The film stars Tōru Shinagawa, Takako Tokiwa, Tokie Hidari, Takehiro Murata, Yutaka Matsushige, Shunsuke Kubozuka, Saki Terashima and Hirona Yamazaki.

The screenplay by Obayashi and Tadashi Naito was based on the story by Koji Hasegawa.

The director, Nobuhiko Obayashi, has referred to the film as "Guernica in moving images.

"[1] The film's story follows the funeral of Mitsuo Suzuki, where the family, including his sister Eiko; grandchildren Fuyuki, Haruhiko, Akito, Kanna; and his great-granddaughter Kasane[1] all meet to discuss his death.

Much of the film focuses on flashbacks to Suzuki's youth, and covers the history of the town of Ashibetsu during the 1930s.