Ejima and Ikushima

This period film is inspired by one of the most notorious scandals to have taken place in Edo-period Japan. The heroine, Ejima, was a lady of the Ooku, the harem of Edo Castle in which the Shogun’s mother, wife and concubines resided, forbidden from contact with any other man except in the presence of the Shogun. The institution played a key role in the Byzantine world of Japanese court politics during the Edo era. In 1714, Lady Ejima was sent to pay her respects at a Buddhist temple in the city, and chose to pay an unauthorised visit to the kabuki theatre – a violation of protocol that was to have tragic consequences.

• Hideo ŌbaDirector
• Masayoshi IkedaOriginal Music Composer

• Chikage Awashima絵島
• Ichikawa Danjūrō XI生島新五郎
• Mitsuko Kusabue宇津
• Mieko Takamine月光院
• Kuniko Miyake天英院
• Ichikawa Sadanji III家宣
• 小林きよし家継
• 阪東彦三郎紀州公吉宗
• Teiji Takahashi間部越前守
• Tatsuya Ishiguro新井白石
• Eijirō Yanagi土屋相模守
• Joji Kaieda秋本但馬守