His
his
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
An ex-lover arrives with a daughter and a custody fight; gay fatherhood in rural Gifu.
Shun Igawa and Nagisa Hibino were together from their school days until the end of university, when Nagisa ended it: two men, he said, had no future. Eight years later Shun, now thirty, has quit his job in Tokyo and lives alone in the small town of Shirakawa in Gifu, growing his own food and keeping people at a distance so that no one will learn he is gay. Only Ogata, an old hunter nearby, quietly keeps an eye on him.
Then Nagisa turns up with his six-year-old daughter, Sora. He married Rena, an interpreter, when she became pregnant, looked after Sora while Rena worked, came out to her, and is now in divorce proceedings. Misato, from the town's relocation office, who is fond of Shun, helps them settle in. At Christmas Rena arrives and takes Sora home; Nagisa had brought her without permission. He tells Shun he married to convince himself he was not gay, and that he wanted Shun all along, and the two find their way back to each other. Back home, Rena, overwhelmed by work and the case, hits Sora and drinks, and Sora sets out alone to find her father; the police find her, and Nagisa brings her back. He takes a job at a pipe-organ workshop. Shun gently turns Misato down.
Sora sees the two men kiss and says so at the village hall. Shun, who was once outed by colleagues in Tokyo, braces for the worst, but Ogata takes him hunting and tells him to live openly. At Ogata's wake, Shun tells the villagers he is gay; one old villager says that at their age man or woman hardly matters, and the room eases. In court Rena's lawyer grills Shun and Misato, while Nagisa's lawyer shows that Rena cannot answer simple questions about her own daughter. Nagisa stops the case, apologises to Rena for what he did to her, and gives her custody, then weeps in Shun's arms. By early summer Rena, who has glimpsed her own mother's prejudice, has taught Sora to ride a bicycle and brings her to visit. Watching father and daughter, she admits she has never learned to ride one herself, and they all laugh.
Starring
Hio Miyazawaas Shun Igawa
A gay man who left Tokyo to live alone and hidden in a small Gifu town, until his former lover arrives.
Shun Igawa’s story
Shun spent five years with Nagisa until Nagisa ended it. After a colleague at his Tokyo company revealed his past, he moved to Shirakawa, where he grows his own food and keeps to himself. When Nagisa arrives with Sora, he takes them in reluctantly. At Christmas, after Rena takes Sora home, Nagisa tells him he wanted him all along, and they find their way back to each other. When Sora tells the village hall she saw the two men kiss, Shun braces himself, but Ogata takes him hunting and tells him to live openly. At Ogata's wake he tells the villagers he is gay, and an old man says that at their age it hardly matters. He holds Nagisa as he weeps after giving up custody, and in early summer laughs with them when Rena brings Sora to visit.
Kisetsu Fujiwaraas Nagisa Hibino
Shun's former lover, who married, became a father, came out to his wife, and turns up with his daughter.
Nagisa Hibino’s story
Nagisa left Shun at the end of university because, he said, two men had no future. He married Rena when she became pregnant, raised Sora while she worked and tried to believe marriage meant he was not gay, until he began seeing men and came out to her. In the middle of the divorce he takes Sora to Shun without telling Rena, and admits he wanted Shun all along. He finds work washing organ pipes, and fetches Sora from the police after she sets out alone to find him. In court his lawyer shows that Rena cannot answer simple questions about Sora; the case is his to win. He stops it, apologises to Rena for what he did to her, and gives her custody, then weeps in Shun's arms. In early summer Rena brings Sora to see him.
Wakana Matsumotoas Rena Hibino
Nagisa's wife, an interpreter who has earned the family's living and now fights him for custody of Sora.
Rena Hibino’s story
Rena married Nagisa when she became pregnant and went on working while he raised their daughter. After he tells her he is gay, she fights him for custody and at Christmas takes Sora back from Shun's house. Juggling irregular interpreting work and the case, she cannot cope: she hits Sora, is sneered at by her own mother when she asks for help, and drinks herself to sleep in the daytime, while Sora sets out alone to find her father. In court she cannot answer simple questions about her daughter, and Nagisa gives her custody. When she tells her mother to step back from Sora, she glimpses her mother's prejudice. On Nagisa's advice she teaches Sora to ride a bicycle, and in early summer brings her to visit, admitting that she has never learned to ride one herself.
Honoka Matsumotoas Misato Yoshimura
A town-hall worker who helps newcomers settle, is fond of Shun, and stands by him in court.
Sakura Sotomuraas Sora Hibino
Nagisa and Rena's six-year-old daughter, who adores her father and sees nothing strange in his love for Shun.
Keiichi Suzukias Ogata
An old hunter and neighbour who quietly looks out for Shun and tells him to live openly.
Why it matters
Rikiya Imaizumi's His is about what it takes for two men to raise a child together in a small Japanese town, and what that costs the child's mother. It follows Shun from hiding to coming out, and shows the village answering not with hostility but with the plain decency of neighbours. The custody case asks bluntly whether a gay father is fit to raise his daughter, then turns the question round: Nagisa's own selfishness towards his wife is also on trial, and he ends the case by apologising to her. The film continues a television drama about the two men's first love, and it earned Hio Miyazawa several newcomer awards. It leaves open, gently, what a family is when the people who love a child no longer love each other.