Kazutaka Hayashida

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

A university PR film produced on the occasion of film critic Shigehiko Hasumi’s appointment as president of the University of Tokyo. Natsume Sōseki’s Sanshirō, from which the Sanshirō Pond on the Hongo campus takes its name, intricately intersects with the contemporary university space. Scattered throughout are diverse cinematic techniques and motifs, while the enigmatic smile of a woman with a parasol lures viewers into a strange and uncanny world.