The Siren's Song

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Akira Kato directs. Yonezō Maeda behind the camera. Hajime Kaburagi scores. Jun Nabeshima cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Tight 70-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
• 254 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 4Directed by Akira Kato, shot by Yonezō Maeda. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Hajime Kaburagi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Jun Nabeshima shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Setsuko Ogawa and Kōju Ran and Sayori Shima carry the top of the cast.
• 8IMDB entry: tt0285540 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 1 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Yonezō Maeda

Original score

Hajime Kaburagi

Editing

Jun Nabeshima

Runtime

70 min · 1h 10m

Status

Released

Original language

JA

IMDB

The Siren's Song (1972) ↗

Also by

Akira Kato

• 
  Koichiro Uno's Up & Wet

  1976 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Silent Tears

  1972 · ★ 10.0
• 
  She-Beasts, Warm Bodies

  1972 · ★ 9.5
• 
  Thirsty for Love

  1971 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Sekushî purin: Kuse ni narisô

  1981 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Statue in Fire

  1974 · ★ 7.5

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Nikkatsu Corporation

  JP

Key crew

• Assistant DirectorYukihiko Kondo
• Lighting DirectorMoriyasu Tsuchida
• Sound RecordistYoshinobu Akino
• Art DirectionMotozō Kawahara
• EditorJun Nabeshima

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1972-09-27

Also known as

International titles

• Edo komachi: In no utageJP
• Edo BeautyUS
• Edo Beauty: Feast of LustUS