Hiroshi Kobayashi

When Kanako, a model daughter and a brilliant student, disappears, her mother asks her ex-husband, a violent former policeman, to find her. As his investigation progresses, his idealized image of Kanako cracks: the girl hides a dark life that her father can not even imagine.

There is a degree of realism when a professional in the field writes about his vocation and such is the case here. Adopted from a novel written by a doctor and set in Nagano, doctor Kuriharai is overwhelmed by the number and variety of patients he has to see due to a shortage of physicians where he practices. He aspires to work somewhere more convenient, specialize and see more of his wife, but faces a dilemma many other doctors experience.