(1930) Produced at the Shochiku Kamata Film Studio

Incomplete Version
Running time: 21 minutes

Original story: Kikuchi Yuho
Scenario adaptation: Yanai Takao
Director: Sasaki Tunejiro
Cinematography: Inokai Suketaro

Cast

Sakube: Inoue Masao
Tamaki: Tatsuta Shizue
Tamaki's father Denzo: Takeda Haruo
The Viscount Sakurado: Komura Shinichiro
Tsukaguchi Kenzo: Nara Shinyo
Tamataro: Sugawara Hideo
Masahiro: Yamakawa Masao
Omitsu: Tsukioka Hatsuko
The maid: Matsui Junko

OUTLINE
Minowa Tamaki, the daughter of a wealthy countryside farmer, is studying at a girls school in Tokyo. Tsukaguchi Kenzo, a playboy medical student, seduces her. Left alone by Tsukaguchi who has gone abroad, Tamaki, can not bear the shame of having been used and tries to drown herself. Sakube, a fisherman, saves her. Tamaki takes refuge in Sakube's house where she bears her son, Tamataro. Sakube takes responsibility of this child and raises him as his own.

Time passes. Tamaki marries the Viscount Sakurado and they live happily with their son Masahiro. Tamataro yearns to meet his mother, if only once. Finally Sakube gives in to his pleadings and brings him to Tokyo. Prevented from seeing Tamaki they return to their village in Chiba Prefecture. That summer Tamaki and her son Masahiro come to this village for a holiday. One day Masahiro swims too far out and is in danger of drowning. Tamataro tries to save him, but they both die. As the two boys lay side by side in peace, Sakube, Tamaki, and Tsukaguchi, who was called to the scene as a doctor, weep as they realize that the two were brothers.

COMMENTARY
One of the most popular film genres in Japan during the 1910's and 1920's was the Shimpa (new theater) tragedy. Shimpa was strongly influenced by contemporary European and American theater and novels. Kikuchi Yuko's 1899 novel, Your Sin, was performed on stage and became a representative Shimpa piece. It was made into a film many times. The original story follows the life of the heroine Minowa Tamaki. One of the theatrical versions however featured the famous actor Inoue Masao as the fisherman Sakube. His treatment of Sakube earned such wide acclaim that Your Sin was rewritten with an emphasis on Sakube's experiences and made into this film.

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