is a 1981 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. Plot The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ee ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society. Cast Kaori Momoi - Ine Shigeru Izumiya - Genji Shigeru Tsuyuguchi - Kinzo Masao Kusakari - Itoman Mitsuko Baisho - Oko Yōhei Kōno - Hara Ichinoshin Taiji Tonoyama Junzaburō Ban - Toramatsu Nenji Kobayashi - Matakichi Hideo Takamatsu - Koide Yamato no Kami Ako - Oyoshi Kazuo Kitamura - Koide Yamatonokami Jirō Yabuki - Senmatsu Yasuaki Kurata - Tsukinoki Hanjirō Hiroshi Inuzuka - Yamome no Roku Shōhei Hino - Magohichi Yūko Tanaka - Omatsu Ken Ogata - Furukawa Shoichi Ozawa - Sakunojo Awards Japanese Academy Awards 1982: Best Supporting Actress: Yūko Tanaka Newcomer of the Year: Yūko Tanaka Blue Ribbon Awards 1982: Best Supporting Actress: Yūko Tanaka Hochi Film Awards 1981: Best Supporting Actress: Yūko Tanaka Mainichi Film Concours 1982 : Best Sound Recording: Shotaro Yoshida See also 1981 in film References External links Eijanaika at Rotten Tomatoes Films directed by Shohei Imamura 1981 films 1981 drama films 1980s Japanese-language films Shochiku films Jidaigeki films Films set in the 1860s Films set in Bakumatsu 1980s Japanese films tr:Ecanayka-Yetmedi mi