

The read
Critics rate it 20 points higher than audiences do.
Synopsis
Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older.
Ratings
IMDb8/10
Rotten Tomatoes100%
Critics rate it 20 points higher than audiences do.
131 audience votes
Key crew
- Mikio NaruseDirector
- Toshirō MayuzumiOriginal Music Composer
- Ryuzo KikushimaScreenplay
Cast
- Hideko TakamineKeiko Yashiro
- Masayuki MoriNobuhiko Fujisaki
- Reiko DanJunko Inchihashi
- Tatsuya NakadaiKenichi Komatsu
- Daisuke KatōMatsukichi Sekine
- Ganjirō Nakamura IIGoda
- Eitarō OzawaMinobe
- Keiko AwajiYuri
- Chieko NakakitaTomoko
- Jun TataraGoldfish
- Yū FujikiMatsui
- Masao OdaYoshizo Yashiro
Stills
Themes
alcoholwidowmoneytokyo, japanjapanese womanhostess1950sbarjobshōwa era (1926-89)potential suitorsbar manager