Motohiro Hatanaka

Renowned Japanese poet Shuntaro Tanikawa teams with former "rock chick" Wakako Kaku to craft this pensive love story told almost entirely in still photographs. After steering a suicidal man away from the brink of despair, an astronomical observatory worker teaches him her favorite watchword, "Yah Chakya!" ("I, Seagull"). The phrase had once been spoken by the first female cosmonaut, and was the call-sign for the Soviet spacecraft Vostok. But for this woman, the word has taken on greater meaning; not only is it a greeting, but a secret handshake and a symbol of the universe as well. Upon learning the phrase, the man finally finds the strength to go on living.

Kaoru, a wealthy woman whose youth is fading, abandons the hustle and bustle of the city to live a peaceful life in a house on the coast. There she takes care of an old deaf, dumb and blind man as if he were an insect, a child or a pet. He can’t do anything for himself, so she feeds him and accompanies him on his walks. This strong mutual dependency offers Kaoru an escape from society and allows her to free herself from restrictions imposed by common sense.

Kaoru, a wealthy woman whose youth is fading, abandons the hustle and bustle of the city to live a peaceful life in a house on the coast. There she takes care of an old deaf, dumb and blind man as if he were an insect, a child or a pet. He can’t do anything for himself, so she feeds him and accompanies him on his walks. This strong mutual dependency offers Kaoru an escape from society and allows her to free herself from restrictions imposed by common sense.

Minako (TANAKA Yuko), begins her day running up and down the hills of her hometown delivering milk door to door. When that's done, she heads to her day job as a supermarket cashier. Minako is 50 and single. In one of the houses to which she delivers milk is a man with whom she has secretly been in love since high school. The man, Keita (KISHIBE Ittoku), lives with his wife Yoko, who is terminally ill. Caring for her at home, he works in the children's affairs section of the local municipal office. Though he insists that he wants nothing more than an "ordinary" existence, his life is in turmoil below the surface. The director uses a variety of narrative devises to portray the loneliness, isolation, and hope of these people who have seemingly allowed their goals and dreams to slip away, whilst keeping them agonizingly close to hand.

Uma jovem mulher chamada Sophie é amaldiçoada por uma bruxa e transforma-se numa mulher velha e não é capaz de contar a ninguém a sua situação. Impossibilitada de continuar o seu trabalho na loja da sua mãe, ela vai para o castelo andante do famoso feiticeiro Howl. Sophie fica amiga de Calcifer, o demónio de fogo que governa o castelo e que está ligado a Howl por um contrato, cujos termos Calcifer não pode revelar. Prometem ajudar-se mutuamente. Tal como Calcifer, Howl também pode ver através do feitiço da bruxa e ele e Sophie apaixonam-se.

Private detective Mike takes on an assignment to return a girl, who is set to marry into a prestigious family, from a mysterious commune in the forest.

Certo dia, voltando da escola, Haru (Chizuru Ikewaki) avista um gato peculiar, que leva consigo, na boca, um pequeno embrulho. Distraído, o gato principia a travessia de uma rua movimentada, mas se atrapalha com o embrulho e não percebe que um automóvel vem à sua direção. Haru corre para salvá-lo, e o faz com êxito. No dia seguinte, fatos estranhos somam-se à rotina da garota, em decorrência da vida que salvou.

A droll and formalistic comic drama about the various relationships among, and odd obsessions of, the residents of a Tokyo apartment block.