It is an adaptation of the book Narayama bushikō by Shichirō Fukazawa[1] and slightly inspired by the 1958 film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita.

Both films explore the legendary practice of ubasute, in which elderly people were carried to a mountain and abandoned to die.

According to tradition, once a person reaches the age of 70, he or she must travel to a remote mountain to die of starvation, a practice known as ubasute.

However, she notes that a neighbor had to drag his father to the mountain, so she resolves to avoid clinging to life beyond her term.

Interspersed between episodes in the film are brief vignettes of nature—birds, snakes, and other animals hunting, watching, singing, copulating, or giving birth.