Ichiko

Natsumi Kawabe, a twice-divorced lone mother, works at a bar and lives with her two daughters in a Higashiōsaka apartment complex. The elder Ichiko is not officially registered because of the 300-day post-divorce issue following Natsumi’s split from a violent husband, creating a fragile family situation. The tense living conditions foreshadow the hardships that will follow.

Tsukiko, the younger daughter, has muscular dystrophy, a progressive wasting disease that requires constant care. Natsumi and Ichiko bear the heavy burden of oxygen support, suctioning, and toileting as Tsukiko's condition worsens. The social worker Koizumi becomes a frequent guest in their apartment as the case unfolds.

On a hot summer day, while Natsumi is at work, Ichiko is tempted to stop Tsukiko's oxygen. Tsukiko dies, and Natsumi and Koizumi bury her body on Mt. Ikoma. They then enroll eight-year-old Ichiko in elementary school as Tsukiko to keep up appearances.

Koizumi loses his job and begins drinking heavily, and his relationship with Natsumi deteriorates as he starts abusing Ichiko, who is now a high school student. Ichiko accidentally kills Koizumi during one assault. Kita Hidekazu, a classmate who has a crush on Ichiko, spies on them from the balcony.

After Koizumi's death, Ichiko and Kita move his body to a deserted railroad crossing and lay it down. The act marks a further escalation as they cover up the crime and try to stay hidden.

Ichiko runs away from home and becomes homeless. She meets Kiki Yoshida, who hires her as a live-in newspaper delivery girl and envisions a future cake shop with Ichiko.

Several years later, Kita locates Ichiko while she works at a cake shop; he has a crush on her, but Ichiko rejects him and tells him to forget about her. Kita's lingering feelings remain as she builds a new life.

During a summer period, Ichiko meets Yoshinori Hasegawa, who knows nothing about her past, and they begin living together. They establish a stable life and stay together for about three years.

On the day before the Yodogawa Fireworks Festival, Hasegawa gives Ichiko a yukata and presents the marriage certificate, then proposes. Ichiko is overwhelmed with emotion and sheds tears.

The next day, TV news reports the discovery of an unidentified skeleton on Mt. Ikoma. Ichiko, fearing exposure, packs a bag to disappear from Hasegawa, but he returns; she leaves the bag behind and flees to Kita's apartment.

A few days after the missing-person report, Detective Goto visits Hasegawa and reveals that Ichiko Kawabe does not exist. The revelation prompts them to search Ichiko's steps and consider the truth behind her identity.

Goto indicates the skeleton might be Tsukiko Kawabe; at the bottom of Ichiko's bag is a health-insurance card and a Tsukiko photo, with an address in Minami, Tokushima. Hasegawa travels there and finds Natsumi living under the alias Michiko Yamaura.

Hasegawa returns to Higashiōsaka and asks Kita about Tsukiko's high school days and Koizumi's murder; both decide to help Ichiko in any way they can.

A young woman named Fuyuko Kitami comes to Kita's apartment asking for Ichiko, claiming to have met her online and expressing suicidal intent. Ichiko calls Kita from the beach, and Kitami and Kita drive to a seaside town. The next day, a car is found at the bottom of the sea in Shirahama, Wakayama, containing two bodies.