A love letter to healing in the most wounded place on Earth.
Hikari's boyfriend is one of those killed in the Akihabara massacre incident. Suffering from the shock of her loss and unable to accept this reality, she cuts herself off from the outside world. She eventually manages to muster enough courage to visit Akihabara, the scene of the incident. There, she encounters many people who are still coming to terms with the aftermath of the incident and are still suffering from the aftereffects.
Direction
Hiroki's unsentimental compassion for strangers.
Acting
Renbutsu's silent, physical grief speaks volumes.
Cinematography
Akihabara as wounded organism, not backdrop.
Director
Ryuichi Hiroki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 2008 Akihabara attack was Japan's deadliest postwar random killing until 2019, shattering the otaku district's escapist fantasy reputation. Hiroki filmed on location with survivors' cooperation.
Hikari never speaks her boyfriend's name aloud—a deliberate choice reflecting how public tragedies erase individual victims into statistics.
JP
