Have You Seen the Barefoot God?

A docudrama about the boxer Jôichirô Tatsuyoshi. The documentary part follows Tatsuyohi for 18 months, from his comeback from an eye injury to his match against Yasuei Yakushiji in 1994. A fictional part follows a restaurant owner, fan of Tatsuyohi, waiting for the match with his friends and family.

Based on the novel of the same name by Yoshio Kataoka.

For some reason, Ryohei, an elementary school student, becomes interested in garbage trucks and starts helping an uncle who works there. Ryohei's classmates and family members, who had initially ridiculed him, are impressed by Ryohei's single-minded demeanor and begin to help him without realizing it.

A widow and her two sons, Seitaro and Koji, live in the small town of Komori, where Buraku people are forced to reside. The two boys are continuously harassed by their teachers and classmates through their childhood as a result of their Buraku heritage. In the midst of the 1918 Great Rice Riots in Osaka, Seitaro meets with Asako, the daughter of a rice shop owner, and falls in love with her. She too is of Buraku descent. At the same period, Hideaki, an old friend of the brothers returns to Komori, and he along with Koji and the townspeople create "Zenkoku Suiheisha", the National Levelers Association, an organization pledged to build a bridge over the river of discrimination, making all people equal in every way.

A Japanese boy in love with a girl of Korean origin must battle the prejudices of those around him in order to sustain the relationship.