Mizoguchi's Gion Bayashi - made directly between Ugetsu Monogatai and Sansho Dayu - is set in the world of the courtesan. Contrasting two different types of geisha - on one hand, Eiko (Wakao Ayako), a sixteen-year old orphan wishing to be taken in and trained; on the other, Miyoharu (Kogure Michiyo), an older, more experienced geisha, who agrees to mentor the younger woman - they live under the same roof in difficult personal circumstances. 'Gion Bayashi' is a fascinating, subtle insight into the loves of these women in 1950's Japan.