Yayako Uchida

In a park on a rainy evening, a 19-year-old university student, Fumi, offers an umbrella to a soaking wet 10-year-old girl, Sarasa. Realizing her reluctance to go home, Fumi lets her stay in his place, where she spends the next two months in peace.

Adapted from the bestselling Japanese autobiography of the same title, this gentle coming-of-age drama concerns an adolescent boy, Boku - Masaya, torn between the inherited recklessness of his father Oton and the inherited responsibility, wisdom and emotional strength of his mother Okan. Following a period of intensely rebellious behavior, Boku learns that his mom has contracted cancer; suddenly, his mother comes to live with him in Tokyo the entire emotional landscape of his life is altered.

This is a biographical film about the late Yoko Araki, who was the wife of Japan's leading photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki.

On Sado Island, Kii works as a cleaner at a gold mine. One day, she finds a collapsed woman in the facility and takes the woman to her home. The woman doesn't remember her past or even her name. The woman is named Midori by the two other girls living with Kii. Kii gets permission from the director for Midori to work as a cleaner at the mine. One day, Midori is attracted by the presence of cats and this leads her to meet Ao, who works as a night guard at the gold mine. Ao tells her that he also doesn't remember his past. Midori and Ao get attracted to each other and spend time together. One day, Midori meets Murasaki who seems to have a close relationship with Ao. This disturbs Midori.

‘My dad saw a monster here. When he was a kid.’ · ‘A monster?’ · ‘Yeah, a monster. It moves between this world and the next.’ Ao lives with his mother and little sister Kii on Sado Island in Japan. He misses his father, who recently disappeared without a trace – although not much is spoken about it. While their mother tries to deal with the loss in her own way, Ao and Kii run across the island and scream at the ocean. In the mysterious Sayoko, who inconspicuously swipes books from the school library, Ao finds a confidant. Few words are needed between the two reticent, dreamy children: together, they at once feel less alone. Against the striking backdrop of an industrialised coastal town, Tetsuya Tomina's poetic film tells a tale of dreams, loss and monsters.