Kakekomi

In nineteenth century Japan, women beaten by their husbands and by the men they live with have one way out: taking refuge at the Tokeiji temple in Kamakura. A woman who reaches it and stays a set length of time earns the right to a divorce. The film tells the stories of several women who come to the temple and of the people who help them. The account presents divorce not as a scandal but as the only legal door women could find. There is humour in it too, because life at the temple is full of rules and odd particulars. Erika Toda and Hikari Mitsushima appear in Masato Harada’s hundred and forty six minute Japanese film, completed in 2015.