Hugely popular in his home country of Japan, Keisuke Kinoshita worked tirelessly as a director for nearly half a century, making lyrical, sentimental films that often center on the inherent goodness of people, especially in times of distress. He began his directing career during a most challenging time for Japanese cinema: World War II, when the industry's output was closely monitored by the state and often had to be purely propagandistic. This collection of Kinoshita's first films-four made while the war was going on and one shortly after Japan's surrender-demonstrates the way the filmmaker's humanity and exquisite cinematic technique shone through even in the darkest of times.