The Place Promised in Our Early Days is a 2004 Japanese animated dystopian drama film written, produced, cinematographed, directed and edited by Makoto Shinkai in his feature film debut. Set over several years in an alternate history where Japan was divided after the Soviet Union occupied the island of Hokkaido, the film follows two childhood friends who grow apart after one of their friends disappears. As international tensions rise and a mysterious tower built by the Union starts replacing matter around it with matter from other universes, they cross paths once again and realize their missing friend might be the key to saving the world.