Yashiro speaking.
Is that you, Kei?
I was still working.
It's a real nuisance.
Someone switched the phone to the workshop.
Don't be so nosey!
When is Grandma coming back?
Don't worry. Let Grandma travel around a bit.
It doesn't matter where to.
Anyway I'm going with her...
so don't worry about us.
It's me. Yes, I'm well.
I hear people are worried about me,
I may get you into trouble.
I have no reason for leaving home.
Tell them old people get odd whims.
Money? Yes, I've got plenty.
I was intending to stay on here.
I'll borrow Kei for a while.
I can't stop him from following me.
I'll contact you again. Good night.
Hello?
It can't be any fun for you following me.
That's okay.
I want to help you find what you're looking for.
You're 20 years old, Kei.
You were born in easy times.
When you reach your prime
may be nobody will know what it's like to be poor.
Let's go and have a bath.
I'll wash your back.
How nice it is in a hot spa!
Even after I'd found you I didn't feel relaxed.
I wasn't in the mood for a bath.
Young people aren't keen on listening
to old people's stories.
You're a really funny boy, Kei.
Oshin went through life unhesitatingly.
She went without some things
and relinquished others.
Kei was impressed
by how Oshin wanted to relive her memories.
Kei was impressed.
She must have lived in another world
he didn't know about.
He began to wonder about Oshin's past.
It was the first time she'd talked about it.
She didn't normally like to.
It was unusual, coming from her.
Say, what is parsnip rice?
You told me you used to eat it.
It sounds delicious.
No, it isn't.
After paying farm rent with rice,
the rice that was left
couldn't feed the family for the rest of the year.
So we got some parsnip,
chopped it finely,
and mixed it with rice to have more to eat.
It was inedible.
But other families
lived in the same way.
It seemed quite normal.
I didn't think we were that poor,
or that we lived badly.
Anyhow, I was only seven years old.
Oshin was born in 1901, in a poor village,
in Yamagata, by the Mogami River.
Her parents sharefarmed an acre and a quarter
and owned half an acre of their own land.
They were very poor.
Her parents were the main breadwinners.
Her grandfather had died.
Her grandmother used to weave fabric,
but ever since Oshin could remember,
her grandmother had had rheumatism,
She couldn't work or nurse a baby.
By day, her parents worked in the paddy.
At night, they made straw sandals.
In winter they made charcoal
and exchanged vegetables for daily needs.
They worked all year, without a rest,
but there was never enough rice to live on
from one rice-planting season to the next.
In a bad season they had no rice left.
Then they borrowed from the landlord,
and incurred large debts.
Their family grew,
and that increased their burden.
Oshin was born and bred in very hard times.
From childhood she was used to poverty.
She didn't feel the hardship.
Her food was meagre,
but she was surrounded with love.
She first understood the meaning of poverty
in the spring of her seventh year.
Oshin.
So this is the child.
Isn't she nice and smart?
Is your name Oshin?
I'll be seeing you again.
Thank you for everything.
I'll see to it.
Who was that man?
Come here, Oshin.
Sakuzo!
So you had to do it in the end.
Fuji...
Oshin.
I am against it.
Don't do it to Oshin.
Don't feed me, but keep her at home.
What's going on there?
Yes, it's too much for her.
She's only seven.
I know her age.
The employer doesn't mind.
I feel sorry for her, but this job...
Otherwise we'll all starve.
We can manage.
How can we?
We can't go on borrowing from the landlord.
Oshin.
- Did you call me? - Go and play outside.
We have to finish work before sunset, Father.
Father!
We must tell her.
They'll want her soon.
Go and play outside.
I don't want her to go either.
But if she doesn't, she'll starve.
Oshin.
Sit down here.
You are going to work from now on.
Further down the river there's a town,
where they trade timber.
There you'll work as a nursemaid.
The people own a shop and are well-off.
You'll have plenty to eat.
Why am I going there?
There isn't enough food at home.
- If you... - No, I won't go.
I want to stay here. I won't eat much.
Oshin!
You can't do that. It's been decided.
I said I won't go.
I'm going to school with Kiyo.
Did you hear me, Oshin?
Father!
Oshin...
At home,
we have no rice left to feed you.
That means you have to work.
Do you understand?
If you go to work,
you can be fed properly.
Haru and Mitsu work, and so should you.
I want to stay with you. I don't want to go.
Oshin!
My brother is staying. Why should I go?
Your brother is a boy.
He has to help me in the rice paddy.
We need him.
I'll help you...
In the paddy, and nursing babies, too...
Don't send me away.
Please keep me.
Can't you understand?
I want to go to school with Kiyo.
Girls don't need to learn the alphabet.
Father!
I'll explain it to her later on.
Oshin...
Stop crying. Go and play outside.
Mother!
Fuji...
It's all right...
You don't have to go.
I won't let you go anywhere.
I wish I could work more.
You don't have to worry,
I'll do something.
Oshin,
I'll let you go to school.
You'd like that, wouldn't you?
You'll get to be smart, won't you?
Father,
please...
Think again about that job.
When we all starve, Oshin can starve with us.
If we know what's coming, we won't be afraid.
We'll find a way.
You're going to have another child.
We'll have more mouths to feed.
We'll find a way.
Even at that point
I didn't realise
how terribly poor we were.
That's why I could still be that selfish.
When the horror of it finally struck me...
Let's go to sleep.
Sorry to have kept you waiting.
I'm sorry to be so early.
I have something to tell you.
Mother won't be back for a while, right?
- She called me. - Where is she?
Mother and Kei never tell us anything.
She had no reason to leave home.
She wants you to know that.
So why doesn't she call us?
And Kei's no better...
It's just a whim.
It's not that simple.
She should know how worried we are.
Enough. It doesn't affect us.
Let Mother have her holiday.
Kei is with her.
He'll let us know if anything happens.
Good morning.
What is it, Tatsunori?
Excuse me, Brother.
Do you know that the "Namiki" food store
is being sold to the big supermarket?
It is cold? This is snow country!
Probably Aunty and Uncle
are suspicious of Father.
And he doesn't even know where his own son is.
Hitoshi must have bigger worries.
Where are we off to today?
Shall we stay in ?
Yesterday was pretty tough.
Shall we go up the Mogami River?
Would you call a taxi?
So you didn't go to work in the end?
Or did you?
Go on call the taxi.