I found this movie fascinating because it made me realize how little I know about Japanese culture. Much of it didn't make sense to me and I would appreciate it if anyone could educate me on what was happening. Why did Mom and Dad have to move away when Noriko got married? Why couldn't they go and live nearby her or their son? Where did they get their income from? How could they afford to live on their own? Did their moving take income away from the son's family? Why did the son have to work two jobs after they left? Why were the family so distressed that Noriko was marrying a man who already had a child? Why did Noriko's husband-to-be look so unhappy when his mother told him that Noriko wanted to marry him? Why were the children allowed to be so rude? Why did the father pay so little attention to the children? It was also fascinating to see such a mix of Japanese and Western fashion. I'm not sure if that was significant or not. How do they decide to dress traditional or Western? I'm going to watch 'Tokyo Story' next and hopefully I will learn a little bit more.