The Taste of Tea (2004)
"Cha no aji" (original title)

A spell of time in the life of a family living in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Though her husband is busy working at an office, Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead ... See full summary »

Director:

Katsuhito Ishii

Writer:

Katsuhito Ishii

Stars:

Maya Banno, Takahiro Sato, Tadanobu Asano

16 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Maya Banno	...	Sachiko Haruno - daughter
Takahiro Sato	...	Hajime Haruno - son
Tadanobu Asano	...	Ayano Haruno - uncle
Satomi Tezuka	...	Yoshiko Haruno - mother
Tatsuya Gashûin	...	Akira Todoroki - grandpa
Tomoko Nakajima	...	Akira Terako
Ikki Todoroki	...	Himself
Tomokazu Miura	...	Nobuo Haruno - father
Anna Tsuchiya	...	Aoi Suzuishi
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Saki Aibu	...	Hotaru
Hideaki Anno	...	Kasugabe
Keisuke Horibe	...	Man in Noodle Shop
Ryo Kase	...	Rokutaro Hamadayama
Rinko Kikuchi	...	(as Yuriko Kikuchi)
Kirin Kin	...	Grandma

Storyline

A spell of time in the life of a family living in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Though her husband is busy working at an office, Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project at home. Uncle Ayano has recently arrived, looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo for several years. Meanwhile, Yoshiko's daughter Sachiko is mainly concerned with why she seems to be followed around everywhere by a giant version of herself.

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Plot Keywords:

drink in title | new kid | horizontal bar | go | loss of grandfather | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official Site [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

20 April 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

The Taste of Tea

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aoi Promotion, Grasshoppa

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min 143 min 143 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

User Reviews

An ordinary Japanese family full of extraordinary people.

A truly beautiful film full of wonderful imagery and comic moments that made the almost 2 and a half hours fly past. It really needs to be seen in a cinema where you can totally integrate yourself in the atmosphere and you feel like a fly on the wall, watching the family and their situations without interrupting their flow. Visually nature plays a huge role, not just the human side of it (which is simple and uncomplicated) but the countryside, the river, the wind, the cherry blossoms, the rain etc etc. It really is beautifully filmed and the characters are all very touching, very funny and very normal really (except perhaps the psychedelic singing uncle),in their own quirky little ways. There isn't a real story line, we just follow the family over a seemingly short period of time. Some moments in the film may seem relevant and some may not, but they all do seem to fit in somewhere along the way and they are all such a pleasure to watch. I came out of the cinema feeling as though my karma was on a high and I still do.