Record of a Tenement Gentleman

This is director Yasujiro Ozu’s first post-WWII film following his return from Singapore. New homes are gradually being built amidst the rubble of post-WWII Tokyo, as old acquaintances reunite. Otane, a widow who lost her only child, runs her old general store alone. One day, Tashiro, a fortune teller and a neighbor, brings along a boy named Kohei, who appears to be a war orphan. He entrusts the boy to Otane’s care, as he himself cannot raise him. Though vexed, Otane agrees to take him in for a night as she has no one else to turn to. The next day, she seeks help from her neighborhood, but finds no family suitable to care for Kohei. Taking him to her hometown where she and her father once lived also proves fruitless. Faced with no other option, she brings Kohei back to her own home.