is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse starring Kinuyo Tanaka in the title role. The screenplay by Yūko Mizuki is based on the prize-winning entry of a school essay-writing competition.

Plot

Told from the viewpoint of Toshiko, the second child of three of the Fukuhara family, the film depicts her mother Masako's struggles during the post-war years. First Masako loses her son, who fell ill from working in a velvet cloth shop, then her husband Ryosaku, who ruined his health from overworking during the war. Ryosaku's friend Kimura joins the family's laundry shop, showing Masako how to handle the business, watched warily by Toshiko who objects the idea that her mother might marry him. To reduce the Fukuhara's financial hardships, and because they are childless after losing their son in the war, Ryosaku's brother and his wife adopt the younger daughter Chako. Kimura finally leaves the business to open his own laundry shop in Chiba, and Toshiko and young baker Shinjirō muse about getting married one day. Watching her mother play with her little cousin Tetsu, Toshiko wonders if she is happy, wishing that she will live a long life.