A Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA
Sensei, here...
They're my hometown's specialty.
Why, thank you.
Yaki Manjuu
You're from Gunma prefecture, correct?
Yes.
Did you get some rest?
I did.
I have something for you too.
Although it's from the shopping district just over there.
You're from around here, aren't you, Sensei?
That's right.
I'm Awajima born and raised.
I'm surprised you knew.
I did try Tokyo for a while.
But my acting career wasn't getting anywhere,
so I wanted to shift gears while I was still young.
I suppose it was a small show of pride.
I wanted to be able to say that this was my plan all along.
But all the graduates always talk about you.
She's my beloved teacher.
Oh, dear.
You watched the graduation performance DVD, didn't you?
I did!
I mean, well, my mom's become completely obsessed with Awajima.
When I got home, there were a ton of videos and DVDs and stuff!
I spent my whole summer watching them.
She must have mentioned that I'm a scary teacher, though.
Yes.
Although, to be honest, I don't think of you as being scary.
Though I'm sure you must be strict.
Oh, I'm so sorry!
Falling in love like anyone would...
Cozying up to my mother or grandmother...
Getting attached to my father...
Sometimes fighting with my parents...
There was none of that in my life.
Katsurako Ibuki & Natsuko Kusanagi
My grandmother was beautiful.
And her personality was such that she would
berate her own daughter, my mother, calling her a failure.
Perhaps you take after your father.
You need some straightening out.
She had no qualms about saying such things to her own granddaughter
on the cusp of puberty.
"Old bitch... Old bitch... Old bitch..."
"You're who I got my lousy personality from."
"You've outlived your welcome."
"Stonefaced to the last..."
"And I hate you for it."
You're barely even a human being.
Go on and die in anguish.
Did she really think I wouldn't pay her back?
What an irritatingly self-absorbed hag until the very end.
Even when I saw her reduced to cremated bone fragments,
I couldn't bring myself to feel anything beyond indifference.
I saw Emi Okabe, who insulted me, the same way I saw myself that day.
I was doing precisely what that wretched old bag had been doing all along.
To think of the irony that when she spat on me,
my face must have looked just like my grandmother's...
If I choose to believe that one can find happiness in life by destroying another's,
then I'd have to accept that the way my grandmother lived was valid.
Which I refuse to, even if it kills me.
I heard through the grapevine that Emi Okabe has passed.
The person I wanted to apologize to no longer exists.
The words "I'm sorry" scatter unceremoniously on the wind.
I'm sorry... I'm sorry...
Words that become as cheap as they are repeated.
I saw your mom—
Wait...
mother's work in a video.
My... momther?
Wait, is this her trying to be cheeky?
She's so cute!
My mother looks nothing like me, does she?
I'm not sure.
It was in black and white, so...
She's got a country bumpkin face.
I like it, though. It's endearing.
Am I trying to redeem myself?
I suppose that very notion may be a lie.
But I can't allow myself to stop thinking.
I have to keep thinking.
I can't bear to see another human like me.
Another human like Emi Okabe.
S-So, um...
To tell you the truth, I wanted to ask you for something.
May I have your autograph?
So that's what why you brought me a gift.
I-I'm sorry.
Is that what you were really after?
I saw your work too!
The Snow Queen, right?
Yes!
That was the one performance I won any praise for.
I'll never forget my grandmother's wide-eyed stare.
Emi Okabe's powerful glare is also seared into my mind.
And the looks from my clique after they turned on me...
It was enough to make me want to call my life quits.
But I don't have the luxury of no longer thinking.
It is my duty to keep on thinking.
Thank you very much!
I mustn't relent to the kindness of students who are fearful yet fond of me.
I longed for a family that was truly my own.
Ruriko Yamaji & Natsuko Kusanagi
It was my mother who named me Ruriko.
"A fitting name for your raccoon-dog face," she'd say, proud of her own choice.
I suppose that was her way of praising me.
I have no way of knowing now.
Your mother sure is terrible, Ruriko.
What sort of woman goes overseas for fun on her own daughter's birthday?
You're wrong, Grandmother.
She went overseas for work.
Can you believe it?
I'm performing abroad.
I'll bring you back a beautiful hairpin.
I'm going by ship, so it'll be a while before I'm back home.
Listen well to your father and be a good girl.
She'd never tell you to listen to your grandmother, though.
The hairpin I was so looking forward to wasn't in her luggage upon her return.
Kuronuma-san says she'll write a letter of recommendation.
Thank you very much.
I'm so jealous, Yamaji-san!
I wish I'd been born the daughter of a huge star too.
That's not...
Hey! That was a real rude thing to say to Yamaji-san!
How come?
You make it sound like she got in because of her mother.
It's fine. She's right.
I got in because my mother got me a recommendation.
Did you hear?
So it was true!
It's only a matter of time until she's at the top.
What should I bring her as an offering?
Stop it!
You're honest to a fault.
People like that will do anything they can to get dirt on you.
You have to learn to avoid them.
I'd bet your mother is especially good at that.
I'm Masako Yamamoto.
Nice to meet you.
Natsuko Kusanagi...
I came to Awajima because I'm a fan of your mother's.
S-Sorry for the belated introduction.
I'm Ruriko Yamaji.
It's nice to meet you too.
My mother must have a lot of daughters.
A lot of daughters besides me.
Her true daughters, more worthy than I am.
Special Theme
"Mother and Daughter"
1. Ask Ruriko Yamaji-san.
Her name is Natsuko Kusanagi.
2. Natsuko Kusanagi as seen by her household
It's in celebration of Mother's Day.
I see.
I don't know what to say now.
I don't have too many memories of my mother.
That's perfectly fine too.
Perhaps you can write about how you would have liked
to spend your childhood with your mother.
You're the first person to ever say something like that.
Everyone comes to me to ask about my mother.
Though I'm never able to be of help.
I simply don't have much to say about her.
I heard the news.
Congratulations on getting married.
It's just something we've decided between the two of us so far.
So you still have to convince Natsuko Kusanagi, huh?
Yup.
That's gonna be tough.
Um...
Are you Miyabi Hanabusa?
Oh, yes.
I-It's really her!
You'd better invite me to your wedding, Ruri Asahina.
You're the only one who calls me that.
His name is Ibuki-san.
I know.
I've been interviewed by him several times.
I don't like fox-eyed men.
Mother...
I'm the one getting married.
That was the moment I finally realized
I wanted a family that was truly my own.
Yoshiko is really written with the characters for "beautiful child."
I used to be attractive, after all.
But we wrote it phonetically, in hiragana, to avoid becoming the target of envy.
Oh, come on!
It's true.
Oh, Ruriko-chan.
It's been a while.
Hello.
You've gotten so big.
You were just a baby the last time I saw you.
Mother, Grandmother is calling for you.
Well, we should get going too.
Another troupe gathering?
Yes.
Think about poor Ruriko.
The only one I loved was my husband.
You're always busy with your work.
Even when you're off, you're with your troupe...
No one else. Not ever.
She must want to spend time with you too.
I'm so glad Kanichi-san didn't turn out like you.
How do you typically spend your weekends, Kusanagi-san?
I'm a boring woman with no hobbies.
My friends are very active, going yachting and camping and such.
Then would you please join me?
I met plenty of men who would give me that line.
I work as an actor, but I live a rather dull life.
I was always quite frail.
It was my father who got me taking lessons.
He must have wanted me to get outdoors as much as possible.
And your work now must be an extension of that.
Yes.
But old habits are hard to shake.
I most prefer reading quietly at home.
I'm a boring man myself.
The real name of the actor Kouji Sano was Kanichi Yamaji.
I must have been out of my mind.
It was only the first time I'd met him, and it was all business.
And yet, like a little girl would,
I fantasized about my name becoming Yoshiko Yamaji.
It wouldn't be until a year later that that came to pass.
Ruriko...
Ruri-chan.
I found her unremarkable for being my and Kanichi-san's daughter.
She resembled her.
My mother‐in‐law.
Yoshiko, your name is meant to be written "beautiful girl."
You and I are alike, after all.
Being born a beautiful girl
to a beautiful mother kept me afloat.
Why are the lives of beautiful people always so fleeting?
My mother, my husband...
Ruriko, is that you?
Come in.
You're so bashful, aren't you?
Look at you, turning all red.
Go get your mother.
Okay!
And ask your grandmother for a candy.
Your favorite color. But just one.
Choose carefully.
Mother, Father is asking for you.
Mother...?
I suspect my mother lived in constant fear that year until my father passed away.
Every time my father asked for her, I'd wonder if that would be the day.
If, when I opened my eyes the next day, my father would no longer be there.
It was as though my mother was the one who'd been told she was dying.
I loved my father, but I was so young.
That's the only memory I have of my mother ever embracing me.
It brought me so much joy.
Yoshiko, take care of Ruriko for us.
Well, shoot...
I won't be able to rest easily if you keep crying.
Hey, Yoshiko...
Let's have a proper farewell.
I'm sorry, Ibuki-san!
Grandma Yoshida started feeling ill.
It's all right.
My daughter's coming today.
Is she? That's great.
You're just glowing today, Ibuki-san. You look happy.
Is that so?
You need some straightening out.
Perhaps you take after your father.
Kacchan.
That's just the way she is. Don't let it get to you.
You're pretty too, you know.
Stop it.
Grandmother was a stunner, wasn't she?
She's still beautiful in old age.
I honestly pity you, Mother.
To have her as a mother...
Mother, how are you today?
Can't you see how I'm doing?
Don't worry. I'll be dead soon enough.
Judging from your sass, you'll be around for a while.
I heard what happened from Ruriko.
Please don't bully my daughter too much.
It's your fault.
You fox.
Well, she seemed nice.
She picked up all the tasks quickly.
When I heard the previous helper was quitting...
Ruriko.
Katsurako just came by.
That's unusual.
That girl told me to die.
Called me an old bitch.
That's awful.
You wish I'd die too, don't you?
I don't.
You lie.
I was never a good mother at all.
I'm not apologizing.
I finally got to say what I wanted to this whole time.
My daughter was me.
The me I had locked away within myself.
My essence.
I didn't shed a single tear at my mother's funeral.
Soon after, I mourned my husband.
I lost my friend.
Each time, I was made to wonder if I would ever be free of tears, and yet...
Kacchan, haven't you found anyone nice?
Oh, please.
How old do you think I am?
I'm well past my prime.
That's not true.
You're allowed to be in love, no matter how old you are.
Though, well...
Not to be in love is a choice in itself too.
My mother and I were very much alike.
We were both weak of spirit.
She wasn't particularly healthy, either.
Her beauty must have caused her plenty of grief too.
You need a personality like mine to beat the curse of the frail beauty.
Why tell me this and not Ruriko?
Because you're a stranger.
So is Ruriko.
You may be related by blood, but you're each your own person.
That's why I hate you.
It's just like your mother, isn't it?
It's all too late.
I'm not able to cry for her anymore.
I'd given up.
I was resigned to it.
I despised her.
If you ask me, you two are quite alike.
You're both clumsy.
I wished she'd loved me the way my father did.
But I gave up.
She wasn't a good mother by any means.
Yet I still loved her.
I wanted her to look at me.
I believed she would embrace me tenderly again.
That she would give me the hairpin she'd brought me from overseas.
That I'd be unable to hide my joy.
That I'd gaze into my mother's face time and time again.
I may never more weep for my mother's memory.
But she did teach me how to love.