The scene is set in the year 1944, wartime Fukuoka, Japan. The Japanese Imperial Army are cornered. They decided to send students to the battlefield. On his way home from a draft check, Kanji, who is hiding his gayness, agonizes over whether he should declare his feelings for his friend Sakunosuke, who is leaving for the front lines tomorrow.

Shining Whale

Plagued by insomnia and lethargy, Mori lets time drift aimlessly, unable to create any meaningful music, all while uneasily sharing a home with his wife, Maiko, a successful and driven photographer. When Mori and his former lover, Asako, reunite by chance and catch up, they confront different versions of the past within their own recalled memories. After they part ways, Asako comes home to a warm meal lovingly prepared by her partner, and a rekindled desire to paint again. At the same time, Mori visits Maiko’s exhibition, and discovers scenes of his own daily life, captured within her affectionate frames.

As he wanders a derelict factory in a slum, 70-year-old Yoshifumi Ishibashi encounters ghosts and places from his past as a 15-year-old boy wielding an 8mm camera who was taken into the bosom of an underground theatre troupe in the turbulent era of the 60s.