This story begins with a protagonist whose sense of time has halted due to the grief of losing his son, now abandoned by his wife, and his sudden cohabitation with his 17-year-old niece left behind by his sister. A man who has lost love, a woman who has renounced love, and a girl who knows nothing of love... As they confront their respective pains, their journey of discovering faint sprouts of hope in hearts as parched as summer sand is depicted—a poignant yet tender masterpiece where sorrow and warmth intertwine.

1945年，悦子（原田知世 饰）与兄嫂生活在鹿儿岛，她在东京空袭中失去了父母。悦子一直暗恋哥哥的学弟明石（松冈俊介 饰），明石是海军航空队的少尉，虽然明石也喜欢悦子，但两人的关系始终没有进一步发展。哥哥要求悦子去相亲，对方石明石的好友——同是少尉的永与（永濑正敏 饰）。悦子面对明石这样的安排很是难过，但永与对她是一见钟情。但悦子喜欢的仍是明石，对于永与是再普通不过的友情。
数天后悦子知道了明石将要出征的消息，明石早已参加了特攻队，他明白这次出征将是生死之战，他要将悦子的幸福托交给永与……

Commencing well-respected Nippon director Kazuo Kuroki's sixth decade behind the camera, "A Boy's Summer in 1945" (literally "A Beautiful Summer in Kirishima") is a lyric, novelistic drama set in the countryside in the last days before Japan's surrender ending WWII. Striking a welcome retro note in its languid pacing and delicate handling of seriocomic ensemble threads, handsome production is a natural for fests. It might also prove a cornerstone for retrospectives or ancillary releases of works by a helmer ("Preparation of the Festival," "Ronin-gai") who's long been appreciated at home but has won just limited attention abroad.