Approximately 30 years after his national hit "Years of Joy and Sorrow," director Kinoshita Keisuke has once again produced a human drama depicting the life of a lighthouse keeper and his wife over a 50-year period, to commemorate the 13th anniversary of Shochiku Ofuna Studios.

　In the previous film, the lighthouse keepers' harsh lives were depicted in a time of scarcity, with frequent transfers that even gave way to a sense of despair. In contrast, this time, times have changed and the people are more prosperous, so those harsh emotions have faded. Instead, the film focuses heavily on the relationship between the protagonist Yoshiaki and his father, and it also succeeds in lyrically conveying the couple's unchanging love with a touch of generous humor.
Hitoshi Ueki, who played the easygoing elderly father, swept all the Best Supporting Actor awards that year.