In 1937, Shimizu Hiroshi directed "Kaze no naka no kodomo" (Children of the Wind, 1937). It was his first major film about children, the theme that would grow to dominate his filmography. "Katei nikki" (Home Diary, 1938) from the following year is not about kids, but you can certainly view growing up to be an important theme. Saburi Shin and Uehara Ken play two friends, both students as the film begins. Their personas are very different, and life leads them through different paths. Saburi is rational and Uehara more emotional. Both face tough times with the women they choose to marry.
There is a time jump of several years very early in the film. The beginning merely introduces the two, and explains the reasons why they ended up with the women they did. The film deals with many of the central questions of the 1930's gendai-geki films: traditional girls vs. modern girls, sensible marriage vs. romantic marriage, individual feelings vs. social expectations. Simultaneously it explores, whether the two men, reunited after a break, can keep their friendship alive, despite their wives who make it harder as they don't get along at first.
The screenplay is by Ikeda Tadao, an early collaborator of Ozu's, and based on a story by Yoshiya Nobuko. I get the feeling that there was maybe a novel behind this film, as Shimizu seems to bend before his source material. This does not resemble his best-known films stylistically, as very little effort has been made for this to look cinematic. Most of it takes place in stale locations, the beautiful opening sequence notwithstanding. Then again Shimizu as a director was nowhere near as focused as Ozu or even Gosho. This film is an adequately written drama, that could have been performed on stage. None of the actors are at their best, but nobody is bad either.
As a historical curiosity, you can see that Japan had by 1938 aligned itself with Germany and Italy: there is a sequence where the characters go see a German film "Königswalzer" (1935). Few years earlier this would have been an American film most likely.
