In A Tale of Archery, young, timid bowmaster Kazuma (Akitake Kôno) seeks to beat the archery record set by Hoshino Kanzaemon, a mysterious figure who, it is rumored, drove the previous champion (Kazuma’s father) to suicide. Possessed of much raw talent, Kazuma is also very much a coward, holing himself up in an inn run by the kindly Okinu (Kinuyo Tanaka) and generally avoiding confrontation of any sort. Despite his clandestine manner, enough of the locals know of Kazuma’s purpose and an attempt is made on his life. He is saved by Karatsu Kanbei (Kazuo Hasegawa), a samurai who offers to help Kazuma hone his archery skills, though it soon becomes clear that this apparently selfless stranger has several potentially shady ulterior motives.
Cast
Kazuo Hasegawa
Kanbei Kanzamon
Kinuyo Tanaka
Okinu
Sensho Ichikawa
Daihachiro
Akitake Kōno
Kazuma Hochino
Fumiko Katsuragi
Hoshino's mother
Haruo Tanaka
Seijiro
Unpei Yokoyama
Unknown
Tamae Kiyokawa
Omatsu
Kimie Hayashi
Unknown
Sachiko Mitani
Unknown
Yōnosuke Toba
Unknown
Saburō Sawai
Unknown
Ryusaku Nagai
Unknown
Tokue Hanazawa
Unknown
Zenichiro Kito
Unknown
Taizō Fukami
Unknown
