97 minutes
8/3/1951
The Blue Pearl depicts the interplay between a young man from Tokyo and two ama (pearl divers; literally “women of the sea”) in a superstitious coastal town. Though raised within the same tradition-bound crucible, the two women – Noe and Riu – are portrayed as diametric opposites; the former meek but affectionate, the latter strong-willed but jaded by a tryst with metropolitan life.
Ryō Ikebe
as Nishida
Yukiko Shimazaki
as Noe
Yuriko Hamada
as Riu
Takashi Shimura
as Fujiki
Reizaburo Yamamoto
Kan Yanagiya
as Shintaro
Bokuzen Hidari
as Riu's father
Kokuten Kōdō
as Noe's uncle
Yuriko Hanabusa
Noriko Honma
as Riu's mother
Eiko Miyoshi
as Noe's aunt
Masako Ōshiro
Yoshiko Hirose
Kazuko Igarashi
Yoshie Kihira
Sumie Kuwabara
Yaeko Izumo
Tsuruko Mano
Sachio Sakai
as Yanagiya
Senkichi Ōmura
Shiro Mizutani
Fujio Miyagawa
Sandayuu Dokumamushi
as Yoshi
Junpei Natsuki
Hiroshi Kondō