Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World(2004)

Original Title: Sekai no chûshin de, ai wo sakebu

Based on a best-selling novel by Katayama Kyoichi. A typhoon is approaching town when Ritsuko (Kou Shibasaki) discovers a mysterious old cassette tape that leads her to abruptly abandon her fiancé, Sakutaro (Takao Osawa). When Sakutaro realizes where she's gone, it leads him to take a journey of his own. Sakutaro goes into a deep reverie, thinking back to his high school years when he developed a powerful crush on a classmate, Aki (Masami Nagasawa). Aki was beautiful, poised, and athletic, and seemed on the verge of escaping their small town. With the encouragement of his best friend Ryunosuke (Issei Takahashi) and his uncle (Tsutomu Yamazaki), a wedding photographer, Sakutaro pursues Aki. She's drawn to him, and encourages him to open up to her in cassette recordings that they exchange. Their romance is blossoming when Sakutaro learns that Aki is gravely ill.