Japanese college students may be the nation's leisure class, known more for their partying and playing than studying, but their seemingly carefree minds are often clouded by worries about a post-graduation job. Even serious students — yes, they do exist — have to sweat through arduous and frustrating job searches, starting in their junior year or sooner.
And then there is Tamako (Atsuko Maeda), a recent graduate of a college in Tokyo who has returned to her home in Kofu in rural Yamanashi Prefecture. Instead of beating the bushes for work, she spends her days lolling about her father's sporting-goods store, not bothering to cook or clean or otherwise keep the household wheels turning. That's Dad's job, isn't it?
The unemployed eponymous heroine of Nobuhiro Yamashita's new film "Moratorium Tamako (Tamako in Moratorium)" is a type increasingly common as full-time jobs become harder to find. Neither a rebel nor a depressive, she feels a vague sense of desperation that, as the seasons inexorably change, slowly grows. What in the world is she supposed to do with herself, other than sleep, snack and read manga?