Embracing Love: A Cicada in Winter

In Japan, the Tokugawa Era represents a period of change in which the country must decide on how best to deal with its relationships with foreign countries. While many believe in isolationism, especially among the Choshu faction, Touma Kusaka's ideals are against his clan's. He secretly attempts to learn English for the purpose of preparing for the future of an open Japan.

To this end, he gains an ally for his silent struggle in a man named Keiichiro Akizuki, despite the fact that Akizuki is on the opposing side, the Tokugawa shogunate. During the course of their interaction, their bond deepens into something beyond commonality.

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If time did not allow ordinary things to be ordinary. How would you have lived?
It is the Bakamatsu and early Meiji Period. Akizuki Keiichirou and Kusaka Touma stand of opposite sides of the political scale of the time but still, something as fragile as the shell of a cicada binds these two men together in a tragic and cruel fate. A story of friendship, love and seperation as well as reunion and sacrifice.

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On the eve of Imperial rule in Japan in the mid-19th century, supporters of the Tokugawa shogunate and supporters of the imperial court clash over the country’s leadership and its place in world affairs. Despite being members of clans with opposing political and social views, Touma Kusaka and Keiichirou Akizuki find that they share an interest in foreign cultures and a vision of a more open and progressive Japan. What starts as a meeting of minds eventually blossoms into a romance, but bound by their clan ties and social positions, Kusaka and Akizuki struggle to find happiness as time, distance, political upheaval and the Boshin war conspire to keep them apart.