Director: Joji Matsuoka

Language: Japanese

Based on a new story by veteran rakugoka (comic storyteller) Shinosuke Tatekawa, "Kanki no Uta (Ode to Joy)" is set in a small town somewhere in Japan. Trouble begins when Iizuka (Kaoru Kobayashi), a manager of a local cultural center, realizes the center's concert hall has been double-booked for two all-housewives chorus groups on New Year's Eve. The lazy and usually irresponsible Iizuka tries to make both concerts happen. The film delivers many laughs — and a few tears.