there’s an old quiet ryokan in chigasaki near kamakura where ozu liked to stay.

sometimes for a few months to write his scripts.

you can imagine him completely at home in this charmingly down-to-earth place hidden among nondescript homes on a little hill. his memorabilia, including his famous white cotton hat, are here kept in glass cabinets in the lounge.

the elderly okami-san who runs the ryokan with a beautiful radiance about her, will proudly regale you with little stories about ozu. how he enjoyed looking out to the sea, or take walks to the beach, or loved sitting in the verandah immersed in the subtle scent of the white flowers he loved.

ozu knew much about the big lessons behind subtle things. in his movies, through an almost flat, simple depiction of the human condition in the everyday, he brings out a rich and complex celebration of life.