Umimachi diary (Seatown Diary)

海街 diary

Our little sister

Trailer

Umimachi diary is a film by Hirokazu Koreeda from 2015.
The story takes place in Kamakura, the city by the sea.
The main character is the 13-year-old Suzu, who moves to her adult sisters to Grandma's old house. The father had left with another woman years ago and left the family alone. The sisters meet at his funeral.
The film describes in calm pictures numerous large and small concerns of everyday life and living together.
The film is based on the Umimachi Diary manga series by Akimi Yoshida.


Movie Data

Title: Our little sister
Original title: 海街diary Umimachi Diary - Seatown Diary
Published: 2015
Length: 127 minutes

Staff
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Script: Hirokazu Koreeda
Musics: Yōko Kanno

Cast
Haruka Ayase: Sachi Koda
Masami Nagasawa: Yoshino Koda
Kaho: Chika Koda
Suzu Hirose: Suzu Asano
Ryō Kase: Sakashita
Kirin Kiki: Fumiyo Kikuchi
Lily Franky: Sen’ichi Fukuda
Jun Fubuku: Sachiko Ninomiya
Shin’ichi Tsutsumi: Kazuya Shiina
Shinobu Otake: Miyako Sasaki

Plot

The three sisters Sachi, Yoshino and Chika Koda live in Kamakura, a tranquil coastal town not far from the capital Tokyo, in their late grandmother's old house. Fifteen years after her father left with another woman, they go to a distant province of Japan at his funeral. There they also get to know their 13-year-old half-sister Suzu Asano. Now that Suzu is on her own, the three sisters offer her to come to Kamakura. The shy Suzu accepts the offer. Their mother and the great aunt are less pleased with the new arrival. But the four young women get along well and help each other.
The film not only shows the everyday life of women living together in a beautiful old Japanese house. We also learn about general questions of life and how they can be mastered.
Sachi Koda is the oldest (30 years) and leads the group. She works as a doctor in a hospital and is in a relationship with a married colleague.
Yoshino Koda works at a bank, likes to drink and is often unlucky with the men.
Chaki Koda works in a sports shop. Her friend is a former extreme mountain climber. Both are fans of the mixed youth football team, which Suzu also joins.
Suzu Asano is the half sister of the three. However, her mother has already died. She lived with her father and his third wife in Yamagata, 500 km north of Kamakura.
Futa is Suzu's sidekick in the soccer team.
Miyako Koda is the first wife and mother of the three adult daughters. She has a tense relationship with them and lives in Sapporo (1100 km north of Kamakura).
Fumiyo Kikuchi (played by Kiki Kirin) is the critical great aunt and sister of the grandma (= mother of Miyako Koda) who owned the house.