The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice

Ochazuke no aji
Original Japanese movie poster
Directed by	Yasujiro Ozu
Written by	Kōgo Noda, Yasujirō Ozu
Starring	Shin Saburi, Michiyo Kogure, Kōji Tsuruta, Chikage Awashima
Music by	Ichirō Saitō
Cinematography	Yuuharu Atsuta
Editing by	Yoshiyasu Hamamura
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date(s)	1952
Running time	115 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Tea Over Rice or The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice (お茶漬けの味, Ochazuke no aji^?) is a 1952 Japanese film directed by Yasujiro Ozu about a wealthy middle-aged couple (played by Shin Saburi and Michiyo Kogure) who have marital difficulties. The story includes a sub-plot about a niece who uses the couple's troubles as her excuse for not attending omiai (arranged marriage) interviews.

The film is in public domain.

Synopsis

Taeko (Michiyo Kogure) and Mokichi Satake (Shin Saburi) are a married couple living in Tokyo who has survived many years of marriage. Childless, the wife thinks the husband is somewhat dull and uninteresting, even though he is a reliable, if quiet, executive at an engineering company.

Under the instigation of a friend Aya (Chikage Awashima), Taeko decides to lie to her husband to go for a getaway at a spa with a couple of friends. She pretends that her niece, Setsuko (Keiko Tsushima), has taken ill. The plan nearly blows in her face when Setsuko visits her house unexpectedly, but Taeko substitutes the invalid with another friend Takako and obtains consent from her husband to go for a break.

Setsuko has to go for a matchmaking session although she is unwilling to do so. Seeing that Mokichi and Taeko are not having the best of times after their arranged marriage, she is determined to find her own spouse. Mokichi's family tasks Taeko to act as matchmaker for Setsuko at a kabuki theater, but Setsuko runs off midway during a visit to the washroom. Instead, she goes to see her uncle, who brings her back to the theater and leaves, but she runs off again. She joins Mokichi at a pachinko (pinball) parlor with his younger friend Noboru (Koji Tsuruta). Mokichi asks Noboru to bring Setsuko back home as he heads home.

Setsuko does not go home, but instead goes to her uncle's house, where Taeko is fuming. When Taeko realizes that Setsuko and Mokichi have been together, she becomes so angry that she refuses to speak to her husband for days. The two have a minor confrontation, when Mokichi quietly confides in her that he finds his old habits hard to break because smoking inferior cigarettes and traveling third-class on a train often remind him of the simpler pleasures of life. Taeko disagrees and leaves for her room in a huff.

Taeko goes on a solo train journey away from Tokyo. Mokichi telegrams her to tell her that his company is sending him to Uruguay on a business trip, and asks her to return. Wilfully, Taeko returns only after Mokichi has flown. But Mokichi returns a few hours later since the airplane carrying him has met with technical mishaps and has to head back to Tokyo. The couple make up while preparing a simple, frugal meal of rice with green tea (a simple Japanese dish) with a few side dishes. Taeko finally realizes what her husband has been speaking about earlier on, and begins to appreciate the simpler pleasures of life. She promises never to leave without a word again.

The film ends with Setsuko confiding with Noboru over her aunt's changed attitude, and the final scene suggests that the two have become a couple.

See also

• List of films in the public domain

References

External links

• scenes from the film [1] [2]
• Ochazuke no aji at the Internet Movie Database
• The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice at Ozu-san.com