Japan Red Beard sits in the top 10% of Japan films on this catalog — ranked #437 of 4,579 by TMDB audience score.
Synopsis
赤ひげ
“What is the key to life – power, prestige or peace?”
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #437 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (90th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +1.2 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Drama productions specifically: #186 of 1,933 (top 10%).
Audience Engagement
306 audience reviews — more than 90% of Japan films in our index.
Review volume (90th percentile) outruns trending popularity (73th) — a durable title with sustained audience attention.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Red Beard. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From TOHO
The 1964–1966 Japan Window
Among 74 Japan films we catalog from this window, Red Beard places #3 — near the top of its class.
The 1960s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1960s in Japan, 202 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Red Beard premiered alongside 21 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 21 other Japan films in 1965.
The 218th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Red Beard, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- career · 4
- lunatic asylum · 2
- clinic · 2
- uniform · 1
- heal · 1
- intern · 1
- rural area · 26
- doctor · 25
- brothel · 17
- small town · 13
- psychiatrist · 9
- japan · 454
- jidaigeki · 61
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | TOHO, Kurosawa Production |
| Runtime | 3h 5m |
| Release Date | April 3, 1965 |
| IMDb | tt0058888 |