Hirayasumi

Ikuta Hiroto, 29. He has no full-time job, no partner, no plan for the future – and he couldn’t be happier. He’s just fine, unfettered and carefree. One day, Hiroto ends up inheriting a “hiraya” (one-story house) from an elderly neighbor whom he befriended purely by his personable nature. His 18-year-old cousin Kobayashi Natsumi, who arrives in Tokyo from the northern countryside, moves in with him. So unfolds a quiet, ordinary hiraya life that seems to attract troubled souls who need a break (“yasumi”).

Based on the original graphic novel Hirayasumi by Keigo Shinzo, published by Shogakukan Inc.

Our take

An ode to gentleness and the art of wandering. A luminous narrative that celebrates the beauty of simple bonds, and a charming rebuttal to salaryman culture, offering a human-scale vision of Tokyo, far from the urban frenzy.