Awaking on AllMovie

Her husband having recently suffered a fatal heart attack, a sheltered Japanese housewife attempts to make amends with the past while looking forward into the future in director/co-writer Junji Sakamoto's adaptation of Natsuo Kirino's novel Tama Mo E. Toshiko Sekiguchi (Jun Fubuki) wandered through life a somewhat withdrawn woman until the death of her husband, and she always assumed that he had been faithful until the very end. When her husband's cell phone rings on the day of his funeral, Toshiko answers the call and discovers that her husband had been conducting an affair with a middle-aged noodle restaurant owner named Akiko (Yoshiko Mita). Later, after inviting the woman by to pay her final respects to the man they both loved, Toshiko discovers that her husband had helped to finance Akiko's restaurant, and opts to gather her thoughts in a downtown hotel. On the heels of a disheartening encounter with a swindling storyteller who makes a dubious living with her gift of gab, Toshiko finally begins to discover that a little self-respect can go a long way in a country prone to excessive politeness.