Carmen Falls in Love (1952)

Continues the story of friends, roommates and fellow strippers Carmen and Akemi - both slightly scatterbrained - in Tokyo. In the process of trying to help Akemi, whose lover has left her single with a baby daughter Urara, Carmen meets up-and-coming artist Hajime Sudô. Having just broken up with his last girlfriend, Hajime has just agreed to enter into a marriage of convenience with Chidori Satake, the daughter of wealthy first time politician, the opportunistic Kumako Satake, the widow of a general. While Kumako purports to be a feminist, her platform is primarily pro-war. In this three-way agreement, Kumako will finance Hajime's art exhibition and hand over a sizable amount of what would be her inheritance early to Chidori - who may or may not share it with her "husband" - Hajime who will publicly support his mother-in-law, and layabout party girl Chidori who will be "respectable" becoming of an elected official's daughter. While Carmen catches Hajime's eye enough for him to ask her to model nude for him, he sees her no more than a silly female. Carmen, in turn, falls into what for her is a pure love for Hajime, so much so in that purity that she questions the way she presents herself to the world, including questioning her profession which she had previously always respected for its art. A series of misunderstandings within this situation adds to the complications within this collective.