The Child in the Distance (かなたの子)

Why?!

Why?!

subs: maboroshinohikari

Kanata no Ko

Child of the Other Side

Episode 1: Walking around

Thirty Years Earlier

I'm going out!

Have fun!

- Huh?! Why me? - You go, then! - No way!

- Hey! - Hey!

Do you live here, kiddo?

Don't call me "kiddo"! My name's Hitoko.

Where're you from?

Tokyo.

Gonna live here?

Gonna enroll in our school?

I'm here for summer break only.

I'll go home when Mom comes to pick me up.

- Do we tell her? - Should we? - For real...?

Hey!

Did Granny Yaeko tell you about the mummy?

There's a temple on the other side of the woods. That's where the mummy is.

A mummy?

All great monks become mummies in the end.

- Really? - Yeah.

It's amazing! They stay underground for a thousand days without eating anything.

Have you ever seen the mummy?

Well, it's impossible to look inside the temple, and everybody says we mustn't go there.

You must not go there.

I'm home!

Did you buy it?

Yes, I did!

- Grandma... - Mm?

Is there a mummy in the temple?

The other kids told me so.

Want to go to the temple with me sometime?

You scared?

I'm not scared.

Well, I'm old, but I'm scared all the same.

What's the matter?! What happened?!

No need to shout!

Looks like she's okay, huh?

Want to drink some water?

Do you remember your name?

It's Mameta Hitoko.

Well, looks like she's perfectly conscious.

Are you feeling ill?

- No... - Is it really okay to let her climb up?

Are you hurting anywhere?

No, I'm not.

Do you have a headache? Are you tired?

No, I'm all right.

If you start feeling ill, please let me know.

Are you really okay?

I'm fine.

Please don't overstrain yourself.

I won't.

I don't really know why, but...

Sometimes, on the mountain, you feel as though you were fainting, even though you're actually well.

I've experienced it myself.

Do you think I'll win the lottery?

It's okay if it's not the first prize.

I just want to win something.

*(Mount Fuji Gotenba Trail.)

They say if you pray to the morning sun on this route*, you'll definitely win the lottery.

Huh?!

If you pray to the rising sun, you'll get married! Don't talk nonsense.

- No, you'll recover from an illness! - What?!

You guys take TV shows and magazines too seriously!

Hitoko-san, you're also here for the lottery, aren't you?

- Tell me, sir! - Yes?

If you pray to the rising sun, you'll get married, right?

Well, I think everyone should just climb with their own wish.

'Kay...

They're all wrong.

It must be the God of Money, for sure.

Two million-- three million yen would be enough.

I don't think I'm asking for too much.

Ah...

Well, since you've come so far, wouldn't it be okay to ask for the first prize?

But I wouldn't live long enough to spend it all.

I just want to hold a funeral for my husband.

Ah... I'm sorry.

- My condolences... - Oh, no no!

I feel neither sad nor lonely...

He died about eighteen years ago!

Huh..?

I can't leave him in our house forever.

You didn't lay his ashes in the tomb...?

I didn't even grieve for him.

We've always been together for the last eighteen years.

Had I entombed him, I would have probably felt too lonely to live on.

But it's time to say goodbye.

I have to give him a place where someone can pray for him.

That'll be my last duty.

It was a custom named "o-michiyuki".

The villagers went to call out to the holy priest by turns.

Why did the holy priest go underground while he was still alive?

You see, a long time ago, because of war and calamities,

this village was about to die out.

So the holy priest entombed himself,

and in exchange for his life

he tried to save this village.

We mustn't go near the temple?

Becoming a mummy is wrong.

If this story became known outside the village,

the holy priest's great kindness would be in vain.

I think it happened when I was about your age, Hitoko...

I don't want to go.

What're you scared of?

The holy priest is waiting.

You'll have to come by yourself, when I have my period and cannot move!

Come!

Yae!

- How was the holy priest? - He answered. No white sign.

What's wrong, Kimi-chan?

Say, Yae-chan...

Have you gone to the o-michiyuki?

I've never been there by myself.

You know, I think...

The priest might be asking to get out.

There's no way he'd do that.

Maybe he wants to get out, but he's blocked by a heavy stone.

Then he should just ask those who go to the o-michiyuki to let him out,

instead of ringing the bell.

(Monks who were buried alive rang a bell to let people know they were still living)

But if he actually asked someone to let him out

and that person never informed the others, we'd never know about it.

Because nobody talks about the o-michiyuki.

He actually wants out.

He may be saying he wants to come out!

You must be tired after all.

No...

Sorry.

Hitoko-san...

Why are you climbing?

Why do you ask?

Someno-san is climbing for money.

Kondou-san is doing it to get well.

Yes...

Hitoko-san, are you married?

You see,