Excellent acting, direction, casting and music. You discover, and with reading Japanese stories in Japanese, that you are finding little pieces of information that suddenly fall into place later on in the movie - it seems more "real", it's like living the story. The music is simple but effective. It is used to enhance the feeling of the scene. Saito Koishi is a brilliant director, and Kishi Keiko, a very quietly-beautiful woman, absolutely draws you to her to know her. If you like Japanese movies, watch this one.