Hotaru-gawa

It is the winter of 1962 in Toyama. Ninth grader Takio Mizushima spends his days struggling with burgeoning love for his friend and classmate Eiko Tsujisawa, while high school entrance exams are fast approaching. Takio's best friend steals a picture of Eiko. Meanwhile, debt collectors are harassing Takio's family. His father, Shigeru, ran several businesses after the war and enjoyed prosperity, but has fallen on hard times. His current wife, Chiyo, was once a popular geisha. Shigeru and Chiyo had an affair, and she became pregnant with Takio. Shigeru then abandoned his first wife, Harue, to marry Chiyo. Harue has become a successful innkeeper in the years since.