When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
Original title: Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki
“The tree sprouts no matter how strong the wind blows.”
1960 · 1 h 51 min
Directed by 
Mikio Naruse
Mikio NaruseCast
Hideko Takamine 
Masayuki Mori 
Tatsuya Nakadai 
Reiko Dan
Credits
Written by: 
Ryûzô Kikushima
Plot
A middle-aged bar hostess in Ginza tries to keep her dignity while she struggles to make a living.
Sinekatalog’s take
Mikio Naruse's drama follows a Ginza bar hostess clinging to her dignity. Hideko Takamine is stunning, and the film's sober, bruised view of love and money makes a mature, moving masterpiece.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.
Ratings
IMDb: 8.0 / 10 (5,461 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.
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