Departures is a Japanese drama film directed by
Yōjirō Takita and starring
Masahiro Motoki,
Ryōko Hirosue, and
Tsutomu Yamazaki. Loosely based on
Shinmon Aoki's memoir Coffinman, the film follows a young man who becomes a nōkanshi—a traditional Japanese ritual mortician—and overcomes the prejudices of those around him. The story was conceived after Motoki, affected by a funeral ceremony he had seen along the
Ganges, read Coffinman and felt that the story would adapt well to film. Departures took a decade to complete, and distributors only released it after the film won the grand prize at the
Montreal World Film Festival in August 2008. It became Japan's highest-grossing domestic film that year and won
numerous awards, including the first
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for
Japan. It was praised for its humour and the beauty of the
encoffining ceremony (set pictured), but critics took issue with the film's predictability and overt sentimentality. The film's success spurred the development of tourist attractions at its shooting sites, increased interest in encoffining ceremonies, and the adaptation of the story for various media. (
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The taxis' tariffs and service areas are indicated by the colour of their
livery. Red taxis, seen here, have the highest fares but serve the greatest area. Green taxis serve the
New Territories and are less expensive. Blue taxis are the least expensive, but are limited to southern
Lantau Island.
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