{ "id": "ep5h3h5pfg", "slug": "disciples-of-hippocrates", "title": "Disciples of Hippocrates (ヒポクラテスたち)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s", "label": "Comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.teen-and-coming-of-age-comedies-of-the-1", "label": "Teen and coming-of-age comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.teen-and-coming-of-age-comedies-of-the-1" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000: Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Disciples of Hippocrates (ヒポクラテスたち) is a 1980 Japanese ensemble drama, 126 minutes, directed by Kazuki Omori about Kyoto medical students in clinical training; released by ATG, 3rd in Kinema Junpo Best Ten.", "snippet": "Disciples of Hippocrates (ヒポクラテスたち) is a 1980 Japanese ensemble drama, 126 minutes, directed by Kazuki Omori about Kyoto medical students in clinical training; released by ATG, 3rd in Kinema Junpo Best Ten.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.teen-and-coming-of-age-comedies-of-the-1", "markdown": "# Disciples of Hippocrates (ヒポクラテスたち)\n\n**Disciples of Hippocrates** (ヒポクラテスたち) is a 1980 Japanese ensemble drama film directed and written by Kazuki Omori (大森一樹), depicting a group of final-year medical students during their clinical training at a university hospital in Kyoto. Omori, a graduate of Kyoto Prefectural Medical University, drew on his own experience as a medical student for the story.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/39062/) The film was produced by Cinema House and ATG, distributed by ATG, and released in Japanese theaters on November 22, 1980, with a running time of 126 minutes.[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28382)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | November 22, 1980; 126 minutes; color; distributed by ATG[1](https://eiga.com/movie/39062/) • [2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28382) |\n| Director and writer | Kazuki Omori, a Kyoto Prefectural Medical University graduate, based the story on his own experience[1](https://eiga.com/movie/39062/) |\n| Producer | Shiro Sasaki, who became ATG's second president in 1979 and first conceived producing the film[3](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/wp-content/uploads/2d761ff08c075859ac75edd565a13f69.pdf) |\n| Recognition | 3rd place in the Japanese film category of the 54th Kinema Junpo Best Ten[4](https://www.tst-movie.jp/hh-ha/bakumatsuhippocratestachi.html?p=83452) |\n| Setting | Final-year medical students at the fictional Rakuhoku Medical University in Kyoto rotate through 17 departments, one week at a time[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28382) |\n| Notable cast | Masato Furuoya, Ran Ito, Akira Emoto, Takashi Naito; special appearances by Osamu Tezuka and Seijun Suzuki[5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/014457/-/02) |\n| Legacy | Inspired *Bakumatsu Hippocrates-tachi* (2026), the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine 150th anniversary film[6](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=102264) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story\n\nThe film is set at the fictional Rakuhoku Medical University in Kyoto. Final-year medical students spend the year in clinical training (polikurin), divided into groups of six or seven that rotate through 17 departments, including internal medicine, surgery, and pediatrics, one week per department.[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28382)\n\nThe central group includes Aisaku Ogino (26), who answered a regular exam question on contraception perfectly yet got his girlfriend Junko pregnant; Midori Kimura (24), anxious about becoming a doctor; the playboy Ichiro Kawamoto (25); baseball-loving Wang Ryumei, known as Wan-chan (24); Katoh Kenji (31), who left a company job to study medicine; and the bookish Osamu Oshima (23).[1](https://eiga.com/movie/39062/) The training brings a series of small discoveries and failures: Midori is fled from by a young ringworm patient in dermatology, Oshima celebrates aloud when his cancer diagnosis proves correct, and Kawamoto pulls the arm off a doll baby while assisting a delivery.[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28382)\n\nThe dramatic core follows Ogino. After he takes Junko to an abortionist, and he learns the clinic was run by a physician without a medical license, his misgivings about entering a profession that handles life and death deepen.[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28382) • [7](https://secure.eiga.com/movie/39062/review/nospoiler/) When Junko calls him saying her bleeding will not stop, he has her admitted to Kawamoto's father's hospital; she eventually returns home in poor condition, and her father greets Ogino with kind words rather than reproach.[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28382) Around him, dormitory meetings debate the problems of modern medicine, and the new student Nogoku is drawn with the leftist activist Minamida into student activism, ending the film arrested during a protest while Ogino buries himself in study for the national medical licensing examination.[2](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28382)\n\n## Production background\n\nKazuki Omori was an unusual figure among Japanese directors of his generation: his father was a physician, he entered medical school himself, and he was simultaneously absorbed in independent filmmaking from his high school years.[5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/014457/-/02) The film was his commercial breakthrough. Its production was tied to ATG (Japan Art Theatre Guild), whose second president, Shiro Sasaki, had first conceived producing films by the independent-film generation; the two projects he initially planned were Toshihiro Ito's *Umishio* (1980) and Omori's *Disciples of Hippocrates*.[3](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/wp-content/uploads/2d761ff08c075859ac75edd565a13f69.pdf)\n\nThe film also marked several acting debuts and returns. Masato Furuoya, who had worked in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno films, made his commercial film debut in the lead role. [Ran Ito](https://www.edgepedia.org/ran-ito), formerly of the idol group Candies, returned to entertainment as a solo performer with this film after the group's sudden breakup, and it was also the commercial film debut of Takashi Naito.[5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/014457/-/02)\n\n## Reception and style\n\nThe film placed third in the Japanese film category of the 54th Kinema Junpo Best Ten, behind *Zigeunerweisen* and *Kagemusha*, and became a defining work of Omori's twenties.[4](https://www.tst-movie.jp/hh-ha/bakumatsuhippocratestachi.html?p=83452) Omori later recalled that ranking alongside Seijun Suzuki and [Akira Kurosawa](https://www.edgepedia.org/akira-kurosawa) made him feel he had become a director, and that at the time he no longer intended to practice medicine.[8](https://ayamekareihikagami.hateblo.jp/entry/2014/03/30/215800) Critics have noted the film's unflattering portrait of its students: their immaturity and arrogance in the face of life and death are rendered through everyday detail, and personal touches such as a [Jean Seberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-seberg) poster on the wall, appearances by the admired [Osamu Tezuka](https://www.edgepedia.org/osamu-tezuka) and Kitayama Osamu, and Omori's own 8 mm films color the picture.[9](https://www.shin-bungeiza.com/work/hippocrates-tachi)\n\n## Legacy\n\nOmori went on to direct films including *Hear the Wind Sing* (1981), *Lovers of Love* (1986), and entries in the *Godzilla* series, and died in November 2022 at age 70.[10](https://pff.jp/45th/assets/pdf/CATALOG_45th_PFF_InvitedWorks_WEB.pdf) • [1](https://eiga.com/movie/39062/) His final project was *Bakumatsu Hippocrates-tachi*, a medical period drama conceived as the 150th-anniversary film of his alma mater, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, with the story of the \"ancestors\" of the *Disciples of Hippocrates* students in late-Edo Kyoto. Completed after his death by director Akira Ogata, it was released on May 8, 2026, and cast Takashi Naito and Akira Emoto, both veterans of the 1980 film, in new roles.[6](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=102264)\n\nThe original film has remained available on home video and streaming: Pioneer LDC released it on VHS on December 21, 1996,[11](https://www.pandastudio.tv/sakuhin/sakuhin-1959/) it received its first Blu-ray release in May 2015,[1](https://eiga.com/movie/39062/) and as of 2026 it streams on services including U-NEXT and Prime Video.[12](https://filmarks.com/movies/25523/vod)\n\n## References\n\n1. [ヒポクラテスたち : 作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/39062/)\n2. [ヒポクラテスたち - 作品情報・映画レビュー, KINENOTE](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28382)\n3. [Shiro Sasaki: A Film, National Film Archive of Japan](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/wp-content/uploads/2d761ff08c075859ac75edd565a13f69.pdf)\n4. [映画『幕末ヒポクラテスたち』批評, tst-movie.jp](https://www.tst-movie.jp/hh-ha/bakumatsuhippocratestachi.html?p=83452)\n5. [ヒポクラテスたち, WOWOWオンライン](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/014457/-/02)\n6. [幕末ヒポクラテスたち - 作品情報・映画レビュー, KINENOTE](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=102264)\n7. [ヒポクラテスたちネタバレなしのレビュー, 映画.com](https://secure.eiga.com/movie/39062/review/nospoiler/)\n8. [大森一樹 トークショー レポート・『オレンジロード急行』『ヒポクラテスたち』（2）](https://ayamekareihikagami.hateblo.jp/entry/2014/03/30/215800)\n9. [ヒポクラテスたち - 作品解説, 新文芸坐](https://www.shin-bungeiza.com/work/hippocrates-tachi)\n10. [Invited Works, 45th Pia Film Festival catalog](https://pff.jp/45th/assets/pdf/CATALOG_45th_PFF_InvitedWorks_WEB.pdf)\n11. [ヒポクラテスたち, PANDASTUDIO.TV](https://www.pandastudio.tv/sakuhin/sakuhin-1959/)\n12. [ヒポクラテスたちの動画配信サービス一覧, Filmarks](https://filmarks.com/movies/25523/vod)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s › Teen and coming-of-age comedies of the 1980s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/disciples-of-hippocrates", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/disciples-of-hippocrates.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Disciples of Hippocrates (ヒポクラテスたち)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/disciples-of-hippocrates. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Disciples of Hippocrates (ヒポクラテスたち)](https://www.edgepedia.org/disciples-of-hippocrates)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/disciples-of-hippocrates](https://www.edgepedia.org/disciples-of-hippocrates). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Disciples of Hippocrates (ヒポクラテスたち)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/disciples-of-hippocrates. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Disciples of Hippocrates is a 1980 Japanese ensemble drama, 126 minutes, directed by Kazuki Omori about Kyoto medical students in clinical training; released by ATG, 3rd in Kinema Junpo Best Ten." }