

Relatives gather from afar in wintery Ashibetsu upon the death of patriarch Mitsuo. A mysterious woman named Nobuko suddenly shows up. Her appearance gradually exposes wartime secrets and Mitsuo's unknown past.
Direction
Obayashi's final period piece, cancer-ridden and defiantly maximalist.
Cinematography
Hokkaido snow as burial ground and confession booth.
Writing
Seven weeks to exhale secrets held for seventy years.

Director
Nobuhiko Obayashi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Obayashi shot this while dying of cancer, making it his final statement on Japanese imperial history—he literally raced death to finish.
Ashibetsu, Hokkaido was a coal-mining hub using Korean forced labor; Mitsuo's hidden past directly references this erased history. Nobuko's existence forces confrontation with what the town—and family—chose to forget.