A delightful comedy about a bearded kendo swordfighter who passionately loves his beard and despises all modern ways. He employs his chivalry to save a young typist, Hiroko, from a mugging at the hands of a tough young woman, but any other kind of employment is out of his reach. When Hiroko suggests that he might find a job if he shaved his beard, he reluctantly complies and lands a job immediately. His new, modern face makes him the object of adoration by women who had previously ridiculed him, which only complicates his life. John Gillett of the British Film Institute notes, "Ozu obviously had fun with the leading character, whose unpredictable outbursts and changes of mood are used to great comic effect. Looking at the performances from today's standpoint, one wonders if Toshiro Mifune may have somehow seen this film, as Mifune seems to have adapted several of the mannerisms to his own style twenty years later."