting due to her illness. The man ran away in a hurry, and Yumi confessed that Kanako's mother, Miyako, had also run away for the same reason...

Directed by Umetsugu Inoue, Jûnana-sai no teikô leans on a strong ensemble — Tōru Abe, Keiko Amaji, Makiko Aoi — 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 1957.