Mugi Kadowaki

Set in the late 1980s, this family drama is about an 11-year-old boy who befriends his landlord, nicknamed Old Fox, and learns from him how to survive in a rapidly changing world as well as things his poor father would never be able to teach him.

The story takes place during a summer of continuous sunshine when water supply restrictions are issued in the city. Shunsaku Iwakiri works for the city's water department and his job is to visit homes and stores that are behind on their bills and either collect the money or shut off the water supply (water suspension enforcement). Shunsaku is separated from his wife and children, and his heart grows thirsty as he spends his days visiting poor households and being abhorred. One day, during a water shutoff, Shunsaku meets two young sisters who have been neglected. He sees them as his own children and offers them a helping hand.

When feudal lord Itakura Katsuakira decides to prepare his samurai troops for the onslaught of modernization by having them compete in a marathon, his independent-minded daughter Yuki secretly joins the race.