MovieChat Forums > Toki o kakeru shôjo (2010) Discussion > Who is Akari's father?

Who is Akari's father?

posted 11 years ago by jemmerling
10 replies | jump to latest

This board is not very active, however as this film was recently made available for streaming by NetFlix in the US, perhaps somebody will see this question and have an answer.

At the beginning, some mention is made of Akari's father, but through the rest of the film his identity is not made clear (at least to me) although some possibilities present themselves.

First, notice that Akari uses her mother's family name. I think this could be understand to mean she was born out of wedlock -- I wonder how much stigma this might carry in Japan.

So one theory is that Kazuo is her father -- but her mother knew Kazuo in high school, so it seems highly unlikely she could have obtained an advanced university degree having gotten pregnant in high school (unless she gave the baby up for adoption which clearly did not happen).

The other theory is that Gotetsu is her father -- however in that case, I would think Akari would have his family name. Although I can see how if her parents were never married, this might not have happened. Again, a more thorough knowledge of Japanese culture might help.

Probably I missed something obvious.

[–] thorsail 11 years ago

HI
Well, I thought the father was Gotetsu.
wasn't that him at the end that borrowed her the 8mm movie projector ?

[–] stasa227 11 years ago

It's made very clear that Akari's father is the camera man Gotetsu.

Her mother says in the beginning that he is a film-maker and that she has been e-mailing with him and Akari later finds an e-mail signed Masamichi Hasegawa, she sends him an e-mail letting him know about her mothers hospitalization.

In 1974 Akari meets the camera man Gotetsu who's real name is Masamichi Hasegawa.

In the end she borrows the film projector from him. He doesn't mention that he is her father so I'm not sure he knows. Since in 1974 he left and went to film school in the USA.

[–] bill04043 11 years ago

I think stasa227 has everything correct, BUT: Akari turned 18 in 2010, meaning she was not born until 8 years after the 1974 scenes.
From that it seems we must assume that after he went to film school in 1974 he had to have returned and met up with Akira's mother again.

[–] mddave 11 years ago

8 years? More like 18 years. This was one of the things that bothered me about the movie: the timeline was off by at least 15 years. And for what reason? Akari could have gone back to 1989 and the timeline would have worked fine without impacting any major plot points. The only explanation I can think of for using 1974 is that there is some significance to 1974 in Japan that I'm not aware of as an American.

[–] rmanlius 10 years ago

My guess is that the movie might be based on a book that must have been written around 1992 or so. 1972 and 1974 would make more sense if the present were 1992.

Her baby pictures should have been in color though, even from the 70's, rather than B&W.

[–] stevde2 10 years ago

My guess is that the 70s has more charm and creates a better visual passage of time for the viewer than it would be if it were 1989. The film making sequences, for example, works well to create the frame of time they were in because that's the kind of primitive equipment they had to use back then. In contrast, by 1989 there were already compact video recorders out so that wouldn't have the same effect to the viewer that this is supposed to be a "very a long time ago."

It also helps to keep in mind that back during this period, male children were expected to continue the family business no matter their personal feelings. One was quite a rebel to go out and do something "that they like". Ryota therefore would've been branded as dysfunctional by the public, and he knew it deep inside too when he broke down crying after learning of his father's death. Japanese society changed after the bubble economy burst where it's common place for males to do what they want rather than do what society expects of them. End result, the viewer got a better passage of time from this as well.

[–] Ted-C 11 years ago

The film gives many hints that Akari's father is, indeed, Gotetsu Hasegawa. However, this is made quite explicit early in the movie when Akari is looking through a photo album which is titled, "Birth of Akari Hasegawa".

[–] rmanlius 10 years ago

I missed that most obvious hint. I thought she must have been looking at someone else's pictures, maybe a secret half-sister or one of her mother's friend's babies. I was wondering what that had to do with the story. Now it's clear.

[–] Zerose 9 years ago

Her birth name is Akari Hasegawa. It's written on the first page of her baby photo album.

As she told Ryouta in the cafe, her parents divorced when she was a child and that her mother raised her alone since then.

It's likely that after the divorce, her mother transferred herself and Akari from her father's family register (koseki) to her mother's family register. This would cause the change in her and her mother's surname. From Hasegawa to Yoshiyama. Especially if her mother has the full custody of Akari.

That is common among divorced people. My aunt went back to our main family register after she divorced from her ex-husband, which means my aunt has our family name as her surname again. However, their children are still in their father's family register. Probably because their parents share the custody. If Aunt had the full custody, the children would be transferred from their father's family register to our main family register and have our family name.

[–] glasshull 8 years ago

I think the guy from the future was her father and they framed it on Totetsku.