Tanaka Kinuyo was a representative actress in Japanese cinema and a director of six feature films produced in the golden age of Japanese cinema. Her directorial debut was Love Letter, based on the novel by then prestigious novelist Niwa Fumio. The novel was adapted by two outstanding Japanese film directors, Kinoshita Keisuke (official credit) and Naruse Mikio, and the staff of both directors participated in the production of this film. Although Tanaka shows her masterful caliber as a female director in The Eternal Breasts (1955), her delicate direction still stands out throughout this film. First, it is her sympathy for the female lead role who is manipulated by social circumstances around her. The female lead in this film struggles not to let her ex find out about her past as a wife of a U.S. soldier during the turbulent post-war era. In the original novel, it is the male lead and his agony from knowing her past that is foregrounded throughout the narrative. The film's last scene, however, which focuses on the heroine's face is impressive reflecting Tanaka's directorial intervention. In addition, the location shootings that Tanaka Kinuyo insisted on are splendidly brought to life in this restored version. Her dynamic and delicate directing is exemplified by the scenes in Shibuya where the male lead chases after the female lead or in the Meiji Shrine where the past of the female lead role is exposed. [SAITO Ayako]