Original subtitles

Celebrating the 20th anniversary

of Starry Hometown Ashibetsu Film School.

This film is for

its founder, Hyoji Suzuki

and local supporters of the school.

In 1997, 36-year-old yoji Suzuki died.

To carry on Suzuki's legacy

for future generations.

The film tells a story set in Ashibetsu.

Ashibetsu was one of Hokkaido's biggest coal mining towns.

The Town borders a forest and once had 70,000 residents.

Now it's a quiet town of 16,000.

For what I failed to feel in my lifetime

I think death will come as my punishment

When we're born, we replace someone. When we die someone replaces us.

Every person's life and death

is tied to the lives and deaths of others.

A film by Nobuhiko Obayashi

Made in Ashibetsu

Seven Weeks

This small tale of a death isn't unique.

Like the deaths happening in Japan every day.

You can see a lot by taking a closer look at a death.

A death is a history.

A history tying the past and future.

Let's take a look at one tiny tale of a death.

With each death, there is a story.

His story brings back the dead and forgotten.

Maybe a person's karma lives on in future generations.

This strange tale begins with the legacy of a people.

I'm home!

Welcome home.

Chapter 1 Repercussions of a Death

Mrs. Yoshida caught me on my way out.

Her stomach cramps were making her panic.

She wants to live.

She said, "I don't want to die! It hurts!"

Pain is a sign of life. Was it too much gatatan soup?

Yes! She had 3 bowls.

She should know her limit.

She says she can't stop.

She loves it.

Love hurts.

She said she needed morphine.

Her grandson turns 3 tomorrow.

They'll have gatatan soup to celebrate.

Grandma's hot and yummy soup!

You made coffee?

Not much of a birthday!

Love hurts...

Ouch!

Grandpa?

Grandpa!

Grandpa?

Ouch...

Grandpa!

Hi, Kanna.

Grandpa...

"On A Summer Day"

The blue sky is still

At midday in summer

"Songs of the Goats by Chuya Nakahara"

Grandpa.

You're here...

"Daily Hokkaido"

Hello, I need an ambulance for my grandfather.

75 Asahi-Cho. The Starry Cultural Shop.

It was Suzuki Clinic.

He's Mitsuo Suzuki, 92.

Please take him to Ashibetsu General Hospital.

Just tell Dr. Wakasugi. He'll know what to do.

Dr. Minoru Wakasugi.

He's an internist trained by Grandpa.

I'm Kanna Suzuki. I'm a nurse at General Hospital.

Right. Can you hurry?

Ashibetsu, Hokkaido March 8, 2013

3 days later, March 11

It was like we were in the middle of a storm.

Right, Kanna?

Grandpa used to say

"Leave me to die."

Shouldn't we interfere?

A physician must override his patient's whims.

- It's been 3 days. - He's a strong man.

I'm glad you're his doctor.

Grandpa wanted to stay in that house.

It's like a moldy old storehouse.

Doesn't he sell antiques?

They were things we used

and bits and pieces people gave him.

He appreciated old things.

Things age quickly, like me.

It's easy to forget sad memories so hold to them.

In the case of things you love...

It hurts.

What did you speak to Grandpa about?

He was at college with my dead father.

Your grandpa turned down the medical society to work here.

And ethics.

- The flawed medical system after WWII. - Big issues!

We talked about none of that.

Oh!

Dr. Wakasugi, you haven't visited us in ages.

That an invitation?

Does it sound like one?

You were a kid back then. All we talked about was food...

Food?

Dr. Nakanishi was the favorite then.

Right.

I came over once for boribori miso soup and potatoes.

Nakanishi was there.

Boribori?

And Dr. Nakanishi?

When Boribori mushrooms break through the snow

it sounds like, boribori

Your coffee.

I'm from Tokyo so that was new to me.

And steamed potatoes with wasabi.

When I learned that boribori was honey fungus

it was anticlimactic.

Snapping them off makes that sound. I often cook them.

Come and eat some!

That's good.

Dr. Suzuki also mentioned mashed yam and wheat

but I dislike yams so I forgot.

We choose the stories to remember.

He likes plain dishes made with local produce.

He said, "Luxury is the enemy."

Naïvely I retorted "Rewards come with victory!"

Nakanishi said the same.

Even if you win the war you lose.

Then Nakanishi left...

You and I have never spoken like this...

You've grown up.

- Where did Nakanishi go? - Are they coming?

The relatives?

My great aunt called them.

Chapter 2 Coming Home

He won't be with us much longer.

It's cold! Lucky I got everybody's cell phone numbers.

Fuyuki and Kasane just arrived in town.

Fuyuki was driving so I spoke with Kasane.

Akito will get a cab from the station.

I haven't been able to reach Haruhiko.

I have patients to see.

Sorry to hold you up.

Over to you.

Coffee, Great Auntie?

Please.

That aroma brings back memories.

The only thing my brother didn't scrimp on.

Kanna. You must get some rest.

Thank you.

Aren't you tired after driving for 8 hours?

5 hours. I drove fast.

I wish I came yesterday though.

My dear brother, Mitsuo.

Only you were lucky enough to live with him.

It was beautiful watching the sunrise in Ashibetsu!

Lucky?

- Just you two. - With Grandpa.

Just the two of us.

It was so beautiful.

I drove fast to see the sunrise here.

It was such short notice.

Sorry, I was slow to react because he's always been healthy.

- You know, I love it. - Pardon?

The dawn sky.

I love it, too.

Dawn in Ashibetsu.

Mitsuo lost 2 sons and daughters-in-law.

Or they were killed

That's what he said.

With 2 kids each, there were 4 grandkids.

Fuyuki and Haruhiko left home in their teens.

Your brother Akito was only 3 then.

And you were...

6 months old.

Mitsuo raised you both while he worked as a physician.

We weren't all by ourselves.

Oh, her...

Who? I'm cold!

Kasane?

Hello.

How you've grown! Are you at college?

Yes but not Dad's university.

You sounded young on the phone but you grew up!

Dad, too! Voices change on the phone.

Hi, Fuyuki. Welcome home.

It's been so long.

You should remarry.

Any candidates? How is he?

A new wife?

A man needs a woman.

People die young in this family.

Like Makiko. What a funeral that was!

- Who's she? - My brother's wife.

- Your brother? - Mitsuo.

- So Grandpa has a name! - Of course.

- He was married? - That's why we're here.

- Grandma was Makiko

She was Grandmaer.

- What's her name mean? - Honesty

That's cool!

Both your grandparents died of cancer

when your dad and Uncle Haruhiko were little.

So did your mother.

Kanna and Akito's parents died young too

in an accident.

Only Grandpa and his grandkids survived.

And Auntie.

I'm Eiko. As in English

Unluckily for me because England was our enemy.

But it also means excellent

What does Grandpa's name mean?

- Shining man. - Shining Grandpa!

Cut it out.

- How is he? - He's fast asleep.

He might not wake up.

Grandpa Mitsuo... Wait, he's my great-grandpa!

- What's this? - His pee.

It's awake. It moved like it's alive!

Great-aunt, you drove here?

- Great-auntie! - Your great-great-aunt.

Your body can live while the mind is dead.

I've lived long enough to be a great-great-aunt.

That's me! I drove in earlier.

Each time I visit Ashibetsu

it's quieter than ever, like it's dying.

Sorry I was late. A problem arose at the university.

- And she's useless... - Dad!

If I didn't drive I'd go senile.

How old are you, Eiko?

80... 82? I forgot.

- But you drive! - I'm good!

- Excellent! - That's my name.

You're so easygoing.

Where are Haruhiko and Akito?

Didn't Akito get a cab from the station?

Anything to drink?

There's no juice.

Coffee, black, please. I like it bitter.

You're late!

- Is he dead? - Hi, Akito.

Don't be rude! Hi, brother.

I couldn't find the bakery. Did it close down?

Grandpa's in a coma.

But he pees.

Hi, Auntie Eiko.

Hi, Akito, you look good.

And the bone?

It wasn't human.

I knew it.

- A bone? - It was examined at the lab.

Give me one. - Coffee!

What's this about a bone?

It's warm.

Is Haruhiko here?

- I can't reach him. - He's always late.

So you two know each other?

How do you know him?

We're related. Nice bread.

Oh, young people!

Yes, but...

She worries me. I should remarry.

She needed a mother.

By the way, Mitsuo and Makiko were cousins, too.

Cousins can marry!

Don't be silly.

- Yum! - Just brewed.

Is he still at Tomari?

It's been a year.

Nuclear power plants take time to shut down.

They dug up horse bones after we left.

- What? - Horse.

I know he's busy but...

What about his wife?

There were horses at the mine.

Tomari was our last nuclear plant.

Now what?

We shouldn't have made them.

After Fukushima, they were all shut down.

Watch out, they keep coming!

I wonder if it'll ever end.

By the time the war is over we'll be dead, Eiko.

People can be foolish.

That's how it was...

There are so many unsolvable problems, Dad.

You're all here together in high spirits.

I think that's what life is about.

We die little by little.

To live is to be killed ever so gradually.

Some, like me, have died long ago.

Come in.

Is it Haruhiko?

I knew she'd come.

You're back.

Did I make it?

Grandpa's in a coma...

He should be at home...

I have returned.

Streets became crowded and busy

The children's voices carried

But what about me?

What about my departing soul?

Will it become as thin as air

And become part of the sky?

Is it true

that you wanted to die at home, Grandpa?

And Mitsuo Suzuki passed away.

He was 92 when he died peacefully.

Mitsuo, my brother...

You look peaceful at last.

Time of death, 2:46 pm.

That's the time his watch stopped.

Where is Haruhiko?

I'll change him.

He didn't make it!

I'll help.

Who are you... if I may ask?

She's a nurse. She's one of us.

Have we met somewhere?

I don't think so.

I see.

- I'm Minoru Wakasugi. - Hello.

Let them handle it.

She's one of us?

OK then.

Shall we begin?

Yasushi is...

Dr. Nakanishi is dead.

Let me help. It's a woman's job.

I'm Kasane Suzuki.

She's my niece.

It's OK. Leave it to the pros.

Auntie Eiko...

Maybe I'll go tidy up the house.

Great-great-auntie, it's stopped!

We'll leave. It's Soso-Shukubo

What?

It means great-great-aunt.

Haruhiko and Setsuko didn't come!

Soso-Shukubo?

Let's go home.

Mitsuo, it's finally over.

Chapter 3 Mourners at the Wake

Typically he wanted to keep it simple.

And the temple?

Inoue was my classmate.

I arranged everything.

- Who's Inoue? - The monk.

I see.

And Grumman and Curtis?

Airplanes.

Nurses often deal with funeral homes.

I see, thank you.

You're the pro.

"The simpler the better."

Grandpa and I both liked simplicity.

You're just lazy, Brother.

Aren't you lonely, Akito?

It smells nice.

How many brews do I have left in me?

Just because you've retired, Grandpa!

When my time's up, get rid of my corpse quickly.

No flowers, telegrams or incense. Nor speeches.

Just read the Heart Sutra

Nothing will stop my loneliness.

He is lonely.

Have you ever been lonely?

Yes.

I'm always lonely.

That's what Grandpa used to say.

To live means loneliness.

But

by facing it you can overcome it.

So you're not lonely now.

Not anymore.

Good.

Life is as delicious as good coffee.

What's that sound?

Grandpa played it when I was young. It's fighter planes.

Do you feel old if I call you Aunt Kanna?

No, it's fine.

OK.

Why would I feel old?

This house is very unusual.

It's cluttered with books and old things.

One painting even had blood on it!

"Starry Cultural Shop"?

Blood?

I cooked some gatatan soup.

That's a Grumman!

Grumman, gatatan and blood.

American fighter planes.

By identifying enemy fighters

we could escape.

Mitsuo encountered Soviet fighters, not the US fighters.

In Sakhalin?

- Kababutos. - What?

Karafuto.

Some called it Kababuto.

Karafuto is Sakhalin.

I get it.

Why did Grandpa listen to this?

This old record.

It's new to me.

You always say that.

As you age your past catches up with you.

I can relate to that.

- And gatatan. - Gatatan!

On the day of Grandpa's stroke I heard his voice.

- What's gatatan? - It's a local dish.

Yum!

It became popular after the war.

Somebody brought the recipe back from China.

And it became popular in Ashibetsu.

It's not from Sakhalin.

I really heard Grandpa's voice...

And the sound of the Grumman.

Sapporo ramen isn't from Sapporo either.

It was modified in Sapporo.

After we lost the war, Japan took on anything.

We abandoned our culture.

In the name of progress we copied other cultures.

Yoshida loved gatatan so she started a gatatan restaurant!

And she made yummy hot soup.

Grandpa was sitting right there.

Yum!

I remember the Grumman but little else about this house.

I wonder if Mitsuo wanted to be killed.

I found him unconscious there.

Sometimes life can be worthless.

It has enough value!

I had enough of the war.

Nobody wants to be killed.

Haruhiko is late.

Grandpa was asleep in this wicker chair.

He didn't look lonely.

What was it that I saw...?

When?

When Grandpa was about to die.

I think he wanted to die at home.

I took him away from home to die.

I'm sorry, Grandpa.

A lot happens when you're alive.

But what happens when you're dead, Mitsuo?

Mitsuo!

Why did you suddenly disappear?

Then you returned...

How come...?

Chapter 4 The Crematorium

I thought I smelled incense, Inoue.

- You read the psalm? - Thanks to Buddha.

- You actually mean that? - What?

Of course!

- Is it your belief or habit? - A job.

- So it's like that? - Right.

There's something that I need your help with.

Where are you again?

I'm still at Eishoji Temple.

Right. I'll visit you.

Haruhiko!

Hi, Brother.

Your timing is off.

The nuclear plant was...

What?

- You're late too! - We're sorry.

Why apologize? We're here.

It's almost over!

- The wake was so short. - That's no excuse.

- You can't cremate for 24 hours. - It's been that.

I last met Grandpa 10 years ago.

The wake was short but it was a nice, economical funeral.

The psalm made me cry.

Excuse me, it's hay fever.

- You're crying now? - Her hay fever's worse here.

All the grandkids should be here for Grandpa.

And grandkid's kid.

My girl.

- Uncle Haruhiko! - Bingo!

- There's no smoke. - Smoke?

From the chimney.

There's none.

What's the chimney for?

Decoration.

See you later.

Was there any at Mom's?

- It's simpler now. - You don't remember.

It's unimportant.

Dad, I'm talking about Mom.

It's sad without smoke.

Did Great Grandpa smoke?

He used to.

I guess he quit.

Haruhiko, Setsuko!

- How are you? - Sorry we're late.

Hi, Kasane.

Look how you've grown.

Soon I'll be a giant.

Next up is the seventh day of mourning.

- It's white! - You mean it's not done yet?

OK, OK!

- It'll cost a lot. - I'll take care of it.

We'll have to come back!

What an ordeal.

Kanna, will you sell the house and Grandpa's junk?

I'll run Starry Cultural Shop.

Starry what

Sell it before it becomes one more derelict house.

I'll keep working as a nurse until business picks up.

It's not junk anyway.

You'll quit?

You can't give up your career!

You have ties.

- With nursing? - No, the shop.

Is this about the will?

Count us out. The clinic was Akito and Kanna's father's.

If you say so...

I'm allergic to birch.

As the eldest son I do have a say.

Don't brag!

I took care of things. And I'm the eldest girl.

I'll let Kanna decide.

- What about the pigeons? - Oh!

You forgot!

Kanna and I will decide.

The other cousins should stay out of it.

Let's not argue over Grandpa's death.

That's how most families go.

Don't go off the topic.

I have no say as the great-grandkid.

But I want to help with the shop.

I'm good at organizing.

Oh, my...

I'm not dead...

You'll live long, Eiko.

Thank you.

Mitsuo.

We'll come back in a week then.

See you.

The two of us can handle it.

Starry Cultural Shop.

I'll do it. I said I'd help.

That makes three of us. Let me help.

Chapter 5 The Morning After

See you later!

I'll take care of business with Inoue.

Thank you. You can leave the suit.

I'll keep it in the car.

I'll leave Kasane here.

Think about the house.

I will but...

Where is Aunt Eiko?

She left.

How energetic!

She'll come back later.

I still can't believe Inoue is a monk.

You never use the main entrance.

Huh?

Kanna, yoo-hoo!

Yes?

What are these shoes?

They were lying round so Grandpa put them here.

When?

A while ago.

I wore these in high school!

Before I left for college.

These big ones are Haruhiko's.

What a mess!

- You sell these? - They're precious.

They have the wearer's spirit.

Grandpa said that?

When did that woman come?

After you went away.

- And she left? - 14 years ago.

I don't know her.

You met when you brought your fiancée home.

I did...?

I can't relax with a stranger in the house.

- Fuyuki. - Yes?

I won't change my mind.

Oh, come on!

When did she come?

From where?

Where did she go?

Grandpa!

I never asked her.

I know the departed wanted a simple funeral.

On the seventh day there's always a banquet!

It marks the end of an era.

It helps the survivors make sense

of their own lives.

It's done at the funeral to save time.

That's the modern way.

Things are different in the countryside.

Another week in Ashibetsu!

It's too much trouble to come back.

I don't know the seating conventions.

Never mind that. People are there to talk about Mitsuo.

Put your family in one corner

and me next to you, that's all.

- Do I have to go? - You're the oldest son!

All the family will be there!

I'm just one of the grandkids.

Forget it.

You're still a blockhead.

Hey, Fuyuki Suzuki?

Do you prefer alcohol?

Hey, Suzuki

No, I'm driving.

Remember me? I'm Yuriko Tachibana.

The theatre group...

She was in it.

Right! I remember!

Right after college...

- What happened? - We got married.

Our daughter.

Hello! I had no idea!

You and I lost contact.

You used to call me Suzuki...

Hi.

- Is he alive? - Who?

Good ol' Suzuki.

Old Mitsuo had a long life.

Suzuki?

Help yourself.

You called him Old Mitsuo

All old people here have nicknames.

Do you remember I lent you money?

You did not.

Remember when we went to Decameron

You were poor.

You didn't tell your wife that, did you?

Of course not.

You call yourself a monk!

I ask for Buddha's mercy.

Do as I say. My words are Buddha's words.

The room's soundproof.

Hey, Suzuki!

- All the family. - Yes.

What a family!

It was a great opportunity so I borrowed Aunt Kanna's bike

Chapter 6 Tale of A Hometown

and went off to explore Akito's hometown.

This is Ashibetsu coal mine.

I'd never seen an open-pit mine before.

I never knew how they mined coal.

You can barely see the farmer's sheds in the snow.

A long time ago

Korean miners lived here.

Last summer I joined the excavation for miners' bones.

Akito...

Right.

There are reminders of Ashibetsu's mining past.

This monument honors unidentified miners who died in accidents.

Many lives were sacrificed

for the town's prosperity.

I ride through the town and woods.

Now I'm in bright Ashibetsu.

It gets lonely at twilight.

This used to be a cinema.

Everything in town is capped in snow.

The snow melts so fast.

Spring's here!

- It never ends. - I know.

The monk talked your dad into throwing a banquet.

So he's not happy.

He grumbled about it to me on the phone.

It just doesn't end.

I'm more aware of connectedness in the countryside.

I borrowed your bike.

I walked.

I often come here for a break.

It's nice and quiet.

- You smoke? - Because Dad doesn't.

He said, "I'll leave Kasane here."

It's me who chose to stay.

It's been 2 days and he hasn't called.

Oh, this is strong!

I like blue-collar cigarettes.

- Do you smoke a lot? - 3 a day.

- Not so many. - I'm too busy!

Never mind your health.

- Miss your dad? - I'm fine.

A man with asthma told Grandpa

I changed to a slimmer cigarette.

He said "I changed."

They're still killing you. It's your enemy.

Thanks for giving me these scales.

Doctor, your time's wrong.

The enemy.

Hiding their nicotine stained teeth

What?

Grandpa read that aloud when it was quiet

at Starry Cultural Shop.

Soldiers with bravado

The wind doesn't blow

the strewn bodies on the ground

Hiding their nicotine stained teeth

I'll quit smoking.

It makes more sense when it's read aloud.

It makes sense?

"Relentless Twilight."

What a great poet Chuya Nakahara was.

I've been around for too long.

Grandpa, coffee.

Chuya died when he was young.

He pulled the plug on his life.

- No regrets. - The plug?

We don't get good twilights in the city.

Here the sky is ultramarine.

Ultramarine!

No more smoking.

The nights are dark here.

- Because the power plant is down? - No, it's the economy.

They used to have coal trains.

What's "Relentless Twilight"?

Grandpa mentioned a plug.

A plug?

So things don't go too far.

And get out of control.

Kasaneque name.

Chapter 7 Companions

- It's Basho. - The poet!

When Mr. Basho was on a trip he borrowed a horse.

- A horse? - Not just a bone.

A whole horse.

A cute girl chased after Basho's horse.

She said her name was, "Kasane."

Her name?

"She must be a double-flowered carnation," Sora said.

- Sorao's faithful companion.

- My name means, "double-flowered." - Did Grandpa name you?

Dad who teaches literature, did it to stun Grandpa.

- Did it? - Mom was.

I lost Mom and Dad very early...

Relentless Twilight...

Nice.

- Is relentlessust relentless.

So Great-grandpa smoked.

He liked a strong brand.

That's the enemy

Watch out, they keep coming!

Mitsuo Suzuki and

Ayano Yamanaka, the wandering companions.

Companions?

People who are together, Kanna.

Why don't you change the time on your watch?

Because this is Grandpa's time.

Akito said he had a bee farm.

My brother?

He gets upset if I call him Uncle

How did you two meet?

- At a roll call. - Pardon?

At an excavation site. There were so many people there.

At the old Mitsui mine?

A Korean mom and her daughter came and sang a sad song.

"Moon, rise, high and bring my soul back to my yard."

Raise your hand when your name's called.

Hotaru Abe.

Shoko Une.

Jiro Ota.

Akito Suzuki.

Is this... Kasane Suzuki?

Here. It's Kasane.

Uncle Akito...?

- Don't call me that. - But we're related, right?

Right. Your name stands out.

Your name means Autumn man

I'm Kasane. Fuyuki's daughter.

Nice to meet you.

I'm Ryoko.

She's from Fukushima, near the nuclear power plant.

She moved there to be with her grandma.

Grandma was proud of Fukushima.

She boasted about their samurai festival.

She said if I'd been a boy she'd insist I live there.

I moved there later.

It was Haramachi town. Now it's Minami Soma

Her grandma died.

I returned to Ashibetsu and met Akito.

I'll stay with Mom then I'll go back.

They still hold the festival despite the damage.

He's my uncle.

Call me Brother

Don't worry!

I remembered your name because it's unusual.

I like your name, Autumn man

My name is ordinary.

After the disaster I like ordinary things.

Let me give you this, Kasane.

She made this for Fukushima's revival.

My hair is too short.

I'll have this.

We dug up bones that turned out to be a horse's.

His name got my attention because we never meet.

Does "Kanna" mean May

Satsuki is May.

- Kanna means October. - Right!

- You're an Autumn woman

- What? - The bee farm.

He has to go deep in the hills.

- That's what Akito likes. - He likes to be alone?

I forgot that Akito is your brother!

Akito is too restless to settle down.

He was on a tuna boat before that.

You know so much about Akito!

I met him last summer.

I joined a volunteer group excavating Korean miners' remains.

Akito joined on his own.

Or he was with the Fukushima girl.

- And you found bones. - They looked human.

You were here but you didn't visit.

- Me? - No, Akito.

He says going to your hometown isn't like home.

How?

"You wander in your hometown and don't settle."

Wander...?

He says we get lost at home.

Lost? Akito?

Like migrating tuna.

Exactly.

That's why he wanders from flower to flower.

Flowers?

Bees' flowers.

I only met the Fukushima girl once.

Maybe it wasn't a serious relationship.

That's what he's been up to.

So you two met up...

He feels guilty about his failure to become a doctor.

He told you that?

Because I asked.

You're pushy.

Can I keep your bike, Kanna?

Can I please, Sis

Yes, you may!

He said he'd go to Slovenia.

Where's Slovenia? Akito's going there?

It borders Italy, Austria and Croatia.

1 out of 250 people are bee farmers.

Really?

I'll look around Akito's hometown some more.

Oh, it's my hometown, too! Ashibetsu!

What a wonderful day!

The grass by the road looks perplexed

This is my hometown

The breeze blows gently

"What have you done out there?"

The wind asks me as it blows by

Chapter 8 The Family Secret

Hello, thanks for coming.

It's been a week already. How time flies.

How are things?

It's springtime!

Is Akito here?

He's gone.

Oh.

He says he gets lost at home.

We have carnation

She likes it here. She's always out on my bike.

- Pardon? - A double-flowered carnation.

Like Basho. I mean, Kasane. She's so young!

It's her turn now.

Have I changed?

Maybe 14 years isn't enough time to change.

Oh!

I mean, the clinic.

Oh that!

I've been living here and taking care of it.

When did he close the clinic?

Grandpa retired when he was 84.

He wanted to preserve the town's culture.

With Starry Cultural Shop.

Ashibetsu is where the stars fall.

Hometown to the stars.

Do customers come?

We only have difficult books, obscure paintings and old products.

Those ordinary things

Grandpa valued because he lost them in the war.

That's right!

What?

The Fukushima girl said something similar.

But Akito is definitely not ordinary!

Remember these?

These are mine!

I wore these when I was a kid.

Leave your shoes on.

What a maze!

Another hallway!

I'm afraid we hardly have customers.

I'd love to come in through the main entrance.

You would?

Oh!

Chuya's poems.

Why's it here?

Grandpa brought it back when...

Oh, he did...

When Grandpa closed the clinic

Dr. Wakasugi and his colleagues came every weekend

to check the medical records.

"Schizophrenia."

This means "emotional disorders."

This one is "pain."

Doctors used German in his day. Let's get studying.

We made something special for dinner. Will you stay?

Kanna helped. She's pretty good.

Uh, but...

I can't stay.

We ground a yam and mix it to make a paste.

And we made stock with dried mushroom for miso soup.

We put the minced mushroom over the yam.

I did most of it myself.

I'm sorry.

Come on!

Yasushi!

Thank you. Maybe next time.

Hi, Kanna.

I probably got lost in the memories of those days...

Okay.

Now doctors use English.

Dr. Wakasugi and Dr. Nakanishi were here.

Dr. Nakanishi seemed distracted.

Oh, so they came here?

Did you know them?

No.

It was after you left.

Around the time I was studying nursing.

I was maybe 20.

How about coffee?

Are you single?

"Job Application"

Where do you live?

Same as before.

No way!

Far away.

The attic is just as you kept it.

A Sakhalin Bank saving account.

Toro?

No sugar, right?

Kanna?

Have you ever called me by name?

No, I was a kid so...

Right. Akito did once.

He called me, Nobuko.

Oh, do you prefer Mom

I had my first real coffee when I started working here.

Really?

I'd had instant coffee and milk coffee

but I'd never had a proper one.

It was delicious.

And bitter.

Dr. Mitsuo's coffee.

It's bitter!

But I think I'll get to like it.

It made me feel mature.

Isn't that funny?

Yes, it is.

Do you know what this is?

Keep it safe. It's very important.

What is it?

An old bank book.

It's from Toro, Sakhalin

Try Grandpa's shoes on!

I got this book

from the used bookshop on the way here.

It was summer and I was 16.

Whoever sold it to the shop had bought it on her 16th birthday.

On the train coming to Ashibetsu

I read the poems for the duration of the trip.

"The Suzuki's Seventh Day of Mourning Service"

"Eishoji Temple"

There they are!

Everyone in town has come!

You don't have to look sad.

It soon became like a drunken wedding reception

as predicted.

You're clueless!

You don't know shit about Old Mitsuo!

Chapter 9 Mourners' Soliloquies

Imperial Japan should have won the war!

You're so senile you don't even remember that Japan lost!

I'll tell you about Old Mitsuo.

Don't bother. He knows himself well.

Oh, you fool!

We survived and

we're obliged to remember those who didn't.

Remember that guy named Ono?

He was always playing harmonica.

He was a medical student who loved literature and paintings.

Old Mitsuo argued with him a lot.

Oh, those were the good days.

If you say that, young people will treat you like an old fart!

I am old so that's how I speak.

Back then, you killed or got killed.

Yes, you guys are right.

Kill the enemy!

Can you lose the accent?

I started working at the mine in 1948. That's 65 years ago.

I am a proud citizen.

Killing won't solve anything.

Life begins after you lose everything.

The war? It's like a time slip

You mean time warp

They'll calm down.

The Pacific War.

That's what old people call it.

- Shall I stop them? - The Pacific War. They look happy.

- The war was their youth. - What?

The best time of their lives was spent at war.

It must be strange to be young at the time of war.

He's so young in that photo.

He was 24.

Just before he went to Toro, Sakhalin.

I didn't have time to find a better photo.

Nobody took photos in our family.

We're mourning his death with a wartime photo.

That suits Mitsuo.

Go get the enemies!

She has a calming affect on them.

Do you know her well?

I do live in this town!

When my mother married a Hokkaido man and moved here from Kyushu

her parents thought she was moving to Siberia!

For people on the mainland

Hokkaido and Siberia were the same.

- You call it Mainland

- It's Honshu

I feel old. You better call me Auntie.

Some of my students don't know we fought America.

I know that!

Me too.

They don't know the Soviet-Japanese war continued after August 15.

Mitsuo left for Sakhalin on the morning of August 15.

Where was he when the Emperor announced surrender?

That was meant to be the end.

But on the morning of August 16

the Russians deployed airplanes and guns from battleships

and attacked the mining town of Toro.

The next day all the nurses at the Mine Hospital

committed suicide.

The combat continued until August 25.

What happened to Grandpa?

He came home one day out of blue, all by himself.

He never talked about Sakhalin.

I wanted to ask but...

You didn't?

Did you know that Japan lost to China?

Korea was liberated and China won.

What a war! We even fought China?

The war against Russia ended on... September 2 or 3?

I don't remember...

The Russians occupied the surrounding islands and

called a ceasefire on September 5.

In times of peace we forget how we fought and lost.

We didn't teach kids.

But I know it's related to bikinis.

There was an H bomb test at Bikini Atoll.

A Japanese fishing boat was contaminated.

The swimsuit was as shocking as an H bomb!

So, it's a bikini

The H bomb's codename was Bravo

The peace sign is V for victory after the nuclear bombs in Hiroshima

and Nagasaki ended the war.

- A win brings peace. - Loss leads to war.

It means, "V for Victory, hooray for Nukes"?

Let me tell you

Ashibetsu was to be divided.

The plan was to give this side to the US and the other side to USSR.

What about the rest of Japan?

It was to be quartered, with English as the official language.

We lost Japan.

Eventually we got our country back and peace.

But why are there US bases everywhere?

Remember the knockout Mädchen?

Oh, yes! She always carried a book of poems.

What was the name of the Mädchen?

She was a fair Mädchen!

Say it with your accent.

Mädchen.

In one's youth, there's a Mädchen.

If Hokkaido was split in half by the US and USSR.

- Who'd have got Ashibetsu? - It was on the US side.

There's a line between Grandpa's sons' kids.

Grandpa lost his sons and wives to sickness and accidents.

Only the grandkids survived. Mom's dead so

Setsuko is the only surviving wife.

There's Eiko, Grandpa's sister. What was that?

Right, Soso-Shukubo

And me, the only great-grandchild.

People like to draw lines.

Which side am I on? What's a Mädchen

A virgin. A fair maiden.

- In... - German.

Everybody used German words.

- And English? - Not allowed.

- The enemy language. - More lines drawn.

Do we fight because we draw lines?

Do we we draw lines because we fought?

Hey, I know you draw lines, too.

I'm an artist.

I have to draw lines.

But the world is three dimensional. Flowers, humans, everything!

Lines can't express existence.

It's rude to render the three dimensional that way.

What do you think humans are made of, Ono?

How about you, Mitsuo?

Souls, spirits.

They have a shape.

- If I am to depict the world... - Yes?

I'd use blood.

Blood!

Blood is the vital sign of life.

No line can express it.

I can almost feel Grandpa's presence.

He's back.

Yes, my brother is right here with us.

He's over there chatting with his friends.

That's why the whole family has to be here.

Glad I made it.

- We're talking about war! - Grandpa would like that.

Let them be.

How about the nuclear power plant?

I think it should stay inoperative.

What about the economy?

We'd freeze to death in Hokkaido without heaters.

The situation's bad. There might be power outages.

We have to rely on coal power.

If we don't take action nothing will change...

I got a call.

- Kanna. - Yes?

Are you still a nurse?

Mmm? Yes, I'm still a nurse.

Oh, so you'd have one.

Pardon?

You know! One of those.

What?

I have my period!

I might be a nurse but...

Oh... What can I do?

What are young people thinking about?

About Decameron.

You eat like a young person.

I slept through the train ride.

I haven't eaten for 6 hours!

You're quiet.

It's a good time to listen and learn.

Does it make you think? I think of you.

I've been thinking...

- Of me? - No, silly.

Of a Mädchen then?

Of my pigeons.

Everything drags on. The funeral, the nuclear power issue...

There is no end. To wars also.

Kasane, how about visiting me in Wakkanai?

Where is it?

You can see it across the sea.

The island where your great-grandpa lived.

We lost Sakhalin to Russia.

Because we lost the war.

- We'd taken it in another war. - Oh.

People die as we take and lose things to war.

For the US and Russia our islands are here to take.

Small islands...

Can you express life with lines?

What was it that you saw in Ayano?

Was it lines or life, Ono?

Ayano was everything to me.

I'm sorry, Mitsuo.

Ono.

So you're saying Ayano was lines

And love is flat?

Then your love was an illusion.

You're disregarding her soul.

Are you saying that love is to bleed?

Mitsuo!

Yes. It's about bleeding together, Ono.

My family lived in Sapporo back then.

But they said that Sapporo was the next atomic bomb target.

So we moved to Ashibetsu.

I never heard that they were going to bomb Sapporo.

It was a rumor.

That was the kind of rumor going round then.

And everybody believed it.

An atomic bomb in Sapporo...

Keep reminiscing. Get lost in the maze of memories.

Sapporo was air-raided

both on July 14 and 15, a month before the end of war.

Coastal cities like Hakodate were attacked badly.

We lost ferries, too.

Grumman and Curtiss airplanes caused a lot of damage.

The war's begun!

There were many casualties.

There were no atomic bombs or air-raids in Ashibetsu.

But we were traumatized.

I saw a B-29 bomber flying over Ashibetsu.

Me too.

Where did it attack?

It was after the war.

They delivered supplies to the Allied prisoners at the mine.

I heard they also had recon missions.

They dropped supplies on August 31

which accidentally crashed into an elementary school.

9 people died because of it.

Didn't enough people die?

Didn't enough people die?

Amen!

I guess

he's coming back too, isn't he?

Mitsuo?

It's been tough for you, Eiko.

Mitsuo...

"The Summer Song"

Chapter 10 The Summer Song

She's still bleeding, doctor.

Mrs. Osada!

Doctor.

Why am I dying?

So someone else can be born?

I hear someone calling me!

Mrs. Osada.

The blue sky...

is still...

At midday in summer...

I lost my sister at Suzuki Clinic. My name is Hayashizaki.

Oh, so you are...

She's the baby you delivered. She's my niece.

Dr. Mitsuo was so good to her.

"The blue sky is still Without a cloud afloat"

"In the quiet of summer The glistening tar is serene"

That was a Chuya poem.

"The Summer Song."

From "Songs of the Goats." My favorite book.

You like Chuya.

Right.

It was Chuya Nakahara's poem.

Your mother recited this poem.

That's how you were born.

On a summer day The blue sky is still

That's how one leaves something precious behind.

That's how you are tied to someone special.

Someone?

Yes. Who would it be?

Who would it be?

Who would it be?

The blue sky is still

Without a cloud afloat

In the quiet of summer

The glistening tar is serene

Something's hiding in the summer sky

Making one feel It deserves sympathy

A plump, sunburned sunflower

Flowers at a rural train depot

Like a mother who rears her child well

The train whistles like a good mother

As the train nears the hills

And the train passes the hills

The train whistles like a good mother

At midday in summer

Who would it be?

Who would it be?

What is it?

It's Nobuko Shimizu!

That woman?

I just saw a ghost.

A ghost?

The blue sky is still

Without a cloud afloat

In the quiet of summer

I'm leaving on the same train that brought me here.

I left the Chuya book at the clinic.

That's the best gift for Mitsuo...

Ayano, has our wandering come to an end?

Yes.

Chuya's poems...

They bring back unforgettable memories.

That's why...

I can't bring myself to kill you, again.

Ayano!

The tree's just like me.

It just stands there silently for years.

Chapter 11 Wanderers

It's a big tree.

I ran away from it.

I bet it scared Fuyuki, too.

I love it but Akito fell when he tried to climb it.

I'll give it a try while Dad's gone.

This place is falling down.

Will you sell it or have it demolished?

I'll help out at Starry Cultural Shop!

I'll convince Dad.

My father, who was an accomplished doctor, built it.

It was the first hospital in Ashibetsu.

Really? Dad never told me that.

Grandpa told me so.

Daddy's girl!

- I'm not in the same league. - Impressive!

Right before the war ended

Mitsuo went to Toro Mine hospital in Sakhalin.

How come?

There was a coal mine there

and he followed his best friend there.

Mitsuo didn't want to leave without his friend.

Toro...?

Oh, the coin...!

Somebody, explain!

But Mitsuo...

After the war he came back without warning.

Back here.

And he got married.

To Makiko.

She gave birth to your father

and your father.

And Makiko passed away.

When your fathers also passed away

Mitsuo said, "It's over."

Did he say...

that the war had finally ended?

But...

he still had 4 grandchildren.

What were we for him then?

Ties!

What?

Or constraints?

Grandpa was lying like that.

- When? - When he died.

You'll be hexed.

Mitsuo had to take over Father's hospital...

Constraints.

If it had been up to him he wouldn't have married.

Same here...

What do you mean?

Excuse us.

He did it to continue the Suzuki line.

In those days you married for the family, not yourself.

Oh, no!

The same with the nation.

People make sacrifices for it.

Like in wars.

We were all prepared to die

for the country.

Will you have to go to Sakhalin?

Yes, the Russians are invading.

Are you hoping to protect Ayano?

For Ono.

- And me? - You're my sister.

Am I too young?

Not for long.

You're going with her.

You'll find a good man.

No. I'll endure it.

Endure it?.

Love also erupts.

Let your love erupt.

What would you do if I died?

I'll cry as if I'm erupting.

That's when Mitsuo was 24

and I was 14.

I crossed the sea to leave home and crossed it again to come home.

I wasn't the same person.

Nobuko?

Nobuko Shimizu, I know you remember me.

We are tied to each other.

Or is it constraint?

We should go, too. Fuyuki must be home by now.

I have a nuclear power plant to deal with!

Setsuko.

Yes, they pay you to do that.

I'll rest here until my train time.

I'll take a wander while Dad's not here.

Haruhiko!

Mom, I mean...

We kept your attic as it was.

See! It hasn't changed.

Except one thing.

Oh?

My portrait.

I soon noticed that.

It's here now.

Grandpa moved it here years ago.

Did he?

Soon after you left.

It was finished.

I've never seen it.

Neither before it was done nor after.

On my 18th birthday...

We celebrated!

And Mitsuo said,

You've turned 18 at last.

I'll begin on your portrait tonight.

He did.

Kanna.

I'll give you this coin.

For your future.

What do I get?

There's nothing for men.

Men just lose.

And Mitsuo started to paint my portrait.

He didn't put the brush down.

I could hear airplanes.

Posing made me numb.

I didn't know any of that.

- That's all we did. - That's all?

Akito saw him paint me.

Did he?

One summer night when the portrait was finished.

How is it painted?

Can you tell me?

Mitsuo used to yell, "Lines! It's still just lines!"

Want one?

I loved seeing the Ashibetsu winter from this window.

You did?

Winter passes and spring comes. But summer's a long way off.

Once spring comes and the snow melts it is summer.

I'm afraid of summer.

Just enough butter and salt.

Grandpa taught me.

He said it was a luxury during the war.

"That was my demonstration for peace."

Demonstration?

"My struggle to enjoy life."

How about when I left...

I lived with Grandpa from the age of 14 to 28.

I had many summers.

From age 3 until 14...

You were here.

I was still a girl. I was unprepared.

What about modeling for Grandpa?

- Want to see it? - No.

- I never saw it. - Akito did.

What happened to him?

It affected him.

Akito saw that painting...

Mitsuo died before the summer...

Why...?

Foreigners eating with Japanese people

think we don't eat parsley for religious reasons.

I eat it. I might even be parsley.

You can sleep here tonight.

I'll come to the Seventh Seven

The Seventh Seven

The next mourning service.

It never ends.

And new things begin.

What will Mitsuo be reincarnated as?

His spirit is still floating around here.

Can you feel his presence?

I have his shoes.

Wear them when you move in.

Grandpa would like that.

Remember the bank book?

Mitsuo must have used it in Sakhalin.

Oh, really?

Uncle Haruhiko said he'd look into it.

He's reliable.

Oh, and another thing.

Grandpa gave this to me.

Ages ago when I was a kid.

Mitsuo got it in Sakhalin.

Right.

He kept the bank book with the poetry.

He must be wandering.

In this world.

The Seventh Seven

I love the sound of that.

After that he won't wander.

I want a quiet service this time.

We'll see Mitsuo off quietly.

The cherry tree is ready to blossom.

2 warm days and it'll bloom.

We'll have a picnic with hot sake in a thermos.

Not coffee?

I'm a grown up now.

Your tears at night were sad and Akito's bedwetting...

I couldn't ignore it.

At 17 I accompanied Akito to his first day of school, as his guardian.

When you started school I was 20 and a qualified nurse.

Remember the first time Akito ran away?

Chapter 12 Leaving Home

Doctor, I found this in my purse.

My money was taken. I guess Akito took it.

"I'll go and find my mother."

Because I killed his mother...

When a relative died in Akita, my parents drove off and crashed

on a frozen freeway and died.

The woman we called "Mom" wasn't our mother.

I realized that after she'd gone.

Akito probably knew that when he ran away.

"Nobuko Shimizu, Age 16"

I guess Akito felt drawn to Mom

and headed for Akita on an impulse.

He left the note to explain why he'd taken the money

or he wanted me to find him.

I want to go here.

The overnight train to Aomori and switch at Akita.

I'll get the ticket.

Stay here. OK?

Excuse me. Sorry.

Watch it!

Ma'am, that's dangerous.

It's OK, sorry.

You idiot, Akito!

In the meantime I worked slowly

on Ayano's portrait.

Years passed and

then I finished the painting.

That night there was an incident.

Akito...

You'll catch a cold!

Akito...?

Don't call me that!

Got it, Nobuko

Chuya Nakahara...

- I'm home. - Hi.

You forgot to use softener, didn't you?

Sorry.

Kanna, don't add to her busy work schedule.

Let me return your precious book.

It's just that a soft towel is comforting.

You're done, Yasushi?

Yes.

Goodbye, Dr. Yasushi.

Let me wash it.

Thank you.

Ayano, has our wandering come to an end?

Kanna's towel.

Akito's underwear.

The Chuya book.

Sandwiches and coffee for Mitsuo.

The fateful summer has come.

Ayano.

Ayano, has our wandering come to an end?

Chuya's poems...

They bring back unforgettable memories.

That's why...

I can't bring myself to kill you, again.

You're leaving?

I've been watching you.

I know.

Get in. I'll drop you off.

I'll walk. I want to go alone.

- Are we finished? - We didn't begin.

I've been watching you.

- You didn't take me away. - Would you have come?

Nothing would have changed.

You never called me by name!

My soul has been killed

- By Dr. Suzuki? - By fate.

You're not yourself! You live in someone else's memories.

Someone who is dead.

You should see a psychiatrist.

I'm myself.

You're going?

Even if I died!

Look here, at my bone.

It's not glossy, it's dull white

It absorbs rain and endures the winds

Reflecting the sky faintly

Hi, where to?

Takikawa.

Takikawa, one adult fare.

One way?

The blue sky is still

At midday in summer

Vacation?

Yes.

How nice! Where are you headed?

- Somewhere... - Mainland?

I'm going home.

I'm from the mainland. From Haramachi in Fukushima.

Know it?

It's a quiet and beautiful town by the sea.

Right.

They have the Samurai Festival every summer.

500 men come together dressed as samurai, in armor.

They run across the field for god's banner.

It's exciting!

Want a sweet manju

No, thank you.

You sure? It's cheap!

My manju

I've never seen these on the mainland.

I should go home to Haramachi, too.

And see how everyone's going.

I'd take my grandkids.

And see the sea.

Right.

How nice! You're going home.

Yes.

Wait!

Haven't we met before?

The blue sky is still

Without a cloud afloat

In the quiet of summer

The glistening tar is serene

Something's hiding in the summer sky

So weary and dull I'd throw up blood

Today the sun shines over the field again

The wheat glistens

With grief so deep and still

The sky appears far away

So weary and dull I'd throw up blood

The sky is in flames

The clouds are high and bright

Today the sun burns as usual

And the earth sleeps

So mournful I'd throw up blood

Stormy history of my soul

Lies like something that's ended

Like something that refuses to untangle

It sleeps Over the burning sun

I'll remain as a body

With sorrow so great I'd throw up blood

This is my CV. I'm willing to work hard and learn.

I was expecting you.

You're only 16.

Can I see your face?

A face reveals a lot about a person.

I think you are well suited to this position.

Thank you.

In life we meet people and say farewell. That's the way of people.

I'll cherish the time we'll spend together.

I appreciate it.

We're wandering.

Wandering?

We'll wander together.

Yes, sir.

Now have some coffee.

You might find it bitter. You'll get used to it as you mature.

It's bitter!

But I think I'll get to like it.

No one's called me by name here. Not "Nobuko" nor "Nobuko Shimizu."

Except for... Akito.

So who does that make me?

Who was I when I was next to you, Mitsuo?

There is one thing I know. I'm made of your memory and words.

That's all.

And that was all I wanted.

"Ayano Yamanaka, 16, bought this on Aug. 15, 1945"

"Nobuko Shimizu, 16, bought this on Aug. 15, 1988"

Mom...

After the Seventh Seven ceremony...

let's live together again?

Let me tell you the story of my past.

Am I being silly?

Are you cold?

I'm sorry.

Chapter 13 Summer, 1945

It's OK, I understand.

There're you, me and Ono in between.

It's Ono who is the silliest.

He shouldn't have gone to Sakhalin.

The next silliest person is me for taking you there.

But youth, friendship and love make one do silly things.

Ayano.

Yes.

I have to take Ono back to Japan. Back to you.

- That's why you came. - I'm sorry.

I said it's OK.

On the morning of August 15, Ayano and I hired a boat to Toro, Sakhalin.

Everybody knew that the Russians charged across the border on August 8.

Not everybody heard the Emperor's order for a cease-fire.

The Russians reached Toro on the 16th and burned half of it down.

I heard the Emperor's announcement as we reached Toro.

But the combat continued.

The nation decides on acts of war but it's people who kill in combat.

Do you paint?

That's abrupt! A painter like Ono might be able to answer that.

A regular man like me would answer like this.

Paint? I just draw simple anatomical sketches.

That's not art.

I merely copy and render the human body into lines.

Since you're Ono's friend, I thought you'd paint, too.

Does Ono paint pictures in front of you?

Yes, he does.

Oh! What does he paint?

Me.

I met Kuniaki Ono at university.

We both belonged to the literature dub.

We didn't aim to be writers or artists.

Ono often played his harmonica.

Dazaif shame whereas

Kasaiwrite about shame and pride.

Kasai was from Hirosaki. Before moving to Tokyo he lived in Ashibetsu.

He decided to be a writer when he was here.

I respect him so much.

He's different to Ayano's favorite poet, Chuya.

They are the rebels of Japanese literature.

Truth in Western literature is gauged by religion.

But the Japanese don't have a god.

We long for individualism but we're bound by family.

Now Japan is at war with the West!

Germany and Italy are our allies and we use German for medicine.

Theodor Storm's Immensee

who loves a girl. Romance isn't for old men!

It's too ambiguous.

Not like medicine which is a science.

This sounded impressive

but Ono loved a girl who was only 16.

Their marriage had been arranged when they were young.

But Ono's attitude toward her was ambiguous.

It somehow irritated me so

I decided to stir it up a little.

Try some.

No, don't. She's still a child.

I'll have some. I turned 16 today.

Add some sugar and milk...

No, thank you. I want it black.

It's bitter...

But I think I'll get to like it.

One more coffee!

Will science bring happiness?

Happiness

expresses a will to persevere.

- Chuya has that will, Ayano. - Will...

I bought this book today.

"Ayano Yamanaka..."

As time passed the war drew closer.

No one in Japan could defy fate.

That included us young people.

In my opinion, dying for the country is an art.

It's the Japanese spirit.

The military exploits the Samurai's willingness to die.

Is there a plug?

- A plug? - To control science.

For medicine or war?

- Wars won't be stopped. - New weapons advance science.

It's out of our hands.

I can't imagine Ono killing anyone.

You'd rather kill yourself.

Is that the only way to stop it?

You'd taint your own woe.

Chuya wrote, "My woe has been tainted"

You're cruel, Ayano.

We don't want to confirm that we are cowards.

Writing makes you reflect on yourself.

If I survived I'd write about my parents.

Mother's name is Ayano.

- You're sly! - Sly?

You're cruel, Ayano.

And you. Do you paint?

I just draw simple anatomical sketches.

- I'm painting. - Really?

- What? - Ayano.

I see.

What do you mean?

Paintings can be cruel.

It is barbaric.

Because you render an object's proportions into lines.

Lines to represent a living thing.

You made Ayano two dimensional.

The same method is applied to war.

War is beautifully drawn justice.

But in reality war is a cruel and barbaric hell.

We're made of blood and flesh and we have souls!

Ono talked about Monet, Pissarro, Gogh and Gauguin

as justification for blurring the outlines.

To capture the entirety of an object.

The Japanese youth were inspired by this idea.

Novels and art were everything for us.

It was a way to escape the reality of war.

And it affected our ideas of love.

Perhaps our love for girls was fictitious, too.

Our true feelings were second to this.

And Ono painted Ayano's portrait and I didn't.

Jealousy got in my way.

2 years passed and Ono went to the frontline.

To the miners' hospital in Toro.

We weren't soldiers but we were at the warfront.

In September of 1945, there was no sign of a cease-fire.

Ayano and I crossed the sea to Sakhalin on August 15.

The next day Toro city was under intense attack by the Russians.

The war was still on.

Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and surrendered.

Not everyone in Sakhalin knew that.

We wandered in the burning city.

If my memory is right, we found Ono's room

and one of his paintings.

Ono painted in a hospital boiler room.

Ayano knew that from one of his letters.

Ayano was 18 then.

Ayano, this is you.

I am in this painting

but I'm not sure if it's really me.

Isn't that based on the sketch he did in Ashibetsu?

I modeled for him late at night, in a chair he'd borrowed from the cafe.

You were dressed.

That's how he wanted it.

- It's unnatural. - Is it?

It'd be natural if you were nude.

Nude!

The war made me brazen.

It's you as you are.

As I am...

He ruined your true self by covering you with ugly lines and colors!

This is not you!

We weren't intimate in that way...

We were all reserved back then.

We were still reserved when we were killed in the war.

But freedom is found in art, in painting.

Art cannot be killed.

So fantasies should be invested in art.

By painting a model you hope to possess her

in her essence.

I found a letter Ono wrote and a bank book.

A bank book?

"The Russians are coming. I'm worried about the nurses."

"I'll go to the hospital and see if I can help."

"This bank book is for you Don't look for me."

"The account is in Mitsuo's name."

"I love you, Ayano."

He thinks he'll die.

Death isn't art!

A harmonica won't stop bombs!

These brushes reduce Japanese paintings to lines...

But you know I put everything I had

into my painting of Ayano.

That was one way to keep Ayano close to me.

Oh, do you have the Chuya book with you?

I gave it to a used bookstore.

So it will be read in times of peace.

If I were to paint your portrait I'd want you nude.

To know the real you just as you were born.

I'm sure Ono also wanted it that way.

Ono went to the hospital in neighboring Esutoru town

where 23 nurses feared they'd be raped by the Russians.

To avoid that they'd commit suicide.

The nurses sat around a big elm tree

and sang a song about cherry blossom in the hills.

As the Russians approached

they accidentally spilled the bottle of cyanide.

So some nurses had to cut their wrists instead.

6 nurses died and were buried by the elm with flowers.

It was one more tragedy in Sakhalin.

In the meantime we couldn't find Ono.

Mitsuo!

Please paint my portrait some day.

Ayano.

Not with lines or shapes. Paint me

for who I am!

A moment of bliss.

My whole body felt the warmth of her body.

No, I must bring Ono back!

Back to Japan! Back to you!

Mitsuo!

Sakhalin was quite peaceful during the Pacific War.

The Americans weren't in the area.

Until the Russians invaded Japan on August 8

we were protected by the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Act.

The war in Sakhalin took place

when the rest of Japan thought the war was over.

Why did Ayano and I go to Sakhalin?

I guess we were reckless.

Ono went to prove himself to his eminent father.

He was worse.

He went out of pride, to justify his existence.

That's how things were.

We were all prepared to die for the country.

But holding Ayano is the memory that lingers from my youth.

The warmth of her body through her clothes.

Her pounding heart.

At that moment I knew genuine love.

I would dedicate my love to Ayano.

That made me unpatriotic.

A blast woke me from unconsciousness...

The wind doesn't blow

The strewn bodies on the ground

Relentless twilight

Hiding their nicotine stained teeth

Then I saw her. She was half naked.

Her blouse was around her neck, exposing her white breasts.

An ugly hunk of flesh was over her.

Under the salaciously moving flesh

lied Ayano.

I was numb. On an impulse

I grabbed a spade and beheaded the Russian soldier.

The impact made me think, "I'm fairly strong!"

The silence was deafening.

Then I became alert.

I heard Ayano.

Kill me.

Kill me, too.

Ayano...

I remember nothing afterwards.

All I can remember was the poem she was reciting.

The blue sky is still

At midday in summer

Am I being silly?

The blue sky is still

At midday in summer

That's the story of my youth.

Chapter 14 Back in the Present

Prayer beads. Whose are they?

Auntie Kanna is walking today.

I could have picked you up!

Kasane asked me to come at the last minute!

It wasn't easy to get here.

I had no time for lunch! Want some?

We'd better eat when we can.

I'm so hungry.

It's 4 times as far as it is to work.

I walked longer than that at your age.

I saw corydalis turtschaninovii. They are blue as the sky!

The Hokkaido variety.

Yum!

How do you know such a funny name?

Speaking of funny

Carnation girl.

Sorry I'm late!

Why's she so late!

Oh to be young again!

Me too!

At 14 I was already thinking of marriage.

How did you meet your husband?

Someone introduced us and I agreed to marry him.

Mitsuo had been my ideal man until then.

I married at 15...

and expected to be happy.

But a mining accident

killed my husband who was a hopeful engineer.

Looking back, he was very handsome.

I remained single and kept his name.

I took care of his parents up until the end.

I was at the open-pit.

I ended up taking care of Grandpa.

- What about her? - He painted her portrait.

Portrait? I saw the easel.

- Canadian World!Ry after she left.

Is that the painting with bloodstains?

He didn't go out.

He sat on the veranda and painted

Ashibetsu as it was.

- The blood-red stains... - How about Anne Shirley?

Many Canadians came to build Canadian World.

That's Green Gables.

Wow!

I didn't know he painted.

I wonder why.

Why Canada?

- To upgrade the town. - What?

Or downgrade it.

Many people came to Canadian World. It was popular!

This used to be an open-pit mine?

No one wanted coal anymore.

This mine ran out of coal.

They turned to tourism.

All small towns in Japan did that.

From Mining to Tourism

In Kyoto they wanted to build a French style bridge.

Corrupting culture.

To make quick money. Everyone in Japan did that.

This used to be a mining town.

At its peak, it had a population of 70,000.

Now there are 16,000.

When I was born there were still 30,000 people.

Open-pit mines are active now.

Because the nuclear power plants shut down.

They dig the coal in a bowl-like pit.

It's safer than digging like they used to.

It's also cost-efficient.

Thanks to excavation technology.

There are three open-pit mines in Ashibetsu.

Ashibetsu has a lot to offer.

120 years ago, in the late 19th century

a man named Denjiro Sato lived in Utashinai.

He was the first to come here and develop land.

That was the beginning.

Farming, forestry and coal mining thrived then.

There was also gold.

People from other parts of Japan moved here to work.

The village was established in 1900.

It went through changes with wars and energy policies.

Your grandpa went to Toro coal mine.

That's where many Ashibetsu miners went to work.

Amazing. Time moves on.

You want some?

Remember what I said about bikinis and H bombs?

There used to be a painkiller called Atomic Kaboom

One rice brand was named Atomic Age

Some cleanup hitters were called A Bomb hitters

I researched it.

What? During the war?

No, right after the war.

The Americans didn't say how horrible atomic bombs were.

So us Japanese thought that they were great.

Bikinis have a similar origin.

Did you know that Japan was developing nuclear weapons, too?

They got pretty close!

Aren't people dreadful sometimes?

We have to learn from our mistakes.

By the way, Fuyuki gave you a great name.

Double-flowered carnation.

It's my opinion that matters, not my name.

I object to nuclear energy.

- Your dad taught you well. - I'll reward him with a wife.

It's not good to force someone to marry.

I don't think Mitsuo's wife was happy.

Really? So it was constraining?

In those days you grew to love the person you married.

My sister-in-law didn't have time for that.

Are these yours?

- No. - Yours?

Mine are here.

I bought them online.

I wonder if Mitsuo...

painted her portrait?

I don't know what he painted.

I wonder if Akito knew.

We have to go! We have to buy food for the Seventh Seven!

Come on, you guys are so slow.

I'll race you, Great-great Auntie!

Wait up!

I was wandering around the house that night.

My gym pants had a hole so I wanted Mom to mend them.

But she was nowhere to be found.

I looked in Kanna's bedroom.

Kanna...

I hadn't looked in Grandpa's studio.

Akito.

Ever since then I've felt lost at home.

It's back.

- Nobuko Shimizu. - Setsuko Endo.

I'm Setsuko Suzuki now.

Anyway, did you marry, too?

No, I'm still Shimizu.

Were we 16?

I knew it was you.

You haven't changed.

Really? You remember me?

- Yes. - You're lying.

I remember you because I have a good reason.

I wanted to hate you to your bones.

But I couldn't.

You were popular, smart and beautiful. I loved you so much.

But why?

You're beautiful but so am I.

But I'm self conscious about my looks but you're not.

But I'm not...

How can you be so unaffected?

How can you stay the same?

Haruhiko told me I was beautiful so I married him.

Am I still the beautiful Setsuko Suzuki that I was?

People can change you.

I still love you very much but I hate myself.

I hate you, too.

Why are you here?

As you were?

Are you Nobuko Shimizu?

Or Nobuko Suzuki?

Who are you really?

I'm...

still trapped

within my ego.

But you...

You're different.

I think you're someone's illusion.

We were classmates when we were 16.

And then you died on the tracks

at Takikawa station.

I remember because I was relieved.

A book of Chuya Nakahara's poetry was next to you.

You were reading it when you blacked out and fell on the tracks.

The Manjuyou...

Yes.

Isn't that right?

Then how come you're here?

Nobuko Shimizu!

I'm madly in love with a man.

I'm crazy about him. He makes me feel beautiful.

He's a ballet dancer.

He's a mediocre dancer really.

But he's the best thing that's happened to me.

That's life. That's what life means, Nobuko Shimizu!

You're born in this world and die.

Chapter 15 The Seventh Seven Day in Heaven

Dying and living.

To replace someone.

Isn't life strange?

Is it our ties?

I've come a long way to be where I am today.

Maybe I'll live forever

and watch over generations of people.

The cycle of dying and living goes on.

It's our ties rather than constraints.

The Suzuki family's all over

but we'll be together in the tomb.

I often come here.

It's beautiful in the snow.

All the tombstones are capped in snow.

They look friendly.

Father.

Mother.

Cute! Will I be buried here, too?

If you stayed single.

Kanna has been taking care of the grave.

If I married I'd be buried with his family!

You too, Kanna!

I think I'm stuck with that house for life.

How about the young doctor?

Minoru... what's his name?

He wasn't at the funeral and he didn't come today.

He's a stranger.

Since I'm not a Suzuki

this is farewell to my dear brother.

How about Setsuko...?

They're her beads. I got them online for her.

Setsuko is over there alone.

I'll be unemployed so I better not constrain her.

Fuyuki is late today.

Wait a minute!

Someone's missing.

Who? Dad's coming soon.

No, the one person who has to be here.

Ayano.

Well

I'm pretty sure someone's standing in for her.

Look at the cherry blossom!

...there's a sole cherry tree blossoming on the hill

In the shadows of the morning sun...

- It's Cherry Tree on the Hill

The nurses working in Sakhalin sang it before they committed suicide.

The meadows are perfect for the Seventh Seven

Did Grandpa recite Chuya's poem when he died?

It was Passing

That's when the mourning begun.

I guess we are born for the Seventh Seven

Aren't people great?

Isn't life great?

On a cherry tree, flowers and leaves grow together.

There's a water source on top of that mountain.

Clear water streams down from there.

The water streams down here, to the Shinjo hills

making the potato crop delicious.

Water?

So the water comes from Heaven!

What a pleasant day!

We'll have a great time in the meadow.

We'll all have fun.

By the way, Kanna.

Yes?

Akito came home.

I saw him there.

Did you?

He was getting a pigeon out of the nest box.

He wanted to be left alone so I looked away.

Everybody has a secret, right?

A secret...

I know what Dad's secret is.

Oh!

There's a woman he wants to marry.

She and I are different so he's waiting for me to leave home.

Poor thing.

Have a drink!

Yes, let's.

Yes, me too.

This is Akito's hat.

It's not black coffee today.

It's OK. I'm an adult today.

So you're quitting your job at the plant?

Hokkaido's future lies in renewable energy resources.

The Hokkaido Renewable Energy

focuses on wind, solar and geothermal energy.

By 2050

Hokkaido will be the center of renewable energy.

That's the kind of future I want.

At our age you start thinking about the meaning of life.

I missed the timing to become a doctor.

I almost forgot.

Kanna left this with me.

It's Grandpa's old bank book.

You can still withdraw it.

227 yen and 59 sen.

Bask then it was enough to live on. Not now.

Oh, it's her!

Who?

When I introduced my wife to Grandpa she was there.

She must have been the babysitter but she was odd.

How?

She was with the kids but she was staring at Grandpa.

It was a look of desire.

Why don't you remarry?

- Get married. - I'm not divorced.

Just do it. I'm dating a 20-year-old!

That's unethical!

Listen, Fuyuki.

On a different topic...

We really have to change our ways.

After the March-11 disaster...

Pardon me?

Everything got turned upside down.

- We have to do better. - Yes, for Grandpa's sake.

Grandpa sacrificed his life for our future.

It's what ties us together.

We can't leave things unfinished.

I've been lost in this world.

You've been lost in another world.

How nice.

Let's stick to sake from today.

Coffee was Mitsuo's choice.

Coffee!

Grandpa's coffee.

This is how I like it.

Yum!

Is peace a luxury?

After the Seventh Seven day we won't lose our way.

I'm moving to Minami Soma.

Oh, with that girl!

The pigeon delivered her letter to me.

That's your secret!

What secret?

I knew it! I saw you with the pigeon.

Ryoko was here the other day.

She came from Minami Soma.

She'll go to Fukushima with her family

to rebuilt her hometown.

- Now? - Exactly!

How about you? Why did you sneak out the pigeon?

It was Ryoko's idea.

I gave her a pigeon to see if it'll fly back.

She saw it as a sign.

Can I see the message?

"Don't leave us here."

That's what half the Japanese are thinking.

The pigeon brought the message to me.

It flew far, across the sky!

The sky we polluted so badly!

Way to go, pigeon!

So I'm moving to Minami Soma.

I'll settle down.

That's where I'll find Akito Suzuki.

So your secret was a Mädchen, too!

In any case

even if it's a fairy tale you have to try!

- It's a true story. - No!

It's true for me.

Believe in it even if it's far-fetched.

We all have things to do.

OK, Ryoko wins.

Come visit me.

- But you'll be... - We're family!

- See you at another ceremony. - We'll be married with kids.

Time waits for no one.

I'll be grown up then.

I'll grow my hair and wear Ryoko's scrunchie.

This is my family.

Isn't she beautiful?

The Russian man you killed had this.

Oh, it's his.

When you go home you're just an ordinary man.

We got along fine with the Russians in Sakhalin before the war.

I took the photo and his dog tag

and went to find her.

And married her?

We lived together.

Everyone in Japan thought I was dead anyway.

I didn't exist officially.

My wife had a good life.

Our son...

He'll have a good future.

I hope there'll never be another war.

Do you remember Chuya Nakahara?

Ayano loved his poems.

Yes.

And I loved Zenzo Kasai.

Yes. He wrote With Children in Tow

And A Father's Misery

You see.

People relive literature.

Lastly

I want to ask you this.

Zenzo Kasai, who spent years in Ashibetsu

asked Kazuo Hirotsu forgiveness

for his shortcomings before he died.

You know what Hirotsu said?

I will not forgive you.

Right.

I will not forgive you.

You won't...?

Do you still paint now?

No, I quit!

That was my last painting.

I wonder where that painting is?

Where has our Ayano gone?

What did she come into this world for?

Did she die for nothing?

I know

that Ayano certainly existed.

We've had our ups and downs.

Yes.

We'll get through it together.

Yes, we will.

One day it'll be our turn.

Do you wonder where we're from and where we're going?

The departed brought us here. One by one people are reborn...

in new incarnations.

That's reincarnation.

It's time. I'm going back home to Wakkanai.

I'll live day to day

looking at Mitsuo's island.

If I'm lucky, I see it.

How about you?

Well...

Whatever I do, I'll live a cheerful life here in Ashibetsu.

Whenever the Ashibetsu people faced hardships

they never gave up.

I won't either. I'll copy them.

We might lose people but not hope.

Things will be all right.

Issued in 1945.

The year Japan lost the war.

So many people were killed in the war.

But

we survived.

To continue our lives.

I've found the way.

I'll never get lost.

Who would it be?

After the Seventh Seven day of mourning, you won't wander.

Chapter 16 Time for Rebirth

You are back.

Yes.

Why did you leave?

I left because I didn't know if that portrait was of me.

You were her, reincarnated.

Because you called her back.

I brought out the portrait.

I was shocked to see how it reveals my thoughts.

Take a look.

OK.

Oh, God...

This is war.

War...

You want to look away. You want to forget about it.

But you can't.

You have to remember so that it's never repeated.

My buried memories made me paint it like this.

This portrait should represent me as I am.

That's why I'm back.

Really.

You gave me 49 days to think it over before summer comes.

Think it over and stop what shouldn't happen.

This isn't the time for indecision.

Ayano.

I'm Nobuko now.

Nobuko then.

We should go where we belong.

To that summer day when you were 24 and I was 16.

The time has started moving towards the future.

We can leave things to following generations.

This is goodbye.

Our wandering has come to an end.

I'm happy I met you.

I wish we could do it over...

For most of the Japanese

it's August 15, 1945.

In Russia it's September 2.

For Grandpa and his friends the war ended on September 5.

Every year this day comes

I'm by myself in the old house.

It's the day of remembrance

and the day the future begins.

I'm thinking about why I'm here today.

And I'm trying to understand Grandpa's youth.

The days of his romance.

I'm Kanna Suzuki, 28.

I'm Japanese, born in Ashibetsu.

I'm still wondering who I am...

Children of the future.

Learn from the past.

For the future.

Guess who I really am?

The future is in your hands.

Japan fought wars. But we will never fight again.

We live to prove we're right.

As long as people remain, it'll be our hometown.

Sanae, 17, the late Hyoji Suzuki's daughter

painted a portrait of her departed grandfather.

Look here, at my bone.

Funny, I'm looking at my own bones!

"When a person dies nothing is left of him."

"I painted Grandpa so that something remains."

We will go on peacefully.

It's the Seventh Seven day of mourning across Japan.