Living in Two Worlds

Dai is a child of deaf adults, a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults). He grows up in rural Miyagi with his parents and grandparents and understands very early on that his everyday life is fundamentally different from that of his classmates. While others can be free and carefree children, Dai sees himself in a special role: he becomes an interpreter, a mediator, a person of responsibility—and is thus forced into an adult position at a young age. This imbalance shapes his perception of his parents and his relationship with them suffers; he blames his mother in particular for the shame he feels. In addition to the usual identity crises and insecurities of adolescence, Dai struggles with even greater burdens. He carries them silently with him for a considerable part of his youth, but the inverted parent-child dynamic creates an insurmountable feeling of constriction. When he can no longer suppress his urge for freedom and detachment, he is forced to make a difficult but necessary decision.