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Japanese director Isao Morimoto debuts with this cross-cultural romantic drama based on a semi-autobiographical novel written by Swiss-born author David Zoppetti about his feelings of isolation as a student in Kyoto. In spite of his firm command of Japanese, Boku (Edward Atterton) is frustrated by his inability to make anything but the most superficial inroads into the country's notoriously insular culture. Out of desperation, he volunteers as a reader for the blind and is paired up with the young, beautiful Kyoko (Honami Suzuki), who has been sightless since birth. Soon his visits at her family's gorgeous traditional home becomes more than charity, especially after Kyoko starts selecting erotic works for Boku to read. The blooming romance is tested first by Boku's hitch-hiking trip across Japan and then by prejudice and cultural misunderstanding. Ichigensan was screened at the 1999 Mill Valley Film Festival.