The Ceremony

The film opens with Masuo receiving a telegram from his cousin Terumichi declaring his own death. Masuo and his cousin Ritsuko decide to travel to Terumichi's cabin to verify whether the message is true. This notification starts a journey that uncovers a web of family ties and old resentments.

As they travel to the cabin, Masuo confronts the sense that his life has revolved around family duty rather than personal freedom. The two cousins drift between concern for Terumichi and the undercurrents of desire and rivalry within the clan. The trip frames the rest of the film's revelations.

A flashback shows the ceremony marking the first anniversary of Masuo's father's death after their repatriation from Huludao. The ceremony exposes the tangled family web and the looming sense of fate within the clan. The atmosphere hints at incestuous undercurrents and shifting attachments among Masuo, Setsuko, Ritsuko, and Terumichi.

Across the ceremonies, Masuo's attraction to Setsuko and later to Ritsuko grows, while Terumichi also vies for them. The film threads together unclear loyalties and the cost of desire within a tightly knit family network. The revelations deepen the sense that personal longing is subsumed by lineage.

Masuo relinquishes his baseball talent as a sacrifice to the family, a turning point shaped by his mother's death. He is not present for her passing, and in a symbolic act he burns all his baseball possessions except his glove. The act binds his future to the family's expectations rather than his own dreams.

At his grandfather's urging, Masuo endures a marriage ceremony with a bride who remains absent to him. The ritual underscores his status as heir and his suppression of personal desire. It marks the emotional climax of his submission to the family’s lineage.

After the marriage, Masuo must confront the grandfather’s enduring authority as years pass and the patriarch dies. At the memorial service, his uncles press him to marry quickly to produce another heir. The scene underscores the relentless drive to reproduce within the clan.

Masuo and Ritsuko arrive at Terumichi's cabin only to learn that the telegram is true: Terumichi has indeed died. The confirmation reframes their mission and hints at further family secrets. The moment intensifies the sense of inevitability surrounding the clan.

Ritsuko expresses a lingering obligation to join Terumichi in death, rooted in their past affair and her loyalty as his lover. Her stance introduces a potential tragedy at the cabin and strains Masuo's resolve. The moment highlights the consuming power of desire within the family.

Masuo leaves the tense scene, and outside he is pulled into a childhood memory of playing baseball with his cousins and Setsuko. In this memory, all of them have died, underscoring the toll of the family’s legacy. The flashback deepens the sense of loss that haunts the clan.

The concluding memory hints that the family's pattern of arranged ties and tragic losses will continue beyond this moment. Masuo's choices seem constrained by a history he cannot escape. The film closes with a haunting sense of memory, duty, and the yearning for personal freedom.