Life Is Fruity

Life Is Fruity
Genre	documentary
Directed by	Kenshi Fushihara
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
Production
Producer	Tōkai Television Broadcasting
Running time	91 minutes
Original release
Release	January 2, 2017 (2017-01-02)

Life is fruity is a documentary film of Japanese characters released in 2017. It is directed by Kenshi Fushihara, produced by Katsuhiko Amuno, dubbed by Kiki Kirin, and photographed by Nobutaka Murata. The film was produced by Tokai Television Broadcast Company. The protagonist of the film is Shuichi Tsubata and his wife Eiko. This is a documentary film, which is mainly about the daily rural life of their husband and wife. This idyllic lifestyle has also sparked discussions in various sectors of society about the lifestyle choices of the main characters. Life is fruity was premiered in Japan on November 6, 2016, and it was toured nationwide in theatres in Kanto, Hokkaido-Northeast, Central, Kinki, and Okinawa. Books of the same name were also published in 2016.

Plot

In Kasugai City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, there is a glimpse of the woods and a beautiful log cabin in the Kasugai New Village. It is the home of 90-year-old Shuichi and 87-year-old Eiko. Shuichi, an architect who loves sailing, came here with Eiko to realize his rural life with his wife. He built a wooden house for her and planted a vegetable garden orchard. Shuichi thinks that if a person wants to live well and can't stay away from trees, he planted 180 trees on the west side of the log house. In his field, they planted more than 50 kinds of fruits and more than 70 kinds of vegetables. They have lived in this place for more than 40 years.

Shuichi, the captain of the sailboat more than 60 years ago, took the team and lived in Eiko's house because he had no money, so the two people met each other. Eiko at the time was the only daughter of a 200-year-old wine shop owner. At that time, Shuichi is a poor boy, Eiko remembers the old trousers and sandals that Shuichi wore. In that cold winter, they got married and didn't have a wedding. Shuichi always wanted to buy a sailboat worth 700,000 yen, but his monthly salary was only 40,000 yen. One day, he told Eiko about this idea. Eiko began to find ways to help her husband achieve this wish. Then she completely canceled the insurance, and the things that were valuable at home were taken to the pawn shop by her. Shuichi is unaware of it. Eiko said that this kind of thing can't tell him. Although their economy was relatively tight afterwards, Eiko believed that the quality of the diet should be maintained. She continued insist on buying the freshest ingredients in local high-end department stores.

After the migration, they insisted on self-sufficiency and lived together to care for the fruits and vegetables. Two hundred pings of vegetable land were divided into 21 pieces, each of which is planted with different ingredients, and is surrounded by fruit trees. Cabbage, eggplant, cucumber, strawberry, cherry, plum, persimmon, fig, small tangerine... they are watered and fertilized every day. They also prepared water tanks for birds to bathe and drink.Shuichi writes dozens of letters a day to people who have never met and gives them encouragement. Eiko also makes a variety of meals and desserts. Sometimes, she cured the fruits and vegetables and puts them in glass jars, sorts them and labels them and give as a present to friends.

One day the architect Shuichi received a letter of help from a mental hospital. It is mentioned that the hospital recently wanted to build new facilities. Most of their patients are people who have experienced social tempering and lost their self in the overwork. The hospital hopes that Shuichi will be able to help them save these patients. In his last days, Shuichi refused all the gratitude and design costs and replied: This is the happiest job for me in my life. Please feel free to discuss the details with me. There must be good things happening.

During the time when Shuichi and Eiko lived in the pastoral life, there were many people who wanted to interview and contact them. However, Shuichi refused these requests and said: "I don't have much time left, I want to enjoy it myself."

One afternoon in June of 2015, Shuichi took care of the field and took a nap as usual. Then he never woke up again. Eiko was wearing a black dress and sitting next to Shuichi. There was still a smile on her face and tears in her smile. She whimpered to Shuichi and said: Rest assured, the rest of the day, I will live alone, will you feel lonely there? don't worry, I will come with you soon, waiting for me. In the days that followed, Eiko looked lonely, but she did what Shuichi did on weekdays. She takes care of the fields by herself, watering the vegetables and fertilizing them. She still does the cola potato cake that Shuichi loves, silently guarding her and Shuichi's home.

Actor

Name	Introduction
Shuichi Tsubata	Born on January 3, 1925. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, he entered a Japanese housing company through an architectural design office. He has participated in numerous urban planning projects. He was a professor at Hiroshima University and a freelance critic.
Eiko Tsubata	Shuichi’s wife. Born on January 18, 1928. She grew up in a long-established Sake shop in Handa, Aichi Prefecture. She married Shuichi at the age of 27 and raised her two daughters. She likes time-consuming manual work such as fieldwork, cooking, knitting and weaving.

Producer

Main article: Kirin Kiki

Name	Introduction
Kiki Kirin	Born on January 15, 1943, died on September 15, 2018. Born in Tokyo, Japan, she is a famous Japanese actress and voice actor. In 1973, she married the singer Yuya Uchida, and her representative works include "Akunin", "Even If You Walk and Walk", "After the Storm", etc. And she won the Best Actress of the Japan Film Academy Awards many times. In this documentary, Kiki Kirin acts as a narrator.
Kenshi Fushihara	Born in 1969. He graduated from the Law Department of Rikkyo University and joined the to Tokai TV Station in 1993. He served as the editor-in-chief of the Department of Public Information. In this film, he served as the director.

Issued

Production company

The film was produced by Tokai Television Broadcasting Company, Limited.

Release area

Release Information

Area	Release Date
Japan	2 January 2017
Japan	3 June 2017 ( Urayasu Documentary Film Festival )
Taiwan	10 November 2017
USA	22 March 2018 ( CineMatsuri )

Process

The production process of the documentary includes pre-planning, mid-term shooting and later editing. Documentary creation is a long-term tracking process. Before the filming begins, it need to fully contact to the protagonist and become familiar with each other. This process is called “pre-collection”. Before shoot of Life is fruity, director Kenshi Fushihara visited the protagonist Shuichi Tsubata several times. After he wrote four letters to Shuichi, the couple finally agreed to shoot.

In the mid-term shooting process, the director will form an approximate process in his mind according to the previous planning. The authenticity of the documentary makes it full of uncertainty. Life is fruity is a daily life record for Shuichi and Eiko. This includes their three meals a day and various activities.

The editing of the documentary is the most important part of from material to the film. The documentary clips are arranged in a montage language to form the final work. The clip is divided into many parts. The editing of the video needs to be combined with the material prepared in advance. The editor will clip the video according to what the director wants to express. At the same time, the sound design needs to be synchronized with the video. There may be multiple sounds in one space, and how to balance these sounds is also an editor's attention. In the process of mixing, editor need to adjust the volume of different sounds. On

the other hand, color adjusting is also part of the editing. There is a color imbalance at the shooting scene, and the editor needs to modulation the color to a same level.

Life Migration

Life immigration is a way of transforming lifestyle in contemporary society. People choose to migrate in search of a better lifestyle. The lifestyle of the Shuici and Eiko couples in the film has also caused discussion in various circles of society. Some studies have responded to this behavior of leaving the city to choose rural life. Studies have shown that living in the countryside is good for the health of the human body, where the air is good, greatly reducing the risk of respiratory diseases. With the advancement of society, the pressure on modern people has become heavier. According to research, rural areas are envisioned as ideal destinations for life immigrants. People will have a feeling of returning to a simple, beautiful life. The pressure will also be released to a certain extent. In this film, Shuichi participated as an architect in the new town planning 50 years ago. He wants to build a house that is close to nature. However, his plan was rejected for economic reasons. In order to realize his dream, Shuichi quit his job and took his wife to a new town. There he built the ideal building in his mind to coexist with nature. But the gap between the rich and the poor in rural and urban areas is also a reality problem. Professor Andy Jones, professor of public health at the University of East Anglia points out that ultimately people’s life is based on a variety of personal choices, including work, economics, health and lifestyle.

Repercussions

Re released

This event is presented by The Japan Foundation Los Angeles and supported by JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles. Encore screening held in Los Angeles, USA on September 29, 2018.

Evaluation

Life is Fruity, which won the Kinema Jumpo Award for Best Film of the Year (Cultural Section). After the film was released, it was well received. People living under pressure will look forward to the couple's lifestyle in the film. Conversely, for people who like the rhythm of urban life, Life is Fruity may be more boring than it is. In addition, the film uses a single piano playing mode throughout the soundtrack. For those who like rhythm or passionate soundtracks, they will be bored because they have no ups and downs.

Life is Fruity screens at the Toronto Japanese Film Festival on Sat, June 9 at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre at 6 Garamond Court.

According to the review of Asian movie pulse, Eiko’s days after Shuichi’s death are obviously full of sorrow. Because the audience watched her continue to prepare meals for Shuichi every day, and lived without her husband's life. However, director Fushihara did not make the film like a melodrama. But whether they use a cheerful or appropriate soundtrack, or avoiding any kind of tear-jerking scenes, these scenes will inevitably still appear. Shigeru Okada has a done a very nice job on the editing of the different footage, retaining a speed and a succession of events in the past and the present that make the film a rather entertaining experience, despite the relatively “slowness” that permeates it. “Life is Fruity” is a very sensitive and thorough documentary that presents an alternative, but also very Japanese way of life of two people, whose lives are more than worthy of taking a look at.

External links

• Life Is Fruity at IMDb