Kaasan, Mom’s Life (2011)

Kaasan, Mom’s Life is a Japanese movie directed by Shotaro Kobayashi and based on an award-winning autobiographical manga by Rieko Saibara. It was released by Shochiku in Japan on February 5, 2011.

In the film, Kyoko Koizumi plays Reiko, a manga artist who has been raising her two children, aged 4 and 6, on her own lately. Although her life is hectic as a single mom, it’s also happy and full of laughter.

When her alcoholic husband, war journalist Yutaka Kamoshida (Masatoshi Nagase), returns home, his drunken rages almost break Reiko’s spirit and she’s forced to ask for a divorce.

After the divorce, Yutaka is diagnosed with terminal cancer and Reiko decides to support him in spite of their turbulent past.