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Manji (film)

1964 film by Yasuzō Masumura

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ4409986 ↗
Source-derived summary

Manji (Japanese: 卍, Manji), titled Swastika in English, is a 1964 Japanese drama film directed by Yasuzo Masumura, starring Ayako Wakao and Kyōko Kishida. The screenplay written by Kaneto Shindō is based on the 1928 novel Quicksand by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki. The theme of sexual excess includes homosexuality between women.

The 1964 release of Manji is the first film adaptation of the novel. It was followed by four additional film versions, in 1983, 1998, 2006, and 2023.

Synopsis

Sonoko, a bored married woman, falls for a fellow art student, the young and beautiful Mitsuko. The relationship develops and starts to affect and involve their partners.

Cast

Ayako Wakao as Mitsuko Tokumitsu

Kyōko Kishida as Sonoko Kakiuchi

Eiji Funakoshi as Kotaro Kakiuchi

Yūsuke Kawazu as Eijirō Watanuki

See also

Historical use of manji (卍) in Japan

The Berlin Affair – 1985 film based on Quicksand by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

List of feature films with lesbian characters

References

External links

Swastika at IMDb (1964)

卍 Manji (1964) at Japanese Film Database (in Japanese) (with English translation)

卍 Swastika (1964) / Manji on AllMovie

卍(まんじ)修復版 (Swastika (Manji) restored edition) (1964) at Kadokawa (in Japanese)

Boscaro, Adriana (2000). "List of Films Based on Tanizaki's Works (Maria Roberta Novielli)". Tanizaki in Western Languages: A Bibliography of Translations and Studies (1st ed.).

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Manji (film)” as 1964 film by Yasuzō Masumura. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1964, 1928, 1983, 1998—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1964-07-25, 1968—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. The account is most persuasive where Manji, film and Yasuzō can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1964 film by Yasuzō Masumura. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4409986. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964, 1928, 1983 and 1998.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Manji (film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Manji (film) primary sources, Manji (film) archive and Manji research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Manji (film)”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Manji (film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.