Dir.: Yoshimitsu Morita; Script: Tomomi Tsutsui; Phot.: Hiroshi Takase; Ed.: Shinji Tanaka; Mus.: Michiru Oshima; Cast: Koji Yakusho, Hitomi Kuroki, Akira Terao, Toshio Shiba, Tomoko Hoshino, Yoshino Kimura, Kumiko Kim; Prod.: Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Ltd., 5 Chome, 24-5, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113 (Japon), tél.: (3) 3817 6717, fax: (3) 3817 6718; Sales: Toei Company Ltd., 2-17,3 Chome, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103 (Japon), tél.: (3) 3535 7621, fax: (3) 3535 7622 .

Until recently, Kuki Shoichiro was editor of one of his publishing company's most prestigious magazines. A workaholic who was too busy at the office even to come to the hospital when his daughter was born years ago, Kuki has just been "sidegraded" into the wasteland of the company's research department. All of his years of hard work and assiduity, it's now clear, were for nought. Now that the raison d'être for his loyalty has been removed, he changes his habits and falls in love with Rinko, a part-time calligraphy teacher at a social centre run by an old friend. The friend calls Rinko "Ms. Print", as much for her straight character as for the squared off, "printed" style of her preferred calligraphy. Kuki and Rinko find in their affair an enthusiasm that Rinko, in her arranged marriage with a prominent doctor, and Kuki, in his stalled career and near non-existent relationship with his wife and now-married daughter, have long been missing. But along with their new excitement is fear. Fear of where their affair is leading them. And as their assignations evolve into overnight stays in hotels and an increased reluctance to return to their respective "worlds", the fear intensifies. Rinko's husband has her followed. He confronts her with photographic evidence of her infidelity and a vow never to agree to a divorce. Rinko's mother, enraged, says she no longer has a daughter. Informed of the affair by Rinko's husband, Kuki's employer orders him to accept a transfer to an affiliate. Instead Kuki resigns. An old friend of Kuki's tells him, "If all you do is grow old and die, just make sure you do what you want before then." Kuki takes the advice to heart but there is always a certain fear.