Additional information
Shou`s father Norio finds his son in a rather meaningless existence in Tokyo
dominated by alcohol and porn videos. Having left home two years earlier to
pursue life as a musician, Shou has left his band and his girlfriend has left
him. His father asks a favor, that Shou clean out the apartment of his aunt
Matsuko, who he says led a meaningless life until her murder at the age of
53. The apartment is filled with garbage bags and is even more unkempt than
his apartment has become, and he becomes intrigued with his aunt as
details of her life are supplied by a tattooed neighbor and others. Her feelings
of neglect by her father Tsunehiro, who favored her chronically ill younger
sister, Kumi, translated into becoming a dutiful junior high school teacher
devoted to her students until being forced to resign after being blamed for the
theft of some money by one of them. Leaving her family due to the disgrace,
she has a series of affairs with lovers who physically abuse her and does a
stint as a massage parlor girl due to her beauty. After her pimp lover dumps
her and gives her share of earnings to his new lover, they argue, she kills
him and then leaves by train and contemplates suicide. Dissuaded by a
lonely barber, she happily sets out to build a life until the police come to
charge her with murder. Upon her release from prison she silently slips
away
when she finds the barber has started a new family. She becomes a
`Yakusa
Girl` rationalizing it is better to be on the run with a mobster than be alone.
However, her mobster lover rejects her after a term in prison and she
becomes an eccentric recluse. Shou concludes that his aunt fulfilled his ex-
girlfriend`s parting comment about giving to others rather than expecting to
receive.
