Departures” tells the story of Daigo Kobayashi, a cellist who loses his job when his orchestra is disbanded. Facing financial difficulties, Daigo and his wife move back to his small hometown, where he stumbles upon a job listing for a position in “departures,” assuming it’s related to travel. To his surprise, the job is actually as a nokanshi, a traditional Japanese mortician who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the afterlife.