The Zen Diary

An essayist has found peace in the life he built alone on the mountain. His days pass with the soil, the season and the food he cooks. That order is broken now and then by visits from Machiko, his editor, and there is a closeness between them. One thing he has not settled: he still cannot let go of his late wife’s ashes. The film says that grief does not end in a day but walks along with the seasons. Preparing food stands inside the account like a ceremony, and it is what carries time. Life in the mountains of Nagano sets the rhythm of the film. Kenji Sawada and Takako Matsu appear in Yuji Nakae’s hundred and twelve minute Japanese film, completed in 2022.