Departures

U.S. Academy Award 2009 (OSCAR)

The Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Another 28 international prizes

and 4 nominations

Winters didn't feel this cold...

... when I was a child.

It's almost two weeks since

I returned to Yamagata from Tokyo.

Now that I think of it,

I've lead such an unremarkable life.

Please, this way!

Coming in!

My condolences!

We are here to assist you with encoffining.

May I light up the incense?

Yes.

Thank you for coming!

Looks like she's still alive.

Probably charcoal-burning suicide.

How can you tell?

The body is undamaged.

This is what happens when someone

is discovered immediately

after death in a cold car.

What a waste, she's beautiful.

Do you want to try?

Yes.

For the deceased's peaceful departure,

I will now commence

the rite of encoffinment.

Everyone, please see her off from up close.

I will now begin the cleansing.

It has the thing.

What thing?

The thing.

What thing?

You know, the thing...

Err... May I have a word with you?

Yes, what is it?

After the cleansing,

we apply makeup on the deceased...

We have different makeups

for male and female...

Oh... please wait.

Yes.

Sis, which makeup

do you want for Tomeo?

Men's or girl's?

Come on, which one?

If I gave birth to

a girl from the start,

this would've never happened.

But thanks to someone's seed...

Girl's is fine then?

Yep.

Female's, please!

Yes.

Tomeo...

O K U R I B I T O

D E P A R T U R E S

Not many in the audience again today.

Yeah, they should put

more effort into advertising.

I know.

Let's make a homepage for the orchestra.

My wife is a web designer.

I'll make her do it for free.

What do you think?

More importantly,

are you going to be fine?

About what?

Next, the next.

Next what?

You spent so much money on that.

Got to start looking for the next one.

Good performance again, everyone!

Good work everyone!

Although the seats were empty...

I think your performances were great.

Um... actually...

... today...

... the owner of this orchestra,

Mr. Sonezaki...

... has something to tell you.

So, please give him your attention!

You're...

... disbanded!

See ya!

I finally became

an orchestra member.

But it became

a past memory in a flash.

This cello is innocent.

Only because it was bought

by a loser like me,

it lost its job.

In many ways...

this cello was too heavy for me.

Thank you very much!

Please cook it immediately.

Yes.

Good bye!

I'm home!

Welcome back!

She gave me an octopus.

I just happened to see our neighbor.

They just caught it this morning.

What's wrong?

Disbanded.

What is?

My orchestra.

I see...

You just have to find the next one.

There won't be a next one.

Someone with my skill level

can only go so far...

and there's the debt for this cello.

How much?

Don't worry, if it's just

around 10,000 yen,

I can pay it back with my job.

Pros all spend that much...

It's relatively cheap.

Why did you hide it from me?

I knew you'd be against it.

Why didn't you tell me

about something so important?

I'm sorry.

I'll make dinner.

"All the cities around the world

are our new homes.

Let's live together

on a musical tour."

Those were the words

of my marriage proposal.

But the reality is harsh.

No, I should've realized

the limit to my talent a lot sooner.

What happened?

This octopus is alive!

You're right. It's alive.

Hey, Dai...

what should we do?

Don't get caught again.

Huh?

I think I'll quit.

Quit what?

Cello.

What will you do then?

Go back to the countryside...

in Yamagata.

I vote yes!

Huh?

You don't mind?

Well, the house your mom left you...

we don't need to pay rent, right?

But you really don't mind?

Yes.

This is a wonderful instrument.

I thought it was the greatest

turning point of my life,

but for some reason, I felt relieved

the instant I let go of the cello.

As if I was suddenly released

from being tied up.

What I believed to be my dream...

was probably not my real dream.

The only thing my mother left me,

when she died two years ago.

I've been told my father

ran the cafe at first,

but I have almost no recollection of it.

After he left home for another woman,

my mother ran this small cafe,

and raised me alone.

Meal's ready.

Okay.

I thought you would hate

the countryside more.

No, it's kind of refreshing.

I don't know if it's because of the water

here, but the rice tastes better too.

Really?

Oh, maybe I'll start a shop.

What will you sell?

This is it!

This, this one!

No age limit, high salary?

In addition, short actual working time?

As a full-time employee!

"NK Agent"? What kind of company is that?

"A job that helps out journeys."

A travel agency?

Oh, maybe tour guide?

It says "no experience necessary".

I'll go ask for details.

Yeah.

This is it.

Excuse me.

Is this "NK Agent"?

Yes...

I'm Kobayashi, I called earlier.

Oh, you're here for the interview!

The boss will be back soon, sit here.

Yes, thank you.

I...

was against it when the boss wanted

to post the ad in the newspaper.

Oh...

It's extremely hard to attract

people into this industry.

Um... what does this company do?

What? You came without knowing anything?

It said to help out with journeys...

Uh... that's not what you do?

Boss, he's here for the interview.

Nice to meet you, I'm Kobayashi.

I called you this morning.

Oh, it's you.

You seem more energetic than on the phone.

Thank you.

See? It was a good idea.

Pour some tea.

Yes.

I brought my resume just in case.

Okay, sit down.

Thank you.

Can you put in lots of hours here?

Huh? Uh... yes.

You're hired.

Eh?

What's your name again?

It's Kobayashi Daigo.

Order his business cards right away.

Got it.

W... wait...

We haven't discussed anything...

salaries and other things...

Oh, right.

Let's start with one hand.

"One hand"?

Too little?

Not at all, I can get that much?

I don't mind paying you in cash, daily.

No, wait, what kind of work will I...?

Let's see...

As my assistant at first.

Exactly what...?

To be exact...

... encoffining.

Encoffining?

A job that places the corpse

into the coffin.

It's starting to bloom!

Corpse as in dead people?

You ask funny questions.

No, uh, um...

The job posting said helping out journeys.

I assumed it was a travel agency...

Oh, this is a misprint.

Misprint?

Not "helping out journeys", it's...

"Helping out peaceful departure".

Departure?

So "NK" stands for "NouKan" (Encoffining).

Anyway, it must be some kind of fate.

Just give it a try.

You can quit if it doesn't suit you.

This is for today.

No, I can't...

Don't worry!

No...

I'm back.

Welcome back.

Here.

Where did you get this?

You said you wanted to

eat sukiyaki from here, right?

Yonezawa-beef?

The highest-grade sirloin.

Wow! Was it expensive?

I got paid in advance.

You got the job?

Kind of, yes.

Great! Let's celebrate today.

Sure.

So, what kind of job was it?

Tour guide after all?

Not really...

Sales?

What's the matter?

It wasn't a travel agency.

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