You certainly look well prepared.
- Thank you for the things. - Not at all.
Please look after yourself if you're going far.
Don't worry, I'm with her.
I even have a sash to carry her.
No need for that. I can still manage.
Please take care, and a pleasant journey.
Where in the world are they going, anyway?
- There is a road, after all. - Yes.
There are a few villages up ahead still.
It's just impossible to drive up there.
Perhaps I should give up.
It's snowing too heavily.
Look who's talking. You were adamant, remember?
We can always come back when it's not snowing.
We're going, Grandma. A promise is a promise.
I said I'd carry you there.
See? That's what this sash is for.
Come on, no one is looking.
Come on.
There it is! I can see it!
So this is your home?
Is it?
Was this your home?
Yes?
Satisfied, Grandma?
I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you.
But without you here, I never would have made it.
Thanks.
Ditto.
After all, I got to see your birthplace.
But why did you decide to come here in winter?
Did you want to see the village in snow?
Yes...
For a person raised in the middle of Yamagata,
the image of snow is in every memory.
Winter was long and hard...
That's still no reason to leave on the opening day.
That's what prompted me to come here.
I had thought of coming here before that, but...
I hardly slept the night before the opening.
By morning, I just had to leave.
So you were against opening the new store?
That's irrelevant. Why, then?
Anyway, we can go home now. You've fulfilled your dream.
They'll understand if it was a sentimental journey.
There are many other places I still want to see.
- Grandma... - You go home tomorrow.
- Think of people back home. - One more bath before bed...
I'm not returning without you. I'm staying with you.
- And the university? - Its spring holidays now.
I have money, too.
I can't go home without you. I can't face them.
- Kei... - And, I'll worry.
- You can't make it alone. - But it may be a long trip.
OK.
But for what purpose?
You've never complained, so I didn't know...
but if you don't want to go home, come to our place.
Kei...
Somehow, I feel I've made a failure of my life.
The way Hitoshi turned out...
points to my failure.
Why? You've achieved so much.
Your company is flourishing, and as for Uncle Hitoshi...
With the way Hitoshi runs the company,
we'll be bankrupt soon.
Grandma...
I shouldn't complain. It's my own fault.
I made him the kind of person he is today.
You see, I've worked desperately until now.
I just kept running ahead without looking back.
But I must have been going in the wrong direction.
I wanted to find out where I went wrong.
I didn't want to go back into the past.
It's too late to change things now.
All my life I've done my best but...
I feel I've neglected a lot of important things.
If I don't go back... if I go on as always
Hitoshi and I will come to a dead end.
That's how I feel.
I came on this trip for memory's sake.
You won't understand.
Nobody will.
I don't expect anyone to.
I must seem like an old lady
who is hankering after the past.
- But... - I understand.
I know what you mean.
I don't know what you neglected on the way
but I can understand that you want to go back.
You probably feel that because you're 82.
I've never known you be so stubborn.
You're always calm.
You never show any emotion,
but you suddenly left home...
obsessed with the memory of your old village.
I've never seen you get so worked up
so I'll take you there even if I have to carry you.
You weren't just being sentimental.
Otherwise you wouldn't be so passionate.
I understand now why you wanted to see your village.
To me...
leaving home was a big step.
Do you remember the house I was looking at?
That's where my house used to be.
It was a poor old straw hut.
It was draughty in winter.
The only heat was from an open fire.
Despite that, it was a warm and happy house.
I came from a big family.
We were very happy together.
There was an atmosphere of warmth.
Grandma and my parents,
my elder brother and two older sisters,
my younger brother and sister -
it made a family of nine.
I turned seven that spring.
Nowadays you'd say I was six.
My sisters were servants. They were home on holiday.
Servants? How old were they?
I was seven.
My eldest sister was eleven. The middle one was nine.
- They were only children. - That's right.
It's amazing!
You mean, they were sent away?
That would be against the law nowadays.
This was the early 1900s. No such law existed then.
It happened in all poor farming families.
Wages were very low, but it meant
there were fewer mouths to feed at home.
Really?
In those days farmers were usually sharefarmers.
They didn't own the land they worked.
They gave half of the rice they harvested
to their landlord.
The other half was to feed their own family.
When the harvest was bad,
we didn't have enough to eat.
Nevertheless...
in a big family,
there were never enough crops to go round, anyway.
Therefore if one or two people left home
it helped the rest of the family.
Fewer mouths to feed? How cruel!
We had an acre and a quarter but we were sharefarmers.
You use different measurements nowadays...
but an acre and a quarter would yield 25 bags of rice
in a good season.
13 bags of rice went to the landlord.
The rest of it was for the family
but some had to be exchanged for other things.
It was a hard life!
And at that time
we'd had 3 bad harvests in succession.
I'm sorry I can't feed you any better.
We've only got parsnip rice.
It's okay. I've had enough.
I'm just happy to eat with you.
Don't you get enough food at work?
- It's the same everywhere. - I don't need much food,
- but I want to stay home. - Mitsu!
Have some more, Mitsu.
Me, too!
I'm all right. Give it to Oshin.
I wish I could work, too.
You can't help not being able to use your hand.
Is it sore?
There's no cure for my rheumatism.
I wish I could use my hand freely.
You worked very hard, Grandma.
That brought on your illness.
You should have a good rest.
Don't work too hard, Daddy.
Eat up, Mummy. I'll look after the little ones.
Won't you have some more, Grandma?
- Grandma has had enough! - Mummy!
Isn't Oshin lucky?
She doesn't understand anything.
I'm starting school in April.
I'm going with Kiyo.
Kiyo has already got exercise books.
Can you buy me some?
Don't be so silly!
- We're... - Shoji!
Can you buy some?
Can you buy me some?
At that time I didn't know what poverty was.
Therefore...
Kei!
I'll ring home. They'll still be up.
I'll tell them we're staying on.
I won't say anything else.
Can I stay with you Grandma? Can I?