As a contrast to his lone wolf detective in Eki Station, here he is the anchor that keeps all the crazy people around him from losing it, through the metaphor of feeding them. This man just radiates a cool trustworthiness that people lean against. They can't know that he is losing his mind, because they are as well. It is almost about the wisdom of creation in that way.
Interesting how he gave up his career as a bureaucrat which is saying something about the return to nature, the return to the spirit, verse the dehumanization of the collective, that is in lots of Japanese cinema. Also interesting how his wife is displeased by his decision at first, but is happily working the shop alongside him throughout it. I always find the wife characters interesting in these Japanese dramas. This one is all about the small details that absorb you, the things unsaid. My favorite was the fat woman's tantrum.
The most interesting thing about the Ken Takakura and Furuhata films I have seen is that he is using his leading actor not at face value. He is reflecting the film against him, using him as a mirror to the bigger story. The great pairings work like this that they feel like co-authorship telling a bigger story, rather than the one being inside the others universe. Both sides of a pairing bring something different to the table.
