"As people hurry homeward, their long day done... my day begins." "I'm open from midnight to 7 a.m." "'A midnight diner', it's called." "That's all I have on the menu." "My business plan is... you ask forwat you want, and I make it if I can." "Do I get customers?" "More than you'd think." ""MIDNIGHT DINER"" "They said they'd open up again some day... but we all knew." "The venues out in the sticks have always been good." "So it's closing down, huh?" "So stripping's on the way out?" "But this one guy wo's always snapping away at my crotch... got all the staff together for a last picture." "That was kind of nice." "Welcome." "The usual?" "Yeah." "Why do you look so grumpy?" "Kosuzu called us in to chill out a customer." "We just broke his finger." "A yakuza?" "Some famous writeryelling..." "Subhumans wo can't have kids!" "Get out of Japan!" "... and swinging chairs around." "The boss stepped in and he went..." "Yakuza helping homos?" "You're traitors wo don't make pension payments!" "Then I'm a traitor, too." "You don't pay?" "Do you?" "!" "What if I end up disabled?" "Here you go." "Good evening." "Welcome." "You had some trouble?" "We just heard about it." "You get ugly customers like that sometimes." "Grilled egg, Master." "A bit more sugar than usual." "It's not a dessert!" "After unpleasantness, I need sugar." "Beer, too." "Sure." "Ryu... thanks." "A token of my esteem." "Forget about tonight." "Treat your staff to something." "Thank you, then." "I will." "I'm tickled to death." "Master..." "I brought some mackerel sushi." "Can we share it out?" "Sure." "I'll cut it up." "Who wants some?" "Me." "Yes!" "Yes, please." "Huh?" "Did someone forget this here?" "Let's have a look." "You sure?" "Howwill we know?" "What is it?" "What?" "Ashes?" ""Neapolitan"" "So you put it upstairs?" "Yeah." "Whoever left it should be back for it soon." "Shouldn't you take it to the police?" "Yes, do that." "You can't just keep it here." "It's bad luck." "I'd like to die." "Burial ums are horrible." "I saw one just recently." "Tamako was wat you'd call a mistress to the president of a real-estate company." "He had a heart attack and dropped dead a week ago." "Could you stop acting like that, Tamako?" "It's depressing." "You think I'm a fallen woman and it serves me right." "You think I have nothing to grieve over." "I don't think that!" "I know you do." "Stay in my business long enough, and you can sense those things." "But he left you a little bit, didn't he?" "Of course he promised he would." "But his wife said... there wasn't one word about me in his will." "I was stupid." "I didn't get it in writing." "I wasn't even invited to the funeral." "Isn't that awful?" "What are you making?" "Nothing I asked for, anyway." "Listening to you complain has made me hungry." "Don't you start on me, too." "Try some of this." "Look at this!" "I love it!" "Nothing's gone right for me since Hide died." "But maybe..." "I'll get over it." "You will?" "I'll leave the bowl outside." "You should get back." "Your boss'll be mad." "And could you maybe hold the spoon by the handle on deliveries?" "It doesn't botheryou?" "Your boss complained... you take ages to get back wen you deliver to the police box." "Hello, Master." "Is that for me?" "And there's no name on it, as usual." "'As usual'?" "People leave a lot of these ums, even on trains." "They don't knowwat they want to do with the ashes." "I'll take it as lost property." "You'll be the finder, the owner will be the loser." "Now were did I put those forms?" "Good night." "What a cheapskate!" "Not even grilled beef." "He buys me ramen noodles." "He goes on about how these noodles are special." "So you misjudged him." "Some B-grade gourmet, I guess." "Guys like that pleading poverty..." "it's disgusting." "What's so funny?" "You're calling ramen cheap wile you eat Spaghetti Neapolitan." "You're right." "You could say that." "Right?" "His name's Hajime." "Lately he comes in now and again." "Want some?" "You don't mind?" "I've never had Teppanyaki spaghetti." "That's how they make it were I come from." "And they call it 'Italian', not Neapolitan." "My family was poor, so this was a treat for us." "We'd go out for it to celebrate birthdays or graduations." "I used to love that..." "Master, I'll have one too." "Sure." "You eat a lot for a thin guy." "You made me hungry." "That happens to me, too." "I always get rice on my face." "Were the Gods having a little fun?" "Fate works in mysterious ways." "I couldn't afford a place as big as yours." "Let's just start out in a small place." "Uh-oh..." "I'll work part-time, too." "Tamako!" "Does he make a lot?" "No." "He said he does sales for a nut-and-bolt factory." "I want to set out my castle models, though." "What am I going to do with you!" "There you go." "Thanks." "You never know how people might change, do you." "Let's see... this one, then." "The cherry blossoms are out in Gyoen Park." "They sure are." "I passed that way this moming." "We should have a party there." "Welcome." "Just you?" "Yeah." "I guess even lovers need a break sometime, right?" "So did you find a place?" "She dumped me." "According to Hajime, the president's wife had changed the will." "The original had left property to Tamako as well." "Sorry." "These things happen." "I splurged on this for ourfarewell." "There." "Money means more than me?" "I was just a stopgap?" "Can a heart just go away like that?" "Oh, I get it." "You were just playing." "Your heart wasn't in it." "You'll stay alive in my heart." "You're so sentimental." "You're so young." "Even the most painful memories will fade." "Just once more..." "I love your skin!" "Your skin!" "OK?" "OK?" "Stop that!" "Don't!" "You can only ever get one of the things you really want." "Never be greedy, Hajime." "I leamed... by lesson." "I guess people don't change that easily, do they." "Salted cherry petals... with sweet-bean jam?" "Yep." "I told him they might sell." "He didn't realize I was kidding." "I worked my butt off on these, and there's no demand." "That wasn't very nice of him." "You really thought these things would sell?" "I thought maybe a bakery would buy them..." "Don't you laugh too, Master!" "Hello." "Welcome." "Heat up an iron plate for me." "Sure." "You're all here." "Good!" "I came into money, so I'm paying." "Orderwateveryou like." "No, thanks." "I don't need you treating me." "This is the reception I get for breaking up with Hajime?" "He's the poor slob... and I'm the bitch wo only thinks about money?" "Isn't that it?" "You're right." "But we both agreed it was best." "Dreamy-eyed girls wouldn't understand." "Why not try getting a real job for a change?" "Instead of just going after guys for their money." "Money's neither good nor bad." "It just goes from their bank account to mine." "If you're dependent on someone and they go away, you're stuck." "I don't want that." "It looks like I'm not wanted here." "I'll see you around." "Master..." "I wasn't right for Hajime." "You knew that from the start, didn't you." "Come back for Neapolitan sometime." "Someday, wen the time comes." "Thank you." "Come back again!" "Thank you." "Good night." "What's the date today?" "I was just thinking of calling you." "Forget the envelope." "73,000." "Might I trouble you for another loan?" "'NOw'?" "If you could." "How much?" ""Grated Yam over Rice"" "What else was it?" "What's wrong?" "With that." "Nothing." "I'll take it, too." "Thanks." "I'll bring Mr Noguchi to your place for liver-and-leek." "I can go alone." "I'll buy." "It's payday." "In here." "We've got fools wo talk about hearing weeping in here at night." "That's true." "I've heard it." "Yeah?" "This one." "It's hard to afford a grave for people in the city." "Not unless yourfamily's had one foryears." "You have strange tastes, Master." "Coming to take this um..." "Whoever left it at his place still might come for it." "I hope so." "This is the one." "Be careful!" "I'm sorry." "That wasn't a ghost weeping." "Mr Noguchi, you're a detective..." "Get off my case, will you!" "You and I... wat?" "We paint with different palettes." "That's an analogy." "Thank you for this." "I know it's an analogy." "You use too many of them." "You get drunk on them." "Master, I'll need your seal upstairs." "That feels good." "Your showerworked?" "The mens' worked fine." "Thank you." "It's just like you to go and bring that um back here." "I felt sorry forwoever's ashes they are." "And the owner might have a change of heart and come back." "You're still as clumsy as ever." "What if it's tendonitis?" "You should see a doctor." "It's the um's curse." "Close up for a wile if it's hurting you that much." "I can't do that." "What are you going to do with all the energy in that?" "Welcome." "Some of that." "Which?" "Grated yam over rice." "It'll take a little wile." "Do you mind waiting?" "Can I get you something wile you wait?" "Boiled greens, chopped burdock... fried wieners, things like that?" "All of them." "Sure." "Kasumi, that girl looks like she's really hungry." "There's something fishy about her." "Sorry." "Sorry to keep you waiting..." "This walk-out was she young?" "In her twenties." "I'm sure she had her reasons." "That's your problem, Komichi." "That mentality?" "Sympathy?" "You don't even know the girl." "And wen the Master's hand is hurting him... that's terrible!" "Welcome." "It's been a wile." "About time for a new one?" "Thank you." "Another um?" "Is that..." "Salted bran." "This lady helps you make pickles?" "My salted rice bran doesn't have enough taste." "I add that to it." "You can't just add depth to the taste." "It has to be aged." "Just like us, right?" "You look busy tonight." "I'll come back wen it's quieter." "I'll see you." "Who's she?" "Who's she to you?" "An old acquaintance." "I'm sorry, but I don't open till midnight." "I'm sorry!" "You came to say that?" "I don't have any money." "Will you let me work here?" "I'm fine here by myself." "At least let me work enough to pay off wat I owe." "Pay me wen you're doing well." "I'll never be doing well!" "Would you like to come in and rest?" "Yes." "That might not be enough, but please forgive me." "Wait." "I can't take that." "Give me at least some respect." "Go take a bath." "Hello." "It hit 40 in Kumagaya." "That's like the tropics." "The walk-out..." "Very good!" "She came back to apologize and work it off." "You don't get a lot of girls like that these days." "Here you are." "Your grilled egg is always so good." "It is?" "I'll have one, too." "Actually, I didn't make it." "She did." "Yeah?" "Welcome." "Good evening." "You know her?" "She runs the Hozuki in Shinbashi." "I go there." "Master, the usual." "Sure." "Here you are." "Thank you." "Michiru's going to be working here for a wile." "Is yourwrist that bad?" "Yeah, it seems to be getting worse." "What are you doing?" "It's just a habit." "I smell myself to relax." "You're not a wild animal." "It looks terrible." "I'm sorry." "So you're cooking instead of the Master?" "Yes." "He's teaching me how to do it." "Could I have some grilled egg, too?" "Sure." "You're not going to show her?" "My regulars say hers is fine." "Oh?" "Here you are." "You've done wat the Master told you." "But it's a bit too salty." "I guess these days teaching needs a gentle touch." "You've become more tactful as you've gotten older." "This is for today." "Sorry there's no envelope." "And here's a key." "Make yourself at home." "Lock up, and be careful of fire." "I don't use upstairs much." "There's a futon there." "Nan I'm sorry." "Nope, I can't do it." "It's because of this." "Usually I can make it." "My hand hurts." "I'm not at my best." "Some ginger..." "Another one." "Here." "Okra?" "Nice and sticky." "One?" "Let's say two." "May I?" "Be my guest." "A moment of cool." "Thank you, sir." "Have a good day." "Then you soak this in soy, vinegar, and sweet sake." "Yeah?" "Hello, Master." "It's humid out there!" "I guess Japan's subtropical now." "There's a lot of daytime thefts." "Please keep your place locked." "I'm OK." "I have someone here during the day." "You do?" "This is Michiru." "She works here and lives in." "The Master actually trusting someone?" "But she looks very competent." "I be o' the lund, and shy tae be seen." "Don't be embarrassed." "Everyone in Tokyo came here from somewere else." "Your accent sounds like you're from Niigata." "Yes." "Whereabouts?" "Oyashirazu." "From the town called Forget Your Folks." "The waves are very high there." "Welcome to Tokyo." "Oh... excuse me." "Oh, this one..." "He's interesting." "He's a bit strange." "Hello!" "Yes?" "A wind chime." "A customer!" "Pick any one you like." "This one." "That one?" "How much?" "Ten." "He means 1,000 Yen." "1,000 Yen, please." "Thank you." "Thanks." "That sounds nice." "From Oyashirazu, and no parents?" "She's making that up." "Where is that?" "Niigata." "Whether that's true or not..." "What does it matter?" "She helps out, and she can cook." "Try this, will you?" "What is it?" "Squash spaghetti." "Michiru bought a squash." "It's a common dish in Niigata." "It's tastelessly tasty." "It goes down well." "It's good!" "Tha' be braw." "Me nan bay Aga bom." "A-one meeksit I' the sumer wan it be tae ho fraught ails." "They make it in the summer wen it's too hot for anything else." "Is that wat you said?" "Isn't that cute!" "Hello." "Hi." "Welcome." "Your hand still hurts?" "It's not getting better." "Your spine looks a bit twisted, you know." "Yeah?" "That might be wat's causing the numbness in your hand." "Why not let Kimi have a look?" "Stop by the clinic sometime." "Can your spine affect your hand?" "It happens a lot." "Hey... you're doing great." "Onions... one bag." "These, too." "You know the job now." "Not really." "Some peppers, too." "Peppers." "Okra?" "OK, just one." "I'm back." "Hi." "Kimi fixed my back." "I can't believe how much better I am." "I understand." "I was only here till your hand got better." "There's no rush." "What are you going to do?" "I'll think about it." "Give me a week." "You can take the bowl now." "Your boss'll be mad again." "Those kids are so cute!" "Wait!" "This is foryou." "I might be leaving soon." "What's Michiru going to do?" "Why can't she just work here?" "It might be betterfor her if she left." "She won't really get anywhere from here." "Welcome." "I'll have a beer." "Sure." "Nice place." "I've been looking foryou." "I was worried." "You're the one wo left, Mr Hasegawa." "We need to talk." "I'm working right now." "I'm sorry I spent the money I was keeping foryou." "I'm sorry I took off, too." "I'm going to pay my debts, and set you up in your own place." "I'll hae none o'your money, nor none o'your place!" "It's nothing." "In Oyashirazu, wen you said my food was so good... that you'd set me up in Tokyo, I was really happy." "But I've had enough." "I don't need you." "I went to yer nan." "Her rheumatism's come on." "She be suffering bad." "She's near dead wi' worry overyou." "So leave out o' here and come back wi' me." "Ye grief the lass." "Show some consideration." "What does this have to do with the police?" "Can you spell "civil dispute"?" "Stop talking nonsense and listen to me." "She's in love with somebody else." "Me?" "!" "Shut up!" "This is a serious conversation." "The other day I proposed to her." "And she accepted that proposal." "It was a secret, though." "That's crazy!" "Michiru is kind, and supportive... of this humble public servant." "I am resolved to make the best of this godforsaken post." "I've always laughed at the idea that fate might link two people..." "But it's true." "Michiru?" "Don't you get it?" "You're done here." "That can't be so." "I won't take that!" "Are you done with your nan in Oyashirazu, too?" "Bye." "You haven't paid for the beer." "I'd rather not put it on account." "You're smooth, Officer Kogure." "When did all this happen?" "Michiru... you ad libbed very well." "That was a very good smile you put on." "This time I'll leave by the front door." "Sorry to botheryou." "Third-rate drama!" "You..." "Yes?" "You're staying upstairs here?" "Yes." "The Master doesn't stay over?" "He goes home afterwork?" "Yes." "And how do you feel about him?" "How do I feel?" "He's nice." "He helped me out." "Come work for me." "What?" "The Master's hand's better." "You can't crash here forever." "I'm not trying to take you away from him." "What do you mean?" "I mean wat I mean." "You're in love with the Master, aren't you." "The first thing I did here was sharpen these knives." "If you'd said no then..." "What would you have done?" "I don't know." "I didn't care wat happened." "When I was small, there was a girl named Hideko, the same age as me." "She lived with her mother." "They were poorer than we were." "Her motherworked, so cooking was Hideko's job." "Fish heads, radish ends..." "She taught me you could use anything to add taste to things." "Then in Grade 8... her mother died." "We didn't have money to give, so I took her some grilled egg." "Her motherwas laid out with a wite cloth over herface." "I'd lost both parents wen I was three orfour." "My grandmother raised me." "So I wondered wich was harder to bear... never really having a mother, like me... or losing her like Hideko." "All by herself... she made the food for her mother's wake." "I didn't knowwat to say to her... so wen I left I went round to the back door." "I made you some grilled egg, I said, and gave it to her." "I tumed to go... but she started eating it right there." "It's good, Michiru she said." "Thank you." "Make it again for somebody else." "That made me so happy I was still grinning wen I got home." "My grandma hit me." "The next day I made some more and took it over." "But Hideko... was gone." "Some relatives in Hokkaido took her right after the funeral." "I never saw her again." "I just suddenly remembered that." "Since this is your last day here, Michiru... if there's anything you'd like to eat..." "I'll make it if I can." "Here you go." "There." "Bless this food." "Thank you." "Would you mind if I kept this?" "The place won't seem the same without it." "I'll look after it." "Thank you for everything." "Thank you." "Good night." "Thank you." "Here are your bowls." "Thank you." "Please..." "Thank you." "This is foryou." ""I'm happy to hear that you're working very hard."" ""Don't cause trouble, and don't worry about me." "Grandma."" "Don't cry in the broth." "You'll make it too salty." ""Rice Curry"" "If you pick up gingko nuts from the ground..." "They stink, don't they." "They make your eyes water long before they hit your nose." "It's amazing how they taste so good wen they're cooked." "Yeah!" "Hello." "Hi, Saya." "Hi." "Welcome." "Fried chicken and a highball." "Akemi?" "The pork soup special." "When Saya went to Fukushima as a volunteer after the disaster... it was Akemi wo looked after her there." "Saya says Akemi was a mentor to all the volunteers." "How's the new job?" "Are you still falling asleep?" "No, but I'm new, so customers still laugh at me." "Are you still volunteering?" "Only wen I can." "But Akemi still goes up there and stays every weekend." "A young woman like you?" "I guess there's still hope for Japan." "So you just came back?" "No." "I was too tired." "I needed a rest." "You're no help to anyone if you're falling apart yourself." "Watch your step." "The uniform suits you." "Kenzo?" "What brings you here?" "What do you think?" "We will soon be leaving the expressway... and passing the main entrance to Ueno Station." "Ueno is known as Tokyo's northem gateway." "Rural youth of the 1950s and 60s, known as the golden..." "The golden..." "Showers." "Known as the golden showers of Japan's economic growth..." "Excuse me." "The golden hours of Japan's economic growth... bore their hopes and dreams through this station into Tokyo." "To the left is the well-known Kaminari Gate in Asakusa." "A tourist spot for centuries, Asakusa is home to the famous..." "Sanja Festival." "In front of us now is the Tokyo Sky Tree." "Much of present-day Tokyo... was formerly Musashi province." "Mu sa shi, or 634... is the height of the Sky Tree in meters." "Kenzo, give it a break, will you?" "Akemi won't be here." "Then take me to her." "No!" "Give it up and go home." "Saya, help me out here, will you?" "Who's he?" "He sits on the ground?" "Some farmerfriend of yours?" "Not really." "Yeah?" "Something's wrong." "It's written on his face." "You're a loser!" "Just leave him alone." "No, thanks." "Here!" "No." "What are those beans?" "Just go inside!" "He lost his wife in the tsunamis." "He just sat in his room all the time." "When Akemi started going up there... he introduced her to people from the city hall and so on." "He was very good to me, too, wen I went up." "But last month, wen Akemi was delivering supplies..." "He suddenly proposed?" "She got all flustered, and didn't give him an answer." "Now she doesn't want to go." "I might fall for a passionate approach like that." "What does Akemi think?" "Not interested." "So no?" "Yes." "Then she should tell him." "That's right." "You don't marry someone out of pity." "But it's a shame, isn't it." "He came all the way here." "All the more reason to tell him." "You can never tell wat weird space he'll think himself into." "I'll talk to Akemi." "She was nice to him, and he got the wrong idea." "That happens a lot." "You feel so happy..." "Yes, but it's a mistake." "I make mistakes and stick by them." "I like fighting lost battles." "It's fine to be pure of heart, but there's a limit." "You need balance, and discrimination." "Big words, small ideas." "Small ideas?" "That's rude, isn't it!" "There." "Thanks." "Thank you." "Hello?" "Now?" "All right." "No, don't worry." "I'm with you on that." "I'm with you." "It's OK!" "In Tokyo they're always with you." "Too busy to answer, huh?" "Calling her is a waste of time." "Text her and say I'm here." "She ignores my messages." "I'm going." "Help me out here, will you?" "I'm not giving up." "Even if you tell me to." "My bill..." "Sure." "You're not very nice." "Who else can help me here?" "At least you could try." "That's not fair, Kenzo." "I'll pay this." "Let me treat you." "I don't want anything back." "Should you be making such a nuisance of yourself?" "Who are you to say that?" "I thought this was a place that left you alone." "I don't want you disturbing my regulars." "What's that?" "If the bracelet breaks by itself, you get your wish." "I've heard of that." "And wat's your wish?" "What else?" "To make Akemi happy." "Yeah?" "I'll leave you alone, then." "Thanks for nothing." "Kenzo." "Remember me?" "I'm glad you came." "Have you lost weight?" "Let's not stand out here." "Come inside." "You too, Saya." "I haven't played pachinko in a wile." "I'm tired." "I spent a lot." "So that means yourwish comes true..." "So we meet again?" "It didn't break." "I broke it." "Don't be like that!" "Why are you in Tokyo?" "To get an answer." "In that case..." "I'm sorry." "You don't have to answer right away." "I'm planning to settle down here." "My answer won't change." "You can't tell about howyou'll feel." "People change, you know." "How long will you keep this up?" "Well, money's no problem." "I can work here at least till the Olympics in 2020." "That's not wat I mean." "Tokyo isn't were you belong." "I decide that." "You decide a lot of things." "Let go." "It's been a wile." "I'll pay for this." "From his accent, the guy at the police box... was someone like you." "I speak in the Tokyo accent." "People from Tokyo assume I don't because I'm not from here." "It wasn't just his accent." "He was sitting on the floor, bawling Akemi!" "Kind of hysterical." "I've seen that before." "That's enough out of you!" "Was the guy wearing a bracelet?" "A good-luck bracelet?" "And the grass by the roadside will be our rice, too..." "A-one, a-two, a-three..." "Kogure..." "Hello!" "You're all here..." "The Master knows this man." "Sorry about this." "Not at all." "He was in a clip joint, and got into a fight." "He's quite strong." "You'd take in a guy like me?" "I thought you left people alone." "Curry?" "My curry's good for a hangover." "I know this taste." "Did you teach her?" "She needed to know how to make it to feed people after the earthquake." "Lots of people came as volunteers." "I hated that." "All these people I didn't know being nice to me..." "I ignored them." "But Akemi kept coming back... to the temporary housing." "I'd pretend I wasn't there... but every week she'd come knocking at my door." "She's the only one wo kept me sane." "She showed me how to make this." "Then she said wen I put it on I needed to make a wish." "I didn't have any wishes." "But I said at least I'd live until it broke." "It was you, wasn't it." "What was?" "Akemi told me... there was a guy up there wo really liked her curry." "You're tough for an old guy." "Most don't last three days." "I wouldn't even call this work." "Don't overdo it." "We're not insured." "Hello?" "I didn't ask for someone to come down and get me." "Want some?" "It's that same curry." "Coming after a guy over 40 wo's gone away to find work..." "You've got time on your hands." "Smarten up, Kenzo." "You're making a fool of yourself." "You look like your back hurts." "Was it that ovemight bus?" "Everyone's waiting for you to come back." "They're worried." "No one's speaking ill of you." "What would your wife think if she knew?" "That's easy for you to say." "You didn't lose anyone." "How big an asshole are you?" "!" "Take your fights outside." "What's the bill?" "I'll pay it!" "I'm sorry." "He's not over it yet, either." "He looked and looked." "He neverfound her." "There's nothing left." "No pictures, nothing." "You wouldn't get over that." "They'd never had any children." "But they were a fine, fine couple." "So close we'd always make fun of him." "The disaster taught us how much people can change... for better and forworse." "But... wen you see people change for the worse... it really hurts." "What happened?" "Why?" "You're drinking." "I'll try red." "Let's get a bottle." "You're on your own." "I'm not looking afteryou." "I can handle it." "Excuse me!" "Yeah?" "What's up?" "Were you drinking?" "Isn't it obvious?" "Let's talk upstairs." "Don't touch me!" "You figured I'd go along with anything you said." "I was there as a volunteer, and you took advantage of that." "No, I didn't." "When you went after me, I felt trapped." "You said I'd led you on." "You made me start thinking everything I'd done was wrong." "Now I'm not comfortable going back." "Maybe wat I've suffered is nothing compared to you." "Did you ever stop to think." "I might have lost something, too?" "I've put wat I lost behind me." "We were fine as volunteer and victim." "What was I thinking?" "There." "Thanks." "I know you're not open yet." "That's all right." "How drunk did you get?" "Master..." "Yeah?" "Before the earthquake, I had an affair with my boss at work." "He ended it." "I was going crazy in Tokyo... so I started volunteering on weekends." "I didn't care were I went." "I just wanted to get away." "The people up north were very kind... and very strong." "They were grateful for wat I was doing." "Kenzo was one of them." "But it wasn't wat they thought." "What do you mean?" "I was using them to escape, to get myself back together." "I've always been like that." "The only one I ever think of is myself." "Maybe Kenzo understands... how you feel." "Akemi... isn't it maybe time you forgave yourself?" "So wat happened, Chu?" "I don't know." "You didn't ask?" "Is she still fighting?" "Sorry." "That's OK." "Hey!" "Why are you bringing that down?" "The Master's going to put the ashes in a temple tomorrow." "So let's have a drink to them before we say goodbye." "We don't want woever it is to be haunting us here." "Let's give them a proper send-off." "What's that doing here?" "Somebody left it here." "It's been over six months now." "Akemi?" "What are you doing?" "!" "Stop it!" "The dead guy won't get drunk just watching us." "You have no idea wo it is!" "Apologize to those ashes!" "Sure, I'll apologize if you want." "I'm always the one in the wrong." "I'm very sorry!" "What's that?" "Earth?" "Sand?" "They cremate pictures and mementos sometimes..." "This is wat they do if there's nothing to cremate." "It's better at least if the um has some weight." "I did that with my wife." "I couldn't admit she was gone." "The weight of it made it easier to accept." "There was nothing left." "Even if it's a fake, it's better than being empty." "I took sand from the beach we'd always walk on." "I know how woever left this must feel." "I wanted to leave that behind and be rebom in Tokyo." "I wanted to forget everything and cling to someone." "Even though I knew I'd never be happy that way." "In the end, rather than just leaving it... we gave it a proper service." "Kenzo!" "The folks up home said I had to bring back souvenirs." "That Master won't leave people alone, will he." "He paid for a funeral for someone he doesn't even know." "Not just him." "His customers chipped in, too." "Yeah?" "I'm sorry, we're leaving now." "Sorry for all the trouble." "Can I come back and make curry?" "I'll make it better." "I'd like you to try it." "Akemi, there's a lot of people up there waiting for you." "Please do." "You all really got into it, didn't you." "You look more like an accident victim than a mummy, though." "I knew I should have gone as Dracula." "Costumes really tire you out." "Let's go simple next year." "Yes." "Welcome." "I'm truly sorry." "I gave no thought to you wen I left that cursed thing here." "I have no words to apologize." "So it was you?" "Yes." "That was my um." "Thank you." "It was my ex-husband." "I knew it!" "You've been through hard times." "Those wo know nothing have no right to speak." "Empty words are no help to anyone." "But let me say this... everyone has the right to start their life over." "Yes, and I've done my best with that in mind." "I'm afraid that wen my husband left me for another woman..." "I was pregnant." "That was 25 years ago." "I was fortunate enough to remarry." "My new husband took to my little son." "My first husband's lover left him, and he drifted from place to place." "After years of neglecting himself he died." "He had no one else, so my son and I had to go and collect his ashes." "Why did you leave them here?" "When we came back with them that night... we happened to come in here for your delicious pork soup special." "My son suddenly said he didn't want to take the ashes home." "While I was wondering wat to do..." "I felt how good the food and the atmosphere were here." "On a wim..." "I entrusted the ashes to you." "That um was heavy, wasn't it." "It held something very special to my ex-husband." "Apparently he'd told his apartment landlord... he wanted it cremated with him." "His high school baseball team was in the national championships... at Koshien Stadium in Osaka." "That was Koshien earth?" "!" "It was." "It was the one treasure he had left... after his blighted life." "When he played there..." "I was in the stands selling flavored crushed ice... praying his team would win." "It all comes flooding back to me." "It felt like this..." "Crushed ice!" "Get your crushed ice here!" "And were is the um now?" "Huh?" "Uh..." "Well..." "You're very popular." "She insists on knowing wat I smell like." "I see." "I don't smell very much, so she's had to get up close." "A very subtle smell, then." "That's very refined." "By the way, wat festival is this?" "Halloween." "It's a foreign festival." "I see." "It certainly looks very lively." "Well, I'll be off to the temple to collect my um in the moming." "If you'll excuse me..." "There you go." "Look!" "It's snowing." "Yeah!" "It'll get cold." "Master, a hot sake." "Me, too." "And me." "Sure." "Hello." "Michiru!" "Welcome." "It's been a wile." "Are you well?" "Yes." "Try my handmade at a takiawase course." "Thanks." "Can I open it?" "Yes." "That looks great!" "You made all this?" "Let's all have some." "What can I make you?" "Grated yam over rice?" "Sure." "There you go." "Thank you." "That looks good, too!" "Want some?" "You don't mind?" "As people hurry homeward, their long day done... my day begins." "'A midnight diner', it's called." "Do I get customers?" "More than you'd think." ""Kaoru Kobayashi"" ""Saki Takaoka"" ""Tokio Emoto"" ""Mikako Tabe"" ""Kimiko Yo"" ""Michitaka Tsutsui"" ""Akiko Kikuchi"" ""Toshiki Ayata Mansaku Fuwa"" ""Ken Mitsuishi Tamae Ando Yutaka Matsushige"" ""Yuko Tanaka"" ""Joe Odagiri"" ""Based on the graphic novel SHINYA SHOKUDO by Yaro Abe"" ""Screenplay Katsuhiko Manabe Kensaku Kojima Joji Matsuoka"" ""Directed by Joji Matsuoka"" ""Subtitles Ian MacDougall""