Watch "Sunshine" on Netflix Japan

Fusako meets a lovely older woman named Yoko in Azumino and hears a story about the time she moved to the area in 1932 when she was 10 years old.

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Yoko goes on walks with her sickly mother after quickly settling into her new surroundings. Her new friend Yuki wants to become a teacher, but...

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It’s Sports Day at Yoko’s school. Yoko is ecstatic when Yuki comes in first during the footrace, but Yuki doesn’t show up to school the next day.

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Yoko and Yuki swear to stay friends forever before parting ways. Yoko decides to take on Yuki’s dreams of becoming a teacher.

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Yoko goes on a trip to Mt. Jonen as her mother’s condition worsens. At its summit, Yoko recalls the time her mother explained the meaning of her name.

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Yoko and her family start their life anew after her mother’s funeral. In 1938, Yoko is a busy yet cheerful 16-year-old student at a girls’ school.

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Yoko has two best friends at school. Her entire class plans to protest their teacher’s bad habit of belittling women by turning in blank exam papers.

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Ikuko, Machiko and Yoko become best friends by pledging eternal friendship after becoming the only participants in the blank paper protest.

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A stranger fondles Yoko’s hand when she goes out to see a movie with Ikuko and Machiko. Yoko’s father kindly comforts her after she comes home.

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Yoko’s beloved brother Haruki comes back for a visit with a friend. Yoko feels her heart flutter at the sight of her brother’s friend Kawahara.

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Yoko tells her best friends about her feelings for Kawahara and discovers recruitment papers for the navy’s pilot training course in Shigeki’s room.

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Yoko feels the effects of war for the first time when she learns that Shigeki plans to enlist. The man who touched her hand heads off to war.

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The entire nation celebrates the Japanese victory over Hankou in the fall of 1938. Yoko learns from her brother that Kawahara wants to see her again.

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Yoko gets embarrassed when her father catches her dancing for joy and gets nervous about seeing Kawahara again when she visits Matsumoto on a holiday.

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Yoko gets told that she would make a good bride when she and her best friends visit Matsumoto Castle with her brother and Kawahara.

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Machiko confesses to her friends that she has fallen for Haruki despite being betrothed to someone else. Yoko thinks of giving up on her first love.

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Machiko decides to eat a lot and get fat so that her fiancé won’t like her anymore. Yoko faints after joining Machiko with Ikuko.

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Yoko comes home from school to find her father looking very serious; he introduces the unfamiliar old woman in the room as Yoko’s grandmother.

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Grandmother Fujiko spares no love towards her granddaughter or son-in-law and returns to her inn without visiting her daughter’s grave.

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Yoko learns from Fujiko that she is the granddaughter of a viscount and that her mother wanted to become a teacher before running away to get married.

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The words Yoko’s mother used to tell her were words Fujiko used to say to her daughter. Fujiko tells Yoko to come to her if she should ever need help.

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Shigeki’s father permits him to join the navy’s pilot training course. Yoko realizes Haruki’s feelings for Machiko when he asks her for a favor.

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Shigeki conveys his feelings of gratitude to Haruki and tells him to think more of his own happiness. Haruki’s father gives him an amulet for safety.

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Machiko is happy to receive Haruki’s book of poetry from Yoko. Ikuko’s father accidentally hurts her when she brings up going to Tokyo to study.

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Yuki reunites with Yoko and tells her that she helped her keep up with her studies after she left school to work. Yoko decides to pursue teaching.

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Haruki is home for New Year’s celebrations and his friend Kawahara will be coming to visit. Ikuko and Machiko tease Yoko after a visit to the shrine.

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Yoko and her family are dumbfounded to hear Kawahara announce that he and his girlfriend Tae are leaving to start a new life in Manchuria.

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Yoko can’t help but cry upon hearing Kawahara’s unexpected announcement, but she puts on a happy face and wishes the both of them luck.

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Yoko comes down with a fever after saying goodbye to Kawahara and Tae. She breaks out in tears in front of her friends when she goes back to school.

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The New Year holiday is over and exam season is here. Machiko accompanies Ikuko to Tokyo. Yoko gets excited about her own upcoming exam.

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Yoko is nervous as she heads out to take her exam, but Haruki calms her down with sage advise. A few days later, Yoko receives her test results.

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The trio will soon have to say goodbye and go their separate ways. Yoko slips Shigeki a handmade gift before he heads off to take his exam.

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Yoko, Ikuko and Machiko discuss fond memories of their past on graduation day. The girls give a toast with soda to celebrate Ikuko’s job offer.

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Machiko suddenly appears at Yoko’s doorstep after running away from home; the girls hide in the restroom when her father comes looking.

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Machiko vows not to come out of the restroom until her father understands, but he drags her home anyway. Ikuko sends telegrams to her best friends.

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Machiko’s engagement is made public. Haruki enters medical school the following year. Yoko finishes her studies and starts teaching at her alma mater.

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Yoko reunites with her former teacher Natsuko. It is now 1941; primary schools have become nationalized to train children to help the war effort.

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Yoko tells her students she wants to stay friends with them when they’re all old, but one boy steps forward to say he is ready to die for his country.

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Yoko helps one of her students practice the navy’s exercise routine and gets struck in the head when she tries to protect him from another teacher.

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Yoko and her students strengthen their bond after the incident. Yoko receives a big, warm welcome at every student’s home she visits.

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Yoko tells one of her students to fix the bucket he broke while playing. After going home that night, Yoko realizes that she left him at the school.

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One of Yoko’s students expresses guilt for being sad about his father dying in battle. Later, Yoko runs into the lady from the soba shop in Matsumoto.

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