Two Heartstrings, Broken

These Stories:
Both stories are set in Japan and are about two Japanese women who have their love secrets.

Memories of a Distant Star is the story of a young married woman who is compelled by her emotions to retrace her steps on a mountain trail where her first love had bloomed, a one-sided love for Eiichi whom she would never see again. She recalls the moments spent with her companion, and his enchanting poetic stories about the universe and the life within. She relives the devastation she felt when Eiichi got injured through her folly. Finally, amidst her calmness within the storm, she remembers her use of his own technique to heal him, an expression of love for him without his knowledge, a secret she would keep from her husband forever.

The Bon Festival tells the story of Akio and Hanako who grow together in a small village and fall in love. Yet, they can’t be together. Hanako marries someone chosen by her family and has a son. Although living in Tokyo and married himself, Akio still can’t give up Hanako. When Hanako’s husband dies in a storm, he begins to see her clandestinely every time he comes to the village from Tokyo for the Bon festival. His infidelity is observed by his wife who divorces him. Free from his own marital bonds he asks Hanako to come with him but she refuses. This goes on for several years. However, Akio gets his wish finally when when Hanako’s son becomes an adult. The two have a long life together. Then one day as Akio holds Hanako in his lap on her deathbed, she reveals to him her secret with which she had lived all her life. Devastated, Akio drags himself to where he and Hanako used to meet secretly and lies down to die in memory of their love for each other.