A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo

A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo

77 mins | Drama, War, History | June 28, 1945

In A Tale of Archery, young, timid bowmaster Kazuma (Akitake Kôno) seeks to beat the archery record set by Hoshino Kanzaemon, a mysterious figure who, it is rumored, drove the previous champion (Kazuma’s father) to suicide. Possessed of much raw talent, Kazuma is also very much a coward, holing himself up in an inn run by the kindly Okinu (Kinuyo Tanaka) and generally avoiding confrontation of any sort. Despite his clandestine manner, enough of the locals know of Kazuma’s purpose and an attempt is made on his life. He is saved by Karatsu Kanbei (Kazuo Hasegawa), a samurai who offers to help Kazuma hone his archery skills, though it soon becomes clear that this apparently selfless stranger has several potentially shady ulterior motives.

A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo

77 mins | Drama, War, History | June 28, 1945

A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo
In A Tale of Archery, young, timid bowmaster Kazuma (Akitake Kôno) seeks to beat the archery record set by Hoshino Kanzaemon, a mysterious figure who, it is rumored, drove the previous champion (Kazuma’s father) to suicide. Possessed of much raw talent, Kazuma is also very much a coward, holing himself up in an inn run by the kindly Okinu (Kinuyo Tanaka) and generally avoiding confrontation of any sort. Despite his clandestine manner, enough of the locals know of Kazuma’s purpose and an attempt is made on his life. He is saved by Karatsu Kanbei (Kazuo Hasegawa), a samurai who offers to help Kazuma hone his archery skills, though it soon becomes clear that this apparently selfless stranger has several potentially shady ulterior motives.
IMDb rating 6.7
Producers Toho Company, Ltd.
Original title 三十三間堂・通し矢物語
Directors Mikio Naruse
Writers Hideo Oguni

Cast

Kazuo Hasegawa

as Kanbei Kanzamon

Kinuyo Tanaka

as Okinu

Sensho Ichikawa

as Daihachiro

Akitake Kôno

as Kazuma Hochino

Fumiko Katsuragi

as Hoshino's mother

Haruo Tanaka

as Seijiro

Tamae Kiyokawa

as Omatsu