Shimensoka

In a distinctly contemporary Tokyo that looks backwards to the city’s disappearing past, Yoko is a writer investigating the life of a modernist composer of the 1930s. She is pregnant by a man she does not want to marry and has found a kindred spirit in a used bookstore owner who aids her research.

In a storm-scared village, 70-year-old Tae lives a quiet life until she rescues Haru, a mysterious mountain creature. As she feeds and nurtures him with her wanzi, she finds a renewed sense of purpose. However, when rumors of a monster spread, fear turns the villagers against them. Tae is forcibly hospitalized, and Haru is hunted as a harbinger of disaster. To protect him, she stages a fake funeral. When a new storm strikes, Tae must learn that love is not possession but letting go.

Wisecracking Makino shows up from Japan and meets Shima, a yakuza living quietly in Taipei. Makino says he knows about the incident that prompted Shima to come to Taiwan. Shima finds out that someone wants Makino dead, and they both head for Hualien, a city in eastern Taiwan.