# The Paper Crane
**The Paper Crane** (Japanese: *Hana no Orizurugasa*, 花の折鶴笠) is a 1962 Japanese period drama produced and distributed by the [Toei Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/toei-company), directed by Toshikazu Kōno and starring Hashizō Ōkawa, Yukio Hashi, and Hiroko Sakuramachi[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11324984/) • [2](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-paper-crane/). It opened in Japanese theaters on 1 December 1962 with a running time of 87 minutes[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/). The story follows a wandering vagrant, Hantaro, who risks his life to protect a beautiful blind girl and her guardian from con artists on the road to Edo[2](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-paper-crane/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 花の折鶴笠 (*Hana no Orizurugasa*)[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11324984/) |
| Release | 1 December 1962, Japan; 87 minutes; color; Toei[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/) • [4](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/140634) |
| Director / writers | Toshikazu Kōno; screenplay by Minoru Inuzuka and Shinji Kessoku[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/) |
| Key crew | Cinematography Takeo Itō; music Masao Yoneyama; art direction Akira Yoshimura[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/) • [2](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-paper-crane/) |
| Principal cast | Hashizō Ōkawa, Yukio Hashi, Hiroko Sakuramachi, Kikuko Hōjō, Chieko Naniwa[4](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/140634) • [2](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-paper-crane/) |
| Theme song | "Hana no Orizurugasa," Yukio Hashi's 29th single (VS-871), released 5 December 1962[5](https://db.nkac.or.jp/kyakuhons/F02-00742-00) |
| Home video | Toei Video VHS release, July 2000[6](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA51069959) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story begins at the ferry crossing of the Baino River on the Tōkaidō road. Hantaro (苫の半太郎), played by Hashizō Ōkawa, a drifting gambler and wanderer, falls in with Yasabei, the manager of a rice wholesaler in Osaka, and his charge O-Kiku, a beautiful blind woman of about seventeen or eighteen. The pair are traveling to Edo to seek treatment for her eyes from the famous doctor Senkai[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/).
Their journey draws predators. A trio of road thieves who prey on travelers, O-Yoshi, Tōkuro, and Mankichi, mark the pair as easy targets; O-Kiku is separated from her guardian and deceived by gambling rogues, and she is pursued by the yakuza Sokoguya's gang, who hope to kidnap her for ransom[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/) • [7](https://filmarks.com/movies/7836). Hantaro shelters O-Kiku in a dye shop, where he reunites with the good-natured fellow traveler Asakichi, played by Yukio Hashi. Outnumbered, the pair are saved when O-Yoshi, having learned the truth, reforms and helps deliver O-Kiku safely to Edo[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/).
After O-Kiku's eye surgery, watched over by her mother O-Mo (Chieko Naniwa), a man claiming to be a lord arrives with retainers and is lavishly received by Yasabei. The wolf shows its teeth, but it is Hantaro who rises, cuts the villains down in an instant, and departs into the moonlight[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/).
A noted set piece is a dream sequence in which O-Kiku, mistaking Hantaro for a lord, dances with him in a graceful crane dance in courtly costume; reviewers single out this scene as the one moment in which Ōkawa's character shows his usual elegant screen image[8](https://cinetoro.jp/product/%E8%8A%B1%E3%81%AE%E6%8A%98%E9%B6%B4%E7%AC%A0/). A colorful action scene in which dye is scattered through the air has also been noted by critics[9](https://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~kazu60/star1/ohch1.htm).
## Production
The film was a Toei Kyoto production of Shōwa 37 (1962), shot in color in the [CinemaScope](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinemascope) format[6](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA51069959). The screenplay was written jointly by Minoru Inuzuka, known for *Zatoichi's Revenge* (続・座頭市物語), and Shinji Kessoku, known for *Blood-Character Mansion* (血文字屋敷); the cinematographer was Takeo Itō, who had shot *Echigo Lion Festival* (越後獅子祭り) the same year[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/). Director Toshikazu Kōno had previously made *Hibari's Flower-Hat Journey* (ひばりの花笠道中), and Japanese sources describe the film as a *ninjō-mono*, a human-interest drama[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/). A screenplay dated 14 October 1962, with a production reading on 15 October, is held in the Japanese screenplay archive[5](https://db.nkac.or.jp/kyakuhons/F02-00742-00).
The theme song, also titled "Hana no Orizurugasa," was recorded by co-star Yukio Hashi and released as his 29th single (catalog number VS-871) on 5 December 1962, four days after the film's premiere[5](https://db.nkac.or.jp/kyakuhons/F02-00742-00).
## Cast
The credited cast includes Hashizō Ōkawa as Hantaro, Yukio Hashi as Asakichi, Hiroko Sakuramachi as O-Yoshi, Kikuko Hōjō as O-Kiku, Chieko Naniwa as O-Mo, Ryūji Shinagawa as Tōkuro, Kei Satō as Kumagaya Jinjūrō, Tatsuya Ishiguro, Jun Tatara, Hideo Hongo as Mankichi, Eijirō Kataoka, and Minoru Chiaki[2](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-paper-crane/) • [3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/). Hōjō's O-Kiku is the blind daughter of a wealthy merchant household, the role around which the plot's schemes of kidnapping and extortion turn[7](https://filmarks.com/movies/7836).
## Reception and availability
Contemporary Japanese databases classify the film as a period drama (*jidaigeki*)[4](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/140634), while Apple TV lists it as comedy and drama[10](https://tv.apple.com/jp/movie/%E3%83%8F%E3%83%8A%E3%83%8E%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%83%85%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AB%E3%82%B5/umc.cmc.48h9mab913bg0vd4mhjq0q839). On Filmarks it holds a user rating of 3.3 out of 5[7](https://filmarks.com/movies/7836). A [Letterboxd](https://www.edgepedia.org/letterboxd) review describes it as a light, good-natured film that still creates tense and emotional moments, praising its distinct characters and its pickpocket heroine[2](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-paper-crane/).
The film was released on VHS by Toei Video in July 2000, and a copy is held by the International Research Center for Japanese Studies library[6](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA51069959). It has also circulated on Japanese television: the Jidaigeki Senmon Channel broadcast it as a channel premiere in May 2025, and the Toei Channel has scheduled it as well[11](https://www.jidaigeki.com/timetable/pdf/202505.pdf) • [12](https://www.skyperfectv.co.jp/program/detail/?uid=c31784660). Runtime listings differ: most Japanese databases give 87 minutes[3](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/), while Apple TV lists 1 hour 46 minutes[10](https://tv.apple.com/jp/movie/%E3%83%8F%E3%83%8A%E3%83%8E%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%83%85%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AB%E3%82%B5/umc.cmc.48h9mab913bg0vd4mhjq0q839).
## Other works titled The Paper Crane
The English title has also been used by unrelated works. *On a Paper Crane: Tomoko's Adventure* (1994), a 27-minute animated film directed by Arihara Seiji, follows a schoolgirl who visits Hiroshima's Peace Park and sees the statue of [Sadako Sasaki](https://www.edgepedia.org/sadako-sasaki) come to life; it was made as part of the Peace Anime Project for classroom use[13](https://openjournals.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/kinema/article/download/984/1057/2344). *The Paper Crane* is also a 2021 American short drama directed by Emily Furst about a young woman facing death who finds hope in the legend that folding one thousand paper cranes grants a wish[14](https://independentshortsawards.com/2021/06/10/the-paper-crane/), and *The Paper Crane* is a 1980s picture book by Molly Bang, adapted from a Chinese folk tale, in which a mysterious man pays for dinner with a paper crane that comes alive and dances[15](https://mollybang.com/Pages/paper.html) • [16](https://dc79r36mj3c9w.cloudfront.net/prod/filer_public/readingrainbow-bento-live-pbs/RR_Curriculum/Family%20Activities/f92e15f366_PaperCrane_FamilyActivities.pdf).
## References
1. [The Paper Crane (1962), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11324984/)
2. [The Paper Crane (1962), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-paper-crane/)
3. [花の折鶴笠：作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/69872/)
4. [花の折鶴笠 (1962), allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/140634)
5. [「花の折鶴笠」の詳細, 日本脚本アーカイヴズ推進コンソーシアム](https://db.nkac.or.jp/kyakuhons/F02-00742-00)
6. [花の折鶴笠, CiNii 図書](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA51069959)
7. [花の折鶴笠, Filmarks映画](https://filmarks.com/movies/7836)
8. [花の折鶴笠, 映画コレクション・しねとろ倶楽部](https://cinetoro.jp/product/%E8%8A%B1%E3%81%AE%E6%8A%98%E9%B6%B4%E7%AC%A0/)
9. [橋蔵作品レビュー, 大川橋蔵ファンサイト](https://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~kazu60/star1/ohch1.htm)
10. [花の折鶴笠, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/jp/movie/%E3%83%8F%E3%83%8A%E3%83%8E%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%83%85%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AB%E3%82%B5/umc.cmc.48h9mab913bg0vd4mhjq0q839)
11. [時代劇専門チャンネル 2025年5月編成表](https://www.jidaigeki.com/timetable/pdf/202505.pdf)
12. [花の折鶴笠, スカパー！](https://www.skyperfectv.co.jp/program/detail/?uid=c31784660)
13. [The Discourse of the Absent Body, Kinema (University of Waterloo)](https://openjournals.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/kinema/article/download/984/1057/2344)
14. [The Paper Crane, Independent Shorts Awards](https://independentshortsawards.com/2021/06/10/the-paper-crane/)
15. [The Paper Crane, Molly Bang](https://mollybang.com/Pages/paper.html)
16. [Family Activities: The Paper Crane, Reading Rainbow](https://dc79r36mj3c9w.cloudfront.net/prod/filer_public/readingrainbow-bento-live-pbs/RR_Curriculum/Family%20Activities/f92e15f366_PaperCrane_FamilyActivities.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Early and silent cinema › Silent feature films › Released 1927 to 2012*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license