2013

The setting is a 24-hour flower store in Shinjuku Kabukicho, Tokyo. Who comes to buy flowers late at night and under what circumstances? An unfulfilled wish for a one-sided love. A thank-you note to a mentor approaching retirement. A surprise for his wife who is expecting a new baby. The graduation ceremony of a mother who has been studying on her own, or the parting of friends who have worked hard together to achieve their dreams. People live their lives today by entrusting flowers with feelings that cannot be conveyed in words alone.

Shibuya Station in Tokyo is used by 3 million people every day. Overnight, the platform of the Toyoko Line, a private railway line, was moved from the second floor above ground to the fifth floor below ground. The platform, which has a history of 85 years, holds many memories. People watched the last train leave the station with cheers. It is a tribute to a time that will never return.

A small, standing kushikatsu store that is attached to the wall of an underground passageway in Osaka's Umeda Station, it is always packed, sometimes with a long line of customers. The restaurant is always packed, and sometimes there is even a line of people waiting to get in. The customers, who are not related to each other, rub shoulders with each other at the counter, and soon become friends. They discuss their work problems, their families, and their hopes and fears for tomorrow. As their moods change, they are strangely empowered to face the challenges of tomorrow.

We closely follow the special three days that Yokosuka, a Maritime Self-Defense Force base, welcomes. In spring, most of the naval vessels gathered at Yokosuka base for the annual promotion examination. The 8,000 personnel do not hide their joy at being reunited and living ashore for the first time in a long time. From the submarine crew to the cooks who are masters at making curry, there are other reasons for the uplifting atmosphere. The day after the test, a “meet-and-greet” party is scheduled for 300 people. This is one of the few chances to get to know people of the opposite sex. Will you be able to meet the man of your dreams?

New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido has the Haneda-Chitose Line, which has the largest number of users in the world, and visits the local airport Dantotsu every year. In the spring, the drama of meeting and parting is repeated. At the time of the milestone of life such as school and transfer, the camera is installed in the lobby. A surprise prepared by a friend who is going to Tokyo. The tears of a large family that reunited after twenty years. Draw each of your thoughts.

The factory of a major manufacturer in Gifu Prefecture closed its 33-year history. At its peak, it had four thousand employees and had sent out products such as game consoles, but it ended its role in globalization. A skilled engineer who spares the heat of the past, a temporary employee who looks for a job from tomorrow. The end of the large factory will also completely change the atmosphere of the area. What do people think and what steps will they take in the last days?

Hitorikara" is the art of singing karaoke alone. Recently, specialty stores have also appeared. At a 24-hour restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo, 48 private rooms are available, and on weekends there is a long line of people waiting for their turn to sing. What are they trying to get rid of by singing? Young people who want to sing enthusiastically without worrying about others. Housewives who are busy raising children or working part-time. College students job hunting or looking for a new job. This is a microcosm of repeated “struggles” of people seeking a place where they can be at ease and take a step toward tomorrow by singing.

Near downtown Gion, Kyoto. There is a place visited by people from all over Japan who are troubled by their relationships. It is Yasui Konpira-gu Shrine, known as a "shrine for severing relationships. People who wish to break off bad relationships and take a new step forward write their thoughts on ema (votive picture tablet) and o-fuda (votive card). These include relationships between men and women, between parents and children, between siblings and other family members, and between people in the community, at work, and at school. From illness, injury, accidents, and disasters to computer and alcohol addiction, there are a wide variety of issues that confront us in our modern lives. What is the future that those who are confronted with bad relationships hope for?

Saitama Prefecture has recently experienced another fatal case due to a case of “tarai” (a kind of “double death”). An emergency clinic specializing in weekend and nighttime care was established in Kawagoe. Volunteer doctors and nurses gathered to improve the current state of medical care. Emergency patients who were refused by other medical facilities are brought in one after another. The film was shot during a major holiday weekend in May. For the patients, there was no other place they could turn to. The staff takes turns taking breaks and tries to hold on through the stormy days. The reality of medical care is a conflict between a sense of mission and a breaking point.

If you have a personal computer, anyone can send it to the world from anywhere on the Internet live broadcast. " A single broadcaster” broadcasts itself, which broadcasts itself, is said to reach a hundred thousand a day. How do people feel about broadcasting? Once a year, they go to the event venue where fans of the live broadcast gather and follow various "broadcast owners". Friends connected via the Internet. I see a new society there.

Ageo City, Saitama Prefecture, is a bedroom community about an hour from central Tokyo by train. A 24-hour family restaurant in a corner of the city never ceases to attract customers from early morning to late at night. Elderly people go there every day to eat alone. Some businessmen are enthusiastic about acquiring qualifications, perhaps because of the recession. Single mothers who want to give their children as many happy memories as possible. This film delves into the charms of family restaurants, a mysterious space where various lives intersect at back-to-back tables.

Akihabara, Tokyo, is now a world-renowned mecca for otaku. Here, many girl groups who dream of success perform on stage. Many fans have become new famous landmarks, eager to attend. However, the environment surrounding the girls is harsh. Their income is meager. They face fierce competition from rival groups. They face an age limit in the idol industry, where youth is a weapon. This is a coming-of-age story about girls who never give up and are hungry to achieve their dreams, and the people who support them.

Kochi Racecourse once produced the racehorse Harurara, whose dedication to his sport drew sympathy despite a losing streak of more than 100 races. It is still a “sanctuary for losers,” so to speak, where horses released from racetracks all over the country end up. The people who come to watch the races also associate their own lives with these unknown horses. Some continue to visit the racecourse to inspire themselves while battling cancer, while others are looking for a fresh start in a place where their dreams have been shattered. The film listens to the voices of those who have not been defeated and who have met at the racetracks.

The round, dull eyes are disproportionate to the huge body. The way they drift humorously and leisurely in their tanks. The sunfish is a mysterious creature that gives one an unrealistic sensation when gazed upon. At present, Japan's largest sunfish, measuring 1.8 meters, is being bred and exhibited at Hakkeijima Island in Yokohama. Many visitors come from all over Japan to see it, hoping to forget, even for a moment, their busy lives. What do people think and talk about in front of the giant sunfish? What do people think and talk about in front of the giant sunfish?

Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture. More than 100 victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake still live in an abandoned school in a corner of the city. They moved with the town office two years ago from Futaba Town in Fukushima Prefecture, where the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant suffered a serious accident. Although they cannot return to the town itself due to radiation, the town office has decided to relocate to another location in Fukushima. Will he go with them or stay with them? They are now at a crossroads. The residents of the town, who are mainly elderly, are in agony. This is a record of people who are far from their hometowns, but are searching for hope for their lives.

In the summer, many people from all over Japan come to Mt. Fuji. This year, due to the influence of the World Heritage registration, it has already shown so much congestion that it can be said to be a “rush”. The point where both the climber and the person who comes down from now pass each other is the Yoshida trailhead. When you talk to the people who pass by, the lives that each person carries emerges. A company employee who regrets a life that has never been achieved by himself. A university student who prays for the success of a job search ... A human pattern that intersects at the foot of Mt. Fuji.

Chigasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture's Shonan area is a symbol of summer. In a corner of the area often associated with “youth” and “fashion,” there is a 24-hour laundromat that is full of life, and under the rainy season sky in June, people visit one after another with large loads of laundry to spend their time idly waiting for it to dry. Businessmen exhausted from their daily work. People who have lost their beloved spouses and live in solitude. Each of them waits for the “sunshine” that is sure to come in their lives someday.

For a low fee, you can enjoy to your heart's content a spacious bath and massage room, as well as a place to eat and take a nap at this health spa in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. During the day, it is a social gathering place for the elderly. At night, it is a place for workers to stay after work. On holidays, families line up at the entrance from morning for affordable leisure. What kind of future do these people look forward to as they go about their daily lives? In late July, when the nation was in a state of excitement over the Upper House election, I thought about the “happiness” of the Japanese people at a 24-hour health spa.

The Airin district of Osaka. In this area, where thousands of people live each day as day laborers, an indispensable item is the "monthly rental locker. Many of them live in cramped, simple accommodations where they can barely sleep, and they have nowhere to put their valuables. Each locker is filled with a life of its own. August is the month when the rush to return home begins throughout Japan. This film closely follows a long-established locker store that attracts customers to drop off and pick up their belongings, and looks at the Obon season that the city of laborers welcomes.

Yanaka Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in Tokyo. During the Obon vacations, many people visit the cemetery, making the quiet downtown area a different scene from usual. Each person has his or her own style of mourning for the departed. Some people finally took time out of their busy schedule to lay their hands on a grave. An old man who never stops drinking water while talking to his companion's grave. A person who sits at the grave of a loved one and reminisces. The camera is set on three days at the grave, a space where life and death mysteriously interact, and captures the “life” of both the deceased and those who live in the present.

In August, a small town on the outskirts of the peninsula of Kagoshima attracted the world's attention. The launch of the state-of-the-art rocket “Epsilon” carrying a planetary observation satellite. The town was inundated with inquiries from early on about a tour of the launch site. The parking lot on the hill overlooking the launch site received more than 20 times as many applications as it could hold. Then came the day of the launch. People from all over the country rushed to the launch site in search of romance. Local residents entrusted their dreams of revitalizing their town. What did they see in the midst of all these mixed feelings?

Yoshimoto Kogyo attracts aspiring young comedians from all over Japan. They believe that they are the funniest, and there is a place where they are first sifted through the ranks. Every year in September, a three-day, two-night “mountain retreat” is held. Three hundred people, divided into buses, gather at a lodging facility in Shizuoka. The participants go through a curriculum that can be described as a “comedy immersion” program, aiming to be selected on the last day of the camp as the best of the best. While some emerged as standouts, others found themselves at their limits. This is a coming-of-age graffiti of people who bet on laughter.

The number of users of 24-hour gyms is rapidly increasing. They are relatively inexpensive, and the convenience of being able to use them anytime and as much as they want is appealing to today's busy people. A closer look at gym users reveals a variety of reasons for working out. Some need to maintain their current physical shape to keep their jobs, some are working hard to improve their physical fitness to take care of their parents, and some are running to face their own problems. Each person's life lies beyond his or her muscles. We looked at the human characters who go to the gym from early in the morning to late at night.

A six-story game center located at the west exit of Yokohama Station. While the latest games are being introduced one after another, the “crane game” is the one that has remained unchanged for a long time. It accounts for 40% of the store's total sales. From early in the morning until late at night when the arcade closes, there is no end to the number of people who throw in money and struggle with the crane to grab a prize. Businessmen come to relieve stress. Students looking for a job. Students studying for an entrance exam. What do they really want to grab beyond the prize in front of them?

Osaka Station is a huge terminal representing the Kansai region. In this corner of the station, the powder room, or restroom, is always crowded with women. People who have just alighted from a long trip without makeup, or who have important business or private matters to attend to, apply their makeup here and head off to their respective destinations. Work, love, future.... What kind of reality do these women live in and what do they think about when they apply makeup to their faces? We spent three days in the “women's garden,” which is forbidden to men, listening to their thoughts.

There is a street person who is said to have no one in the center of Hiroshima who is said to be unknown. His name was "Hiroshima Taro." God's demons are dead. He runs through the city on a bicycle to wear a flashy costume. It is said that many people are given "healing" and "encouragement" by their mysterious appearance and words and actions. What kind of person is Hiroshima Taro? Why are the people of Hiroshima attracted to him? I listened to the hearts of people living in regional cities while following the footsteps of one person.

Hitchhiking on the sea" is a way of traveling through the Seto Inland Sea by boat only. The starting point is Shodoshima Island, and for 72 hours, the group will aim westward. That's the only rule. The destination is simply left to the wind. As they call out to people they meet at ports and frantically search for a boat, they discover the diverse and rich lifestyles of people living with the sea. Businessmen who spend their post-retirement lives on yachts. A father and son are proudly engaged in the fishing industry. A couple who never wants to leave their remote island, where the population continues to decline. Three days of encountering life on the sea.

Sand and more sand as far as the eye can see. A vast world of “nothingness” spreads across the Tottori Sand Dunes. The extraordinary nature of the dunes attracts as many as 2 million visitors a year. The purpose of their visit varies. Elderly people who want to feel the passage of time. Businessmen who want to escape for a moment from their days of dealing with detailed numbers in a cramped office. Others come from far away to reflect on themselves in the darkness late at night. The program looks at the “inner landscape” of visitors as well as the fantastic scenery of the dunes. 　

One floor of a building in the Shinjuku subcenter. On one floor of a building in the Shinjuku subcenter, there is a travel counter that handles cheap overseas airline tickets, which is crowded with many people every day. While more and more people are buying tickets online, the 100-meter-long consultation counter is always crowded with people who want to consult in detail in order to realize their dream travel plans. Some people take their time to ask questions and make careful preparations, while others rush in and request "a place I can leave tomorrow. For 72 hours, we listened to the reasons for each person's departure.

In this age of the Internet and e-mail, there are still those who insist on using the postal service. The Shinjuku Post Office is one of the largest post offices in Japan and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is one of the largest post offices in Japan and is known as a place that accepts mail 24 hours a day without a break. If you observe closely at the counter, you will see many different scenes. Some people continue to push their resumes until the very last minute before the postmark of the deadline. People who stop by to send a package to a loved one who lives far away. This film records the lives that intersect at a post office in a corner of a large city.

Shimane's Izumo-taisha Shrine has long been known for its blessings for matchmaking. This year, the shrine will be relocated for the first time in 60 years, attracting more tourists than usual. The “Sunrise Izumo” overnight train from Tokyo to Izumo is fully booked in November, the month of “kamizai” (October on the lunar calendar), when the gods gather. People of the right age, men and women who are eagerly looking for marriage, and those who wish to break off bad marriages from work and make new good marriages spend the night together in the same car. We listened to the earnest wishes of these travelers.

Magazines, novels, art books, and specialty books. Various worlds are condensed into one place in a bookstore. Even with the proliferation of online shopping, there is no end to the number of people who visit bookstores in search of chance encounters with books. The best-selling items lined up in the bookstores offer a glimpse of today's Japan. Change Yourself. People on their way home from work flock to the educational books that are sold one after another with such words as “change yourself,” while those who are tired of their daily lives pick up “spiritual” books. We looked into the lives of people we met in the forest of the printed word.