A young composer falls in love with the beautiful daughter of a wealthy company president and flies to Paris when he learns she is studying music there. But, when he finally wins her after many difficulties, he somehow feels empty, because his spirit has always been aroused against barriers before him.
Rainbow Over the Pacific is a tale of romance that moves from the streets of Tokyo to the islands of Hawaii as it weaves the story of two star-crossed lovers--Hideo (Yukio Hashi), an aspiring photographer from Japan, and Reiko (Jun Mayuzumi), a beautiful Sansei Cherry Blossom contestant from Hawaii--who are drawn together by destiny, yet appear to be fated to be apart. Will the sun set on their young love, or will it be the dawn of a new relationship?
When a corrupt magistrate rapes Oshima, Masa (Raizō Ichikawa) avenges her by killing the officer, becoming thereby a fugitive, haunted and grief-stricken by the fact that Oshima committed suicide. Going underground in the gambling world, perpetually hiding from the law, Masa eventually meets a young woman named Onaka, who looks exactly like Oshima. Tales having two look-alike heroines are a commonplace in Japanese period films, a plot affectation inherited from the kabuki theater. Based on a novel by Shin Hasegawa, Nakayama shichiri was already twice filmed in 1930, one version directed by Namio Ochiai, and from which less than 40 minutes survive, the other directed by Kyotaro Namiki. Both are silent films, preserved by the Makino film institute.
