Uta Makura

“In the 10th century, Sei Shonagon, lady-in-waiting to the Japanese empress, took notes on life at court. For the sake of discretion, she carefully concealed these poems under her pillow, hence their title “Poems to a pillow”. Likewise, this film is a small collection of observations on modern-day Japan: from zen pebble gardens to the notes of the shamisen, from kimono-clad outings to drives to MacDonald’s, from bicycle ballets to the kids from Kyoto” (Vivian Ostrovsky).