Set in the Taisho era, which might be regarded as Japan's Hippie Phase, Hana no ran is a story about fashionable people without impulse control. Much of the action centers on a popular woman writer, the real-life poet Akiko Yosano, and her experiences among the literati of early 20th century Japan. Because of her independent, anti-war and often erotic poetry, she was a lightning rod for revolutionaries and other extremists, many of whom were destined to glamorous, yet ultimately pointless, deaths. The closest parallels might be the Byron/Shelley group or the people drawn to the Beat Generation.
緒形拳
as Kan Yosano
吉永小百合
as Akiko Yosano
松坂慶子
as Sumako Matsui
池上季実子
as Akiko Hatano
風間 杜夫
as Sakae Osugi
Eri Ishida
as Noe Ito
中田喜子
as Tomiko Yamakawa
仁支川峰子
as Takino Hayashi
成田三樹夫
as Harufusa Hatano
蟹江敬三
as Hogetsu Shimamura
石橋蓮司
as Shojiro Sawada
内藤剛志
as Kyutaro Wada
