Okihiko Yoshizawa

It is the last day of the year and night falls on the small town of Toyama, Japan. A man who has come to the public baths to retrieve a forgotten object finds an old but valid ticket and lets himself be tempted. Among clouds of vapor and the gestures and conversations around him, a simple bath slowly becomes an invitation to existential reflection.

Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to blossom between high school students Umi and Shun—but a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart.