In Kabuki style, the film tells the story of a remote mountain village where the scarcity of food leads to a voluntary but socially-enforced policy in which relatives carry 70-year-old family members up Narayama mountain to die. Granny Orin is approaching 70, content to embrace her fate. Her widowed son Tatsuhei cannot bear losing his mother, even as she arranges his marriage to a widow his age. Her grandson Kesa, who's girlfriend is pregnant, is selfishly happy to see Orin die. Around them, a family of thieves are dealt with severely, and an old man, past 70, whose son has cast him out, scrounges for food. Will Orin's loving and accepting spirit teach and ennoble her family?
田中絹代
as Orin
高橋貞二
as Tatsuhei
望月優子
as Tamayan
宮口精二
as Matayan
伊藤雄之助
as Matayan's son
三津田健
as Teruyan
Danko Ichikawa
as Kesakichi
Keiko Ogasawara
as Matsu-yan
東野英治郎
as Messenger
西村晃
as One of the villagers who Teaches Narayama's Manners (uncredited)
Katsuyuki Hattori
as Tatsuhei's son (uncredited)
小林十九二
as One of the villagers who teaches Narayama's manners (uncredited)
