﻿Mukolitta A unit of time in Buddhist writings, equivalent to 1/30th of a day,
﻿2880 seconds or 48 minutes. A setsuna is the smallest unit of this time.
﻿Riverside Mukolitta
﻿Rivers flood with every typhoon.
﻿There are moments when your life is turned upside-down.
﻿We're constantly under threat and living on the edge.
﻿Squid Shiokara (salty fermented squid) Sawada Fishery Products
﻿Yamada?
﻿Yes.
﻿Hey. Glad you're here.
﻿Take your time. Just do it carefully at first.
﻿OK.
﻿Here's more.
﻿Hey. Getting the hang of it?
﻿Yeah.
﻿It’s monotonous work. A lot of people quit right away.
﻿But if you keep at it, I’ll think about giving you a raise.
﻿OK?
﻿Anyone who's determined deserves the chance to rejoin society.
﻿Keep at it.
﻿MUKOLITTA APARTMENTS
﻿Excuse me.
﻿I'm Yamada. Reffered by Mr. Sawada, my boss.
﻿I've heard.
﻿There are six-mat and four-mat rooms, a kitchen and a toilet with bath.
﻿The electricity and gas are ready.
﻿This is east. So this is west. This is north, and south.
﻿And I'm Minami, your landlord.
﻿It's 50 years old. Lots of people have lived here.
﻿But no one has died, so don't worry.
﻿Hey. I'm Shimada from next door.
﻿Oh... I'm Yamada.
﻿Usually the one who moves in says hello and brings snacks.
﻿But it's alright. Actually, can I use your bath?
﻿My water heater's broken and I haven't bathed in three days.
﻿It's getting really hot...
﻿You're thinking I should go to the bathhouse.
﻿I knew it. I knew it! It's all over your face.
﻿Those places cost 420 yen. What a rip-off!
﻿I'm a minimalist, so I can't really afford that.
﻿I know you just took one.
﻿What?
﻿You hear everything through these walls.
﻿I need a bath...
﻿No?
﻿Well...
﻿Just today. Please.
﻿No. I said, no!
﻿Y'know boy...
﻿When it comes to sukiyaki, I like mine Kansai style.
﻿You put the beef tallow in the pot, and first grill the meat.
﻿That brings out the flavor.
﻿Flip it over and grill it till it's about 80% done.
﻿Give it lots of sugar.
﻿Leave it for a moment, then add soy sauce.
﻿Sizzle...
﻿Hey, can't you just hear it?
﻿The sound of the meat soaking up the soy sauce and sugar.
﻿Yeah. I can.
﻿Yes?
﻿Hello.
﻿Oh!
﻿It's hot every day. Are you in good spirits?
﻿Are you some religion?
﻿Oh, no. I'm here with a special offer.
﻿During this sale,
﻿they're up to 40% off the regular price.
﻿Rest assured. No one lives forever.
﻿Making arrangements now will eliminate all your worries.
We put our heart into our service.
﻿No thanks. And using your child like that is pathetic.
﻿Here's more.
﻿Welcome.
Um, hello. My name is Takeshi Yamada.
﻿I received your letter...
﻿Huh?
﻿This is City Hall. We found your father’s body.
﻿He had been dead for several weeks.
﻿He was found after his neighbors sensed a foul odor.
﻿7 times 9 is 63.
﻿7 times 8 is 56.
﻿7 times 7 is 49.
﻿7 times 6 is 42.
﻿7 times 5 is 35.
﻿7 times 4 is 28.
﻿Yamada?
﻿Hey. Yamada?
﻿Yamada!
﻿You OK?
﻿Hey, are you alright?
﻿Ah, you're alive. You scared me. I thought you were dead.
﻿But this heat could kill you.
﻿It'd suck if my neighbor died.
﻿These are vegetables from my garden. I'll leave them for you.
﻿Oh, Yamada?
﻿Here. Good work.
﻿Hey, glad you're here.
﻿Lots of guys quit after a day or two.
﻿See you.
﻿Oh, and here's your uniform. Brand new.
﻿Take home some shiokara.
﻿Stick with us next month. OK?
Hi.
﻿Oh, you're eating?
﻿Yeah.
﻿Good timing then. Here.
﻿- Thanks. - Not at all. Dig in.
﻿Say, if you want to thank me, could you let me use your bath?
﻿You just took a bath, didn't you? I'm filthy from working in the field.
﻿Well, I'd rather...
﻿The bathhouse is 420 yen. That's a lot.
﻿Let me. Please.
﻿But I'm not ready...
﻿You don't have to be. The bath's ready.
﻿- But wait... - It's all ready.
﻿No, no...
﻿Kayo!
﻿Dinnertime!
﻿OK!
Hi.
﻿Can I have this?
﻿How long you gonna sleep?
﻿Oh! You bought a fan? You bought one!
﻿That's a shame. You should have bought an air conditioner.
﻿I found it.
﻿Then find an air conditioner! Silly.
﻿What?
﻿C'mon, get up. It's nice out. Don't sleep through the day.
﻿- Get up! - Knock it off!
﻿I grew those.
﻿In this tiny garden. Aren't you impressed?
﻿Can you help a little?
﻿Help me out.
﻿No.
﻿A little!
﻿I'm tired.
﻿Just a little.
﻿I said no!
﻿I grow lots of things here.
﻿Eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes. The green peppers are pretty good.
﻿I give them to neighbors.
﻿Look.
﻿You see how poor I am. I'm just scraping by.
﻿So I'm self-sufficient in the summer
to save money for winter.
﻿You're the ant from "The Ant and the Grasshopper."
﻿I'm not an ant! I'm a minimalist.
﻿A minimalist.
﻿It's a simple life, abandoning status and wealth.
﻿So that means...
﻿No. I'm not a bum.
﻿Lots of people make that mistake.
﻿I have a philosophy.
﻿A philosophy...
﻿But you need some money.
﻿Philosophy won't fix your bath.
﻿No, no. I’m not good with people.
﻿But look. All these beautiful vegetables.
﻿Feeling the soil and sweat.
﻿Eating the vegetables I've grown makes me happy to be alive.
﻿That cucumber. Just cut it and add mayonnaise, and it's amazing.
﻿Yama-chan,
﻿all you eat is salted squid every day.
﻿How do you know?
﻿Hey!
﻿Gan-chan! This is Yama-chan.
﻿Yama-chan, this is Gan-chan My old friend.
Hi.
﻿Good work.
﻿You drink milk after a bath, not beer? You’re like a little kid.
Could you stay out of my refrigerator?
Oh, whatever.
﻿And please don't take a bath before I do.
﻿Whatever. Have a seat.
﻿I partake.
﻿Right?
﻿Good, isn't it?
﻿It's really good.
﻿This is happiness, right?
﻿Um...
﻿It is. Right?
﻿If you find these little bits of joy,
﻿they’ll give you the strength to endure.
﻿Even when you're just scraping by.
﻿If you’re poor and lonely, then you’re stuck.
﻿But if you yell, “I don’t have any money!”
﻿then it'll be alright.
﻿Is he also... what was it...
﻿Minimalist.
﻿No. Gan-chan is a monk from the local temple.
﻿You'd be surprised. He knows the chants.
﻿But people nowadays don't ask monks to do funerals, so he's struggling.
﻿He's a monk...
﻿Why?
﻿How much does it cost to call a monk for a funeral?
﻿Could be anything. Why?
﻿I got a letter from the city office.
﻿Asking me to pick up remains.
﻿Whose?
﻿My father's. Or so they say.
﻿Huh?
﻿My parents divorced when I was 4. I don't even remember his face.
﻿And?
﻿I was confused.
﻿I just left it...
﻿That's no good.
﻿What?
﻿That’s not good. It really isn’t.
﻿But he's almost a stranger.
﻿If I take them, I'll have to pay for the funeral and grave.
﻿That doesn't matter.
﻿I have no obligation to accept them.
﻿Whatever he was,
﻿you can't pretend he didn't exist.
﻿Social Welfare Section
﻿Hello. I'm Tsutsumishita from the Social Welfare Section.
﻿Right this way.
﻿Your father's body was found on the 20th of last month.
﻿These are his personal items.
﻿His autopsy was completed, and he has been cremated.
﻿Acceptance of Human Remains
﻿These are your father's remains.
﻿These are all..
﻿Wandering spirits.
﻿We store them for a year, and if no one claims them we bury them together.
﻿Some of the names are unknown.
﻿That means...
﻿Homeless people, and the like.
﻿Sir...
﻿Were you present when my father was cremated?
﻿Yes. I sent him off.
﻿Was anyone else...
﻿Just me, aside from the crematory staff.
﻿I see.
﻿How did his face look at the end?
﻿It's very hard for me to say...
﻿Part of it is the season...
﻿He was in very poor condition.
﻿It was hard to determine
﻿the look on his face, or anything else.
﻿Oh... But after cremation, his Adam’s apple stayed intact.
﻿That means he did good deeds in his lifetime.
﻿Oh...
﻿Would you like to see?
﻿Huh?
﻿I should show you his Adam's apple.
﻿It's rare to see one in such a good state.
﻿Look.
﻿Doesn't it look like the Buddha with hands folded in prayer?
Making arrangements now will eliminate all your worries.
﻿We put our heart info our service.
﻿You know...
﻿It's not the season,
﻿but can you imagine
﻿feasting on fugu blowfish sashimi in that nice house?
﻿Yeah. Sounds good.
﻿Crystal-clear cuts of fugu sashimi, arranged beautifully.
﻿Take three cuts with your chopsticks.
﻿Dip it in citrus sauce with ground radish and bring it to your mouth.
﻿Its texture is plump and firm.
﻿It's irresistible.
﻿Can you hear it?
﻿Crunch, crunch...
﻿Yeah. I can.
﻿Can't catch anything.
﻿Hey, you.
﻿It won’t be long.
﻿The light purple flowers will bloom. The perennial asters.
﻿Little flowers blooming everywhere.
﻿They'll look pretty if you tend to them, or turn into weeds if you don’t.
﻿But that's true with everything.
﻿Yes?
﻿What is it?
﻿For this month.
﻿It's all here.
﻿Here. For you.
﻿Huh?
﻿Most people don't pay on time.
﻿Oh.
﻿Be well.
﻿Aah, the smell of freshly-cooked rice!
﻿What do you want?
﻿A meal tastes better when you eat with someone else.
﻿I'm taking this to work tomorrow.
﻿OK. I'll just eat one bowl then.
﻿Oh, this...
﻿I got them.
﻿Good.
﻿Dad, please watch over Yama-chan.
﻿I’m sure he’d forgotten about me.
﻿You don’t know that.
﻿There were lots of them in the city office.
﻿The remains of those thought not to exist.
Oh, really.
﻿Homeless people by the river. Some get swept away in typhoons.
﻿But it never makes the news because they're unidentifiable.
﻿Well, that's almost me too.
﻿I made these pickles myself.
﻿I partake.
﻿Delicious! You've got talent for cooking rice.
﻿Say, our landlord...
﻿Minami?
﻿Right.
﻿Where's her husband?
﻿What? You're interested?
﻿It's not that.
﻿Give up on her. She's crazy about her husband.
﻿I don't mean that.
﻿He passed away.
﻿What?
﻿He had cancer. Cancer. Took him instantly.
﻿About five years ago.
﻿But even now,
﻿she's devoted to him, adorably.
﻿How do you know?
﻿It's obvious.
﻿I wonder.
﻿What is it, Yama-chan? You think I can't understand women?
﻿Hey! Stop!
﻿You said you'd just eat one bowl!
﻿I wonder what your father was like.
﻿I’m sure he led a worthless life.
﻿Even caused trouble after he died. He was all alone.
﻿He died alone and no one found him.
﻿There were maggots everywhere, all slimy.
﻿The room was full of flies. His body was oozing fluids.
﻿He left a black stain on the tatami floor.
﻿Aren’t you going to eat?
﻿7 times 9 is 63. 7 times 8 is 56.
﻿7 times 7 is 49. 7 times 6 is 42.
﻿7 times 5 is 35. 7 times 4 is 28. 7 times 3 is 21..
﻿Hello, this is Life Line.
﻿Hello?
﻿Is something wrong?
﻿Hello?
﻿You've got the hang of it.
﻿Right, Ms. Nakajima?
﻿If you stay devoted to your work every day like that,
﻿next month will come, then next year,
﻿and before you know it, five or ten years will pass.
﻿Is it worth it?
﻿It is. It really is.
﻿But to understand why,
﻿you'll need ten years' experience, unfortunately.
﻿They say do your best every day.
﻿But you won't understand without that experience.
﻿Take some Premium.
﻿Yamada, want some ice cream?
﻿Want some? Or not?
﻿I saw a pregnant woman.
﻿I can't stand them.
﻿When I see that big belly, I want to give it a kick.
What...
﻿It depends on how they stick out. The one today made me want to kick it.
A pregnant woman has another, different person inside her. How beastly!
﻿It's a visceral thing,
﻿but it reminds me people are originally animals?
﻿The thought of that makes me sick.
﻿I know it's strange. I was pregnant once.
It's alright. I've never done it.
﻿Babies are adorable,
and I know I'll never cross that line.
﻿But it scares me to think
﻿those feelings are inside me.
﻿People can be scary.
I...
﻿My mood's much lighter now.
﻿HOLIDAY SALE
﻿No one lives forever.
﻿Prepare now and you will have no worries.
We put our heart into our service.
﻿What?
I'm selling tombstones. Would you like to buy one?
﻿I can't afford it.
﻿Of course not.
﻿Ah, that felt nice.
﻿Hey!
﻿I'd rather you just took a bath.
﻿Thank you, always.
﻿I partake.
﻿It's so good. You really have a talent for cooking rice.
﻿I wish I had other talents.
﻿It's something!
﻿What's this? Premium squid?
﻿Oh, wow!
﻿It's from my boss.
﻿Nice boss.
﻿guess.
﻿They glow at night.
﻿What?
﻿The remains.
﻿Seriously?
﻿It's creepy.
﻿He must be here.
Cut it out!
﻿But make sure you have a memorial after 49 days.
﻿A service?
﻿Do I have to?
﻿Of course.
﻿But I don't have money for a grave.
﻿You can't just toss them somewhere.
﻿By the way, I saw the old lady next door the other day.
﻿What?
﻿You...
﻿You saw her?
﻿You really saw her.
﻿Minami was also saying
﻿the old woman still lives there, so she can't let anyone move in.
﻿Really?
﻿She's been dead for two years.
﻿Crap. I won’t sleep tonight.
﻿Whoa.
﻿This is bad luck.
What's wrong?
﻿- Hello? - Maron? What is it?
﻿Settle down.
Maron.
Hello?
﻿What?
Yes?
Good day.
It's hot every day. Are you in good spirits?
﻿May I help you?
﻿7 times 9 is 63. 7 times 8 is 56. 7 times 7 is 49.
﻿7 times 6 is 42. 7 times 5 is 35. 7...
﻿No. No.
﻿Not the toilet.
﻿I'm sorry.
﻿I heard.
﻿I heard you almost tossed him into the river.
﻿That's a crime. Up to three years in jail.
﻿Don’t you know that? Throwing away remains is a crime.
﻿But if you pulverize them
﻿and scatter the powder, then it's not a crime.
﻿Really?
﻿Powder. Powder, Yama-chan!
﻿But why?
﻿I have no idea.
﻿Oh. What's that?
﻿Something smells good.
﻿Really good.
﻿Yama-chan! Come here.
﻿That’s sukiyaki, isn’t it?
﻿Um, er... No!
﻿You should have told me! I would have brought pickled vegetables.
﻿But...
﻿Sukiyaki's great! Isn't it, Yoichi?
﻿This is awful!
﻿We can’t survive if we don’t help one another.
﻿I don't have any money!
﻿Um, stop!
﻿Yama-chan! Don’t just stand there.
﻿But I...
﻿You may never get another chance to eat meat this good.
﻿Guys, come on!
﻿The eggs?
﻿In the fridge.
﻿Wait!
﻿Shimada!
﻿Is that any way to act?
﻿I don't have any money!
﻿l partake.
﻿Argh!
﻿But why are you eating sukiyaki when you haven't paid rent in months?
﻿I sold a high-grade tombstone for the first time in half a year.
﻿That's good. They must be rich.
﻿Well...
﻿The woman in the mansion on the hill.
﻿How much does one of those cost?
﻿More than two million yen.
﻿Two million?
﻿And...
﻿It's for her dog.
﻿Right, boy?
﻿Woof!
﻿This is so good.
﻿I thought I smelled something good. That's sukiyaki?
﻿You're six months behind on rent and eating sukiyaki?
﻿Is that so.
﻿Kayo, go get chopsticks and eggs from our house.
﻿OK.
﻿Good.
﻿Excuse me.
﻿Oh, did you hear?
﻿Yama-chan saw Mrs. Okamoto the other day.
﻿Really?
﻿I don't know if it was her...
﻿What was she wearing?
﻿A purple cardigan.
﻿Even though it was a really hot day.
﻿She was smoking and her voice was raspy.
﻿It was her!
﻿Without a doubt.
﻿I knew she was still there.
﻿Did she say anything?
﻿She said the light purple flowers would bloom soon. Near the flower bed.
﻿That's her!
﻿She loved tending the flowers.
﻿What are you so happy about? That was a ghost!
﻿Even if she's a ghost, I want to see her!
﻿What kind of person was she?
﻿She had a beauty salon in this area.
﻿I'm not sure how long she lived here.
﻿She was here when I was little. So about 40 years.
﻿That long?
﻿In the evenings, she'd talk with the landlord under the oak tree.
﻿Right. They'd put out a bench.
﻿I have no idea what was so funny,
﻿but they'd talk and laugh, on and on.
﻿Nothing could stop them!
﻿Let's walk the goat.
﻿Mrs. Okamoto must have forgotten that she died.
﻿Hey, old lady! You're dead!
﻿If you see her again, tell her to come to me, too.
﻿Um... OK.
﻿Let's go, Asuka!
﻿That's a nice song.
﻿Bach.
﻿I can’t kill bugs.
﻿Especially spiders.
﻿My dad died when I was 10.
﻿But I have one vivid memory of him.
﻿I think I was about 3 or 4.
﻿There was a typhoon.
﻿I was too scared to sleep because of the howling wind.
﻿So my dad said,
﻿"I'll tell you a story."
﻿And for some reason it was...
﻿"The Spider's Thread".
﻿It's about people in hell
﻿who think they can climb a spider's thread to heaven.
﻿But...
﻿When they're almost at heaven,
﻿the thread snaps and they all fall back into hell.
﻿After hearing that,
﻿the wind outside just sounded like hell to me.
﻿I had a son. I lost him though.
﻿What?
﻿Just kidding. Pretend you didn't hear that.
﻿You can't just wait. We have to call them.
Ah, this is too much. Let's rest someplace cool.
﻿Gan-chan!
﻿Don't be scared. He's a good guy.
﻿This is like my garden. Just relax.
﻿The cicadas here...
﻿They're louder than other cicadas.
﻿Look at that huge slug!
﻿Hey, Yama-chan.
﻿Let's get drinks after it stops raining.
﻿I'm sorry! I'm sorry!
﻿Forgive me! I'm sorry!
﻿Let's go, boy.
﻿What are you doing?
﻿Communicating with aliens.
﻿Huh.
﻿Shimada.
﻿I’m about to eat.
﻿Nice day, isn’t it?
﻿Yeah.
﻿Need help with anything?
Sure.
﻿What's the matter?
﻿Nothing. You're working hard.
Not really.
﻿It's too hot to sleep. I thought moving would distract me.
﻿Yeah.
﻿Say, Yama-chan. I heard about you.
﻿That you were in jail.
﻿What did you do?
I conned people.
﻿I stole their money.
﻿Oh.
﻿Is that so.
﻿What's wrong?
﻿For you.
﻿Thanks.
﻿Are you OK?
﻿Totally fine.
﻿Is being good-for-nothing genetic?
﻿My mother was trash. My father died a pitiful death.
﻿Is worthlessness handed down?
﻿It's not.
﻿You don't inherit things like that.
﻿But if she'd known my past...
﻿Ms. Nakajima wouldn't have done this for me.
﻿She's known all along. I told her.
﻿What?
﻿She's careful with her words.
﻿I've depended on her for decades. I completely trust her.
﻿Don't quit now.
﻿If you quit...
﻿you'll be back to nothing.
﻿You'll be roaming around wondering if life is worth it.
﻿I've seen lots of people like that.
﻿Use your hands, not your head.
﻿That's an order.
﻿Hello, this is Life Line.
﻿Is something wrong?
﻿It's OK. You can talk about anything.
﻿So...
﻿You're that thing, right?
﻿The line that people call last when they want to kill themselves.
﻿Well, it's true that many callers wonder if life is worth living.
﻿But that's not all we're here for.
﻿What else?
﻿Well,
﻿some people ask if it's OK to bury their pet cat in the yard when it dies.
﻿Children call us asking if there are really ghosts.
﻿Or where our souls go after we die.
﻿Where do our souls go after we die?
﻿Well...
﻿this is my personal view,
﻿and not as a counselor speaking...
﻿But when I was a child, sometimes I saw goldfish swimming in the air.
﻿For a while they would just float about in space,
﻿and they seemed to be swimming toward the sky.
﻿I could see those goldfish.
﻿Years later,
﻿I realized
﻿they must have been souls.
﻿There was no doubt in my mind.
﻿Damn.
﻿Unknown Person A
﻿Sorry to keep you waiting.
﻿I'm sorry to bother you. I need to ask you something.
﻿Yes?
﻿Um...
﻿Did my father...
﻿kill himself?
﻿Pardon?
﻿I checked the last number he called.
﻿It was the Life Line.
﻿Did he want to die?
﻿I cannot deny that.
﻿He died alone, so no one came to visit him,
﻿and he had no one to talk to.
﻿He sat alone for a long time, just listening to the TV...
﻿Say,
﻿would you like to see where he lived?
﻿Your father's body was found there.
﻿In my work, I've seen people who died in various ways.
﻿Many who die alone are found fallen facing their doors.
﻿Death comes to them suddenly.
﻿To escape their pain,
﻿they try to go outside.
﻿But those who kill themselves
﻿are often found facing inside their rooms.
﻿I was told that your father was neither of those.
﻿His room was relatively tidy.
﻿As you can see, he was growing plants on his veranda.
I bet...
﻿he led a careful life.
﻿Sitting by the window...
﻿Oh, a half-finished milk was on the table near him.
﻿He may have just taken a bath.
﻿That means...
﻿He was my father.
﻿We're here!
﻿Daddy, here's some goldfish.
﻿Takenori Minami
﻿Visiting a grave, ma’am?
﻿Yes.
﻿I love tree burials. It's best to give them back to nature.
﻿It's nice to have different ways to mourn.
﻿They're all just ceremonies to heal the ones left behind.
﻿My wife, she danced in the night sky.
﻿I was a fireworks operator.
﻿When my wife died, I pulverized her bones with a mortar and pestle.
﻿I did them little by little so I'd get them all.
﻿My son was pretty creeped out.
﻿He thought I'd lost my mind.
﻿But she was the wife of a fireworks operator,
﻿so I wanted to send her off high in the night sky.
﻿I can't tell you how happy I felt when I was grinding her bones.
﻿I mixed her bones with explosives and put them in a huge shell.
﻿Then it went...
﻿BOOM!!
﻿Look.
﻿Wow.
﻿"Setsuna, tasetsuna,"
﻿"robaku, mukolitta."
﻿I didn't think you'd come back.
﻿Why?
﻿I just thought so.
﻿I have nowhere else to go.
﻿Eggplants...
﻿They're art, aren't they?
﻿The brightly shining light illuminates the world
﻿All beings that pray to Amida Buddha are saved and never abandoned
﻿Can you see the goldfish in the sky?
﻿Someone told me once
﻿she saw goldfish swimming in the air when she was little.
﻿She'd stare at them,
﻿and they'd be floating in space for a while.
﻿They seemed to be swimming toward the sky.
﻿Those goldfish.
﻿Years later,
﻿she said she was sure they were souls.
﻿The souls of the deceased were swimming in the air.
﻿Oh.
﻿What's that thing?
﻿Wait for me!
﻿Take me with you!
﻿Where does our soul go after we die?
﻿Hey.
﻿Yama-chan, are you in the bath?
﻿That earthquake was big, wasn't it?
﻿Scary stuff.
﻿But I'm glad I wasn't at the top of Tokyo Skytree.
﻿Lucked out there.
﻿But they say Skytree's the second-tallest in the world.
﻿That's a letdown.
﻿I'm sorry about the other day.
﻿Look...
﻿I also...
﻿have a past I don't want to talk about.
﻿Sorry.
﻿Yama-chan..
﻿Say something!
﻿You know...
﻿I'm really glad a fella like you...
﻿moved in next to me.
﻿See, I'm not really bright.
﻿I've been conned a lot.
﻿People took my money.
﻿So I got a little scared when I heard what you did.
﻿You know...
﻿when I die...
﻿if just one person is sad...
﻿that'll be fine with me.
﻿Yama-chan, would you be sad if I died?
﻿Yama-chan?
﻿Isn't it better...
﻿to eat with someone than to eat alone?
﻿Go ahead and eat first.
﻿Can I? Thanks.
﻿I partake.
﻿Yama-chan! The squid! It's...
﻿It's coming.
﻿7 times 9 is 63. 7 times 8 is 56.
﻿7 times 7 is 49.
﻿What are you saying?!
﻿This is how I overcome fear.
﻿say the 7 times table in reverse.
﻿It really works.
﻿Really?
﻿Um... 7 times 9 is... 64?
﻿Wrong!
﻿I can't do it! That's the hardest table!
﻿And backwards? No way!
﻿When I was little, I got scared when my mom left me home alone at night.
﻿I'd pull the covers over my head
﻿and say the 7 times table backwards, over and over.
﻿That made me less scared
﻿so I could sleep.
﻿I could say it if it wasn't backwards.
﻿7 times 9 is 63. 7 times 8...
﻿7 times 8 is... 54...
﻿No! 7 times 8 is 56.
﻿7 times 8 is 56.
﻿7 times... 7 is 49.
﻿7 times... 6 is forty-..
﻿Two!
﻿7 times 5 is 35.
﻿7 times 4 is 28. 7 times 3 is 21.
﻿7 times 2 is 14. 7 times 1 is 7. 7...
﻿I wonder if the people by the river are OK.
﻿I hope they weren't swept away.
﻿They're powder.
﻿Yes, powder.
﻿Doesn't that feel strange?
﻿Not at all.
﻿This used to be a person, right?
﻿I...
I crossed that line.
One day when I was 15,
﻿I came home and my mom was waiting in front of our apartment.
﻿She gave me 20,000 yen.
﻿"This is the end for us," she said.
﻿She was...
﻿wearing lipstick that was the wrong color for her.
﻿All slimy like a slug. Gross.
﻿I haven't seen her since.
﻿Someone got me a good job...
﻿but I ended up in jail.
﻿But I was relieved.
In jail...
﻿I didn't have to feel like I'd starve.
﻿So I got out and come to this apartment...
﻿And this weird guy is next door.
﻿He uses my bath and eats my food without asking.
﻿Sometimes I find myself laughing
﻿when I'm with him.
﻿But I know I shouldn't laugh because after all,
﻿I have no reason to live.
﻿That's how I felt.
﻿But I ended up laughing.
﻿This guy...
﻿he finds...
﻿these little...
﻿bits of joy. He has a knack for that.
﻿It amazes me.
﻿But he probably...
﻿couldn't have survived without doing that.
﻿You know...
﻿for an ex-convict...
﻿someone like me...
﻿those little bits...
of joy...
﻿Do I deserve to feel them?
﻿Of course you do.
﻿Let’s have a funeral for your father.
﻿OK?
﻿MUKOLITTA APARTMENTS
﻿Oh, thanks.
﻿"Setsuna, tasetsuna, robaku, mukolitta."
﻿What is that?
﻿Minami said the same thing.
﻿Mrs. Okamoto used to say it a lot.
﻿"Mukolitta."
﻿I'm not sure what it means.
﻿It's probably...
﻿Like the color of the sky today, appearing and fading away.
﻿Maybe it's time passing like that.