Always san-chôme no yûhi (2005)

Leaving her provincial home, teenage Mutsuko arrives in Tokyo by train to take a job in a major automotive company but finds that she is employed by a small auto repair shop owned by ... See full summary »

Director:

Takashi Yamazaki

Writers:

Ryôhei Saigan (comic), Takashi Yamazaki (screenplay)

Stars:

Maki Horikita, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi

29 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maki Horikita	...	Mutsuko Hoshino
Hidetaka Yoshioka	...	Ryunosuke Chagawa
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi	...	Norifumi Suzuki
Koyuki	...	Hiromi Ishizaki
Hiroko Yakushimaru	...	Tomoe Suzuki
Kazuki Koshimizu	...	Ippei Suzuki
Kenta Suga	...	Junnosuke Furuyuki
Masaya Takahashi	...	Saburo
Kaga Mochimaru	...	Yûichirô
Tôru Masuoka	...	The Theatre Manager
Takashi Matsuo	...	The Realtor
Hiroshi Kamido	...	The Postman
Hiroshi Kanbe	...	The Postman
Magy	...	The Butcher
Yôichi Nukumizu	...	The Bicycle Shopkeeper

Storyline

Leaving her provincial home, teenage Mutsuko arrives in Tokyo by train to take a job in a major automotive company but finds that she is employed by a small auto repair shop owned by Norifumi Suzuki. Suzuki's hair-trigger temper is held somewhat in check by the motherly instincts of his wife, Tomoe, and his young son Ippei immediately bonds with Mutsuko as if she were his older sister. The Suzuki shop lies almost in the shadow of the Tokyo Tower as it rises steadily above the skyline during construction in 1958. Others in the neighborhood also are striving to better themselves as Japan continues to emerge from the shadow of war. Hiromi has just abandoned her shady life as a dancer to start a sake bar. Abandoned by his single mother, young Junnosuke is first handed off to Hiromi but she passes him off to Ryunosuke Chagawa, a struggling writer who runs a candy shop and only manages to sell adventure stories for boys as his serious novels continue to be rejected. Junnosuke is an avid ...

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Plot Keywords:

neighborhood | school uniform | schoolgirl | country girl | hula hoop | 

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

5 November 2005 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Always - Naplemente

Filming Locations:

Ueno Station, Ueno, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 14,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment,Imagica,Nippon Television Network (NTV)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the second live-action adaptation of a Japanese manga comic by Takashi Yamazaki.

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Goofs

Just before opening title, Ippei spins the propeller of his toy plane clockwise. When he releases the plane, the propeller is spinning clockwise. The propeller was powered by an elastic band - releasing it would cause the propeller to spin counter-clockwise. The error was noticed in post production but couldn't be fixed without re-shooting the entire continuous one-shot or re-doing the CGI. They decided to leave it in hoping no one would notice (though they revealed the goof in the director's commentary).

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Connections

Version of San Chôme no Yûhi (1990)

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Soundtracks

ALWAYS
Performed by D-51
Lyrics by Yasuhide Yoshida
Music and arrangement by IKUMA
Strings arrangement by Naoki Ôtsubo

User Reviews

Nicely made story of the rebirth of Japan

ALWAYS SAN CHOME NO YUHA is a warm-hearted, good intentioned story of Japan after the world war as a group of characters deal with the wonders and disappointments of the day. A young girl (Maki Horikita in one of her most winning roles) is good at bicycle repairs, but it seems she's been hired to fix autos; a struggling writer finds himself saddled with having to raise of orphaned boy who has few expectations or dreams; a bar hostess saddled with debts has an uncertain future;; and a doctor is haunted by memories from before the war, when his family was still alive.

The children in the story seem to be the focus of the screenplay, a real-life symbol of the future Japan.

The movie almost seems to glow from within, giving a feeling of optimism and warmth in spite of the small crises that appear from time to time. The film can feel a bit slick as the plot moves from one set-up to the next - but it's also carefully written and quite artfully composed. In the background, we periodically see vistas a Tokyo Tower being built in the background - a symbol for the growth of a new Japan- and its this hardy spirit of survival that animates the story.