Pistol Takehara

Based on a book by writer - director Miwa Nishikawa, a recently widowed writer ( Masahiro Motoki,Departures)whose wife died in a bus crash comes to terms with his grief,or lack of it, in caring for the children of a working man who also lost his wife in the same accident. (imdb)

In the fictional Hokkaido shipbuilding town of Kaitan (played by real-life port city Hakodate), local residents find that, in addition to another harsh winter, they must also face the downsizing of the town's key industry due to depressed economic conditions. Episodic structure divides pic into five distinct tales set around New Year's Eve, capped by a deft, criss-crossing finale that adds fitting finishing touches to two earlier installments. (variety.com)

The lives of three washed-up nobodies intersect as they are all drawn together in one way or another by baseball. (HKFlix)