Director: Hideo Jojo
This compelling drama, based on a novel by Tamehito Somei, depicts a society where reputations are easily trashed and secrets are impossible to keep. It portrays Japan’s welfare system as being operated from an attitude of brutal scepticism. We see claimants being hounded about their efforts to find employment and expected to seek help from family and friends before impinging upon the taxpayer. We witness the injustice of Yamada (Pistol Takehara) receiving benefits despite working for local thug Kanemoto (Masataka Kubota) while a deserving claimant is turned down. To some extent this is reminiscent of Ken Loach’s benefits drama I, Daniel Blake but it’s far darker.
Over the course of a long hot summer, Yamada’s caseworker Sasaki (Takumi Kitamura) is shown as a decent guy trying to do the right thing in an increasingly morally complex situation. Sasaki’s co-worker Takano (Katsuya Maiguma), is sexually exploiting client Aimi Hayashino (Yuumi Kawai), a single mother who previously worked for the bullying Kanemoto and is still caught within his network. Although largely powerless, she refuses to return to working in Kanemoto’s seedy club.
Sasaki’s supervisor Miyata (Marika Ito) suspects what their colleague is up to and pressures him to help her expose Takano’s wrongdoing. When Sasaki makes caseworker visits to Aimi her young daughter bonds with him while he, in turn, develops feelings for Aimi. Soon the lines of love and duty become blurred.
Jojo’s storytelling is engaging and well-paced, slightly slow-burn but filling out the action with poignant detail. Cynicism and idealism face off under a blazing sun in the antithesis of tourist Japan, with deft touches of black comedy lightening the tone at times. There’s a chilling turn from Yumena Yanai as Rika, hostess of Kanemoto’s club, who laughs whenever he metes out violence to his underlings and opponents.
Overall this is an assured and affecting piece of work from a director who knows how to get superb performances from his cast.
The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026 takes place in cinemas around the UK from 6 February to 31 March 2026
