Daigo Kobayashi, who was a cellist in an orchestra which had just been dissolved, suddenly is thrown out onto the streets without a job and hope for life. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife. However, his life is revived when he starts working as an "encoffineer." He cleans up the body, places the dead into the coffin, and sends the dead to the next world in the best way possible… he is the gatekeeper between life and death. The job is despised by his wife and the people around him, but through the "Deaths" that he encounters, he finally starts to find what "Life" is all about. Departures has won numerous awards including best picture at 32nd Japan Academy Awards and the Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Academy Awards.

Daigo Kobayashi, who was a cellist in an orchestra which had just been dissolved, suddenly is thrown out onto the streets without a job and hope for life. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife. However, his life is revived when he starts working as an "encoffineer." He cleans up the body, places the dead into the coffin, and sends the dead to the next world in the best way possible… he is the gatekeeper between life and death. The job is despised by his wife and the people around him, but through the "Deaths" that he encounters, he finally starts to find what "Life" is all about. Departures has won numerous awards including best picture at 32nd Japan Academy Awards and the Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Academy Awards. [ Contract ]