It Is a Long Walk (2000): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2000, It Is a Long Walk is a drama film directed by Yukio Fukamachi, running about 115 minutes.

What it’s about. Screen icon Sayuri Yoshinaga stars in this historical melodrama about geishas in the southern city of Nagasaki set during the 1920s. Though she was sold to a geisha house at a young age, Aihara (Yoshinaga) has since become a master samisen player and woman of great elegance. Though not especially rich, she doles out money to street kids, in particular, a pretty young flower vendor named Oyuki, who becomes Aihara's godchild of sorts. Yet when a geisha (Reiko Takashima) from a rival red-light district insults Aihara and her brethren, she fights back. Soon an all-out geisha war looms. Dapper businessman and amateur scholar Tojiro Koga (Tetsuya Watari) appears on the scene and defuses tempers -- suggesting that difference be settled through a competition of artistic abilities. Smitten with her talent and mature beauty, Koga invites Aihara to record Nagasaki folk songs before they disappear forever

Who’s in it. It Is a Long Walk stars Sayuri Yoshinaga as Aihachi, Tetsuya Watari, Reiko Takashima and Shiho Fujimura, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 8.0/10, It Is a Long Walk sits among the best-reviewed titles in the catalogue.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch It Is a Long Walk page.

If you liked it. Fans of It Is a Long Walk tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.