Shall We Dance?

The film opens with a close-up of the Shakespeare inscription above the stage in the Blackpool Tower ballroom, setting a tone of enchantment and danger. A narrator notes that ballroom dancing is viewed with suspicion in Japan. This framing establishes the tension between aspiration and social convention that drives the story.

Shohei Sugiyama appears to have a stable life—suburban home, loving wife Masako, daughter Chikage, and a Tokyo accountant job—yet he is drifting into depression. He senses his life lacks direction and meaning, despite outward success. The seeds of personal crisis are planted here.

One night on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, he notices a solitary, melancholic woman looking out from a dance studio window. This is Mai Kishikawa, a renowned figure on the Western ballroom circuit. He impulsively resolves to try dance lessons, hoping they might fill the void.

In the studio, Sugiyama begins lessons with Tamako Tamura, an experienced teacher who becomes his mentor. He also meets classmates including Tōkichi Hattori, Masahiro Tanaka, and Toyoko Takahashi, and discovers that Tomio Aoki, a colleague, secretly dances. The lessons pull him deeper into a world he hadn’t imagined.

Sugiyama’s enthusiasm has to be kept secret from Masako and his coworkers because Western dancing clashes with traditional Japanese norms. He worries about embarrassment and the shame of showing this passion publicly. The dual secrecy adds tension to every dance step he takes.

Mai rebuffs him, at least initially, but his obsession with dancing persists even without her romantic interest. The activity becomes a source of meaning and a fresh sense of self. He continues to attend classes while keeping his feelings at bay.

Masako notices his odd behavior and hires a private detective to follow him, fearing an affair and a life he is keeping from her. The detective’s presence makes Sugiyama feel both exposed and vulnerable. The investigation underscores the widening rift in their marriage.

Together with his classmates, Sugiyama enters an amateur dance competition. Mai is in the audience, heightening the stakes and the tension he feels. During the performance he stumbles, nearly knocks his partner, and accidentally tears her dress, leading to a chaotic exit.

Aoki is ridiculed at work after colleagues read about the failure in the newspaper, and Sugiyama publicly defends him, urging his peers not to mock something they do not understand. The moment marks a rare stand against the social mockery surrounding their hobby. It shows Sugiyama choosing integrity over embarrassment.

Back at home, Sugiyama tells his family that he has given up on dance, hoping to reconcile the secret life with normal life. Masako listens, uncertain but supportive, and starts to reassess their relationship. The rift appears to be deepening but not irreparable.

Toyoko and Aoki visit to urge him to return to dance and to accept Mai’s invitation to a farewell party for her departure to Blackpool. They bring a letter from Mai explaining her own past failures and how working with Sugiyama revived her. The letter reframes his and Mai's shared potential.

Sugiyama and Masako have a real conversation about what happened, and Masako signals willingness to try again, while their daughter Chikage nudges them toward reconciliation. The family begins to bridge the gap created by the secret life of dance. The home becomes a site of healing and renewed connection.

On the way home the next day, Sugiyama looks out the train window and sees a sign in the dance studio window reading Shall we dance, Mr. Sugiyama, reigniting his resolve. He heads toward the farewell party where Mai awaits. The moment rekindles his belief that dance can rejoin his life.

He arrives at the party in time for the last dance, where Mai is selecting her partner for the final number. The atmosphere crackles with possibility as old loyalties and new hopes collide on the dance floor.

Mai approaches and asks Shall we dance, inviting Sugiyama to finally commit to dancing with her. The film closes on this open-ended question, leaving their future partnership and happiness to the music and their readiness to take the next step.