Houhokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun (My Neighbors the Yamadas)

GINGER MORNING

Miso soup is good with ginger, but they say that ginger makes you forgetful.

Shige notices Noboru left behind his school pack, but he'll be back, he can't be that forgetful. Noboru comes running back into the house. He dressed and left his pajamas on underneath his clothes.

Noboru comes back running a second time with Takashi not far behind. Both left the house with mismatched shoes.

Nonoko leaves for school and leaves her lunch behind. Shige offers to drop it off at school; after all, she needs to do some shopping.

When Shige leaves, Matsuko notices Shige's purse on the table. She runs outside hoping to catch up with her, but realizes she left the stove on. A deliveryman stops by to find the Yamada's door has been left unlocked. Matsuko returns home to find the stove is not on, but in her haste she has tracked mud all over the floor. She forgets to stamp the receipt, but the deliveryman reminds her of it. She struggles to find her seal, and the deliveryman has to remind her which drawer it is in.

Shige comes back from Nonoko's school only to realize she never did her shopping.

Matsuko used too much ginger.

REGRET

A passing neighbor hears Mahler from the Yamadas household and is surprised at Matsuko's musical taste; she didn't realize Matsuko liked classical music. Matsuko is in reality dozing while the radio is on.

ART IS BRIEF, LIFE IS LONG

Matsuko and Shige walk between blossoming cherry trees. Shige remarks sadly that not many blossom seasons are left for her. Matsuko tells her she should still have a few; she is after all, only 70. "You are right, I should have about 30 left still" is Shige's response.

Matsuko asks Shige to make sure she hands the tax envelope to the clerk. She however absentmindedly drops it in the mail after she finishes gossiping with a friend.

Shige goes to the hospital to visit a sick friend. Her friend is very animated, and updates Shige on all the hospital gossip: A patient seems to be having an affair with her visitor; the room where a corrupt government official is staying is pointed out. She gives a review of the cafeteria food (pretty good) and the coffee served there (lousy).

But, eventually, when Shige asks her the reason for her being here, she breaks down and cries.

No sign of Deaths approach
In the cicadas voices
-Basho

Shige is reading in the dark. Matsuko walks into the room and turns the light on. In his room Noboru is asleep at his desk. Matsuko walks in and turns his light off.

AGE COMES MORE EASILY THAN WISDOM

Noboru becomes sleepy when he starts studying. His Mom recommends he take a hot bath. In the meantime she fixes him a snack. Noboru wakes up in the water and feels alive and strong. As soon as he steps out of the tub and goes back to study he is sleepy again. His Mom comes in with a tray of food and finds him asleep.

Noboru takes an exam at school. When the exam time is over, Noboru gets up and tells an exasperated teacher that they should get make up time since Tanaka felt sick he needed to be taken the nurse's station. The teacher tells him to forget it.

Noboru is studying very, very hard. He failed his exam because he didn't study before. Now he needs to study after.

Noboru is not doing well at school. A family conference is held and the suggestion to pay a tutor comes up. Father offers to tutor when he finds out the amount is $300, Grandma offers to tutor for $200, Noboru runs into the family room: for $100 he will simply study harder.

Fleeting dreams
An octopus making its home in a trap
A summer moon
-Basho

Nonoko finds Noboru coming home with a box of chocolates. He claims he received them from a girlfriend as a Valentine's Day gift. She does not believe him.

ADOLESCENCE

Noboru is upset to find a box of cookies he bought is empty. Nonoko admits to eating them. "It was for a girl!" he says. Mom also ate some of the cookies: she had half the box.

Noboru is at school and gets caught in the rain without his umbrella. A girl he likes offers him her umbrella, but not because she likes him. She wishes another boy to offer her use of HIS umbrella. The second boy however is unmoved by her situation. She goes back to Noboru to get her umbrella back. Noboru is upset at this point; he refuses to give it to her. As they fight, two students passing by think it is a lover's spat.

A student senior to Noboru comes back to the school to brag to a teacher he was able to get into college. The teacher, however, refuses to believe it.

Another student invites Noboru and his friend to go to the bookstore to get "dirty" books. He is very loud about it.

At the bookstore Noboru is looking at the "dirty" books shelf. A girl walks by, and he pretends to be looking at a different book. She sees the title "Tragedy in Bosnia" and remarks that she did not know he was so deep and serious: could she borrow the book once he is done with it?

Noboru comes back home from the bookstore. His Mom wishes to see the title of the book he is obviously hiding: F-1 Racing for Students. She is not happy about his choice, but, after all, he remarks "it's your fault for starting me with Power Rangers ABC when I was three."

Noboru receives a telephone call from his girlfriend. His Mom and Grandma try to eavesdrop, and once the call is over they listen and even comment on his heart rate. Noboru runs to his room seemingly very upset, but in reality he is enraptured.

The scent of plums
On a mountain path
Suddenly dawn
-Basho