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Mikusu Modan

The Longing
Panorama 2025
© Toshizo Produce
Hiro (53) and his wife Sono (42) run an okonomiyaki restaurant which employs ex-youth offenders to help support their rehabilitation. Since an incident with a former employee a year ago, Hiro has been hounded by hate speech online. Nevertheless, he sticks to his principles at the restaurant. When he interviews the 18-year-old Yuto in the detention centre, the young man tells him: “I want the chance to start over!”, and Hiro hires him. After receiving his first pay packet, Yuto returns to his hometown to buy his father a gift but discovers that he has left town. Yuto’s mother already abandoned him when he was a child and now his father is gone, too. Yuto reconnects with an old friend and they go to a club together. There, Yuto becomes fascinated with Yukiha, a 17-year-old dancer at the club who was also recently released from juvenile detention. As Yuto becomes increasingly infatuated with Yukiha, he gradually loses himself and grows isolated at Hiro’s restaurant.
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by Toshizo Fujiwara (Director, Screenplay), Rin Mikuni (Screenplay)
with Daiki Ido, Toshizo Fujiwara, Rino Tsuneishi, Sasha, Tomoko Fujita, Masane Tsukayama, Jay Kabira, Satoshi Nikaido, Yukio Sasaki, Shintaro Yogi Japan 2025 Japanese 104' Colour World premiere

With

  • Daiki Ido (Yuto)
  • Toshizo Fujiwara (Hiroyuki)
  • Rino Tsuneishi (Sonoko)
  • Sasha (Yukiha)
  • Tomoko Fujita (Seiko)
  • Masane Tsukayama (Matsui)
  • Jay Kabira (Infertility Doctor)
  • Satoshi Nikaido (Judge)
  • Yukio Sasaki (Probation Officer)
  • Shintaro Yogi (Shinji)

Crew

Director Toshizo Fujiwara
Screenplay Toshizo Fujiwara, Rin Mikuni
Cinematography Mamoru Gomi
Editing Toshizo Fujiwara, Rin Mikuni
Music Yukitomo Akane
Sound Design Ichisuke Hagihara
Production Design Tetsuya Yokoi
Casting Toshizo Fujiwara
Producer Toshizo Fujiwara
Executive Producer Mariko Fujiwara

Produced by

Toshizo Produce

World Sales

Toshizo Produce

Photos

Toshizo Fujiwara

The director has been active in the theatre since his student days when he also began making 8mm films. As an actor, he has appeared in several films and television dramas including in Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha (1980), Takeshi Kitano’s A Scene at the Sea (1991), Fred Schepisi’s Mr. Baseball (1992) and Hal Hartley’s Flirt (1995). His film adaptation of his theatre play The Sky and Beyond was a critical success.

Filmography

2002 Theatre 2014 The Sky and Beyond 2025 Mikusu Modan (The Longing)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025