Kuniko Mukoda

Chiyo, a 59 year old mother of 4, had lost her husband seven years ago. She will soon lose her home so she is offered by her eldest son, Ryoichi to live with him and his family. But her children are disappointed to hear that Chiyo has decided to become a live-in housekeeper. Then her eldest daughter Setsuko announced that Chiyo has had an offer of marriage. It is from the widower Kurosaki who had been a friend to Chiyo's deceased husband. Kurosaki runs a small company and has no children but has enough life savings. However, second daughter Tomoe, and youngest child, Yoko, are opposed to it. The siblings begin to argue. Meanwhile, Kurosaki tells his sister Namiko that he has decided to remarry. She is furious because he refuses to tell her anything about Chiyo. Thus, she takes it upon herself to find out about Chiyo and soon has a confrontation with her. Around that time, Kurosaki’s company is about to go bankrupt...

Based on novel by Kuniko Mukoda, "Haha no Okurimono" tells the story of a soon to be married couple and their respective mothers. On the eve of Akiko and Masaaki's wedding, Akikio's mother Nobue shows up. Many years when ago, Akiko's mother ran off with a married man and since then Nobue has dropped all relations with her mother, even telling Masaaki that her mother was dead.

An employee of a bank goes missing following his retirement from the bank. Veteran detective Yobuno (Koji Yakusho), who is set to retire himself, is charged with the investigating the missing person case. Det. Yobuno quickly finds more mysterious as he delves into the case, but a woman named Keiko Fukumura (Eri Fukatsu) surfaces who may hold the key to case.

The four Takezawa sisters discover that their father has an illegitimate child so they hire a private detective to investigate.

Based on a celebrated book by Kuniko Mukoda, this film directed by Yasuo Furuhata tells of a close friendship undone by love.