Only Yesterday

Year: 1991

Country: Japan

Plot: The film opens in Tokyo, where 27-year-old office worker Taeko Okajima, is planning to take a 10-day vacation. Having previously visited her sister's husband's farm in Yamagata. She had a good time there before, and has decided to go back again.As she prepares for her trip, her mind drifts back to her youth, when she was 10-years-old. After school lets out, almost all of Taeko's classmates have interesting places they are going to go to, but Taeko does not. When she brings this up to her family, they suggest that Taeko go with the family's Grandmother to a hot springs resort.Taeko eagerly goes with her Grandmother, but finds herself bored when all her Grandmother wishes to do is relax in their room. Taeko goes exploring the myriad baths in the resort by herself, but due to either the overwhelming beauty of one bath (or the heat of the baths), she passes out.While packing, she receives a call from her older sister whose husband owns the farm, and they have a laugh over the past incident.On her way to the train to the farm, Taeko passes by a fruit stand, and is reminded of when the family received a pineapple.This also happened during her 10th year, and she recalls how almost noone knew how to properly cut it. Her father decreed that it would not be touched until it was found out, and a few days later, one of Taeko's sister finds out. There is much eagerness once it is sliced into pieces, but slowly, the family quickly discerns they do not like its taste. Taeko attempts to stomach the pieces she has, and her sisters give her their pieces. In the end, the family concluded that the banana is the "king of fruits."Making it to the train station, Taeko also recalls more about the year 1966, when she was 10-years-old. With the popularity of the Beatles in full-swing, her sisters became enamored with the trends of the time. Her sister Nanako was in art school, and kept up with trends, including wearing a mini-skirt. Her other sister Yaeko had a small crush on an actress in a female acting troupe. However, while her sisters remember these things fondly, Taeko recalls she was too young to really get into these trends like her older sisters.One day after showing her Mother her grades, her Mother finds leftovers from her lunch, and expresses her disappointment in her daughter being picky, and not finishing her food. The next day at lunch, she is sitting next to a boy who is fine with finishing the radish and onion portion of his meal, but dislikes finishing his milk (per school rules, a student can only leave one item to be thrown away from their meal). Taeko offers to give him her radish and onions, and she'll finish his milk. The two quickly make a trade, but Taeko quickly finds that though she has no problems drinking milk, there's a bit too much for her to enjoy a second bowl.Afterwards, Taeko and several of her friends take part in a classroom debate. The topics cover everything from running in the halls, to handling leftovers. Not much is done regarding the issues, and there is much bickering and yelling.After remembering these things, the adult Taeko boards her train for the farm.Once aboard, her memories shift back to an encounter, where three girls from another class gigglingly inform her that a boy in their class named Hirota likes her. Taeko has no idea who Hirota, and her friends show her some graffiti near the school, showing Taeko and Hirota's name under an umbrella-like drawing. Her friends do some research, and find out that Hirota is a good pitcher for his classroom's baseball team.One day, both Taeko and Hirota's classes are pitted against each other in a baseball game.Hirota's female classmates eagerly chant that Taeko is watching, and Taeko's friends cheer for their own homeroom team, in defiance of the other girls. During the game, the cold gets to Takeko, and she rushes for the girl's restroom 4 times. At the end, she isn't there to see when Hirota wins the game. Seeing the game over, she rushes off to head home.On her way home, she encounters Hirota in the street. Both are very quiet, until Hirota asks Taeko which type of weather she prefers: rainy, cloudy, or sunny. When she mentions she likes cloudy weather, Hirota's face brightens, claiming he likes cloudy weather too, proclaiming they are 'alike.' Hirota happily rushes off, and we also see Taeko do the same.Back on the train, Taeko recalls this incident, and starts laughing at the innocence of youthful romance. As the train continues onward, Taeko begins to ponder just why she is finding her memories preoccupied with her 10-year-old self. As she ponders this, the memories of her schoolfriends run through the train car, and disappear.She then recalls the day when the boys were sent to play baseball, and the girls were given a lecture about menstruation. Needless to say, the lecture leaves Taeko and her friends a little uneasy. One of their classmates tells a little about menstruation, as she is already going through this as well. There is also some unease in purchasing underwear from the school for "being prepared."At lunchtime, several of the boys shock the girls by asking about word that the girls are to purchase underwear from the school. It soon becomes apparent that one girl named Rie, told about this to a boy she has a crush on. However, the boy's inability to understand what the girls having their periods or the underwear is about, leads to them annoyingly trying to look up the girls skirts.When a single 27-year-old Tokyo girl visits her relatives in the countryside, and as the train travels through the night, memories flood back of her younger years: the first immature stirrings of romance, the onset of puberty, and the frustrations of math and boys.

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