Suzaku 1997

In the mountainous Nishiyoshino region of Nara Prefecture, a small family lived together: Kozo Tahara, the father, Yasuyo, his wife, Sachiko, the grandmother, Michiru Tahara, a toddler, and her male cousin Eisuke. They led a quiet, close-knit life, until a railway project began nearby and the father hoped to be employed there. He brings his nephew and daughter to the construction site, and they explore the vast, cavernous tunnel through which the train is expected to pass.

Fifteen years later, the project has been abandoned. Michiru is now a teenage student who harbors a shy crush on Eisuke. Her mother, Yasuyo, asks Eisuke to help find work, and he arranges a position for Yasuyo at a small hotel where he works as a porter. Soon after starting, Yasuyo faints. Then, feeling overwhelmed, Kozo wanders off with his film camera and is later found dead by the police.

With Kozo’s death, the family struggles to adapt, and both Michiru and Yasuyo sink into depression. Yasuyo eventually decides to leave the village to live with her own parents, though Michiru resists. Before leaving, she confesses her love to Eisuke, and the two share a night on the rooftop, a moment of closeness in a difficult time. The next day, Eisuke reveals that he has Kozo’s film, and the family gathers to watch the footage—scenes of different villagers and the surrounding nature captured by Kozo before his death.

Yasuyo and Michiru depart together, and they learn that Eisuke and Sachiko also plan to leave the family home, aiming to move to the hotel where Eisuke works so he won’t have to travel every day. As Eisuke and Sachiko prepare to depart, they reminisce about a time when the family had been happy together.