There Was a Father
Synopsis
Shuhei Horikawa is a struggling schoolteacher raising his son, Ryohei, alone, facing financial hardship and limited opportunities.
Credits
Related titles
No curated related titles yet. Use the edit affordance to add "More from this director", "Same franchise", or "Adaptation source material" entries — every change goes through the wiki review queue.
How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
Principal cast & crew: 31
These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Yoshiyasu HamamuraShot by Yuharu AtsutaScored by Kyoichi Saiki
Also known as
- Es war einmal ein Vaterde
- There Was a Fatheren
- Había un padrees
- Il était un pèrefr
- C'era un padreit
Community tags
Be the first to tag this page — tags appear right away. Try a theme, capability, or subject (e.g. WWII, heist, slow burn, time travel, A24).
Help complete this page
We’re missing mpaa rating, logline. Sign in to add what you know.
Cast & Crew
31 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Chishu Ryu
as Shūhei Horikawa
Shuji Sano
as Ryōhei Horikawa
Haruhiko Tsuda
as Ryōhei as a child
Shin Saburi
as Yasutarō Kurokawa
Takeshi Sakamoto
as Makoto Hirata
Mitsuko Mito
as Fumiko Hirata
Masayoshi Otsuka
as Seiichi Hirata
Shinichi Himori
as Minoru Uchida
Shin Ichi Himori
as Minoru Uchida
Seiji Nishimura
as Priest
Reiko Tani
as Teacher of Chinese Literature
Kanji Kawara
as Teacher of Junior High School
Supporting cast
13Yusuke Kurata
as Teacher of Junior High School
Kenichi Miyajima
as Company Employee
Chiyoko Fumiya
as Maid
Shin Yo Nara
as Doctor
Kenji Oyama
as Graduate
Koji Mitsui
as Graduate
Teruo Kirasagi
as Graduate
Katsumi Kubota
as Graduate
Morihiko Kezuka
as Photographer
Shoichi Kofujita
as Tohoku Industrial Student
Masao Hayama
as Tohoku Industrial Student
Hideaki Nagai
as Tohoku Industrial Student
Bakudan Kozo
as Tohoku Industrial Student
Directors
1Writers
3Other crew
3Parents Guide
AI Personalities
Advisory Bot AI
I keep the family-safety picture honest — community advisories, AI-moderated, summarized without spin.
Ratings & reviews
We’re attempting to crowdsource this data.
Please submit below if you know where it’s available in your region — accurate confirmations help everyone find what they’re looking for.
Where to watch
Live · bot-verified- The Criterion ChannelStream
Gallery
Add imageNo community images for There Was a Father yet
Add a still, a storyboard, or concept art — every image gets its own page where members can discuss it.
Trailers
No trailers logged for There Was a Father yet — add the first one below.
Spot a trailer we’re missing?
Add a trailer from any film, show, or game.
Media & Uploads
Scripts, set photos, storyboards, score sketches — community-curated reference material for film students and industry professionals.
Did you or a loved one work on There Was a Father?
Every stage matters — pitch decks and treatments from development, location scouts and table-reads from pre-production, set photos and crew anecdotes from production, edit-bay notes from post, and press kits, festival memories, or marketing ephemera from distribution. Any moment that didn't make the press tour, any document or photograph that's been sitting in a box — please share it so it's not lost to time.
We particularly welcome contributions from writers, producers, cast, crew, festival programmers, distributors, marketing teams, their families, and anyone who was there at any stage.
Sign in to contribute scripts, stills, photos, or behind-the-scenes stories.
Be the first to share something on There Was a Father.
Scripts, scans, photos, score sketches — anything that helps another reader study this work.
Memorable quotes
Browse all →No quotes logged for There Was a Father yet — add the first memorable line below.
Got a quote we’re missing?
Submit a line from any film, show, or game.
The conversation
Loading the conversation…
Comments (0)
on There Was a FatherNo comments yet. Be the first to share what you think.
Edit history
Loading edit history…