In central Tokyo, a young man Sosuke aspires to be a manga artist. His current work is about a battle between a hunter and a Japanese wolf. He can’t draw the extinct wolf well, neither develop the story.
One winter’s day, Sosuke finds an animal’s skull while digging foundations at a construction site. He is a day laborer to make a living. Is it a Japanese wolf’s skull? Sosuke takes it home without permission. Looking on the Internet, he can’t get a clue if this is a skull of a Japanese wolf. His interest peaks and he sneaks into the construction site at night to find other pieces of bones, which may help him draw the Japanese wolf.
Unusual in winter, fireworks display tonight.
Without finding any bones, Sosuke leaves the construction site. Disappointed, he bumps into a mysterious woman Midori and unintentionally injures her. Midori is looking for her dog, missing for a week. Feeling sorry for her injury, Sosuke helps to look for the dog together. Wandering around a quiet town, wondering why the fireworks do not start, he travels through time into Tokyo’s past lying underground.
Masakazu Kaneko was born in Tokyo in 1978. He studied at The Film School of Tokyo with Takahisa Zeze, director of “Heaven’s Story”(FIPRESCI Prize at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival). After graduation, he directed six short films while working in the fields of TV commercials or films.
In 2016 Masakazu’s first directed-feature “The Albino’s Trees”, was screened as an international premiere in the Beijing International Film Festival, China. In 2017 it was also screened in the 4th Figueira Film Art (the Figueira da Foz International Film Festival), Portugal and awarded the Best Feature, Best Direction, Best Picture. In the wake of winning a triple award, this film was officially invited to more than 20 international film festivals in 15 countries and achieved 20 awards worldwide, nine of which were Best Feature.
His second feature “Ring Wandering” was screened as a world premiere in the 37th Warsaw Film Festival, Poland.
I was born and grew in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. For a few years Tokyo has had a construction boom for the Olympics in 2020. Now it is covered with more new buildings and concrete than ever before as if Tokyo’s past has been, too, covered over and over. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 bodies lie underground, killed in the Tokyo Bombings in 1945, with their souls still wandering.
Back in the late 19th century, Japan started to modernize itself to catch up with the West and to raise its economic and military power. On the other hand, it made a significant impact on the country’s long-lasting healthy ecosystem. As a result, the alpha predator, the Japanese wolf, became extinct.
Now that the next war is being whispered, our society keeps going forward without looking back at the past. I think the past memories are layered underground, lying one upon another, which should not be covered over, neither would they disappear.
In 2020, the main character Sosuke, looking for the extinct Japanese wolf, finds an animal’s skull under the ground of Tokyo. With this skull, he travels through time into Tokyo’s past world of the people who passed on and he experiences the value of life. I hope the story will give you a chance to stop to contemplate the memories and all those that lived in the past, even for a short time.
52nd International Film Festival of India (Goa) / International Competition
Won the Golden Peacock Award (Best Film)
37th Warsaw Film Festival/ International Competition
Won the Ecumenical Jury Commendation Award (Special Mention)
22nd Tokyo Filmex International Film Festival / Made in Japan Section
Official Selection
13th Bengaluru International Film Festival
Official Selection
22nd Nippon Connection Film Festival
Official Selection
Show Kasamatsu, Junko Abe, Ken Yasuda, Reiko Kataoka, Toru Shinagawa, Yoji Tanaka, Hatsunori Hasegawa
Production: monkey syndicate, LAUGHTER, Project DAWN, cinepos, kinone
Executive Producer: Koji Matsumoto Producers: Takashi Shiotsuki, Kazuhiko Konoike, Masakazu Kaneko
Associate Producer: Akiko Matsui Line Producer: Hiroto Takeishi
Screenplay: Masakazu Kaneko, Genki Yoshimura Manga: Takehito Moriizumi Music: Yuko Tomiyama
Cinematographer: Koichi Furuya Production Designer: Kyoko Heya Lighting Technician: Shintaro Yoshikawa
Sound Operator: Tsubasa Iwama Costume Designer: Yasuhiro Chiba Make-up Artist: Kanako Chino
Visual Effects Supervisor: Koya Takahashi Storyboard Artist: Miyuki Kaneko Sound Mixer: Young-Chang Hwang
Casting Director: Takashi Ohmatsu Assistant Director: Kei Tsuchiya Production Manager: Ai Nagura
Colorist: Takamitsu Hoshiko English Subtitles: Miho Izuki
Special Thanks: Yutaka Nakayama, Naomi Nakata, Takeshi Katayama
Director / Film Editor: Masakazu Kaneko
2021 | JAPAN | 5.1ch | DCP|1:1.85 | 103 min. | Language: Japanese | Subtitles: English | Drama / Fantasy
International Sales: Mayumi Fukuhara mamimovie@yahoo.co.jp