after a screening at the new yorker theater in 1972, it received rave reviews from several prominent critics who were unfamiliar with the film or ozu. charles micherer of "newsweek" said it was "like a japanese paper flower that is dropped into water and then swells to fill the entire container with its beauty." stanley kauffmann put it on his 10 best list of 1972 and wrote "ozu, a lyrical poet, whose lyrics swell quietly into the epic."