SETTING
Present day Tokyo and the suburbs

SYNOPSIS
OGAWA GORO works in an office, and lives with his wife, CHIYO, in a large public housing complex in Tokyo. The couple is thrilled when their son, TARO, is born. They find the baby irresistibly charming.

After TARO's birth, the OGAWA home is filled with joy. The couple are thrilled each time TARO smiles. They can hardly control their excitement when TARO begins to walk. The doting ways of fond parents are enough to thoroughly disgust an outsider. But what about TARO? Does this loving care please him? Contrary to his parents' expectations, TARO might feel annoyed by their excessive attention.

One day the family of three move into a single story suburban house with TARO's grandmother. With each day TARO grows, but his mischief, illnesses, and injuries keep his parents and grandmother in a constant state of worry. The adults do not even have time to soothe their jangled nerves. On top of this, TARO's mother and grandmother have different opinions on how he should be brought up, and his father has problems at work. As a result of these tensions, TARO's mother becomes short-tempered.

Despite the difficulties, the OGAWA home is always full of life, and TARO is at the center of it. Things change however, when TARO's grandmother suddenly falls ill and dies. Her death causes GORO and CHIYO to stop and think calmly about what a family is, and how they should raise their son. TARO, who does not understand death, believes his grandmother has gone to some distant place.

One night, as a big round moon rises, the family prepares to celebrate TARO's second birthday. TARO sits in front of his birthday cake smiling contentedly, his face lit softly by the light from two candles. He says to himself, "I am now two years old. That's why there are two candles on the cake. My name is TARO." TARO will continue to grow up.

NOTES
This film, based on MATSUDA MICHIO's best-selling books on childcare, presents the experiences of an ordinary young couple as they bring up their baby. The screenplay was written by WADA NATTO, wife of the film's director, ICHIKAWA KON. The couple have worked together on many films. WADA deals comically, through the baby's monologues, with the image of adults, childcare problems, and housing (the apartment in the first half of the film, and the house in the second half are seen from the baby's point of view).

The baby was chosen from among 3%200 applicants. Although this film was made during the heyday of the use of widescreen in Japanese cinema, it was filmed with a standard screen format because of the effect of lighting on the baby.

ICHIKAWA KON received international recognition for dramas like "Conflagration" (ENJO) 1958, "Odd Obsession" (KAGI) 1959, "Her Brother'' (OTOTO) 1960, and "The Outcast" (HAKAI) 1961, which were based on literature. He is also a very talented director of quick paced commedies like this film, and "Mr. Poo" (PU-SAN) 1953. In recent years he has produced a series of visually gorgeous films like "The Makioka Sisters" (SASAMEYUKI) 1983, featuring women in the leading roles. In 1987, he made "A Screen Actress" (EIGA JOYU), depicting the life of one of Japan's greatest actresses, TANAKA KINUYO.