FAQ

It's a Japanese-language version of The Rose, by Bette Midler.

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Remember earlier in the movie, when Taeko's classmates wrote her and Hirota's names on a wall, with same arrow between them? It is "Ai ai gasa" - "Love love umbrella" or "Together umbrella", the Japanese equivalent of a heart with the couple's names written in it.

It takes place in 1982, while the flashbacks take place in 1966.

Imported fruit was rare and expensive in Japan during the 60s. Back then it was cheaper to purchase canned fruit than to purchase a whole fruit. So it wasn't really that common for most Japanese to see a whole pineapple.

She was in such a hurry to leave the house, that she forgot to put on her shoes. That's forbidden in Japanese culture. Of course, that scene took place in 1966, so a parent probably wouldn't react that way today if he/she knows that the child didn't do it on purpose.