Early Summer Quotes

Aya Tamura: Husbands are all like that. That's why we don't marry.

Noriko Mamiya: That's right, isn't it?

Takako: You don't know anything about married life.

Aya Tamura: Married life?

Takako: Only married people understand.

Aya Tamura: Once you're married, it's too late to understand.

Fumiko Mamiya: You drink quite a bit, Noriko.

Noriko Mamiya: I like beer.

Koichi Mamiya: It's deplorable, what's happened since the war. Women have become so forward, taking advantage of etiquette.

Noriko Mamiya: That's not true. We've just taken our natural place. Men were too forward up to now.

Fumiko Mamiya: Hear, hear!

Fumiko Mamiya: When was the last time Uncle visited?

Noriko Mamiya: A year after the war ended. The station was so crowded.

Fumiko Mamiya: I was still wearing those pants we wore during the war.

Old Uncle: How old are you now, Noriko?

Noriko Mamiya: [giggles] Twenty-eight.

Old Uncle: Huh?

Shukichi Mamiya: She's 28 now.

Old Uncle: Is that right?

Shukichi Mamiya: About time to marry.

Sotaro Satake: I'm glad you came. I wanted to talk to you.

Noriko Mamiya: Yes?

Sotaro Satake: Why don't you get married? It's about time.

[Noriko giggles]

Sotaro Satake: I have a prospect. A classmate from the university, a little older than me. Lived in Calcutta for a long time. His name's Manabe. A good man. He's never been married. Not sure if he's still a virgin.

Koichi Mamiya: Father, Noriko has received a proposal.

Shukichi Mamiya: Really?

Koichi Mamiya: It seems good.

Shukichi Mamiya: Good. It's about time she got married.

Koichi Mamiya: She's 28 already.

Shukichi Mamiya: That's right. I hope it's a good match.

Koichi Mamiya: I think so. I'll ask around about him.

Shukichi Mamiya: Yes, do that, and right away.

Takako: Single people don't know what real happiness is. They have no right to talk.

Aya Tamura: Shut up, Mrs. Carrot!

Takako: Single people, have no say!

Aya Tamura: You go on about happiness, but it's no more than the anticipation you feel before going to the races, planning what horse to bet on and how you'll spend your winnings.

Takako: Can you come too, Aya?

Aya Tamura: I can - anytime - because I'm not married.

Tami Yabe: We had a strange visitor this morning.

Shige Mamiya: Who was it?

Tami Yabe: I'd never seen him before. A man with parted hair, glasses and a black bag. I thought he was from the tax office, be he wasn't.

Shige Mamiya: Who was he?

Tami Yabe: He was from a detective agency. He asked me about Noriko. I realized it was about her marriage.

Shukichi Mamiya: How time flies. Koichi married with children. And now Noriko's getting married. This may be the happiest time of our lives.

Shige Mamiya: You think so? We could be happier.

Shukichi Mamiya: We mustn't want too much.

Shige Mamiya: That's too old for Noriko.

Fumiko Mamiya: That's right.

Koichi Mamiya: How old old is good? She isn't so young herself. She can't be too choosy or she'll never get married. As long as he's respectable, we shouldn't be picky.

Aya Tamura: I thought you were the type who could never leave Tokyo.

Noriko Mamiya: Why?

Aya Tamura: I imagined you'd live Western-style, with a flower garden, listening to Chopin. In your tiled kitchen, you'd have a refrigerator filled with Coca-Cola. I thought you'd be a housewife in a house like that. When I'd visit, you'd meet me on a covered porch, wearing a white sweater, with a terrier in tow, and you'd greet me over a picket fence, "Hellow, how are you?"

Noriko Mamiya: Wouldn't your husband live here with you?

Aya Tamura: Out of the question. No real man would live with his wife's family.

Sotaro Satake: Is she interested in men?

Aya Tamura: What do you think?

Sotaro Satake: Sometimes she seems to be and sometimes she doesn't. Has she always been like that?

Aya Tamura: Yes.

Sotaro Satake: Has she ever been in love?

Aya Tamura: I don't think so. But she has an album of Audrey Hepburn photos this thick.

Sotaro Satake: Who's Audrey Hepburn?

Aya Tamura: An American actress.

Sotaro Satake: A woman? So she goes for women?

Aya Tamura: No!

Sotaro Satake: You can never know. She's very strange, In any case.

Shukichi Mamiya: We're parting ways, but we'll be together again. I wish we could live together forever, but that's impossible.

Koichi Mamiya: Father and Mother, please come visit us now and then from Yamato.

Noriko Mamiya: I'm sorry. I've broken up the family.

Shukichi Mamiya: It's not your fault. It was inevitable.