TOFU IN JAPAN
Type: sentimental-gastronomic comedy
Direction: Mitsuhiro Mihara. With Tatsuya Fuji, Kumiko Asō, Kumi Nakamura, Joe Hyūga, Mariko Akama, Riku Kurokouchi, Katsuya Kobayashi, Daikichi Sugawara
Grumpy and of few words, the elderly Tatsuo defends his artisanal method of making tofu strenuouslyconvinced that not even his daughter Haru, who helps him every day, is capable of doing so. Sure to always be right, he also decides that it is up to him to choose a husband for his daughter already advanced in years. Of course without worrying about overlooking Haru’s feelings.
Awarded at the last Far East Festival, the film written and directed by Mitsuhiro Mihara is a delicate reflection on the weight of the past and the pride of one’s traditionsbut is capable of not falling into passéism or, worse, into regret.
Tatsuya Fuji and Kumiko Asō in the film “Tofu in Japan”
When Tatsuo confides in a friend of his own age, his thoughts turn to the experience of the atomic bomb (the film is set in Onomichi, near Hiroshima), to past suffering but also to the need to look forward.
And the chorus of friends who want to help the father look for a husband for his daughter can also provide some moments of light-hearted fun. An unusual and captivating portrait of a Japan you don’t expectwhere men believe they can decide everything but in the end it is women who win.
For those who are convinced that there is only one type of tofu.
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