Naoto Kuribayashi

The Lines That Define Me

Sousuke Aoyama is a college student who suffers painfully from the loss of his parents in a traffic accident. He meets Kozan Shinoda, a suibokuga (India-ink painting) artist, at an exhibition. Kozan becomes interested in Sousuke and surprisingly accepts him as his disciple. However, Kozan's niece is dismissive of Sousuke and declares to compete with Sousuke for the "Kozan Award." Although Sousuke seemed uninterested in painting at first, he gradually becomes drawn to it by each stroke he draws...

We Couldn't Become Adults

Prodded by a friend request, a feckless forty-something recalls his past relationships from the 90s onward, looking for his vanished hopes and dreams.

The Brightest Roof in the Universe

14 year-old schoolgirl Tsubame is into university student Toru. She sees him in her area and really wants to be his. She struggles with how to inform him of her love. Then her stepmother becomes pregnant and she is distracted with that development. The one reliable part of her life is the calligraphy class she attends, but then she runs into a woman.

Mr. Hikita, I Am Knocked Up

A couple are perfectly happy to not breed and procreate. Thus their life is a content and unselfish one. He writes and admires his wife. However, she informs him that she wants a child. They try and try, but alas are not successful. It is time to visit a physician to unlock the fertility riddle. Well, he is the culprit it seems

The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue

Mika works as a nurse by day; by night she entertains covetous men at a girls' bar. Shinji is blind in one eye and ekes out a living as a construction worker. Young and grown-up at the same time, they both lead a lonely existence, but somehow their paths keep miraculously crossing under the Tokyo sky.

Nude

After graduating high school, Hiromi moves from the coastal town of Niigata to Tokyo in the hopes of becoming a famous actress. Her dream seemingly comes true as a manager scouts her off the street. He recruits her as a model but it's actually to be a "nude" model. It's not exactly what Hiromi was looking for, but she can't turn down the opportunity. As her career dwindles, the manager coerces her to make the jump to AV and Hiromi gains a new identity as Mihiro.

The Two in Tracksuits

A son quits his job and is persuaded by his father to head off to a cottage in the remote mountains. Together, the two of them manage to get through their days while wearing old jerseys left by a deceased grandmother. The following summer, the two once again leave the stifling heat of Tokyo, as if escaping to the mountain cottage. However, the next summer is very different.