Summer Clouds

, also titled Herringbone Clouds, is a 1958 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It was Naruse's first film in colour and in widescreen format. Plot Journalist Okawa interviews farming woman Yae for his article on the present situation of farmers under the new constitution and after the agrarian reform. Yae tells of her hard labour life, financial worries, and her low status as a daughter-in-law and widow, which equals to "nothing" as long as her son is not married. At the same time, her older brother Wasuke, married already for the third time, tries to find a wife for his eldest son Hatsuji. When Yae tells Okawa of her brother's search for a daughter-in-law, he suggests a young woman who won a prize in an agricultural contest. During their travels to meet the young woman and her mother, Yae and the married Okawa start an affair. Hatsuji's marriage prospect, Michiko, turns out to be the stepchild of Wasuke's first wife Toyo, who had been thrown out by Wasuke's and Yae's patriarchal father for not showing enough fervour in the field work. Wasuke, insisting that the couple celebrates a traditional, lavish marriage, tries to borrow money for the ceremony against Yae's advice, who argues that traditions are not of the same importance to younger people. One after another, Wasuke's sons demand their independence in choosing their individual paths in life. Reluctant at first, Wasuke eventually sells the remaining parts of his lands to support his sons, while Yae sees her chance of finding happiness vanish when Okawa is transferred to Tokyo. Cast Chikage Awashima as Yae Isao Kimura as Okawa Ganjirō Nakamura as Wasuke Nijiko Kiyokawa as Tane Keiju Kobayashi as Hatsuji Hiroshi Tachikawa as Shinji Kunio Otsuka as Junzo Akemi Ueno as Minko Michiko Fujii as Toshie Takashi Itō as Shiro Masao Oda as Daijiro Natsuko Kahara as Yasue Kumi Mizuno as Hamako Chōko Iida as Hide Ken Kubo as Tadashi Haruko Sugimura as Toyo Yōko Tsukasa as Michiko Michiyo Aratama as Chie Bontaro Miake as Shirase Daisuke Katō as Inspector Teruko Nagaoka as Landlady Teruko Mita as Maid