At a job interview, Makoto tries to impress the interviewer by telling a lie: "I rode around Japan on stilts. His girlfriend, Nozomi, runs out of patience with him and leaves him after trying to pass the interview with a lie. In order to get back together with Nozomi, Makoto is determined to get the job offer and creates a story about his experience on the stilts trip, which was a lie. As he sweats it out, planning his route and carrying his backpack, he begins to see what he really wants to do. ......
"Tokyo Rhapsody" consists of 11 short films all centered around the music genre known as "Kayokyoku". Kayokyoku is a catch-all term to describe the music that defined two generations of post-war Japan. Although the term survives, it has a strong connotation with a simpler, pre-"Economic Bubble" era when Japanese people shared a common identity in the reconstruction of their nation.
Kenji Shimamura has trouble being intimate with his girlfriend Noriko after a lifetime of watching his parents bicker over his father’s infidelity. After he spurns her advances, causing her to storm off in an offended rage, he decides it’s time to seek psychological help. Unfortunately that costs money and the best way to earn some quick cash in his family is to spy on his dad for his mother. He quickly discovers his dad has a young girlfriend named Yukari. Figuring the best way to deal with this gracefully is to come clean with Yukari he tells her all about their family and the real estate business his parents run together. Unfortunately, however, his plan backfires. Instead of being scared off Yukari applies for a job at the family business and befriends Kenji’s mother, setting up a chain of events that makes things awkward for everyone involved.