The thing is, if you really want to enjoy this movie, you should look at it as a nicely painted literal slice of life. If you're looking for entertaining hour of television, wanting to be enthralled, you'd better avert your eyes from this one.
The story is scattered throughout this movie, slowly building one small telling structure. The selling point for me was the atmosphere - the set dressing. I felt like I was part of that world. The vibrant colours, the attention to detail, the changing seasons - everything screamed "Japan" to me. In my opinion, this movie is for two types of people: 1. Maeda Atsuko fans and 2. patient aesthetic loving people with penchant for obscure movies... (I am both, so I enjoyed it thoroughly)..
To be candid, you'll see about half an hour of people eating. So if you like observing mastication, please, dig in.