The small fishing town smelled like undried cement, instead of fish, calling it, “a town whose young men were over-hunted.” April 2010, in the blooming cherry-blossom. Ninagawa Sumimura living in Kyoto, a movie producer, decides to run for mayor in the small town in Shikoku, Japan. The town has flourished with bonito fishing for the last 50 years, but now, there’s nothing left. There are no young men. They all run away just after graduation from high school, as there a...more

The small fishing town smelled like undried cement, instead of fish, calling it, “a town whose young men were over-hunted.” April 2010, in the blooming cherry-blossom. Ninagawa Sumimura living in Kyoto, a movie producer, decides to run for mayor in the small town in Shikoku, Japan. The town has flourished with bonito fishing for the last 50 years, but now, there’s nothing left. There are no young men. They all run away just after graduation from high school, as there are no jobs for them to live on. Instead, there is a splendid police station building, and there will be a more splendid government official buildings too. His opponents are two candidates taking advantage of local construction companies. Campaigning, he questions “why should there be a new government building” and “who on earth, wants the building” when the town’s debt is already huge. His campaign confronts the stinky conspiracy of local builders teamed with a young candidate. Six days of campaigning ends and very expectable result and the most unexpected result is waiting for him.less