Sandakan No. 8

Sandakan No. 8

Year: 1974

Runtime: 122 mins

Language: Japanese

Director: Kei Kumai

WarHistoryDrama

A prostitute is a woman too. A young journalist interviews an elderly woman about being forced into prostitution in Borneo at a brothel called Sandakan No. 8.

Warning: spoilers below!

Haven’t seen Sandakan No. 8 yet? This summary contains major spoilers. Bookmark the page, watch the movie, and come back for the full breakdown. If you're ready, scroll on and relive the story!

Timeline – Sandakan No. 8 (1974)

Trace every key event in Sandakan No. 8 (1974) with our detailed, chronological timeline. Perfect for unpacking nonlinear stories, spotting hidden connections, and understanding how each scene builds toward the film’s climax. Whether you're revisiting or decoding for the first time, this timeline gives you the full picture.

1

Frame narrative: Keiko finds Osaki

Journalist Keiko Mitani locates Osaki, an elderly woman living with many cats in a remote village, and persuades her to tell her life story. The film then shifts into flashbacks to reveal Osaki's past and wartime experiences. This framing creates an intimate, documentary-like tone for the narrative.

Present day Remote village shack
2

Osaki is sold into indentured servitude

Osaki is sold by her poverty-stricken family to work as a maid in Sandakan, believing she is heading to a hotel. Her mother gives her a hand-woven kimono as a last parting gift, a treasured keepsake she will cling to for years. The journey marks the start of a harsh, controlled life far from home.

Early 1920s Sandakan, British North Borneo
3

Parting gift: the hand-woven kimono

On parting, Osaki's distraught mother gives her a kimono woven by hand, a symbol of home and love she cannot forget. Osaki resolves to keep it as a source of comfort in the years ahead. The kimono becomes her most treasured possession through the hardships of Sandakan.

Early 1920s Japan
4

Arrives at Sandakan No. 8: the hotel that is a brothel

Osaki arrives at Sandakan No. 8, a place she believes to be a hotel but soon learns is a brothel. She begins as a maid and struggles under the oppressive, transactional environment. The discovery marks the start of decades of exploitation tied to the brothel.

Early 1920s Sandakan, Sandakan No. 8
5

Two years as a maid, then forced into prostitution

After two years, Osaki is coerced into becoming a prostitute by the brothel's owners. She endures long nights of service and the emotional toll that comes with commodified intimacy. The work erodes any early sense of security she might have hoped for.

1920s Sandakan No. 8
6

A brief romance with a poor farmer

During the long years at Sandakan No. 8, Osaki experiences a brief romance with a poor farmer who abandons her after seeing her exhausted and disheveled after a night of work. The encounter offers a fleeting glimpse of love but ends in abandonment. It underscores the loneliness of her life in the brothel.

Pre-World War II Sandakan
7

End of World War II and return to Japan

As WWII ends, Osaki leaves Sandakan and returns to Japan. Reunifying with her homeland is overshadowed by the scorn she faces from family who see her past at Sandakan No. 8 as a stain. Her brother and sister-in-law reveal they bought a house with the money she had sent them and frame her as an embarrassment.

End of WWII (circa 1945-46) Japan
8

Return to Sandakan after emotional fallout in Japan

Osaki returns to Sandakan after facing rejection in Japan, seeking some stability or reconciliation with her past. The war's aftermath frames her choices and relationships, continuing the cycle of hardship she has endured. The flashbacks hint at unresolved trauma that haunts her identity.

Postwar Sandakan, Sandakan No. 8
9

Osaki marries a Japanese man; he dies

At the end of the war, Osaki marries a Japanese man in Sandakan, seeking companionship and legitimacy. The marriage is short-lived as her husband dies, leaving her further isolated. His death compounds her sense of loss and displacement.

Postwar Sandakan
10

Return to Japan; social ostracism begins

Returning to Japan, Osaki is shunned and treated as a pariah because of her Sandakan past. The stigma extends to her son, who lives a respectable life in a large city. The social rejection underscores the lasting consequences of trauma and exploitation.

Postwar Japan
11

Osaki's life in isolation in Japan

Osaki endures a solitary life in Japan, living with cats and clinging to the kimono as a memory of home and survival. Her days are defined by recollection and quiet suffering, even as others move on around her. The frame emphasizes the human cost of wartime exploitation and stigma.

Present day Japan (rural residence)
12

Framing concludes: the film's reflection on history

The documentary-tinged ending frames Osaki's memories as a crucial historical record about Japanese women who were sex slaves in Asian brothels. The interviewer preserves Osaki's testimony for public memory, ensuring the past is not forgotten. The film closes with a sense of testimony rather than resolution.

Present day

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 10:41

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Sandakan No. 8 Summary

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Sandakan No. 8 Summary

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Sandakan No. 8

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