This is an essay about a Japanese movie named “Kamome shokudo”.
Kamome means seagull and shokudo means diner.
I watched this movie many times. I want to watch it especially when I am fed up with everything.
The main character is an owner of a diner. She runs it in Helsinki in Finland.
Some travelers/citizens peek through the window, but they don’t come inside. Every day she has no customers but she believes that if she opens her diner and puts heart into cooking, people will come and enjoy her dishes.
One day a boy who loves Japan came into her diner and enjoyed a conversation with her. He was her first customer. With this as a start, her diner got to be popular with people in Helsinki.
Different people with different problems came to her and recovered from their problems when they visited the diner.
For example, some Japanese women came to Finland because they were fed up with Japan. A Finnish woman got desperate because her husband left home.
What happened in this diner? The owner just gave them a cup of joe (coffee) and a cinnamon roll and made small talk.
She never asks about their problems and she believes that they can get better by themselves.
I definitely remember a Japanese woman said that everyone has problems and worries, regardless of nationality.
This line makes me think that I’m not alone and this movie makes me believes that I’m okay.