This film might be better recognized by the title of the novel on which it is based, Bokuto kidan (or the English version, A Strange Tale of East of the River), the most important work of Kafu Nagai, a master of literary style who observed the life and manners of prostitutes with whom he himself became acquainted. The novel was originally serialized in a 1937 newspaper. Of Toyoda's masterful film adaptation, John Gillett of London's National Film Theatre wrote, "Toyoda creates a marvelous `woman's world' here, with the life of a brothel delineated in some of the most intricate 'scope set design in Japanese cinema (one can almost feel the clammy atmosphere and the invading mosquitoes). Fujiko Yamamoto has one of her best parts as the garrulous, put-upon prostitute, desperately trying to keep her dreams intact and realizing that her teacher lover still has his wife on his mind. The final scenes, with their pre-echoes of war, are quite chilling."