Orin — The Ballad of Narayama Character Profile

About Orin

Central protagonist, a 69-year-old woman in good health living under a village tradition where residents over 70 must ascend a mountain to starve to death. After seeing a neighbor's father forcibly dragged away, she resolves to leave voluntarily. She spends a year managing family and village affairs, punishing a food-hoarding family, and facilitating her younger son's loss of virginity before her departure.

Orin — Character Profile

Character Facts

Played by

Sumiko Sakamoto

Appears in

The Ballad of Narayama (1983)

Role

Protagonist

Relationships (8)

• Orin — Social Villager — Matsuyan (Junko Takada)

  Orin has a social relationship with villager Matsuyan

• Orin — Social Villager — Zeniya Tadayan (Sanshō Shinsui)

  Orin has a social relationship with villager Zeniya Tadayan

• Orin — Social Villager — Jinsaku (Fujio Tokita)

  Orin has a social relationship with villager Jinsaku

• Orin — Family Son — Katsuzô (Shoichi Ozawa)

  Orin is the mother of Katsuzô

• Orin — Family Mother-in-law — Tamayan (Aki Takejo)

  Orin is the mother-in-law of Tamayan

• Orin — Family Husband — Risuke (Tonpei Hidari)

  Orin is married to Risuke

• Orin — Family Mother — Kesakichi (Seiji Kurasaki)

  Orin is the mother of Kesakichi, her younger son

• Orin — Family Mother — Tatsuhei (Ken Ogata)

  Orin is the mother of Tatsuhei

Explore the full interactive character relationship map of The Ballad of Narayama

More characters from The Ballad of Narayama

• Tatsuhei (Ken Ogata)
• Risuke (Tonpei Hidari)
• Tamayan (Aki Takejo)
• Teruyan (Taiji Tonoyama)
• Katsuzô (Shoichi Ozawa)
• Tsune (Nenji Kobayashi)
• Tomekichi (Kaoru Shimamori)
• Amaya's Son (Masami Okamoto)
• Amaya's Wife (Yukie Shimura)
• Sugiyan (Satoko Iwasaki)
• Kinyan (Kansai Eto)
• Yakimatsu (Ben Hiura)