Okko's Inn

This film was a solid insight into Japanese values and culture. Tradition, death, work ethic, youth, aging, family, spirits, health, food, healing and respect, all set in a beautiful hot spring onsen (bath) village sea side community. There's a lot to like about this film, and even more so if you're ready to look at culture's outside of hollywood western brat formats. A fun watch if a little bit by the numbers for Japanese values.

I really love to watch anime movies like this, it moves your heart and soul, so much that it leaves you happy and relieved or relaxed at the end.

We enjoyed it! It was good and fun. What a great innkeeper! Great food scene too near the end of the middle, lots of food. Pretty nice and cute movie! We'd stay at this inn, love the food

A beautiful film, ideal to teach a child what death is.

Okko survives the car crash that kills her parents. She goes to live with her grandmother, who runs an old-line hot springs inn. The ghost of a young boy persuades Okko to become the "junior innkeeper". Between the flashbacks, the ghosts only she sees, and the mean girl in school, can she find peace?

This animated film by Kitarô Kôsaka is not just Japanese; it is VERY Japanese, with is old-fashioned virtues of service to others, tradition, and to a westerner, exaggerated fear of losing face. Like all good fantasies, it has a strong symbolic message to support the surface plot. Then visual style combines full animation of simple yet effective character design with lush, almost candybox background work.