Aristocrats
あのこは貴族
The Moonlight essay
CinemaAristocrats, and the Two Tokyos That Share an AddressRead the essayStoryline
The whole story, ending included.
A Tokyo heiress and a provincial striver share one man and discover they are not rivals.
Hanako Haibara, the third daughter of a doctor's family in Shoto, one of Tokyo's wealthiest districts, is twenty-seven and has never wanted for anything. When her fiancé breaks it off just before the family's New Year dinner, her family presses her into a round of arranged introductions. At last her brother-in-law introduces her to Koichiro Aoki, a handsome lawyer from a distinguished family. He is courteous, he proposes, and she accepts. That night she sees a woman's name on his phone: Miki Tokioka.
Miki came to Tokyo from a fishing town in Toyama and won a place at Keio University, where she and her friend Rie felt the line between themselves and the students who thought nothing of paying 5,000 yen for afternoon tea. When her father lost his job she worked as a hostess to pay her fees, and in the end had to leave. Koichiro, who once borrowed her lecture notes and never gave them back, turned up at her club, and they have been sleeping together, casually, for years. She now works in events planning.
Hanako's friend Itsuko, a violinist who meets Miki at a party, brings the two women together. Miki had not known about the engagement. Without rancour she ends things with Koichiro, and plans a business with Rie, who has come back from Toyama.
Hanako's marriage turns out to be a role. Her mother-in-law presses for an heir and sends her to a fertility clinic. After his grandfather's death Koichiro gives up the law, without asking her, to become secretary to his uncle, a politician, and laughs at her for growing vegetables. On the way home from the clinic Hanako spots Miki in the street and follows her to her flat, where she sees a Tokyo she never knew. Miki tells her that wherever a person is born there are great days and days to cry over, and what matters is having someone to tell. Hanako talks honestly with Koichiro, who says he is only following the path his family laid down, and she divorces him. A year later, working as Itsuko's manager, she meets him again at a concert. He is struck by how alive she looks, and they exchange a few calm words and smiles.
Starring
Mugi Kadowakias Hanako Haibara
The third daughter of a wealthy Tokyo doctor's family, who marries into an old family and finds herself cast in a role.
Hanako Haibara’s story
Hanako is twenty-seven and has never wanted for anything. When her fiancé breaks it off before the family's New Year dinner, she goes through the introductions her family arranges until her brother-in-law presents Koichiro. She accepts his proposal and, that night, sees Miki's name on his phone. Itsuko brings the two women together, and Hanako goes ahead with the wedding. Marriage is a set of duties: a mother-in-law pressing for an heir, a fertility clinic, a husband who leaves the law to work for his uncle, a politician, without asking her. Walking home from the clinic, she follows Miki to her flat and sees a Tokyo she never knew. She talks to Koichiro honestly and divorces him. A year later, managing Itsuko, she meets him at a concert, and he sees how alive she looks.
Kiko Mizuharaas Miki Tokioka
A woman from a Toyama fishing town who fought her way into Keio, had to leave for lack of money, and has made her own way.
Miki Tokioka’s story
At Keio, Miki and her friend Rie feel the line between themselves and students who think nothing of paying 5,000 yen for afternoon tea. One, Koichiro, borrows her notes and never returns them. When her father loses his job, she works in a hostess club to pay her fees, and has to leave. Koichiro walks into her club, and they become casual lovers for years. At twenty-five she moves into events planning. At a party she gives Itsuko her number on the back of Koichiro's card, and Itsuko brings her together with Hanako. Miki had not known of the engagement; unhurt, she ends it with Koichiro and plans a business with Rie. When Hanako follows her home, Miki says that what matters is having someone to tell about the great days and the days to cry over.
Kengo Koraas Koichiro Aoki
A lawyer from a distinguished family, engaged to Hanako while keeping up a long, casual affair with Miki.
Shizuka Ishibashias Itsuko Sagara
Hanako's friend, an unmarried violinist with no illusions about marriage, who brings Hanako and Miki together.
Rio Yamashitaas Rie Hirata
Miki's friend from Toyama and Keio, who comes back to Tokyo to start a business with her.
Why it matters
Aristocrats is about class in a country that prefers not to name it. Hanako's Tokyo of old schools, family dinners and introductions arranged by in-laws, and Miki's Tokyo of hostess clubs, fees and rented rooms, touch only through a man who belongs to one and makes use of the other. What the film quietly refuses is the rivalry the story seems to set up. The two women meet, do not fight over Koichiro, and each in her own way stops living around him. It shows marriage at the top as a role with duties attached, an heir and a political career among them, and friendship between women as what lets both step out of the parts they were given. What it leaves open is how far anyone can really leave the world she was born into.