Sion Sono	...	(Director)
Minoru Furuya, Sion Sono	...	(Writer)
Shôta Sometani	...	Yuichi
Fumi Nikaidô	...	Keiko
Tetsu Watanabe	...	Shozo
Mitsuru Fukikoshi	...	Keita tamura
Megumi Kagurazaka	...	Keiko tamura
Ken Mitsuishi	...	Sumida's father
Makiko Watanabe	...	Sumida's mother
Asuka Kurosawa	...
Denden	...	Kaneko
Jun Murakami	...	Tanimura
Yôsuke Kubozuka	...	Teruhiko
Yuriko Yoshitaka	...	Miki
Takahiro Nishijima	...	You
Anne Suzuki	...	Waitress
Yûko Genkaku	...
Tomohide Harada	...	Composer
Sôhei Tanikawa	...	Cinematographer
Jun'ichi Itô	...	Editor
Moto Fuyuki	...	Tetsu

Comments: Sono has a way of making over-acting look interesting. He does kids way better than adults. That is a fact. Even though this film is a bit disjointed it hits some very fine marks. The two teen leads are decent enough, the adults are cardboard cutouts and kind of silly. The hopefulness he tries to achieve only gets applause because he tries for it, not because there is any hope in the movie. This is way better than Cold Fish and a little better than Guilty of Romance. Welcome back from hell, Shion.

Summary: Set after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, all 14-year-old Yuichi Sumida (Shota Sometani) wants to become is a regular boy and live a decent life. His environment though repeatedly drags him into the mud. He runs his parent's rental boat business, which is located next to a nondescript lake. His mother frequently comes home with different men and soon she leaves him entirely. His father only comes around looking for money. Whenever Yuichi's father is drunk he tells Yuichi "I wish you were dead."

Keiko Chazawa (Fumi Nikaido) is a classmate of Yuichi Sumida. She harbors a severe crush on Yuichi. Keiko's home life isn't much better than Yuichi's. Her mother builds a gallows with a noose in place for Keiko to take her own life. Her mother believes her life would be better off without Keiko.

Under these circumstances, Keiko pays a visit to Yuichi's home. A group of people are lingering nearyby who live in make shift tents on the property. Keiko tries to befriend Yuichi, but she is berated and even physically assaulted. She doesn't get deterred though and sticks around.

One day, the yakuza come by Yuichi's home. They look for Yuichi's father who is nowhere to be found. The men then tell Yuichi that he has to come up with 6 million Yen by tomorrow to pay off his father's debt. Yuichi already heartbroken by his mother's abandonment and abuse from his father nears a tipping point. A string of incidents then occurs that brings Yuichi's world to a screeching halt. Is there light at the end of the tunnel for Yuichi?
Notes

1. Movie is based on Minoru Furuya's manga "Himizu" (2001–2002, Young Magazine, Kodansha).
2. Title "Himizu" refers to a breed of moles found in Japan.
3. Director Sion Sono originally planned to make a straight movie adaptation of Minoru Furuya's manga, but following the Tohoku earthquake & tsunami adapted the story to fit into the post-Tohouku earthquake & tsunami Japan.