A crowdfunded feature film inspired by the short stories of Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972) is ready to entertain and spook audiences.

"The Master of Funerals," shot entirely in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, where the famed Japanese writer spent his early years, opened in theaters on Sept. 20.

Directed by Naofumi Higuchi and starring Atsuko Maeda and Kengo Kora, the film is a coming-of-age fantasy that blurs the line between reality and a world replete with ghosts.

Born in Osaka, Kawabata lost his parents when he was small and relocated to Ibaraki to live with his grandparents. He graduated from Osaka Prefectural Ibaraki Junior High School, now called Osaka Prefectural Ibaraki Senior High School, and lived in the city until he turned 18.

The high school that Kawabata is connected to serves as the film's locale.

Yukiko, played by Maeda, is a single mother raising her son 10 years after she grduated from the school. One day, she learns that her former classmate, with whom she once had a romantic relationship, was dead. Other classmates decide to hold a wake at their alma mater, but the body disappears that night and Yukiko sees something otherworldly.

The Ibaraki city government collaborated on the production of the film as a commemorative project to mark the 70th anniversary of its city status. It raised donations of more than 24 million yen ($222,530) through a crowdfunding campaign utilizing the “furusato nozei” system that allows people to pay a portion of their taxes to the municipality of their choice.

Screenwriter Hiroyuki Ono, a former student of the high school, wrote the script on the basis of Kawabata’s short stories, such as “The Master of Funerals,” “The Diary of My Sixteenth Year” and “Shi no Hitsugi wo Kata ni” (Carrying my teacher’s coffin on my shoulder).

The film marks the first time for Maeda to be cast as a mother. She accepted the role at the earnest request of Higuchi, who is also a film critic.

The director, a huge admirer of her acting skills, said: “She doesn’t playact like a small-time actor. She gives herself entirely to the role."

He said he shot the film "as if eyes of the dead were watching a coming-of-age drama of laughter and tears with a cold stare."

Kora, who plays one of the classmates, said that "there is a pleasant sense of discomfort in each scene from beginning to end."