Little house

After the funeral of an elderly woman named Taki Nunomiya ( 布 宮 多 喜 ) , her sister's family takes things apart of the deceased. In the hands of her grand-nephew, Takeshi ( 健 史 史 ) , the box left to him falls. There he finds memoirs that his grandmother wrote at his request shortly before his death. In them, Nunomiya talks about how, in 1935, an eighteen-year-old girl came to Tokyo from a remote village in Yamagata Prefecture and got a job as a maid. First, she worked in the Hongo family, and then the first mistress brought her to her friend Tokiko Hirai ( я 時 子 ) in a small house with a red roof. Her memories are interspersed with conversations with Takeshi.

Mister and Mistress Hirai, as well as their son Keichi ( Jap. 恭 一 ) got along well with Taki. Mr. Hirai, director of the toy company, made plans to expand exports to the United States. Nunomiya describes this time as lucky that Takeshi criticizes, pointing out clashes with China at the time. In 1936, Taki helped Kyoichi overcome polio . After the capture of Nanjing in Japan, there was a feeling of imminent victory in the Second World War, shops arranged sales, organized festivities in the cities. Takeshi is outraged by these recollections: Nunomiya does not mention the Nanking massacre , but she claims that everything was like that in Tokyo.

At the end of 1937, a young artist from the company of Mr. Hirai, Shoji Sochiura ( Japanese 板倉 正治 ), first came to Hirai’s house. He is polite, courteous and young, listens to classical music, and the hostess immediately liked him very much. Mr. Hirai and his colleagues are looking forward to the quick conquest of China and the opening of a new market, but Takura does not like talking about politics, from which he flees to the room of Kyoto. Due to an unexpected meeting at work, Mr. Hirai has to hand over tickets for the concert to Itakura, and Tokiko listens to him with him. Itakura helps the Hirai family: by going to them in the storm in the evening, he clogs up the dormers of the dormer-window , which the wind had fluttered. Lady Hirai persuades Itakura to stay with them, and when they both end up in the corridor at night, she kisses.

In 1941, Hirai decided to marry Taki. The bridegroom ends in disaster: it turns out that the applicant is an elderly rude person, who immediately begins to demand from Taki to give him children in order to “fulfill his duty to the country” and tells vulgar puns. After his departure, Ms. Hirai reassures the crying Taki and convinces her that this is not the last chance for her. Taki says she doesn't want to get married at all.

The situation at the front is getting worse. The company where Mr. Hirai works no longer receives metal that goes to the needs of the military industry. At tea, colleagues find out that Sochiura is not married, the Hirai family immediately begins to look for his bride; Itakura is exempted from the draft due to health reasons, which attracts many candidates. Desperate, Mr. Hirai asks his wife to go to his house and put pressure on him, considering marriage and childbirth to be a duty to the country. Tokiko visits Itakura. Taki realizes that her mistress began an affair with Ithakura. This is also known to the man who delivers the Hirai sake family. Taki is experiencing a difficult situation, unable to hide, she talks about everything to her friend Tokiko, who keeps this a secret.

Japan enters the war with the United States. In 1944, Itakura receives a notice that he is now subject to an appeal that he uses to stop trying to marry himself. Sake delivery worker, Tokiko's older sister, and Mr. Hongo scolded Ms. Hirai for saying that her law-breaking romance could lead to problems. Itakure comes the summons. The day before he was sent to the front, Ms. Hirai tried to see him, but Taki became a wall in her way and asked him to write a letter to Itakura so that he would come to Hirai’s house. So the takura does not come. The financial situation of the Hirai family is getting worse and worse, which means that they can no longer pay the maid. Taki returns to Yamagata. After the war, Taki immediately goes to the Hirai family. A house with a red roof burned down in a bombardment, and Mr. and Mrs. Hirai died. The fate of Köichi is unknown.

Takeshi, along with his girlfriend, accidentally notice the posthumous exhibition of Shoji Shakura and ask about Koichi there. Finding him, a gray-haired blind old man, Takeshi reads a letter to him, which Taki never handed over to Itakura. Kyoichi reports that it confirms the rumors about his mother’s treason, and then forgives Taki for the mistake.

• Takaku Matsu - Tokiko Hirai
• Haru Kuroki - Taki in his youth
• Hidetaka Yoshioka - Shoji Itakura
• Tieko Baisho - Taki in Old Age
• Satoshi Tsumabuki - Takeshi, Taki's grandson
• Takataro Kataoka - Mr. Hirai, Tokiko's husband

• 2014 - Silver Bear Prize for Best Actress (Haru Kuroki) at the Berlin Film Festival .
• 2015 - Japan Film Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Haru Kuroki), as well as 8 nominations: best film, screenplay (Yoji Yamada, Emiko Hiramatsu), camera work (Masashi Tikamori), music (Jo Hyashaishi), artist's work (Mitsuo Degawa, Daisuke Sue), editing (Iwao Ishii), sound (Kazumi Kishida), lighting (Koichi Watanabe).

• Little House on the Internet Movie Database  
• The Little House on allmovie