01x06 - Umeboshi and Plum Wine

[bunniefuu]

When people finish their day and hurry home, my day starts.

My diner opens from midnight to seven in the morning.

They call it "Midnight Diner."

PORK MISO SOUP COMBO BEER, SAKE, SHOCHU That's all I have on my menu.

But I make whatever customers request as long as I have ingredients for it.

That's my policy.

Do I even have customers?

More than you would expect.

MIDNIGHT DINER: TOKYO STORIES SOUR PLUM & PLUM WINE

That's so annoying.

I love this.

Dark beer? It's black cider.

A friend in Toyama sent it to me.

It's soy-sauce based with some pepper. It's good.

Thank you.

How do you make a living by selling these things?

Not so bad.

What do you do during the winter?

I sell some other stuff.

Are you okay, boss?

I'm okay.

What was wrong with him?

He didn't look so sharp.

Welcome.

This is unusual.

Here on a week night?

I can't sleep.

Shochu on the rocks, please.

Anything to eat?

Just... sour plum.

Just one?

Two.

Here you go.

Thank you.

Mr. Hoshino owns a produce store in this neighborhood.

All the vegetables I use here, I buy from him.

It's just not right.

What isn't?

You bought this plum from my store, didn't you?

Yes. It's Nankobai from Kishu.

Even if you use the same plums, they're just not the same.

What's the matter?

My mother's sour plums finally ran out.

I ate all of them.

I see.

When did she... pass away?

Almost four years ago.

That long?

I knew they would run out someday if I kept eating them every day.

But when I'm drinking alone at home, I just get awfully lonely.

I can't help eating one, or two.

That's because I lived with my mother for a long time.

I pickle the plums myself every year.

But they just won't turn out like my mother's.

Only your mother knows... just how much salt to use.

The perfect amount.

It's very important.

When the sour plums ran out, it really sank in that she was gone.

That I really am alone now.

These days...

I feel that time passes faster than before.

Master, just one more.

Are you sure? You must wake up early tomorrow.

Yes. Wake up at 4:30.

Here you go.

Was the produce store owner hospitalized?

Early stage diabetes.

He has to be in the hospital for two weeks.

Did you pay him a visit? Yeah.

The owner of Kotodama knew his hospital.

Since his mother passed away, I bet he didn't eat too well.

He never helped with chores.

He said he feels like he's paying for all the time he was being lazy now.

Take care.

Mr. Hoshino.

Done with today's tests?

Mr. Hoshino?

An elderly woman always sat there at this time of the day.

Why isn't she here today?

She was discharged from the hospital.

Why do we eat tokoroten with a chopstick?

Is this some kind of superstition?

I'm not sure, but this is supposed to be the most fashionable way to eat it.

In the old days, they ate it with a long toothpick like eating sweets.

In Kansai Region, they eat it with brown sugar syrup.

Welcome.

Hello.

Master, thank you for visiting me at the hospital.

We all were worried about you. How's your diabetes?

It's under control.

But recently I can't sleep well.

It has been extremely hot, that's why.

Well, that's one reason, but...

You see someone die in the hospital every day.

I couldn't help thinking about myself at night and got uneasy.

I have no family.

I must wonder who will take care of my stuff after I die.

When we die, we die.

Don't worry about what happens afterwards.

Why don't you get married?

Find someone who is tough enough to outlive you.

I can't take this. What are you talking about?

After I die... all the p*rn DVDs I have stored away will be found.

Then throw them away. You are not a teenager anymore.

That's not easy.

Some are very rare items.

Listen Master, if you came to my store and found me dead... will you sneak into my house and throw them away secretly?

What?

You're single, too. You understand, right?

Let's conclude a gentlemen's agreement.

Master, please. I beg you.

That's stupid.

You can't get rid of your worldly passions until you die, huh?

Please open it.

Who are you?

Please open it.

Please let me in.

Yoichi...

Mother?

Please open it.

Yoichi... please let me in.

Mother, you are dead.

I'm dead. That's why I'm asking you.

Please let me in.

Please.

Mother, please rest in peace.

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

Yes.

I will take this.

Isn't it damaged?

This one, huh?

Every night in the last few days, while I am asleep, my dead mother comes and calls me.

"Please open it."

"Please let me in."

She talks to me.

Boss, you must have been dreaming.

If I recite Buddhist scriptures, under the blanket... she becomes sad and says, "Please let me in.

"I forgot something."

Forgot something?

She may be still keeping her secret savings.

I agree. She is worried about it.

I don't think so.

She put her entire fortune in a bag and gave it to me before she d*ed.

Why don't you let her in?

But...

Even if she is my mother, she is a ghost.

There is a line that shouldn't be crossed.

Good evening. Welcome.

I thought that it might be ready.

I mean your plum wine. You are right.

Your plum wine? Yes.

I make a big bottle of it every year.

Summer is hot and I don't like it.

But I can enjoy his plum wine.

Who wants some?

It's a year old, the perfect age.

Yes!

Is your heart okay? It's not working.

So she is worried about this, huh?

My mother also made plum wine whenever she salted plums.

She loved it.

I thought that she had finished it all.

Want a glass? No, thanks.

I don't want to upset your mother. Don't worry.

I offered a glass of it at the altar. Besides... today is the anniversary of my mother's death.

Please have some in her memory.

Okay.

I'll have just one glass.

Then me, too.

Then can I have, too?

I love Master's, this one is also flavorful, but mild at the same time.

That's how they consumed all of it after making an excuse.

On that night...

Yoichi...

Yoichi...

Yoichi...

So it wasn't the plum wine?

If it's not the plum wine, then what else could it be?

His mother wants to take him.

If he crosses the Styx, he will be dead.

What's this about?

The produce store owner.

A spirit of his dead mother shows up every night and he can't sleep.

I see. Does she have something to regret?

We can't figure it out.

Because of my trade, I've seen a lot of ways to die.

Die happily with nothing to regret?

It's rare. Many have something to regret.

But you all sound very unscientific.

She forgot something and wants to come in, right?

Then it must be in the house.

If that's the case, he should search the house thoroughly.

But that's not easy to do. Yes.

Wait. We have a professional household searcher here.

Without libido, we are no longer men.

But at the same time, it can be a hassle.

It's not easy being a man.

This is as precious as a national treasure.

Wait.

What is this?

And found something?

What is it?

What the...?

Shunga, another name for Ukiyoe artwork on human Eros.

Also called Funny Pictures, used as a talisman to protect someone from evil.

In the old custom, it was given to a bride as an educational material to prevent her from being surprised on her bridal night.

I think my mother brought these with her when she got married.

This must be it.

As soon as we found them, I took them to our family temple for the service.

Then her ghost never came back.

Why did she remember them now long after her death?

That's because her son was worried about his p*rn DVDs.

That must have reminded her about her own.

My mother is like me.

She can't throw away anything.

It's our frugal mentality.

She was worried about you.

Your mother. She saw you acting so lonely.

So, she came back to urge you to find someone.

Whether she is in the afterlife or in this world, she is your parent.

And you are always her son.

Have a drink, everyone.

It's on me today.

Lucky us.

Hello.

Welcome.

You look great.

Luckily, yes.

I'm Okubo, the nurse.

Right. Thank you for taking care of me.

I didn't recognize you without your nurse uniform.

People tell me that a lot.

How are you feeling?

As you can see, I've gotten much better like I was born a new person.

What brings you here today?

I wanted to see your store.

Really? All the way to see the store?

I have been worried about you.

Any recommendations?

Right. How about some okra?

Give me one. Just one?

Then two. Two.

Here you go.

Salt determines the flavor of sour plum.

If you use coarse salt with bittern, not table salt, it enhances the umami flavor in the plum.

The plums in plum wine can be eaten as is.

You can also make jam and jelly out of it.

That's it.

Good night.

Yoichi...

You can rest in peace now.

I've found someone special.

Nice to meet you.

I will take care of his health.

I will take over making sour plums.

And...

I'll take good care of your Shunga. Mother.

Rest in peace. Rest in peace.

THIS STORY IS FICTION