茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS
茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS

[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Hope and Despair in Post War Japan: Akira Kurosawa’s One Wonderful Sunday” by Jeremiah Dutch

Akira Kurosawa (director). One Wonderful Sunday, 1947. 108 min.

It cannot be said often enough that war is largely the folly of world leaders. However, it is ordinary people who suffer, such as Japanese citizens following their government’s misguided militarism and the almost unimaginable horror of the American bombings that ended World War Two. Akira Kurosawa’s One Wonderful Sunday follows a single day in Tokyo, not long after the surrender, in the lives of a young couple, Masako and Yuzo, played by Chieko Nakakita and Isao Numazaki.

Shot in an almost documentary-style on location, the film has the look of Italian neo-realism and the heart of a Frank Capra film. The direction is simple and sparse, reflecting the reality of the post-war limitations and conditions Kurosawa had to work under.

… a simple story of a boyfriend and girlfriend attempting to cheer each other up with only thirty-five yen between them on their one day off during the week.

Toho, Kurosawa’s studio, was in the midst of a series of strikes, which resulted in his resorting to largely unknown actors. One Wonderful Sunday was also lensed before the Japanese master’s well-known partnership with movie star Toshiro Mifune. In some ways, it is like John Ford before John Wayne, Martin Scorsese before Robert De Niro, and Federico Fellini before Marcello Mastroianni. Yet Nakakita and Numazaki more than deliver, portraying both hope and despair in a simple story of a boyfriend and girlfriend attempting to cheer each other up with only thirty-five yen between them on their one day off during the week, a meagre sum even by the straitened standards of post-war Tokyo.

The film does not shy away from showing the aftermath of the war, but also depicts the rapid reconstruction and the demand for housing, such as when Masako and Yuzo visit a model home they know they cannot afford. Later, they try to visit a cabaret, but the owner considers Yuzo too poor to stay. Soon, it becomes a series of disappointing activities, which they each try to make the best of.

The film’s ending, which I would not dream of spoiling, is startlingly original, especially for the time it was made.

Whatever influences it draws from European and American cinema, the film’s ending, which I would not dream of spoiling, is startlingly original, especially for the time it was made, and leads to a very satisfying conclusion. If you can find this heart-warming classic on DVD, a streaming service, or perhaps even at an art-house cinema, it is worth watching, perhaps as an inexpensive romantic date on a wonderful Sunday.

^{How to cite: Dutch, Jeremiah. “Hope and Despair in Post War Japan: Akira Kurosawa’s One Wonderful Sunday.” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 20 Apr. 2026, chajournal.com/2025/04/20/wonderful-sunday.}

As an American who has called Japan home for over 25 years, Jeremiah Dutch’s writing crosses both cultures. He’s written about such diverse topics as horror films and climbing Mt. Fuji. While still an undergraduate, he wrote for The Haverhill (Massachusetts) Gazette and The Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Herald. In 1997, he graduated from the University of New Hampshire and moved to Japan to teach English the following year. In 2007 he earned a MS.Ed in Education from Temple University and for over seventeen years taught at the post-secondary level while continuing to write academic articles, fiction, and non-fiction. He currently teaches at Rikkyo University.  In 2022, his short piece, Zen Failure in Kyoto won an Honourable Mention in the Seventh Annual Writers in Kyoto Competition. This was excerpted and adapted from his then novel-in-progress, Gaijin House. Another adapted excerpt was published this year under the name “Transported Souls in the Motel of Regret” in the anthology Mono no Aware: Stories on the Fleeting Nature of Beauty. These days he calls Yokohama home and lives there with his wife and two daughters. When not writing, teaching, or spending time with his family, he enjoys reading, exercising, and following baseball. Some more information about Jeremiah and his writing can be found on his website and Instagram. [All contributions by Jeremiah Dutch.]