A family fractures when conscience collides with survival in post-war Japan.
The second film tells about the life of matured brothers and sister Sato. Taro became a foreman. He saves every yen to fulfill his dream of building his own house with stone gates. Jiro continues to work in the transportation office, he dreams of getting married. Saburo faces a moral problem: in order to get a good position, he must answer the questions of the entrance test differently than his conscience tells him. At the exam, Saburo does not hide his views on life and is deprived of the promised position. Orie and Suekiti believe that he did wrong and betrayed his older brothers. But the anxiety in the Sato family is not limited to these events. Orie was being asked to marry a handsome, well-established young man, but she suddenly announced her decision to marry Tozaka, who was suffering from radiation sickness. Sato's peaceful home is falling apart...
Acting
Kei Yamamoto's quietly devastating moral stand.
Direction
Morikawa's patient framing of family silences.
Writing
Saburo's impossible exam question still stings.
Director
Tokihisa Morikawa
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of Nikkatsu's 'Young People' series tracking Japan's post-war identity crisis through one family.
The radiation sickness subplot quietly references Hiroshima survivors still facing discrimination in marriage and employment.
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