The Neighbor's Wife and Mine (マダムと女房, Madamu to nyōbō) was the first Japanese narrative film to fully employ sound. A 1931 release, it was directed by Heinosuke Gosho. It won the 1932 Kinema Junpo Award for best film.
Sound came later to Japanese cinema than in many other countries because of the enduring popularity of the benshi, also known as katsuben, cinema lecturers/narrators who would accompany each screening by giving voice and sound to otherwise "silent" films.