Benjamin Bedoussac

東京から出たことのない主人公の江東佳奈（27）は、人間関係のストレスから会社を辞めた。そんな佳奈が京都の町家に住む母方の大叔父、大賀茂（70）が怪我をしたことで数日間、面倒を見に行くことに。京都に長く住んでいる大叔父は趣味に生き、人や物に執着がない。そんな大叔父は日々のお使いとして「自転車で行ける不思議な場所」に佳奈を行かせる。

In 1940, Masaaki Takaoka works as a teacher in the agricultural division at a youth training institute. Although Japan’s defeat seems imminent, all of Masaaki’s students are drafted in a futile last-ditch effort. In an attempt to give the young men some hope, he makes everyone promise that they will all meet again under the cherry blossoms upon their safe return. Consumed by sadness over the fate of his students, Masaaki devotes the next 30 years of his life to develop a new species of cherry blossoms that could thrive in any climate in remembrance of his students.