Character Relationship Map: blank13

Characters

• Koji Hashida (played by Issey Takahashi) — protagonist

  Koji Hashida is a son who has avoided his father for many years because of the debts, poverty, and painful memories left by the family’s broken past. After learning that his father is terminally ill,...

• Yoshiyuki Hashida (played by Takumi Saitoh) — supporting

  Yoshiyuki Hashida is Masato’s eldest son. He initially claims to have almost no good memories of his father and says that he hated him, but the funeral testimonies reveal Masato’s generosity and affec...

• Yoko Hashida (played by Misuzu Kanno) — supporting

  Yoko Hashida is the mother who speaks with Koji about Masato’s terminal stomach cancer and refuses to visit him. Her reluctance reflects the family’s unresolved hurt over Masato’s abandonment, debts,...

• Masato Matsuda (played by Lily Franky) — supporting

  Masato Matsuda is Koji and Yoshiyuki’s estranged father, whose gambling-related debts and disappearance caused poverty and lasting resentment in his family. Before dying of stomach cancer, he asks Koj...

• Taro Okamune (played by Jiro Sato) — minor

  Taro Okamune is a mahjong companion who speaks at Masato’s funeral. He remembers Masato as foolish but generous, repeatedly lending money to people in trouble without demanding repayment. His testimon...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Yoko Hashida → Koji Hashida (Family Mother And Son) — Yoko gives Koji important information about his father's illness, while she herself refuses to visit Masato.

  Koji talks with his mother at the funeral and learns from her that Masato has stomach cancer and little time to live.

• Masato Matsuda → Yoshiyuki Hashida (Family Estranged Father And Son) — Yoshiyuki's view of Masato shifts from hatred toward a tentative recognition of affection and grief.

  Yoshiyuki says he hated his father and has almost no good memories of him. At the funeral, accounts of Masato's kindness and his wish to perform a mag...

• Masato Matsuda → Koji Hashida (Family Estranged Father And Son) — Koji's memories of debt and family hardship leave him reluctant to reconnect with Masato, whose hospital request underscores their emotional distance.

  Koji has avoided his father for many years. He visits Masato in the hospital, where Masato asks him for money, and their meeting is uncomfortable.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Masato Matsuda → Taro Okamune (Social Generous Mahjong Companion) — Taro's recollection presents Masato as a generous companion whose kindness was largely unknown to his family.

  At the funeral, Taro Okamune recalls Masato as a mahjong companion who lent money to people in trouble and did not demand repayment.

Story Analysis

A strained family encounters unexpected accounts of a dead father's generosity and reaches an incomplete, more compassionate understanding of him.

Plot Progression

1. A Funeral and a Difficult Reunion — The film opens with a description of cremation and a guest's mistaken arrival at a funeral. Koji attends with his family after years of avoiding his father.
2. News of Masato's Illness — Yoko tells Koji that Masato has stomach cancer and little time to live, although she refuses to visit him. Koji's memories of debt and hardship make him hesitate.
3. An Uncomfortable Hospital Visit — Koji visits Masato in the hospital, where Masato asks him for money. The meeting brings their lack of affection and unresolved history into focus.
4. Mourners Reveal Another Masato — At the funeral, mourners describe Masato's generosity, willingness to listen, and love of karaoke and magic. Their memories reveal a side of him his family did not know.
5. A Changed View, Not Reconciliation — The accounts of Masato's kindness, his paper trick, and the composition he kept alter Yoshiyuki's understanding of his father. The funeral ends without full reconciliation, but Yoshiyuki recognizes po...