Sakura Guardian in the North

Sakura Guardian in the North (北の桜守) is a 2018 Japanese drama film, directed by Yōjirō Takita and written by Machiko Nasu. Stage Production was by Keralino Sandrovich, Director of Photography is Takeshi Hamada and the music was by Kei Ogura and Katsu Hoshi.

Plot
The story starts in 1945, with Tetsu Ezure (played by Sayuri Yoshinaga) and her sons living in Sakharin. The Russian army invades, and Tetsu flees with her sons, while her husband (played by Abe Hiroshi) stays behind to fight. The family manage to flee to Hokkaido, and eventually settle in Abashiri. The plot then skips forward to 1971, and one of the sons, Shujiro (Masato Sakai) is now an executive at a US Multi National Hot Dog sales company. While visiting Sapporo, he encounters his mother, from whom he had previously become estranged. His mother, now down on her luck, seeks his help. while he and his wife are reluctant to assist. The plot looks at the past of the family.

Upon realising something is wrong with her, partially related to her post traumatic stress disorder, she leaves to go back to her original house in Abashii, however, it has been demolished. Shujiro, reaching out to his mother, accompanies her through the plains of Hokkaido, where they encounter stories of the past.

Cast

 * Sayuri Yoshinaga as Tetsu Ezure
 * Masato Sakai as Shujiro Ezure
 * Ryoko Shinohara as Mari Ezure
 * Tsurube Shofukutei as bar owner
 * Ittoku Kishibe as Kazuo Yamaoka
 * Reiko Takashima as Mitsue Shimada
 * Masatoshi Nakamura as Daikichi Okabe
 * Ken Yasuda as Hisashi Sugimoto
 * Katsuya Maiguma as Iwaki
 * Tōru Nomguchi as Manabu Kimura
 * Yukijirō Hotaru
 * Hiroshi Abe as Tokujiro Ezure
 * Koichi Sato as Shinji Sugawara

Box office
The film took $2 million from 351 screens on its first weekend showing in Japan.