"Oh." "Oh, thank you so much." "You're welcome." "Thank you." "[Man speaking Japanese over P.A.]" "[Assertive dance music]" "I got my red dress on and my high heels too." "A pleasure that's forbidden." "Hey, Ethan." "Hey, you." "I'm sorry I'm late." "I got all turned around at the station." "No worries." "Abby this is Mio, Jin, Asami." "Nice to meet you." "Hey, you want to get a drink?" "Hell yeah." "Bye-bye." "Hey." "Um, I'll be right back, business." "Hi, I'm Abby." "Yeah, figured." "Charlie." "So you guys know Ethan?" "Who doesn't, sugar?" "Gretchen." "You sound like you're from the South." "Oh, no, I just like to talk this way." "So, Abby, fresh off the plane, I hear." "Two weeks, actually." "It's wild." "I never thought I'd end up in Tokyo." "But Ethan's work is here, and I just couldn't stand the whole long-distance relationship, you know?" "Abby, need work?" "Oh, no, thanks." "I'm all set." "I got this job as a copy editor at a Japanese law firm." "Poor drone." "How prestigious." "Please, it's a joke." "They barely give me anything to do." "So what do you guys do?" "I drink, and Gretchen's a geisha." "I'm not a geisha;" "I'm a goddess." "She's a hooker." "I'm a hostess, okay?" "What's that?" "I get paid to look good and entertain businessmen." "Here you go." "Cheers." "Welcome to Japan." "Thanks." "Another endless evening chasing shadows in the darkness" "Impossible to silence" "Have to face myself alone" "I want love" "I can't resist you" "I cannot lose what I'm not gonna have" "Night driving on a motorway" "Aren't you glad I'm here?" "So what's going on?" "Got a new client." "Got to go to Osaka." "They need their website up and running as of yesterday, so..." "So?" "How about I come with you?" "Don't you have to work?" "I hate my stupid job." "You'll work, and I'll be the tourist." "Come on, we could?" "We could just play all weekend long." "It's gonna be nonstop, 24-7, babe." "I'm not gonna have any time to hang out at all." "Well, when are you coming back?" "I'm not sure." "You know?" "It could be a while." "As in a week a while?" "Ethan?" "You know how you asked me last night if I was glad you came?" "Yeah." "Well, I really wanted to say yes, but I couldn't." "And that's messed up, you know?" "It's just gotten really intense with you moving to Tokyo." "And you got to admit, it happened really fast." "What do you mean?" "We talked about this." "No, we didn't talk about it." "You just called and said you were coming." "You said you wanted me to come." "No, no, I never said that, Abby." "Yes, you did." "I know I never said that." "Yes, you did." "Abby, I'm just not feeling it." "So now I'm gonna do what I need to do, okay?" "I got to go." "So you're not coming back, then?" "I never said that." "This is crazy." "Abby, I'm sorry." "I know this stinks." "But I have to do what I have to do." "I'm a traveler." "I'm proud of the fact I can pack my whole life into two suitcases." "Cheer up, cheer up." "I might be back." "Ethan, [... ] off." "Get lost, you jerk." "You know, see, I thought of all people in the whole world, you'd understand this." "Keys are by the bed." "Please." "Wait." "[Giggling]" "[Voices overlapping and telephones ringing]" "[Wind chime tinkling]" "[Wind howling]" "It's Ethan." "Leave a message." "[Ethan speaking Japanese]" "[Electronic beep]" "Hi, it's me." "Look, I'm really sorry about everything we said." "I know that this is all my fault." "You were right." "I put a lot of pressure on you about me coming here." "So I just want to tell you I'm sorry, and I would love to talk about this." "So call me, okay?" "I'll be up." "Okay, I hope?" "I hope everything's going good." "Thanks, bye." "Excuse me?" "Is anybody here?" "Hi." "I don't understand." "Are you open?" "[Speaking Japanese]" "Thanks." "[Abby sobbing]" "I don't know what I'm doing with my life." "I'm a complete mess." "My cousin Heather just got her PhD." "And here I am four years out of college, Phi Beta Kappa... and I've got nothing to show for it, not one single thing." "[Sobbing]" "And I thought I was so brave coming to Tokyo... but Ethan just left me, and I'm?" "I'm so alone." "What?" "Oh." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Okay, eat." "It was delicious." "Thank you." "Ra-men." "Thank you." "Here, how much?" "Are you sure?" "Thank you." "Thank you." "No, I'm fine, thanks." "See, I live right across the street right down there." "Okay." "Thank you." "Hanako-san?" "Do you know how to cook ramen?" " Me?" " Mm-hmm." "Oh, of course not." "It much too difficult." "You have to training to do it." "[Man speaking Japanese]" "[Voices overlapping]" "I have your umbrella." "[Speaking Japanese]" "[Giggling]" "[Abby giggling]" "[Laughing]" "[Giggling]" "[Laughter]" "[Rhythmic percussion music]" "[Rhythmic chanting and clapping]" "My parents sent me a ticket, and I have less than 24 hours, and I really don't want to go home, so please, please call me back, okay?" "I'll talk to you soon." "Bye." "Can I help you?" "Huh?" "You need to rest." "Your foot." "Hi." "Here you go." "Here." "No, I don't want to go." "I want to stay here." "No." "No, please, I want to stay here." "No." "I want to cook ramen." "Huh?" "I want to cook ramen." "No, you teach." "Teacher." " Huh?" "Please." "Please let me help you around here." "Let me help you." "I want to?" "I want to help." "Be my teacher." "Teach me." "I want to make people happy the way you do." "Huh?" "I want to make people laugh like you do." "And I know Ethan's coming back." "If I leave, then I may never see him again." "Tomorrow." "Tomorrow?" "Go ji." "Tomorrow." "What?" "Morning." "Morning." "Tomorrow morning." "Tomorrow morning at 5:00." "It's in the A.M." "It's 1:00 A.M. Right now." "What am I doing?" "You know, my parents are expecting me home tomorrow." "[Bell ringing]" "Hi." "Good morning." "It's 5:00 A.M." "Huh?" "You told me to come by at 5:00." "5:00 A.M." "Yeah." "I'm here." "So what would you like me to do first?" "Where should I start?" "Arai." "Um, what?" "I'm sorry, what did you just say?" "Oh, sorry, sorry." "Sorry." "Arai, arai, arai." "I finished." "I mean, I figured you wanted me to clean all the pots and stuff, so I did." "I hope that's okay." "I-I mean, I didn't put them away." "I didn't know where they went, so?" "But I will." "Here?" "Do you want me to chop?" "No." "I washed those already." "I washed those already." "It's washed." "It was?" "It's dry." "Washed." "I'm so sorry, I didn't see that." "I scrubbed and I scrubbed." "Let me do it, please." "Please let me do it." "I'll do it for you, please." "I want to work, please." "It's okay." "It's okay, I'll do it." "I do." "I'll do it." "Okay, can you just stop yelling at me?" "I'm doing it." "I-I'm washing your toilet." "I thought you wanted me to clean the toilet." "No?" "What?" "No." "Yeah?" "Over there?" "What's over there?" "Don't?" "Hey!" "[Knocking on door]" "Hey." "No!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Big jerk!" "[Screams]" "Sorry, sorry." " Good night." " Good night." "Gosh, what a hard day." "What?" "What, you want me to clean those now?" "Right, of course you do." "[Electronic beeping]" "[Man shouting in Japanese]" "Well, I'm still here and doing the same grunt work." "Would you please call me?" "Bye." "[Shrieks]" "You're just drunk." "Huh?" "You're supposed to be teaching me." "That was our deal, remember?" "Ramen." "Ramen." "Me." "You teach me to cook ramen." "Screw this." "This is ridiculous." "This is flat-out abuse." "Nobody, not anybody with any self-respect, would put up with you, you... fascist!" "I'm out of here." "What?" "Oh, I'm sorry, how could I possibly forget that?" "Clean." "Clean the floors, clean the pots, clean the toilets, clean!" "I don't understand what the hell you're saying, okay?" "And I'm sick of trying." "Good-bye." "Clean." "My dad told me I never stick to anything, and he's right." "I never managed to hold a job more than four months." "I came here because I wanted to be with my boyfriend." "And since he left..." "I've just been hanging around, waiting for him to come back." "I will clean for you." "I'll clean the windows, the pots, the floors, whatever." "I stayed up trying to think of the reason why I wanted to stay, and the only thing that I could think of, the only reason was?" "What?" "Oh." "You need it?" "Right." "The floors." "[Laughter]" "Am I?" "I'm fired?" "Am I fired?" "Thank you." "Thank you." "[Exuberant rock music]" "Life goes by in a million shades of gray, slaves to the clock hanging on till it's time to play" "There's a part of me that's anything, anything but ordinary." "Let it all out now." "Turn it up loud." "Got to show my wild side now." "Ethan's such a jerk." "We could have told you that." "But you didn't." "I must have left him at least a hundred messages." "I don't even think he listened to one of them." "What happened to you?" "I walked into a door." "So what now?" "You going home, back to America the beautiful?" "America the bland, beige, and boring." "I'd rather die than go back there." "No, I'm staying." "Has that sucky job at the law firm gotten any better?" "Oh, I'm?" "No, I'm not doing that anymore." "So what are you doing?" "I, uh..." "I'm training, you know, to become a... a ramen chef." "Isn't that that noodle stuff?" "Our poor girl's gone off the deep end." "Ramen?" "Yes, ramen." "[Laughter]" "What's he saying?" "I have no idea." "Who cares?" "Look at him;" "he's gorgeous." "You are really studying ramen?" "I'm trying to, yeah." "Wow." "That's awesome." "Tell me, where did you learn to speak English so well?" "I lived in Los Angeles for one year when I was a college student." "So what do you do now?" "Oh, yes." "Our job is very exciting." "Oh." "In America, I think you call it pushing papers." "Oh." "These are my colleagues, Akira." "I am Akira." "And Kuma." "Call me Kuma." "I'm Abby." "Abby." " Charlie." " Gretchen." "Gretchen." "Toshi." "It's a pleasure to meet you all." "Whose side do you think he plays on?" "It's hard to tell." "He's Japanese." "So, Toshi, where to next?" " Ramen." " Ramen." " Bye-bye." " Bye." "Gretchen." "Nice to meet you." "Kuma." "Charlie." " Good night." " Bye-bye." "Good night." " Bye-bye." " Bye-bye." "Do any of you guys have money for cigarettes?" "Oh, here you go." "Thanks, Charlie." "What time is it, anyway?" "It's almost 5:00." "Thank you for taking us out tonight." "You are welcome." "See you again?" "I'll give you my card." "Oh." "Thank you." ""Toshi Iwamoto."" "Thanks." "Good night." "Have a beautiful morning." "Nice meeting all of you." "Call me." "Call me please, some time." "Oh, yeah?" "Witch." "Call me." "[Laughter]" "She is priceless." "I-I think I know." "Let me try." "Let me try." "The spinach... here." "Pork." "And this... at 2:00." "Ow!" "What are you doing?" "Can you show me?" "Show, show me." "Here, please, tell me what you mean." "I was?" "What, are you crazy?" "Okay, okay." "Okay, okay." "[Knocking continues]" "I'm so freaking wasted, I'm about to collapse." "You got any beer?" "Sure." "Oh, thanks, doll." "Drama." "Total freaking drama." "You would not believe the stuff I've been through tonight." "The creep who pays the rent on my apartment keeps bringing home his asinine friends, asking me to do them favors and stuff." "Once in a while, okay." "I mean, it's a great freakin' apartment." "But there is a limit." "Tonight, when I get back from the bar, there he is with Godzilla man asking me to do him another "favor."" "I lost it." "If you think I look terrible, you should see the apartment." "So do you think I could crash here?" "[Knocks on door]" "Oh." "You." "Hi." "Hey, Abby." "Hi." "Coincidence." "Gretchen didn't tell me you were living here." "Gretchen is full of surprises tonight." "Um... she's right in here." "Please." "Thanks." "Um... where should I put the suitcases?" "Oh, anywhere you want." "It doesn't matter." "Gre?" "Gretchen?" "Gretchen?" "Gretchen." "I really need to sleep, honey." "Toshi's here." "Great." "She's asleep." "Yeah." "She looked really tired." "What happened?" "She called me and asked me if I have a car." "Yeah?" "She sounded very upset." "Her life is very complicated." "Tell me about it." "Well... probably, I should go." "Sorry to bother you." "No." "Wait." "Do you want something to drink before you go?" "I mean, you've come all this way." "Personally, I could really use a beer." "Yeah, me too." "Okay." "That's the ramen shop where I work." "Easy commute." "Yeah." " Your boss." " Mm-hmm?" "He speaks English?" "Oh, not a word." "Really?" "I can't understand a word he tells me." "Not to mention he's psychotic." "He keeps trying to kill me." "Why do you stay?" "Hmm." "Maybe it's because I have nowhere else to go." "Hmm." "That's pathetic." "No." "I think you're on the path to something." "One day, I'm sure I'll taste Abby's ramen." "God, I hope so." "Yeah." "So what about you?" "What's your path?" "My path." "Hmm." "Typical Japanese." "Work in a big company, get married, have children, grandchildren, grow old, then die." "That's just grim." "Back in college, I wrote music." "I had a band." "That's cool." "Most of the time, we just got really drunk." "[Laughs]" "And we were talking about how we were going to make the revolution in the Japanese music world." "Then, of course, we all became salary men." "It's what our parents wanted." "My parents would only be happy if I became a partner at a major law firm." "Strange." "Who'd think to look at us that we'd have the same problem?" "Omoshiroi ne." "Interesting." "Somewhere along the way," "I just forgot what I wanted to do with my life." "Sometimes when I wake up in the morning," "I can't breathe." "That's probably why I started this icky habit." "Sorry." "I smoked your last one, and I don't have any." "Want to take a walk?" "It's a monsoon." "[Laughter]" "I guess I should go home now." "Almost the morning." "Have you ever been to the ramen museum in Yokohama?" "There's a ramen museum in Yokohama?" "You're kidding me." "I'm not kidding." "What?" "Really?" "Yeah, really." "Okay, I have to see this." "Yeah, so, um... let's go then, next weekend." " Yeah, okay." " Great." "I'll let Gretchen know." "I don't think she's interested." "Yeah, but it would be awkward." "You know, she's my friend." "I have to let her know." "You guys are going out and all." "Hmm?" "But that first night, you took the taxi cab home together." "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no." "She just shared the cab with me." "Oh." "[Laughter]" "So it's okay?" "I call you?" "Yeah." "It's okay." "You call me." "In a one-horse open sleigh." "Over the fields we go, laughing all the way." "Bells on bobtails ring, making spirits bright." "Oh, what fun it is to laugh and sing a sleighing song tonight." "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way." "Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!" "Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way." "Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh." "Hey." "I wish I could understand you." "Merry Christmas!" "[Laughs]" "Yankee, go home." "I'm sorry." "I thought the decorations would look nice." "I bought them at the market." "Look." "Look at the color, the texture." "I think corn could be beautiful." "Huh?" "[Voices overlapping]" "Merry Christmas." "Oh." "Arigato." "Arigato." "Merry Christmas." "[Crying]" "Hey, Japan," "I was fired tonight on Christmas Eve." "Rotten, heartless Japanese." "Cold-blooded Japan." "I'll tell you one thing, nobody's running this goddess out of town." "The longer I'm here, the more I realize I don't understand anything or anybody." "Like my boss, I?" "I used to think it was the language, and now?" "Now I realize I just don't get him at all." "It's a bowl of soup." "For Christ's sakes, tell the man to get over it." "Mm-mm." "No, no." "There's something about the Japanese and making the perfect bowl of soup." "It's kind of beautiful." "It's like with each bowl, you try to get closer to perfection." "I think that's beautiful." "Isn't that beautiful?" "It's insane." "Listen to me." "The only way you're gonna survive in this country is to do what everybody else does:" "Drink." " Merry Christmas." " Merry Christmas, love." "[Voices overlapping]" "Thank you very much." "I'm so full." "This is gonna be great." "[Voices overlapping]" "[Fog horn bellowing]" "When I was a kid," "I came here one time with my school." "The other kids always made fun of me because my grandparents came from Korea." "I wanted to run away from those kids and sneak onto that ship." "I wanted to go away from Japan to somewhere." "Where?" "I don't know." "Just I wanted to go away from Japan." "Oh." "You are cold." "I should take you home." "No, I don't want to go home." "I'd rather be here with you." "I don't understand you, and would you stop hitting me?" ""I don't understand." "I don't understand."" "Sensei." "Who's that guy in the photos?" "Photo." "You know, the one you cry over?" "Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo." "Boo-hoo-hoo." "He's handsome." "Paris." "Don't hit me." "Don't hit me." "Oh, where you going, tough guy?" "Huh, tough guy?" "Oh, what, you can dish it out, but you can't take it?" "Yes." "I got you." "What?" "What is?" "What's wrong?" "I don't understand." "Ohayo." "Ohayo." "You look so serious." "My boss wants me to go to Shanghai." "Oh, no." "I've heard this before." "For how long?" "Three years." "Three years?" "How long have you known about this?" "Since a couple of days." "You're not going, are you?" "I have to go." "It's my obligation." "Oh, my God." "I did it again." "I don't want to leave you." "Then tell them to send somebody else." "That's not how it works in Japan." "If the company wants you to go, you have to go." "But how can you spend three more years in a job you can't stand?" "How?" "Why don't you just tell them to go to hell and do something?" "Something that you really love, something for yourself?" "And don't say it's because you're Japanese, 'cause that's just an excuse." "I am Japanese." "Why do Americans think everybody should be like them?" "I-I've said everything that I could say, really." "Abby." "What?" "Would you please come with me?" "Where, Shanghai?" "Yes." "We could be together." "Please." "Don't do this to me." "Please, Abby." "Please." "Come with me." "[Maezumi singing in Japanese]" "Sensei?" "Please, will you taste my broth?" "Please, sensei." "[Singing continues]" "[Gasps]" "What are you doing?" "I did everything I saw you do, everything." "I'll miss you." "I'll miss you too." "Are you sure you won't come with me to the airport?" "No, no." "That'd be too sad." "Can you just tell me again, just?" "Just one more time." "You really, really wanted me to go with you?" "Go." "Go." "You're gonna miss your flight." "Go." "Go." "Sensei, wait." "Sensei, please help me." "I keep trying, and I never get it." "Please." "Teach me how to have?" "[Wooden pounding sound]" "Ah." "But how?" "I don't know anything about love." "Every time I feel it, it's gone." "It disappears." "And all I have left is... pain... and sadness." "[All weeping]" "[Laughing]" "[All weeping]" "[Laughing]" "[Dramatic percussion music]" "[Snoring]" "[Coughing]" "[Cheers and applause]" "See you again." "I just needed to create something for myself." ""Myself, myself."" ""Sa ku se sa."" ""Successor."" "Successor." "You... my successor." "I'd be honored." "[Laughs]" "Where's sensei?" "I can't leave without saying good-bye to sensei." "[Rhythmic clapping and chanting]" "[Cheers and applause]" "[Rhythmic chanting and clapping]" "[Voices overlapping]" "Four Tokyos, one Goddess, and one Maezumi Special." "In a minute." "Hey, Abby, there's a guy here." "He says he knows you." "Who is he?" "From where?" "I don't know." "I hated my job, so I did what you would do." "I quit." "I started writing music again." "Welcome to my ramen shop." "[Upbeat indie rock music]" "Staring at the pot, she was putting in a lot of her time." "Her heart was beating in her chest." "She's pointing and swearing, and it's mine." "It's mine." "My ramen girl, seen from above, and shining bright like a pearl." "My ramen girl made me a specialty, messed with my world." "Have you ever seen a girl on the scene quite like this?" "On the streets of Shinjuku," "I promised you a taste, and it's bliss." "She's got me all confused about a little more than food." "It's like this." "She knows just what to do." "Moves around the stove like a dancer." "I have to pursue." "The aroma draws me near." "I lose my mind and fall to my knees as the world disappears." "No, she didn't." "Yes, she did." "My ramen girl, seen from above with a shine in the night like a pearl." "My ramen girl made me a specialty, messed with my world."