Under the Open Sky (2025) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

After serving 13 years in prison, Mikami has no other way to locate his mother who abandoned him as a child. He sends his inmate files and personal details to the television company hoping that their resources and reach can help track down his estranged mother, whom he has not seen since childhood.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the film, his search for his mother is established as his primary motivation for reaching out to the media.

• masao mikami
• mother
• search
• tv company
• prisoner

During his trial, Mikami recalls how a gang member harassed his ex-wife Kumiko at their hostess bar. In a fit of rage, he stabbed and killed the man, which resulted in his 13-year prison sentence. This violent act to defend Kumiko ultimately cost him his freedom.

Foreshadowing: The tragic events at the hostess bar are revealed through flashbacks throughout the film, showing how this moment defined Mikami's life.

• hostess bar
• kumiko
• murder
• yakuza
• stabbing

When Mikami applies for welfare benefits, the case worker threatens to deny his application because of his violent criminal history as a former yakuza member. Overwhelmed by the system rejecting him and the stress of readjusting to society after 13 years, he suffers an emotional collapse and is hospitalized.

Foreshadowing: The doctor's warning about his heart condition earlier establishes his vulnerability to stress-related health crises.

• welfare
• collapse
• hospital
• rejection
• stress

When Mikami visits Kumiko's apartment, he discovers she has remarried and has a daughter with her new husband. The girl is not Mikami's child, which adds to his sense of lost time and severed connections during his 13 years in prison.

Foreshadowing: This painful realization reinforces the theme of how prison isolates a person from their former life.

• kumiko
• daughter
• ex-wife
• remarried

When Mikami witnesses a mugging, he attempts to intervene to help the victim. However, the encounter triggers his old yakuza instincts and primal rage, causing him to violently attack the muggers. This moment reveals that despite his efforts to change, his violent past remains part of him.

Foreshadowing: Tsunoda's earlier question about whether Mikami feels remorse foreshadows this violent relapse.

• mugging
• violence
• intervention
• street
• yakuza

Mikami travels to meet Akimasa, a figure from his former yakuza life. During this visit, he learns about the decline of the yakuza organization. The meeting raises questions about whether Mikami will return to his old life and provides context about how much the criminal world has changed during his incarceration.

Foreshadowing: This visit represents Mikami's conflicted relationship with his past and whether he truly wants to leave the yakuza behind.

• akimasa
• yakuza
• visit
• organization
• decline

Mikami's driver's license has been expired for ten years while he was in prison. When he tries to renew it, he fails the driving test because he is out of practice and cannot adjust to the rules and skills required for modern driving after being isolated from society for so long.

Foreshadowing: This failure symbolizes how Mikami's time in prison has made him incompatible with everyday life.

• driving test
• license
• fail
• prison
• reintegration

When Mikami sees two boys taunting a disabled colleague at his new job, he experiences a violent urge to retaliate, visualizing extreme revenge. However, he chooses to control his anger and restrain himself, demonstrating significant personal growth and his commitment to breaking his cycle of violence.

Foreshadowing: This moment contrasts with his earlier violent reactions, showing his potential for change.

• retaliation
• anger
• control
• growth
• disabled colleague

Mikami and Tsunoda visit the orphanage where Mikami grew up, hoping to find records about his past and his mother. However, they discover that all records of his history have vanished, leaving Mikami without any tangible connection to his origins or proof of his childhood.

Foreshadowing: This disappointment reinforces Mikami's feeling of disconnection from his own identity.

• orphanage
• records
• childhood
• missing
• history

Throughout the film, doctors warn Mikami about his health risks, including potential heart issues and strokes, made worse by stress. After all his struggles, bureaucratic rejections, failed tests, violent outbursts, and the emotional weight of his past, Mikami collapses and dies from these health complications while holding flowers given to him by a coworker.

Foreshadowing: The doctor explicitly warned Mikami about his heart condition early in the film, making his death a tragic but foreshadowed conclusion.

• death
• collapse
• heart
• flowers
• tragic ending

Tsunoda, a young TV director, becomes interested in Mikami's unique story, his release after 13 years in prison, his attempts to find his mother, and his struggle to reintegrate into society. He believes Mikami's journey of redemption and struggle would make compelling documentary content for television audiences.

Foreshadowing: Tsunoda's growing interest in Mikami's files establishes his motivation for the documentary project.

• tsunoda
• filming
• documentary
• tv
• life story

When Tsunoda questions Mikami about remorse for his past crimes, Mikami firmly denies feeling any. This hardened exterior reflects his psychological coping mechanism after years in prison, a way to protect himself from the emotional weight of his violent actions and the guilt of lost time.

Foreshadowing: This denial sets up the tension in the film between his claimed lack of remorse and his deeper emotional struggles.

• remorse
• denial
• tsunoda
• interview
• psychological