Magokoro (1953)

Hiroshi Ariga is a high school student who lives with his wealthy family. A lively young man, he prefers rugby practice to his studies, so Keiichi Yajima, his sister Midori’s fiancé, gives him private English lessons to help him get into the prestigious Keiō University. One day, looking out of his bedroom window, Hiroshi sees a pretty, melancholy-looking young woman at the window of the house opposite. His heart skips a beat, and he falls in love with Fumiko at once. Kiyoko and her younger sister Fumiko have just moved into a room at the modest boarding house across from Hiroshi’s home. The room is small and faces north, but it is a haven for them, as the sisters are orphans and are fleeing a malicious uncle who wants to make them work as bar hostesses. But Fumiko is in poor health: she has tuberculosis and often has to stay in bed. Hiroshi learns that the young woman with whom he occasionally exchanges smiles and shy glances is ill, but he truly understands how serious her condition is one winter evening, when he and his rugby coach rush her home after finding her in the snowy street coughing up blood. From then on, Hiroshi throws himself into his studies, much to his parents’ astonishment. He has decided to use the reward his father promised him for getting into Keiō University to pay for Fumiko’s treatment. But the young woman dies the day before his exams. Hiroshi is devastated.