Red Whale, White Snake (2006)

On her way to Chikura to live with her son, Yasue Amami gets off at the Tateyama train station. "I want to see my old house," she explains to Akemi Tanaka, the granddaughter accompanying her. The compound, consisting of the main house with a thatched roof, a garage and a small, detached building, has a new owner, Mitsuko Kawahara, an absent landlord who intends to demolish the place and replace it with a modern new house. With Mitsuko's permission, Yasue enters her old home. Her family had rented it during World War II to escape air raids over the city, and they stayed on for a few years after the war. As Yasue visits the grounds, memories come flooding back. She sees that the small shrine to Lord Tenjin, the god of learning, still stands in a corner of the garden. She remembers looking out over the sea of Tateyama. Mitsuko's schoolgirl daughter, Rika, also has memories of the house. Bittersweet memories of her father who went missing three years ago. As the sun sets over the sea beyond the house, Yasue confesses to Akemi that she came here to recall a promise that she had made years ago. A forgotten promise. She is hoping that her visit will jog her memory.