‘Sleep early, greet people, eat breakfast!’, enthuse two kids to our forlorn hero in this quirky, utterly charming depiction of a place—Yamaga, Japan (pop. 49,000)—a people, the famous lanterns they make, the lantern festival they hold every August, and the slow rehabilitation of a widower steeped in grief. The gorgeous and extremely detailed lanterns are called ‘boneless’ because they are made only from paper; our sad hero wanders into town in a daze, carrying his wife’s urn, ends up at the lantern museum, meets an apprentice lantern-maker, and eventually seems to settle into the easy-going rhythms of the locality. The first half introduces the place, the townsfolk—the goofy male apprentice and his wife, and the strict female teacher, among others—and the lantern-making in a very genial and humane way, while the second half evolves into a ghost story that is original, structurally playful, and visually inventive. There is a real sensibility and ingenuity on display here, courtesy of first-time director Nadeshiko Koba.