Minako (TANAKA Yuko), begins her day running up and down the hills of her hometown delivering milk door to door. When that's done, she heads to her day job as a supermarket cashier. Minako is 50 and single. In one of the houses to which she delivers milk is a man with whom she has secretly been in love since high school. The man, Keita (KISHIBE Ittoku), lives with his wife Yoko, who is terminally ill. Caring for her at home, he works in the children's affairs section of the local municipal office. Though he insists that he wants nothing more than an "ordinary" existence, his life is in turmoil below the surface. The director uses a variety of narrative devises to portray the loneliness, isolation, and hope of these people who have seemingly allowed their goals and dreams to slip away, whilst keeping them agonizingly close to hand.
Akira Ogata
Shiro Oiwake
Motohiro Hatanaka
Kenji Aoki
Norimichi Kasamatsu
Shinichiro Ikebe
Yuko Tanaka
Minako Oba
Ittoku Kishibe
Kaita Takanashi
Akiko Nishina
Yoko Takanashi
Koichi Ueda
Masao Minagawa
Teruyuki Kagawa
Manager of Super Market
Ippei Souda
Milk Shop Owner
Hazuki Kōzu
Nurse Watanabe
Rakuko Tane
Kimiko Ito
Erika Mabuchi
Mari Yoshida
Tatsuo Yamada
Yujiro Kawai
Yûrei Yanagi
Manager of Child Guidance Center
Sawa Suzuki
Chiyo Oba
... and 3 more
Amuse Soft Entertainment
Paradise Cafe
Pug Point Japan