Dotonbori River

, also released as Lovers Lost, is a 1982 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. The title refers to the area of Dōtonbori. Plot A nineteen-year-old aspiring painter named Kunihiko Yasuoka meets a woman when her dog Kotaro knocks over his painting easel. She gifts him a lemon, then he goes to work at a tearoom called River. His boss Mr. Takeuchi accompanies him to bury his mother's ashes, who has formerly died and left Kunihiko without any relatives. The boss's son Masao challenges junkie pool shark Kozo Watanabe to the best of nine games for a prize 300,000 yen. After Masao wins, Watanabe tells him that he would be even better if he learned the secret technique of his father, Tetsuo Takeuchi, who had been a pool shark 15 years earlier. Kunihiko and Masao collect Masao's winnings from Watanabe's wife, a dancer at a club called London. She turns out to be Satomi Matsumoto, one of their classmates, and only gives them half the money, promising to pay the rest the next week. Kunihiko and Masao bump into an irate man-about-town who threatens to kill Kunihiko. When Kunihiko returns to work, Mr. Takeuchi takes him out to a bar whose owner is Machiko, the woman Kunihiko met earlier. Kaoru, a transgender performer and mother figure to a group of other transgender performers, is slapped by her lover (the same man-about-town) for not giving him enough money. Walking the streets of Dôtonbori, Mr. Takeuchi tells Kunihiko that Machiko is a former geisha who was left the bar by its former owner and that her patron is Mr. Tamura of Tamura Realty. Kunihiko visits Tamura Realty the next day but is afraid to approach Mr. Tamura when he sees him entering. Machiko tells Mr. Takeuchi that Kotaro has run away, so he sends Kunihiko out with her to look for it. They search for hours but do not find the dog. When she complains about getting older, he kisses her. Watanabe takes all of Satomi's money for dope, leaving her unable to pay Masao the money he needs to challenge a hustler from Kobe, but he performs a trick shot for the owner of the pool hall, who agrees to stake him the money. Masao wins but she keeps the majority of the winnings. Mr. Takeuchi has Kunihiko bring Masao back to the tearoom, where he confesses to his son that his own gambling on pool is why Masao's mother killed herself. When Masao refuses to stop, the two begin fighting until Kunihiko stops them. Kaoru arrives drunk at the tearoom after closing time so Masao lets her stay in his room.