The Milkwoman (2005)
Minako (TANAKA Yuko), begins her day running up and down the hills of her hometown delivering milk door to door. When that's done, she heads to her day job as a supermarket cashier. Minako is 50 and single. In one of the houses to which she delivers milk is a man with whom she has secretly been in love since high school. The man, Keita (KISHIBE Ittoku), lives with his wife Yoko, who is terminally ill. Caring for her at home, he works in the children's affairs section of the local municipal office. Though he insists that he wants nothing more than an "ordinary" existence, his life is in turmoil below the surface. The director uses a variety of narrative devises to portray the loneliness, isolation, and hope of these people who have seemingly allowed their goals and dreams to slip away, whilst keeping them agonizingly close to hand.
Director: Akira Ogata
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Yuko Tanaka as Minako Oba |
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Ittoku Kishibe as Kaita Takanashi |
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Akiko Nishina as Yoko Takanashi |
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Koichi Ueda as Masao Minagawa |
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Teruyuki Kagawa as Manager of Super Market |
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Ippei Souda as Milk Shop Owner |
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Hazuki Kōzu as Nurse Watanabe |
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Rakuko Tane as Kimiko Ito |
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Erika Mabuchi as Mari Yoshida |
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Tatsuo Yamada as Yujiro Kawai |
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Yûrei Yanagi as Manager of Child Guidance Center |
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Sawa Suzuki as Chiyo Oba |
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Misako Watanabe as Toshiko Minagawa |
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Tarō Suwa as Gallery Owner |
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Den Fujita as Old Man at City Office |
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Tetta Sugimoto as Takanashi |
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Keisuke Horibe as |
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Noriko Eguchi as |
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Yosuke Ishii as |
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Kayako Okuda as |
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Nobuto Yamaguchi as |
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Hiroko Suwa as |
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Ryuzo Tanaka as |
| Directing | Akira Ogata | Director |
| Production | Shiro Oiwake | Producer |
| Production | Motohiro Hatanaka | Producer |
| Camera | Norimichi Kasamatsu | Director of Photography |
| Editing | Yōsuke Yafune | Editor |
| Sound | Masatoshi Yokomizo | Sound |
| Art | Hidefumi Hanatani | Art Direction |
| Sound | Shinichiro Ikebe | Original Music Composer |
| Production | Sawako Ohzu | Casting |
| Writing | Kenji Aoki | Writer |