Naoki Goto

Two young men cut grass in what appears to be a huge countryside park. The younger, more butch one is a pro; he does this every day. The other, slightly nerdy and clumsy with the equipment, is a temp; he wants to be a writer. The day starts badly, but they reach a truce during lunchbreak. And then, in the afternoon, they drift towards - what? Emotional intimacy? Sex? A glimmer of mutual understanding? Shinohara's prizewinning short shows the collision of two personalities, two approaches to life, and yields some moving and curiously melancholy perceptions of the world as young men see it. A minor classic of Japanese indie cinema.

The story centers around Mikage, a young woman who loses her parents when young. She grows up in a lonely household with her grandmother who dies when Mikage reaches adulthood. Grief-stricken, she finds solace in the kitchen. Yuichi, a friend of Mikage's deceased grandmother, invites her to live with him and his mother. Then Mikage discovers that Yuichi's mother is actually his cross-dressing father. On the other hand, Mikage realizes that the wealth of gadgetry in Yuichi's kitchen is lovingly detailed...