Yasuo Moriyama, Tokyo urban hermit, has never left his native city. He lives in an important example of contemporary Japanese architecture, by architect Ryue Nishizawa. The film was supposed to be a documentary on the spaces of a highly original house consisting of ten separate modules: four inhabited by Moriyama, and six rented to other tenants. It became the chronicle of the time spent by Ila, one of the two authors, in Yasuo’s company, and the relationship established between two fans of Japanese noise music: the soundtrack is by OtomoYoshihide.
Bêka’s camera captures Mr. Moriyama’s domestic activities: reading, listening to music, screening silent films to entertain guests, and shows how the house reflects its inhabitant’s personality and passions: rooms full of books, films and records. Within this small world, which includes his young neighbors, Moriyama lives a simple life, influenced by Japanese traditions and spirituality, far from the idea of Western comfort and punctuated by daily rituals.