After Losing His Wife, This Single Dad Devotes His Life to Raising Their Daughter Alone(Step 2020)
Before he goes to work every day, he has to take a detour to send his
daughter to kindergarten. Then he hands his daughter to the teacher and then
rushes to the station. After that, he takes a crowded tram and starts a
day’s work at the company. He always gets off work on time, and then rushes to pick up his
daughter and go home. After returning home, he cooks for his daughter, coaxes her to sleep,
and then washes the clothes for the day. Of course he is very tired, his daughter and work
have become his whole life. He has persisted in this busy and tiring life for a whole year. He knows very well in his heart that this kind of life will continue
for more than ten years. A year ago, Kenichi’s wife died suddenly of illness. The scratches of colored crayons under the calendar are the last
traces of his wife left at home. After that, his wife’s voice and smile are frozen in the portrait. Kenichi and his father-in-law and mother-in-law
took care of his wife’s funeral. His one-and-a-half-year-old daughter didn’t know what death was, but
just slept quietly in his arms. One year after his wife passed away, Kenichi wrote the words “start
again” on a new calendar. He hid the sadness of losing his beloved in his heart and made up his
mind to raise his daughter alone. At lunch that day, his boss asked Kenichi to return to the business
department, but Kenichi refused. The reason was that he had to set aside time to
take care of his daughter. Although the business department had more development prospects, he
would rather stay in the department that allowed flexible work. Kenichi’s father-in-law and mother-in-law often called to persuade
him to remarry and said they could help him take care of the children. Perhaps to show off, he would always refuse the
kindness of his parents-in-law. Kenichi wanted to raise his daughter alone and
believed that he could be a good father. He placed his wife’s photo in front of the shrine, and every late
night, he would come to talk to his wife. He often poured a glass of wine and told his wife about the daily
trivialities of the family. He still had a glimmer of fantasy that his wife was
in this house and had never left. That day, he sent Miki to kindergarten as usual, but Miki seemed to
be in a low mood. Miki did not respond to the teacher’s greetings, and was not as
lively as before. A 3-year-old child does not know how to express emotions in words,
and Kenichi does not understand why Miki is sad. That night, there was an emergency in the
department and he needed to work overtime. It was already 9 o’clock in the evening when
Kenichi finished his work. Thinking that Miki was still in the kindergarten at this time, he
could only rush to the kindergarten. When he rushed to the kindergarten, Miki had fallen
asleep in the teacher’s arms. The gentle teacher told Kenichi that Miki had been
inexplicably angry recently. The teacher was also from a single-parent family, so she could
understand Miki’s feelings. Miki saw other children being picked up by their mothers every day,
and perhaps she noticed that she was different from others. Miki also told the teacher today that she liked her father’s hug very
much, but her father’s hug was always hasty. At this moment, Kenichi suddenly realized that he was not a competent
father to a certain extent. Because Kenichi was in a hurry to go to work, every
hug with Miki was perfunctory. If there was something wrong with his daughter’s body, he could use a
thermometer to measure and check. But he never paid attention to the subtle changes
in his daughter’s heart. After that, Kenichi devoted more time to his daughter and slowly
learned how to be a good father. Under his careful care, Miki welcomed the day of
kindergarten graduation. On the day of the graduation ceremony, Miki sang nursery rhymes on
the stage, and Kenichi recorded Miki in the audience. His father-in-law and mother-in-law had tears in
their eyes, just like him. Five years later, Kenichi finally got through the most difficult
years of raising children. Now, Miki is 7 years old, and the sensible Miki has learned to help
his father share housework. Kenichi still sends Miki to school every day, and there are more
children’s laughter on the way. It was just that as time passed quietly, he didn’t realize that Miki
had the ability to take care of herself. Looking at Miki’s lively back, he suddenly felt a sense of loss. Looking back at the street where he had walked for several years, it
seemed like yesterday that he had pushed Miki. He had to admit that Miki was no longer a baby that he had to push. When he was free, he often went to a coffee shop where a clerk looked
like his deceased wife. He had no idea about the clerk and always kept a distance from him. His boss would still ask him to have dinner from time to time and
still wanted to transfer him back to the business department. Now he didn’t have to pick up his daughter anymore, and returning to
the business department would give him a better chance of promotion. But Kenichi still refused, saying that the school had various
activities and he needed to take leave frequently. On this day, Miki’s elementary school teacher suddenly talked to her. The teacher said that Miki lied in class and she refused to admit
that her mother had passed away. Mother’s Day is coming soon, and the class will also hold an activity
to draw portraits for mothers. During a session introducing mothers, everyone described their
mothers vividly, except Miki. She couldn’t say anything about her mother, so Miki finally lied. She stubbornly said that her mother had always been at home. Only then did Kenichi realize that Miki had never accepted the fact
that her mother had left. In fact, it was not just Miki, he himself had not completely accepted
the departure of his wife. It turned out that his whispers to his wife every night had also
affected Miki invisibly. When she returned home at night, Miki was drawing a
portrait of her mother. Miki was a little distressed looking at the photo. She had never seen her mother alive, and she tried many times but
couldn’t draw it. After hearing this, Kenichi ran to the coffee shop and asked the
clerk to help her. Early the next morning, he took Miki to the park. The clerk showed up as promised, and as he requested, he dressed up
as much as possible like his wife. The weather was good that day, and Miki and her mother played in the
park for a long time. Kenichi watched quietly from the side, feeling
guilty about his daughter. He wanted to use this method to implicitly tell his daughter that her
mother’s death was a reality that had to be accepted. At the same time, he also wanted to use this method to tell himself
that he had to get out of the sadness of losing his beloved. Some people are destined to be remembered in their hearts, and those
who are left behind can only move forward into the future. On Mother’s Day, he was the only male parent in the classroom. He smiled as he watched his daughter recite the text, and behind him
was a portrait of her mother drawn by his daughter. The portrait of his daughter was different from that of other
classmates, in which there was an angel halo on her mother’s head. Two years later, Miki was 9 years old and Kenichi was 38 years old. He brought Miki to his father-in-law’s house for the summer vacation,
and a few days later was the day to commemorate his wife. His father-in-law and mother-in-law had witnessed everything he had done over the years, and the two old people had
treated him as their own son. He and his father-in-law chatted under the eaves, enjoying the
tranquility of the summer afternoon together. But when the topic came to his wife, they fell into
sadness at the same time. On the night of the memorial ceremony, the family worshiped on the
roadside at the entrance of the village. It is said that when firewood is lit during the sacrifice, those who
leave will follow the firelight home. As the firewood slowly burned, the father-in-law’s mother suddenly
raised her head, and she seemed to see her granddaughter coming back. The grandmother told Miki that people as old as her great-grandmother
can talk to people in heaven. After listening, Miki pretended to understand and looked ahead and said, “Welcome home, mom.” Two years later, 11-year-old Miki learned
to ride a bicycle. They rode together on the street, and the former kindergarten moved. Miki learned to use the idiom “time flies”, and Kenichi, who is
already 42 years old, has white hair on his temples. The school will hold a sports meeting soon, and he accompanies Miki
to practice passing the baton on weekends. Now, the leader is about to be transferred to the branch as the person in charge, and Kenichi finally agreed to return to the
business department. During the years working in the business department, he met a woman
who really made him want to marry home. The other party is his colleague Nanae, who is also a middle-aged man
who has lost his other half like him. He told his father-in-law and brother-in-law about Nanae, and both
encouraged him to pursue boldly. After all, he has been widowed for more than ten years, and no one
has any reason to prevent Kenichi from pursuing his own happiness. Even when he learned that he did not have the courage to take another
step forward, his father-in-law was still planning to give him a push. Miki’s annual sports meeting lunch box has always been prepared by
his mother-in-law. But this time, a few days before the sports meeting, his
father-in-law lied that his mother-in-law had a cold. The father-in-law said that he might not be able to help this time,
and hinted that Kenichi should ask Nanae for help. Under the encouragement of his father-in-law and mother-in-law, he
mustered up the courage to invite Nanae. To Kenichi’s surprise, Nanae agreed without hesitation. They went to buy ingredients together the next day, and then went to
her house to practice making sushi. He stayed at Nanae’s home for a long time, chatting with her about
all kinds of irrelevant topics. Until he was about to leave at night, Nanae chased him out and
confessed a secret to him. In fact, Nanae had a miscarriage and would not be able to have
children in the future. Nanae hoped that Kenichi could accept her imperfect self, and also
hoped to have a chance to meet Miki. People who run in both directions often don’t need to say much, and
their feelings for each other are always written in each other’s eyes. Later, Kenichi asked Miki if she was willing to meet Nanae, but Miki changed the subject and said that she wanted to
practice the baton again. They went outside together and practiced again, which they had failed
many times before. Only this time, they did not fail again, and the baton was passed
steadily to Miki. Miki seemed to have made up her mind at this moment that she should
not be an obstacle to her father’s pursuit of happiness. And Miki said that she wanted to thank Nanae in
person about the lunch box. Kenichi also expressed his gratitude to his daughter for
understanding him. Later, Kenichi took Miki to meet Nanae. But after each meeting, Miki would have a fever and even vomit all
the food she ate. After several consecutive meetings, Miki told her father that she did
not want to see Nanae again for the time being. Kenichi knew in his heart that this was a manifestation of Miki’s
psychological resistance to her stepmother. At this moment, Miki’s existence became a wall between him and Nanae. And there seemed to be a vague barrier between Miki and him. He passed by the familiar street and stopped at the
end of the street for a long time. This street has not changed much over the years, but now, his
relationship with Miki seems to be unable to go back to the past. When he returned home in the evening, there was dinner prepared by
Miki on the table. Kenichi went to talk to Miki, and Miki suddenly told him that after
junior high school, he wanted to live with his grandfather. Miki felt that as long as she was not there, her father could live
happily with Nanae. In this family reorganization, Miki chose to withdraw, and she did
not want to be a stumbling block for her father’s remarriage. Miki’s understanding and concession made Kenichi feel distressed. After a period of time, he fell into torment, and gradually he had
the idea of giving up remarriage. Kenichi told his father-in-law and mother-in-law about his desire to give up, and his father-in-law, who was always
kind, scolded him for the first time. The father-in-law said: “Miki must be in pain now. You must be more uncomfortable than Miki at this moment. You must cheer up and try to make Miki accept the person you like. You can’t be alone all the time. We all hope that you can get your own happiness in the future.” This was the first and last time that the
father-in-law preached to Kenichi. The mother-in-law said: “Let us meet Miss Nanae if there is a chance.” One day later, Kenichi suddenly invited Nanae to have
breakfast at home. Miki was very angry when she learned about it. She turned back to her room and said that she didn’t want to have
breakfast with Nanae. This time Kenichi’s attitude was unusually firm. He sternly declared that he and Nanae would wait until Miki left. Nanae, who came after hearing the news, was uneasy and still worried
that Miki would find it difficult to accept herself. However, Kenichi did not retreat. He believed that the sensible Miki would take the
initiative to take the first step. After waiting in the living room with Nanae for more than ten minutes, Miki finally walked out of the room with
the sound of the door opening. Miki smiled and said, “I want the eggs to be half-boiled.” The days
passed slowly, and it was two years later. My father-in-law had a heart attack and was admitted to the hospital. His condition was very serious and he only had a
few months left to live. Kenichi told his father-in-law that Miki always insisted on coming to
the hospital to see her grandfather. But the stubborn father-in-law refused to meet him every time. He didn’t want Miki to see him sick. On the day of elementary school graduation, Miki wrote a graduation
ceremony invitation to her grandfather. Miki showed the invitation to Nanae. When Nanae read the invitation, Miki’s eyes turned to her mother in
front of the shrine. After staring at her mother for a long time, Miki made another
important decision in her heart. Suddenly Miki said to Nanae, “How is it? Mom.” Kenichi didn’t react
for a while, and Nanae looked at Miki in disbelief. This was the first time Miki called Nanae “Mom”, and it was also the
first time Nanae was called “Mom”. She has been guarding and waiting silently for two years, and now she
has finally received the recognition of her child. Kenichi brought Miki’s invitation letter to the hospital, and the mother-in-law read the words in the invitation
letter next to the father-in-law. Reading every word written by Miki, the grandmother was excited and happy and couldn’t help crying, but the grandfather
held back his tears. Because Miki said she was the happiest girl in the world. In fact, the grandfather had always refused to see Miki because he didn’t want his granddaughter to bear the sadness
of losing a loved one. But the father-in-law also understood that everyone
must experience this sadness. Finally, on a snowy day, Kenichi brought his wife
and daughter to the hospital. This time, the father-in-law was dressed very solemnly, and his
expression was no longer pale and weak due to his serious illness. This was the first time the father-in-law met Nanae, so he temporarily sent Miki away and asked Miki to go downstairs to help
him make a snow rabbit. The father-in-law had a lot to say to Nanae, but in the end these
words only turned into a dying exhortation. He asked Nanae to take good care of Miki and Kenichi, hoping that
they would always love each other and be happy. Outside the hospital at this time, Miki was earnestly helping her
grandfather make snow rabbits. After the snow rabbit was made, Miki gave it to her
grandfather as a gift. It was just that the room was too warm, and the snow rabbit on the
plate melted quickly. Grandpa told Miki that the snow would melt one day, just as relatives
would leave one day. Miki certainly couldn’t accept the departure of her relatives, she
cried and begged her grandfather not to leave. But whether she was willing to accept it or not, she couldn’t stop
the arrival of death. Those who were left behind by the departed can only
be pushed forward by time. The end of the story is a year later, when Miki is in the first grade
of junior high school. They looked at the familiar street together, and the father and
daughter had walked on this street for 13 years. Now, Kenichi’s hair is getting whiter, and Miki’s name for him has
changed from “Dad” to “Father”. When playing a running game with Miki, he suddenly found that he
could not catch up with Miki. Miki will continue to grow in the future. Now Kenichi only hopes that when Miki reaches the rebellious period,
she will not hate him too much. This is a very plain story, telling the story of the protagonist Kenichi raising his daughter alone for ten years
after his wife’s death. What is the definition of family? Different people will give different answers. The answer given by this movie: Home is a place for mutual
companionship and a place for common growth. It is like a button with many threads, and at the end of the threads
are people wandering in the long river of time. In this movie, I also saw the discussion about death. The departure of a loved one can be a rainstorm or
a long wetness for the rest of life. No matter what it brings, the people left behind
will eventually move on. Time will not stop for anyone’s sadness, and the future that you and
I have not yet reached will eventually come. We slowly learn to accept in the loss, and gradually complete
self-reconstruction in the loss. Before the future comes, we can only take steps and keep walking. Well, today’s movie sharing ends here Welcome everyone to like, comment and forward Thank you for your patience in watching Looking
forward to meeting you next time
After the sudden loss of his wife, Kenichi is left to raise their one-year-old daughter on his own.
Over the next 10 years, he battles loneliness, guilt, and pressure from others to move on—while trying to be the best father he can be.
Step (2020) is a deeply touching Japanese drama about single parenthood, grief, and the quiet strength found in everyday moments.
🎬 Movie Title: Step (ステップ, 2020)
🎭 Genre: Family Drama, Slice of Life
🌸 Starring: Takayuki Yamada, Risa Naito
👉 If you love heartfelt family stories and emotional character arcs, this one’s for you.
📌 Don’t forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS for more weekly recaps.
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