Tokyo, he visits Mrs. Ishimura, wife of the former head of a company branch in Malaysia and Kikuyo's employer for 6 months. From Mrs. Ishimura he learns that Kikuyo, contrary to her modest on-camera statements, is very unhappy with living at the home of her son's mother-in-law, who only tolerates her because she is a hard labourer. Back in Malaysia, Imamura locates some other former karayuki-san, who continue living in the same area as Kikuyo and tell of their fates and those of other young women, some of whom disappeared or committed suicide in their despair. Kikuyo then takes him to visit a cemetery which has many graves of karayuki-san. Some of the deceased lie in graves under memorial stones, others are buried in unmarked graves or ones marked either with numbered stones without names, or simple wooden posts. The film ends with Kikuyo's visit to Japan in May 1973, made possible with the help of the Buraku Liberation League and the encouragement of Mrs. Ishimura and representatives of Kikuyo's home town. Imamura closes with the words that "this is not a simple moving story", but Kikuyo's chance to see with her own eyes if her home country has changed or not. Reception Joan Mellen, in The Waves at Genji's Door, called this film, "Perhaps the most brilliant and feeling of Imamura's fine documentaries." References External links 1975 films Documentary films about prostitution Films directed by Shohei Imamura 1970s Japanese-language films Documentary films about women in World War II Japanese documentary films 1975 documentary films Prostitution in Malaysia Second Sino-Japanese War films Documentary films about Japanese war crimes 1970s Japanese films