Coffee Jikou

"A cup of coffee is enough to transform your mood - at least it works for Yoko (Yo Hitoto) in Hau Hsiao-hsiens Coffee Jikou (Cafe Lumiere). Yoko finds her peace in enjoying coffee with her friend Hajime (Tadanobu Asano). With a cup of coffee in her hands, she can retreat from her own problems and stay calm, even for just a while, so that she will have the courage to move on to another stage in her life.

Yoko is a freelance writer researching on the Taiwan-born Japanese singer Jiang Ewn-ye. She knows Hajime, the owner of a shop selling second-hand books, when doing research at his bookstore. Since then the two have spent a good deal of quality time together in coffee shops. One day Yoko discovers that she is pregnant and she announces to her parents, whom she has not met for long, that she decides to become an unmarried mother. Her parents are worried; but Hajime feels even worse for he cannot express his love for Yoko. Meanwhile, Yokos research on Jiang Ewn-ye has inspired her to reexamine her relationships with her family, Hajime, the baby, and many others." Original Source