A unique black comedy set in Ginza Cinepathos, a long-established movie theater that closes at the end of March 2013 while being familiar to movie fans with its retro appearance and unique lineup. Unique guests visiting the theater draw a human pattern during breaks.
In 2011, a journalist arrives in Nagaoka, a Japanese village that underwent destruction during both World War II and the 2004 Chūetsu earthquakes, and is now notable for the fireworks it launches annually in memory of the victims of war. She is there for two reasons: firstly, to learn about the experiences of Nagaoka's inhabitants, and secondly, to watch a stage play written by an enigmatic student of her ex-boyfriend, which depicts the bombing of the city during WWII.
A successful illustrator, Hinohara Takehiro, lives a happy life with his wife Toshiko, who has supported him all these years since the early struggling days, and their two sons. Feeling unwell, Toshiko has a check up one day and is told, out of the blue, that her days are numbered. When Toshiko is allowed out of the hospital temporarily, Takehiro and Toshiko travel to Hamakaze station. The town has changed a great deal in 18 years, however, the apartment where they started their married life is still there. People and scenery they used to cherish and the invaluable memories come vividly through. Starting at the place where their life as a couple began, the two prepare for "the day" while cherishing their remaining time. During the Bon festival, when the spirits of the deceased are believed to return to the living, Takehiro takes his sons to the firework display at Hamakaze and see the smiling face of Toshiko.
Emi Murasato
A couple died in Lake Tazawa in Akita Prefecture, in an apparent double suicide, the circumstances of which were unclear.
Okatsu is a widow raising five children - adults but still mama-dependent - in mid-eighteenth century Edo, Japan. Her frugality attracts unflattering comment even amid national tough times (the region is in famine) What Okatsu tells no one is that she saves so that a friend can start his own business once he's released from prison.
Mikari Kobayashi
Veteran filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi rounds out the second of his two trilogies about his hometown of Onomichi with this film about the budding relationship between a young lad and an eccentric old man. Fifth-grader Yuta (Takuro Atsugi) is a typical city child looking forward to a summer of reading comic books and playing video games. Instead, he is bundled off to his grandparent's house on the Inland Sea. His grandfather, Yuta's parents explain, has been acting strangely as of late -- he eats the offerings in the family altar and once tried to lead attendants at a funeral in a rousing round of calisthenics. Since his mother and father are swamped with work, and his elder sister (Nana Sano) is studying for college entrance exams, Yuta has been asked to look after Grandpa. The old man takes Yuta on a tour of Onomichi, regaling him with 70 years of its history. Along the way, Grandpa slips in and out of the past, increasingly unable to discern between the two.
