Film Review: The Master of Funerals (2019) by Naofumi Higuchi

Inspired by a mix of Nobel Literature Prize-winner Yasunari Kawabata’s short novels, “The Master of Funerals” is a debut feature by Naofumi Higuchi, who turned the whole project into a homage to the late writer. The orphaned writer in fact, had moved from his birthplace Osaka to Ikibari to stay with his grandmother and attend the Prefectural Ibaraki Junior High School, the same school (now a Senior High School) featured in the movie. The title too refers to the sorrow nickname Kawabata gave to himself after burying his parents first, his sister not long after, and finally both his grandparents. However, despite the sadness connected with the title, Higuchi’s work tries hard to retain the true spirit of Kawabata’s elegies to beautiful things. “The Master of Funerals” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival Single mum, factory worker and blogger Yukiko Watanabe (Atsuko Maeda) lives her simple and busy life in Ikebara,