Hankyu densha (2011)

"Hankyu Densha" follows the lives of various people who commute on Hankyu Railway's Imazu Line - connecting the cities of Nishinomiya and Takarazuka in Hyogo prefecture... See full synopsis »

Director:

Yoshishige Miyake

Writers:

Hiro Arikawa (based on the novel by), Yoshikazu Okada (screenplay)

Stars:

Kaho Minami, Erika Toda, Mitsuki Tanimura

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kaho Minami	...	Yasue ito
Erika Toda	...	Misa
Mitsuki Tanimura	...	Miho
Mana Ashida	...	Ami
Miki Nakatani	...	Shoko
Nobuko Miyamoto	...	Tokie
Tetsuji Tamayama	...	Ryuta
Saki Aibu	...	Mayumi
Suzuka Morita
Yû Koyanagi	...	Katsuya
Ryohei Suzuki
Ryo Katsuji	...	Keiichi
Kasumi Arimura	...	Etsuko
Tsutomu Takahashi
Megumi Yasu

Storyline

"Hankyu Densha" follows the lives of various people who commute on Hankyu Railway's Imazu Line - connecting the cities of Nishinomiya and Takarazuka in Hyogo prefecture... See full synopsis »

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

29 April 2011 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Hankyu Densha: Katamichi 15-fun-no Kiseki

Filming Locations:

Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

COCOON, Dentsu, Gentosha

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

How much drama can you pack into a 15-minute train ride?

Kinda hard to recommend this one. Basically it's a soap opera, set on public transit in Kobe. A half-dozen or so stories intertwine, and vignettes range from the trite-ish (eg. a girl is ashamed of her last name; a group of obnoxious middle-aged women function as a farcical Greek chorus) to the heartfelt, even heart-rending (in particular, an eight- year-old girl trying to cope with persistent bullying by classmates).

Unfortunately most of what happens strains credulity--particularly considering that the Japanese simply do not inject themselves with any regularity into the lives and problems of total strangers. Nor are they prone to be as emotional in public.

To sum up, Hankyu is a highly uneven soap opera which does shed light on modern Japanese customs and mores, but you have to wade through a lot of melodrama to get to the better bits.