Notes of an Itinerant Performer (1941): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1941, Notes of an Itinerant Performer is a drama film directed by Hiroshi Shimizu, running about 98 minutes.

What it’s about. Uta’s mother died when she was six years old; her father she never met. She was forced to adopt a traveller’s life when her grandmother died, and now she is a dancer and part of a family of actors who travel from town to town, setting up street performances. A way of escape from this marginal existence arises when she gets the chance to move to tea merchant Hiramatsu’s place, where she is asked to teach his daughter to dance.

Who’s in it. Notes of an Itinerant Performer stars Yaeko Mizutani as Utajo, Ken Uehara as Shôtarô Hiramatsu, Hideo Fujino as Shôsuke Hiramatsu and Kyoko Asagiri as Nuiko, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.8/10, Notes of an Itinerant Performer has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Notes of an Itinerant Performer page.

If you liked it. Fans of Notes of an Itinerant Performer tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.