After quitting my job,
I could only think about why my husband's penis
wouldn't fit.
Where have you been?
You know...
Some seedy bar?
-Yeah, I was! -Where is that money coming from?
Cut it out already!
I wanted to treat everyone.
-This is unacceptable! -Come on!
We need the money!
We'll be fine.
You stink! Get away from me!
My parents fought all the time.
I didn't know...
-What? -You have money, don't you?
My father started drinking heavily.
He stinks of booze in the morning!
Unbelievable, right?
My mother would bad-mouth my father
to anyone who would listen.
-He always comes home late! -Really?
Before I knew it,
I started remembering
days from my childhood.
I'm left wondering
how I became who I am.
No!
Mom!
I told you I can't take three of you!
Please don't do this to me!
Cut it out already!
Yes?
Hello, this is your mother.
Can you come home?
You have all that free time now that you've quit your job.
Listen,
Etsuko passed away.
Etsuko?
Your grandmother's older sister.
You don't remember her?
EPISODE 8
-Here. -Thanks.
Hey, Kenichi.
Yeah?
Could I go stay with my parents for a while?
What?
Oh, no, not anything like that.
It's for a relative's funeral.
Oh.
A funeral. Thank goodness.
No, I mean, not good.
Sorry.
It's okay, it's nobody I really knew.
-Really? -Yeah.
I barely even remember her.
She's my grandmother's sister
which I guess makes her my great aunt.
Kumi.
Oh, Yuichi.
It's been a long time.
I hear you teach elementary school.
Yeah.
Although, I just quit.
Oh, really?
Me, too. Have you heard?
A bit.
The divorce hit me hard.
They say blood is thicker than water.
So, I quit my job after the divorce and moved back here.
And your children?
She took them.
Or rather, they chose her over me.
I see.
It's fine. You don't need to worry about it.
I can always make more kids.
That's true.
Yeah.
What's up, Pops?
It's not right.
Burying the ashes right after cremation?
It's unheard of!
You're still on that?
The priest said it was fine, so let it go.
Oh, right.
He said it was fine.
I already told you that.
Right.
A proper burial is important if you don't want to be cursed.
It's all taken care of.
Stop worrying about it.
Right.
So, her spirit will find peace?
-The priest has it all taken care of. -Okay.
TAMURA FAMILY GRAVE
Do you remember her, Yuichi?
Etsuko?
You don't remember?
I don't think I met her.
Yes, you have.
Maybe we'll stop by on our way back.
There it is.
It's still here.
Remember now?
There was an old lady with bright red lipstick.
She always gave us tama-yokan sweets.
Tama-yokan?
I wonder why she always had tama-yokan.
Oh!
Remember now?
So, she was Etsuko.
Yeah.
That was Etsuko.
My mom told me to never come near this hut.
Me, too.
Although, I came all the time.
I wonder why we weren't allowed.
Right.
You were still just a kid.
Apparently, Etsuko was quite famous in this village back in the day.
Famous?
Girls who are just shy of gorgeous
fulfill a fantasy for some men.
Apparently, she took the virginities of a lot of the men in the village.
Those were the times.
Every village had a woman like that.
They took care of virgins, you know?
But now that's all gone.
Don't you think that's crazy?
Most weirdos end up being pent-up virgins.
Like slashers and serial killers.
And women have sex drives, too!
Women like her want to have sex, too.
You know,
it's give and take.
We should be getting--
Tama-yokan.
You also ate them, right?
That!
That must have been her reward.
It must be.
All the men in the village
gave Etsuko tama-yokan to have sex with her.
That's why she always had them.
Right?
Did I say something wrong?
Hey.
You don't need to be
corrupted by Western culture so much.
What?
The Japanese have always been open-minded regarding sex.
You could have sex with anyone.
Like village-wide sex orgies.
And then
the Christian church came along
and pushed their notions of chastity on us.
And the people in power at the time
thought this concept of chastity
was useful in controlling women.
The concept of chastity
does a real disservice to women.
Hey.
Could we slow down?
I completely forgot.
Yuichi
was known for playing doctor when we were kids.
Hold up, Kumi!
In the end,
you never did become a doctor.
What?
Wait.
That night, I had a dream.
Thank you.
You can't let men sleep with you.
But I want to have sex with my husband.
No!
Men are all the same.
You saw my funeral!
Even though I took good care of all the men in the village,
not a single one of them turned up.
Only Tsuyoshi came.
You know, stupid Yuichi's father.
Yuichi really is stupid.
That's why I told you.
Men are all scum.
Honestly, I'm so done with all of it!
Burying me without even waiting the traditional 49 days!
I won't let them do that!
But Etsuko,
you were 95 when you died, weren't you?
Yes, I was put in a facility for such a long time,
I had great health care!
And so I lived to be 95!
Maybe that's why.
Everyone died before you and they're waiting for you in heaven.
What?
Heaven?
Oh.
I guess it's called paradise for Buddhism.
I don't want to go there!
It's full of debauchery, isn't it?
I'll end up having to sleep with all the men again!
You hated it that much?
What is it?
I'm sorry,
Kumi.
It might be my fault.
What?
The reason you can't have sex with your husband.
It's because I slept around too much.
I'm sorry.
Please have a tama-yokan as a token of my apology.
-Okay? -What?
I heard Kenichi's voice.
I didn't hear anything.
There it is again!
I can't hear anything.
Okay, are you ready?
See?
I didn't hear it.
I can't hear it.
Please stop.
Stop!
Kenichi!
Stop!
Please don't! Kenichi!
Please stop!
Kenichi!
Etsuko!
Please understand!
Kenichi isn't like other men!
He's a really good person!
I don't care if I can't sleep with other people.
So...
Please...
make it so Kenichi's penis can fit inside me!
Please!
Madoka?
No.
Is that you, Haruka?
Are you okay, Madoka?
Can I bring you something?
I'm okay.
Maybe it's food poisoning.
Want to see a doctor?
Are you being serious?
She still has no idea!
I thought she would've figured it out
when I had flats on at the funeral.
Wait, then are you...?
No way, both of you?
-I'm 13 weeks. -I'm nine weeks along.
Wow.
You don't need to act so surprised.
They're both married, of course kids could be expected.
So, what about you?
What do you mean?
What?
You quit your job to start a family, didn't you?
No, I didn't.
What? It wasn't to try to conceive?
I wouldn't have been so nice then.
Then you were serious about not being suited for teaching?
So, you're saying college was a waste?
Do you know how hard it was for us to put you through college?
So, what are you going to do?
Stop it, Mom.
Yeah, it's Kumi's life.
She can do what she wants.
What are you talking about?
You don’t work, you won’t have kids,
think of your husband's poor parents!
She didn't say she was never having kids.
Right. Are you planning to, then?
What does Kenichi say?
If you're planning to have kids,
you're not that young anymore!
Older pregnancies are risky!
Mom, stop it.
I will not!
Listen.
I worry for you,
because I want you to know the joy of having children, too.
Was my mother happy to give birth to me?
What is it?
If you have something to say, just say it!
You're always like this.
Let's have some food, I'm starving.
Me, too. I think I can keep it down now.
Really? You can eat?
Okay then.
What should we eat?
Hey, sis.
Have you had an amniocentesis?
The thing where they test your amniotic fluid?
You have any friends who have done it?
I don't think so.
Your great aunt's curse?
Are you being serious?
Yes.
But it's okay now because I apologized.
What?
When I apologized in front of her grave,
there was this beam of light.
That's a sign that I've been forgiven.
I'm kidding. I don't really believe that.
I think it's fine.
You should believe it if you want to.
I mean, that's not why or anything...
But...
Would you like to have a child?
What?
If...
you want to.
What about you?
As long as it's with you.
I almost forgot.
A gift from Haruka.
What are they, sweet buns?
I don't know.
I love these!
I'm having one now.
Of course,
Kenichi didn't say "ouch."
What is it?
There's something I want to try.
Look at this.
We readied ourselves
to force our way through the obstacles ahead.
Subtitle translation by Zensho Yamamoto