Renko is twelve and well aware of the tense atmosphere at home. Her father and mother hardly talk and often fight. Renko is normally a cheerful and playful child, but her dissatisfaction with the situation no longer gets through toher parents. Renko does all kinds of strange things to get their attention, but her parents only care about themselves and it looks as if they will really get a divorce. Then Renko steals her mother’s bank card and books a trip and a weekend by Biwa Lake, in idyllic surroundings.By the lake the annual fête is being celebrated, accompanied by traditionally-dressed burundi drummers, illuminated boats and lots of fireworks. Renko walks away from her parents and spends the ghostly night alone. She has decided to become an adult, to cope with the radical changes in her young life.Moving is a beautifully restrained film that regards life in a traditional and carefree way through the eyes of the young girl Renko. At the end it is not clear whether all the events the viewer has seen are real or in the girl’s imagination.
