Jun Ichigawa has been involved in both films and commercials for years. Contrary to his commercials that are very perceptive of the changing tastes of people, his films depict, in a relaxed manner, traditional things and everyday life in Japan. Comforting and heart-warming, most of his films are set in Tokyo, where he was born and grew up. However, as he always wished to portray Osaka as an outsider who has spent his whole life in Tokyo, Osaka Story takes Osaka as its main spatial setting, rendering the energy of the city and its inhabitants as experienced by a girl during the summer. Wakana, a sensitive 14-year-old girl, has parents who have worked for more than 20 years as a stand-up comedy couple, though they are not so successful in the business. One day, the long- standing couple is faced with a crisis due to the husband′s adultery, and the life of the ordinary family is torn apart. Disgusted with leading a double life, Wakana′s father suddenly disappears, and Wakana takes on a trip to Osaka by herself to look for her father. Wandering in Osaka, Wakana visits her father′s old friends and ends up realizing that her father was not really ′trash′ who spent his whole life just playing around. While she struggles to take one more step toward maturation and to grasp the vitality of life by searching for her father, the city of Osaka relieves her hardships. As a distinctive Japanese city that is tender and strict at the same time, Osaka still holds dear these old charms in the face of rapid urbanization that has spread across the entire country. (Shion Yang)