Princess from the Moon (1987) Taketori monogatari (original title)

Director:

Kon Ichikawa

Writers:

Shinya Hidaka
Kon Ichikawa
(more)

Release Date:

14 September 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | History | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Based on a centuries-old traditional Japanese fairy tale, a country couple finds a baby girl in some bamboo and raises her as their own daughter...

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Awards:

3 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Taketori-no-Miyatsuko
Ayako Wakao	...	Tayoshime
Yasuko Sawaguchi	...	Kaya, the Princess Kaguya
Kôji Ishizaka	...	Mikado
Kiichi Nakai	...	Otomo-no-Dainagon or Minister of the Military
Koasa Shunpûtei	...	Kuramochi-no-Miko or Minister of Culture
Takatoshi Takeda	...	Abe-no-Udaijin or Minister of Finance
Megumi Odaka	...	Akeno
Katsuo Nakamura	...	Lise
Shirô Itô	...	Sojo-no-Doson
Fujio Tokita	...	Shonin-no-Uda
Takeshi Katô	...	Fujiwara-no-Okuni
Kyôko Kishida	...	Kougo
Hirokazu Yamaguchi	...	Metal Carver
Jun Hamamura	...	Sakanoue-no-Dajo-Daijin
Gen Idemitsu	...	Mura-no-Choja
Michiyo Yokoyama	...	Lise's Wife
Hirokazu Inoue	...	Ono-no-Fusamori
Miho Nakano	...	Kaya

Directed by
Kon Ichikawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Shinya Hidaka
Kon Ichikawa
Mitsutoshi Ishigami
Ryûzô Kikushima
Shikibu Murasaki		based on novel "Taketori Monogatari"

Produced by
Hiroaki Fujii	....	producer
Shigeaki Hazama	....	executive producer
Masaru Kakutani	....	producer
Junichi Shinsaka	....	producer
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Kensaku Tanikawa

Cinematography by
Setsuo Kobayashi

Film Editing by
Chizuko Osada

Set Decoration by
Shinobu Muraki

Costume Design by
Emi Wada

Production Management
Shigekazu Hirama	....	production manager
Yasushi Mitsui	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masaaki Tezuka	....	chief assistant director
Kazuo Yoshida	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Tetsuya Ohashi	....	sound mixer
Teiichi Saitô	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Eiichi Asada	....	special effects assistant
Kenichi Eguchi	....	special cinematographer
Yasuyuki Inoue	....	art director
Takeshi Miyanishi	....	matte process
Teruyoshi Nakano	....	special effects
Eiichi Asada	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Kazunobu Sanpei	....	matte processing

Camera and Electrical Department
Kazuo Shimomura	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hiroshi Saitô	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
Kensaku Tanikawa	....	music supervisor

Production Companies

• Fuji Television Network
• Toho Pictures Inc.

Distributors

• Toho Company (1987) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Toho Company (1987) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)

Special Effects

• Cine-boy

Other Companies

• Den Film Effect  title
• Kanebo Biyo Kenkyujo  co-operation
• Kyoto Hotel  co-operation
• Nippon Life  support
• Otaritec  co-operation
• Suntory  co-operation
• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

"Taketori monogatari" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:PG

Company:

Fuji Television Network

Movie Connections:

Version of Kaguya hime (1935)

Soundtrack:

Stay With Me

Close Encounters of the Bamboo Cutters Kind

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The old Japanese folktale of the Bamboo Cutter is here reinterpreted to make Kaguya an alien visitor. Sticking fairly closely to the original 9th century tale of a bamboo cutter finding a mysterious baby girl, this film puts a modern spin onto it by turning the beautiful visitor from the moon into an alien entity lost from a crashed spaceship. Sounds silly, but.... It keeps the original story but "explains" what really happened to our modern sensibilities. I'd have preferred the more traditional folktale ending, but despite the Close Encounters of the Third Kind finale, this film still shines some light into that REALLY alien world, Heian Japan.