Child of Kamiari Month 2021

Kanna Hayama Aju Makita is a bright, sensitive elementary school girl living in Tokyo’s Sumida ward with her recently widowed father, Norimasa Arata Iura. The memory of her mother, Yayoi Ko Shibasaki, lingers in her heart as she recalls a moment when Yayoi taught her to run with all the speed she could muster. In class, a stiff leg during P.E. makes the upcoming marathon feel like an uphill battle, and a clinic visit with her sisterly friend Akiko is a quiet reminder of the life that has changed. At home, Kanna finds a quiet refuge in tending a white rabbit she calls Shiro Maaya Sakamoto, a companion who becomes a steady presence in her grief. Her best friend Miki Riko Nagase invites her to walk home after school, and the two share a final moment by the Ushijima Shrine before parting ways—ordinary daylight rituals that contrast with the storm of emotions she carries inside.

On the day of the marathon, a gloomy weather mood mirrors Kanna’s uncertain steps. She struggles to reach the finish, letting others pass by as rain and doubt gather around her. Norimasa returns home with a pair of shoes meant for the race, only to discover they’re too small, a small but meaningful detail that echoes the larger feeling of things slipping out of reach. In the chaos of the moment, Kanna’s sorrow surfaces, and she slips away toward Ushijima Shrine, where the bracelet that once belonged to her mother seems to awaken something deeper inside her. A sudden shift in time follows: the world slows, and before Kanna stands a god-like figure in the form of a massive black cow, while a demon boy named Yasha steps forward with a challenge. Shiro appears to intervene, revealing a surprising truth—that she can speak and that she serves as a messenger for the deities themselves.

Shiro explains a grand pilgrimage set in motion by the deities gathered at Izumo-taisha Shrine in Shimane during October, a period the locals call Kannazuki. The plan is to collect feast offerings from shrine deities along a sacred route and deliver them to Izumo by 7 o’clock that night, with all offerings secured in a magical gourd. The trio—Kanna, Shiro, and Yasha—must brave a procession across the country, gathering gifts from various shrines while navigating the perils and temptations that arise along the way. Their journey takes them from the heart of Tokyo toward the distant mountains and seas, a trek that tests their resolve, courage, and trust in one another.

Their quest leads them first to the enigmatic Lake Suwa near Suwa-taisha, where Ryūjin Wataru Takagi—the dragon god and a son of the great Ōkuninushi—puts Kanna to a stern test. He challenges her to leap toward a floating shrine, a trial that proves to be more illusion than achievement. When Kanna falters, Ryūjin grants her a ride and presses her to reveal the truth about what she seeks as an Idaten. She confesses that her deepest wish is simply to see Yayoi again, a revelation that resonates with Ryūjin, who himself bears a sorrowful memory of losing his own father after a contract that bound him to a lake’s fate. The exchange softens him, and he grants his offering to the trio—the waters pouring in a deluge—before vanishing back into the ripples of the lake.

Their journey continues as they collect the remaining offerings from other shrines along the coast, culminating at Miho Shrine in Matsue, where the last gift—a large sea bream—awaits from Kotoshironushi. The three campers rest by a moonlit beach as Kanna opens up about the painful memory of her mother’s death and the marathon she could not win. A dreamlike sequence reveals Yayoi’s voice guiding her, but the vision twists into a cruel apparition: a doppelgänger of Yayoi that speaks with an unsettling aura. The impostor distorts Kanna’s perception, painting Shiro and Yasha as monsters to turn her away from hope. Yasha is wounded while trying to shield her, and Shiro and Yasha remind Kanna that the modern world has darkened in places, threatening to consume the light if it is not guarded.

Time resumes after the confrontation, and a pacified Kanna confronts the reality of her longing. A typhoon soon looms over Shimane, and Norimasa’s emergency lines become a chorus of worry as Kanna has disappeared since the festival of fear and rain began. In a series of visions from her younger years, she revisits the memory of Yayoi’s death and the moment her mom’s life ended just as Kanna’s running dream began to crystallize. Yayoi is portrayed as a descendant of the Idaten, and this revelation reframes Kanna’s quest as more than a race—it’s a lineage’s rite, a bridge between past and present. The bracelets reconnect and the urge to move forward returns with newfound determination.

With renewed energy, Kanna sprints toward Izumo, drawing strength from the memory of Yayoi and the quiet encouragement of Shiro and Yasha who have stood by her side. She threads through a typhoon-blown landscape and finally reaches the glowing staircase that opens to the deities’ realm. Though the feast hall appears empty at first, Ōkuninushi makes a momentous appearance, and the mountain of offerings stored in the gourd is set before the gods to feast upon. Shiro asks for a reward that would reunite Kanna with Yayoi, but the deity explains that life’s cycles require patience—reuniting with the dead is not a mere matchmaking task, and time must progress even when hearts ache. The gods’ thanks seal the pact, and the trio returns home to Tokyo, their mission complete.

Spring arrives, and life moves forward. Kanna, now carrying the memory of Yayoi as a living part of her, steps out onto the riverwalk with a steadier stride, training for what lies ahead. She has learned to hold fast to her inner pace and to trust that her mother’s influence—her lineage as an Idaten—will continue to guide her feet. Shiro remains a guardian in spirit, while Yasha’s presence is a reminder of the complexities that dwell within every journey toward healing. In the end, Kanna’s world expands beyond fear and loss, inviting a future where running is not about escaping pain but about carrying it with grace as she moves forward.