The best Sawa Suzuki’s family movies

Wasao, an Akita dog in Aomori Prefecture that became famous as an ugly-yet-cute dog from a traveller's blog. Heartwarming drama starring Wasao himself turns part of the life of this former stray into an original story. Setsuko, who runs a grilled-squid shop in a fishing village at the foot of the Shirakami mountains, decides to take in a large dog with a long, unruly fur that has shown up in town. She names the dog Wasao and showers it with affection, but Wasao at that time doesn't take to Setsuko.

Taishi lives with his father Kazushi. His mother left home when Taishi was very young and he barely has any memories of her. He believes that his mother left home to study in Paris. His favorite moments come once a week when he receives a letter from his mother. But one day, during Taishi's summer vacation, he learns that his mother isn't in Paris but in Shodoshima, Japan. Taishi then decides to take his pet dog with him and bicycle from his hometown of Yokohama all the way to Shodoshima. On his 500 kilometers trip to Shodoshima, Taishi meets various peoples and touches their hearts, while leaving behind small miracles. What Taishi doesn't know about his mother is that she suffers from memory loss and that's why she lives apart from her family. Taishi's father Kazushi soon learns that his son has left for Shodoshima and he sets out to find his son.

In 2004, singer-songwriter Matsumoto Tetsuya wrote an autobiography that included a section about his relationship with his troubled mother. Writer-director Nakamura Daisuke adapts that story to film with Shiwase Come On, his directorial debut. The film covers the marriage of Tetsuya's mother and yakuza father, his mother's drug habit, his stay at an orphanage and his reconciliation with his mother after becoming an adult. In addition to writing and performing the film's theme song, Matsumoto Tetsuya also composed the score to this touching film. In 2011, Shiawase Come On won Grand Prix at the 2011 Okuradashi Film Festival, a film festival dedicated to screening unreleased Japanese films.