Shogo Yokoyama

Story of displacement, power, and vulnerability told through the relationship between a hostess, the bartender she loves, and the boss who controls them. The story is set in the underworld of the New York City's Japanese Diaspora.

A man and a woman share the same time and same space. One day in the morning, they go their separate ways. The woman meets her old friend, but she looks annoyed. The man also meets his old friend again, but his thoughts are somewhere else.

Mari lives a comfortable life as a single woman. She has a nice job at a company and resides in an apartment in the suburbs of Tokyo. A couple lives next to door to her. Mari can hear them argue or making happy conversations everyday. One night, when Mari comes back home, she sees her next door neighbor sitting in front of his door and shivering from the cold. He locked himself out.

Based on four early novellas by Noble Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata, this omnibus of four short films are by emerging directors from the second graduating class of the new Graduate School of Film and New Media at Japan’s top art school, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Tokyo Geidai), where famed directors Takeshi Kitano and Kiyoshi Kurosawa teach.