Completed - JAPANESE - Drama - 118 minutes
This film tells a story about a couple who was fascinated by “Yamataikoku” and devoted themselves to its discovery with a romantic notion, together withstanding the unfortunate incidents and the hardships of poverty they faced in the course of their research.
Year of production : 2008 Director(s) : Yukihiko TSUTSUMI Writer(s) : Kohei MIYAZAKI, Shizuka OISHI Cast : Sayuri YOSHINAGA, Naoto TAKENAKA, Yosuke KUBOZUKA Producer(s) : Yusuke OKADA (TOEI COMPANY, LTD.)
In 1956, Kazuko Nagahama and Kohei Miyazaki meet in Hakata at a TV station in Fukuoka. As the President of the Shimabara Railways and a known blind local history researcher, Kohei is invited to the program Kyushu no Rekishi (History of Kyushu), hosted by Kazuko. Kohei insists that uncovering the truth about Yamataikoku is indeed learning about the origin of the Japanese people. While Kazuko is bewildered by his unconventional character, Kohei tells her, “Come to Shimabara!” This encounter drastically changes the course of Kazuko’s destiny.A month later, Kazuko is on a Shimabara Railway Line train.Kazuko’s life in Shimabara starts again. She is to dictate for Kohei, who is blind, ancient documents such as Gishiwajinden, Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), and Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters). Kohei would then analyze the content, and together they blindly seek their way to discover the legendary “Yamataikoku.” However, there was a limit to how much they could learn and construct images of Yamataikoku from the documents alone. Kazuko then makes a proposal to actually visit the locations to confirm their theory. She tells Kohei, “I will become your eyes.” The specifics of the landscape they walked with their own feet were documented in the relief map made by Kazuko, and the country names in Gishiwajinden and the names currently used gradually start to overlap. Kohei’s dream becomes their dream in no time. What did Kohei find after investing years of his life to this research?
Country(ies) : JAPAN