Good Morning

In a housing development outside of Tokyo, only one family owns a TV; naturally, their home becomes the neighborhood clubhouse. But the electronic emission in their living room makes the family suspect in the eyes of the rest of the community (they also "loll around the house in Western-style nightgowns," it is said). Minoru and Isamu are tired of having to go to their neighbors' to watch television; they demand one of their own. And another thing, why must they always greet people with "good morning" (ohayo) and ask "how are you?" when they obviously don't care? They go on a silence strike. Good Morning is literally a comedy of manners—a quiet duel between the ceremonial politesse that greases the wheels of daily life (and parental authority) and the robust rituals of boyhood.