2012 - Document 72 Hours

Over a year after the disaster, we closely follow the Adatara service area, the gateway to Tohoku. Volunteers, travelers, weekend racers, and families returning home for the first time in decades. What are the thoughts of the people who happen to pass by? And where are they headed?

The film is set in Shin-Okubo, a sacred place for the Korean Wave. Surrounded by handsome cafes and other stores, there is a fruit and vegetable store that is used 24 hours a day by people who have immigrated from abroad. People from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and everywhere in between. They all have different dreams for the future, important family members, and various other concerns. There is a human touch to the downtown area that Japanese people have almost forgotten.

The stage is an onigiri restaurant in Sapporo Susukino, the most downtown area in Hokkaido. People who come around for twenty-four hours in search of a taste of fresh rice and warmth. In the midst of the recession that still covers the countryside, salaried workers who have been cut bonuses and young people in the water business who are thinking about the future discuss the truth and regain their smiles.

The setting is the Port of Hakata, Fukuoka. One after another, the largest passenger ships in history arrive from Shanghai, and 6,000 Chinese passengers land in Hakata. They have to eat, shop, and go sightseeing by the minute, and then return safely to the ship. The events happen one after the other. An unseasonably large typhoon is also approaching. What is the story behind the riot?