Experiencing Interruptions?

An Ephemeral Dream of Prosperity-Kantan no Yume

At the beginning of the Taisho era (in Japan).
A new leader in the theatrical world emerged. Making a strong mark with a moderate-school that positioned itself in the middle of the old-school and new-school styles.
Her name was Bando Masanosuke. She was originally from the traditional theater. The master of the female sword-fighting theatrical troupe.
100 years since then , her style passed down to her son Sawada Kojiro with Shinsho Onna Sawasho plays creating an era of their own, with many pupils.
A fight broke out between two actors in this theater group regarding the next leader. Ultimately, the successor of Sawada Kojiro.
One day, an accident happened during the rehearsal of a sword-fighting play(Shinsho Onna Sawasho).
One became a scriptwriter.
The other, not being able to cope with the change, became a gangster.
And though the scriptwriter Sawada Sanosuke was not always successful, he had a happy life with his family.
One day, he was called by a production company and was asked to write the script, “Kantan no Yume”.
Mitsuba Ginji, the other actor left his child at the theater group and tried to start out on his own, but failed and ended up being a gangster.
Ginji felt strong resentment toward Sanosuke who was the real son of the theater chief.
However, Sanosuke was also jealous of Ginji and at the same time respected him for being recognized by the chief for his sword fighting talent.
9 years after the two of them left the troupe, they reencountered.
After a mysterious incident, Sanosuke disappeared and Ginji lost his memory.
6 years later, Yorozuya Tokujiro, the star actor of the Yorozuya theater troupe, which is in the direct line of Shinsho-Onnasawasho theater, got the script “Kantan no Yume” that Sanosuke was still working on.
He was requested by Sanosuke’s father, the owner of the troupe, to complete the script and produce a play.
While Tokujiro was reading the script, Ginji who lost his memory came back.
Even though he’d lost his memory, he was warmly welcomed back to the troupe.
He was happy to be reunited with his daughter who he had left behind in the troupe.
A glorious life that is once obtained can turn out to be nothing but a dream. As the proverb says, it is “Kantan no Yume, an ephemeral dream of prosperity”.

The memory that Ginji lost was the sequel of the unfinished script “An Ephemeral Dream of Prosperity-Kantan no Yume”.

  • たかお とくなが
    Director
  • TAKAO MISORAYA
    Writer
  • KITOSHI AKENAGA
    Producer
  • KAZUHISA INOUE
    Producer
  • TAKAO MISORAYA
    Key Cast
    "Tokujiro Yorozuya"
  • TAKAMASA SUGA
    Key Cast
    "Sanosuke Sawada"
  • SHINJI MATSUBAYASHI
    Key Cast
    "Ginji Mitsuba"
  • Ryuji Sawa
    Key Cast
    "Kojiro Sawada"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    邯鄲の夢
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Human, Culture
  • Runtime:
    2 hours 10 minutes 28 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 25, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    10,000,000 JPY
  • Country of Filming:
    Japan
  • Language:
    Japanese
  • Shooting Format:
    23.98fps
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - たかお とくなが

"Takao Misoraya

Born in 1980 in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, is an actor in the traditional Japanese theater style called Shinsho Onna Sawasho.
He was an apprentice of Ryuji Sawa, the successor of Shinsho Onna Sawasho.

He obtained a master's degree in cultural anthropology from the graduate school of the Tokyo Institute of Technology and has worked on numerous projects and productions depicting entertainers from an academic perspective.
His work also covers a wide range of themes including works for television like the acclaimed TV drama series, ""Method of Life"", which he directed, wrote the screenplay, and was also involved in the editing.
As an actor himself, his passion is translating difficult and complicated themes into easily accessible and digestible productions without losing the essence.

This is his first film as a director."

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Director Statement

"In the making of this work, I aim to highlight the difficulty in the passing on of traditional performing arts from one generation to the next.
Many of the traditional arts are passed on through family bloodlines with all the challenges therein. A lack of suitable heirs to aging masters has led to the decline of the passion and quality in theater when taken over by newcomers, despite their good intentions.
There are numerous challenges, not least that of commitment on the part of those whose family legacy is not their guiding compass in preserving these arts.
Just as in other fields of traditional arts and skills, this has led to the steady decline of many performing arts, especially the minor ones with small followings.

Although this is a work of fiction, it is based on the real-life story of Shinsho Onna Sawasho.
Ryuji Sawa, who features in this film, and I are actually teachers and pupils of the Shinsho Onna Sawasho.
As an apprentice and pupil, I realized my limitations in attaining the skills to reach master level.
I have no doubt that many of the pupils came to the same conclusion.
As a dedicated pupil of this school who could not bring it all out on stage, I chose to express the art through a lens.

We shot the film in 6 days on a limited budget.
Just like on stage, it's a conversational drama centered on dialogue.
The Shinsho Onna Sawasho plays depict the human condition and are full of both mirth and misery akin to a toy box.
This I aimed to highlight in the production.

The film ends with a documentary of a real-life stage play.
The dream to preserve this art not ending as a mere dream is the strong message that I would like to convey.
That the passionate desire by the actors to proudly preserve and protect their relatively unknown art in this small corner of Japan will be an analogy to inspire others."