Synopsis

Director Yoji Yamada, who has long depicted people living in Japan, tells a moving story that celebrates the joys of life in the ever-changing metropolis of Tokyo.This is a remake story of “Driving Madeleine” (2022). Koji Usami (Takuya Kimura) works every day as a taxi driver to support his family. He’s delighted about his daughter being accepted on recommendation to a high school attached to a college of music, but his meager income makes him increasingly anxious about the accompanying enrollment fee, not to mention vehicle inspection costs, rent, and everything else he has to pay for. One day, Koji fills in for a colleague and drives to Taishakuten in Shibamata to pick up a 85-year-old woman Sumire Takano (Chieko Baisho). Upon successfully finding Sumire in Shibamata, Koji is asked to drive across Tokyo and beyond to Hayama, way out in the neighboring prefecture of Kanagawa. Due to Sumire’s advanced age, she finds even the knives to be heavy to hold, and feels unable to take care of herself while living on her own. So she has decided to live out her last years in a nursing home. On the way, Sumire makes Koji take several detours. Sumire gradually opens her heart to Koji, and she begins to tell him about her own tragic past. This coincidental encounter will move their hearts and change their lives.