UKIGUSA (FLOATING WEEDS) 1959

Komajuro Arashi, referred to as Master by his colleagues, is the lead actor in a second-rate travelling acting troupe in Japan; they perform grand kabuki. The troupe's next stop is a coastal town they haven't performed at in twelve years, the last time before Komajuro's girlfriend Sumiko joined the troupe. As is usual, some of the men try to have fun by pursuing some of the local women, sometimes with success, sometimes not. Komajuro has his own agenda in coming to this town, something only a few of the older troupe members know about, in that he fathered a son here close to twenty years ago. His son, Kiyoshi, has been told that his biological father died when he was a child and Komajuro is the brother of his mother Oyoshi. Komajuro has been sending money to Oyoshi all these years which is allowing Kiyoshi to soon go off to college, a better life than Komajuro as an itinerant actor leads. Komajuro wants to spend as much time as possible with Kiyoshi and Oyoshi before the troupe has to leave again. When Sumiko discovers what's going on, Kiyoshi becomes a pawn in the battle between Sumiko and Komajuro.