Kiyoshi Matsuda

Foxes Ken and Chin become the proud parents of cubs, Koro and Kan, who enjoy a carefree life on the northern Japanese island of Chironup. They befriend a fisherman and his wife but are forced to run for their lives when soldiers on a military exercise decide to take home some fox pelts as souvenirs. A sweet little film that obliquely symbolizes the plight of Japan's aboriginal Ainu people and the northern islands that have been contested with Russia since they were occupied by Stalin's soldiers in 1945.

The anime follows Machi, a middle school student who serves as a shrine maiden at a Shinto shrine and takes care of a bear, who lives on mountain in Japan's northern Tohoku region. The bear, Natsu, has the ability to talk and is Machi's guardian. When Machi explains to Natsu that she will attend a school in the city, he gives Machi a set of trials that she must pass in order to be able to survive city life.