Kanae's husband disappeared without a trace while on a union trip. Though usually headstrong and independent, the woman becomes plagued with worry over what happened to him, and is unable to move on with her life. Thus, Kanae decides to hire a private investigator, and keeps running the public bathhouse to the best of her abilities. As he tries to figure out the truth about her husband, Kanae must deal with the stress from a work-intensive job, meddlesome neighbors, and recurring nightmares in which she is drowning.
Acting
Yoko Maki's restraint—every held breath tells the story.
Cinematography
Steam as character: obscuring, revealing, suffocating.
Production
The sentō itself: lived-in, authentic, quietly spectacular.
Director
Rikiya Imaizumi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The sentō as declining Japanese institution mirrors Kanae's own obsolescence—both kept alive by women invisible to the systems around them.
Director Imaizumi deliberately withheld the husband's fate from the actress during filming, letting her uncertainty fuel every scene authentically.
JP
