From Up on Poppy Hill is a 2011 Japanese animated drama film directed by Gorō Miyazaki, scripted
by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa, and produced by Studio Ghibli. It is based on the 1980
serialized Japanese comic of the same name illustrated by Chizuru Takahashi and written
by Tetsurō Sayama. The film stars the voices of Masami Nagasawa, Junichi Okada, Keiko Takeshita,
Yuriko Ishida, Jun Fubuki, Takashi Naito, Shunsuke Kazama, Nao Omori and Teruyuki Kagawa.
Set in 1963 Yokohama, Japan, the film tells the story of Umi Matsuzaki, a high school
girl living in a boarding house, Coquelicot Manor. When Umi meets Shun Kazama, a member
of the school's newspaper club, they decide to clean up the school's clubhouse, Quartier
Latin. However, Tokumaru, the chairman of the local high school and a businessman, intends
to demolish the building for redevelopment and Umi and Shun, along with Shirō Mizunuma,
must persuade him to reconsider. From Up on Poppy Hill premiered on July 16,
2011 in Japan. The film received positive reviews from most film critics and grossed
$61 million worldwide. An English version of the film was distributed by GKIDS; it was
released to theaters on March 15, 2013 in North America.
Plot Umi Matsuzaki is a 16-year-old student at
Isogo High School living in Coquelicot Manor, a boarding house overlooking the Port of Yokohama
in Japan. Her mother Ryoko is a medical professor studying abroad in the United States. Umi
runs the house and looks after her younger siblings Sora and Riku and her grandmother,
Hana. College student Sachiko Hirokouji and doctor-in-training Miki Hokuto also live there.
Each morning, Umi raises a set of signal flags with the message "I pray for safe voyages".
One day, a poem about the flags being raised by a local girl is published in the school
newspaper. Shun Kazama, the poem's author and a member of the journalism club, witnesses
the flags from sea as he rides a tugboat to school. At school, Umi meets Shun when he
participates in a daredevil stunt for the newspaper, leaving Umi with a negative first
impression. Umi later accompanies Sora to obtain Shun's autograph at the Quartier Latin,
an old and dilapidated building housing the high school's clubs. Umi learns that Shun
publishes the school newspaper, along with Shirō Mizunuma, the school's student government
president. She ends up helping on the newspaper. Later, Shun convinces the other students to
renovate the building after a debate on the future of the Quartier Latin, which may be
demolished. At Umi's suggestion, the female student body cooperates with the other students.
Back at Coquelicot Manor, Umi shows Shun a photograph of three young naval men. One of
these men is her deceased father Yūichirō Sawamura, who was killed in the Korean War.
Shun is stunned to see the photograph. At home that night, he opens a notebook to reveal
he has a duplicate of Umi's photograph. He questions his father, who reveals that Yūichirō
arrived at their house one evening with a young Shun, shortly after the end of World
War II. The Kazamas had recently lost their infant, so they adopted Shun. Upon discovering
that he is avoiding her, Umi eventually confronts Shun, who reveals they may be siblings. Having
checked the city records, Shun discovers that both their names are in the Sawamura family
registry. Umi is able to hide her feelings from Shun, and they continue as friends.
When the renovation of the Quartier Latin is complete, the Kanagawa Prefectural Board
of Education decides to proceed with the building's demolition. The students nominate Shun, Umi,
and Shirō to visit Tokyo and meet with Tokumaru, a businessman and the school board's chairman.
The trio travels through the city, which is in preparation for the 1964 Summer Olympics,
and successfully convince Tokumaru to visit the Quartier Latin. As Shirō leaves the group,
Umi professes her love to Shun, and he reciprocates her feelings in spite of their situation.
After she returns home, Umi discovers that her mother has returned. Ryoko reveals that
Shun's father was Hiroshi Tachibana - the second man in the photograph. In 1945, Tachibana
was killed in an accident on a repatriation ship. Shun's mother died in childbirth, and
his other relatives were killed in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. However, Ryoko was unable
to raise Shun, as she was pregnant with Umi during her time as a medical student. Yūichirō
registered the child as his own to avoid leaving Shun as an orphan in the confused postwar
years, but Shun was eventually given to a local couple, the Kazamas. Umi, however, still
has concerns. Tokumaru later visits the Quartier Latin and,
impressed by the students' efforts in renovating the building, he decides to abandon the demolition.
Umi and Shun are soon summoned to the harbor. They meet Yoshio Onodera, now a ship's captain,
who was the third man in the photograph, and the sole survivor of the three. Confirming
that Umi and Shun are not related by blood, Onodera tells the full story of the three
naval men in the previous era. With everything resolved, Umi returns to Coquelicot Manor
and resumes her daily routine of raising the flags, but without the answering flag.
Cast Masami Nagasawa as Umi Matsuzaki, the oldest
daughter of a family that runs a lodging house. Young Umi, in flashbacks, is voiced by Aoi
Watanabe, and both versions of the character are voiced by Sarah Bolger in the English-language
version. Junichi Okada as Shun Kazama, the school newspaper
president whom Umi takes an interest in. Shun is voiced by Anton Yelchin in the English-language
version. Okada also provides the uncredited voice of Yuichiro Sawamura, Umi Matsuzaki's
deceased father. Keiko Takeshita as Hana Matsuzaki, Umi's maternal
grandmother and owner of boarding house. Hana is voiced by Gillian Anderson in the English-language
version. Jun Fubuki as Ryoko Matsuzaki, Umi's mother
and a researcher at a university in the United States. Ryoko is voiced by Jamie Lee Curtis
in the English-language version. Yuriko Ishida as Miki Hokuto, a doctor-in-training
staying at Coquelicot's apartment. Miki is voiced by Christina Hendricks in the English-language
version. Nao Omori as Akio Kazama, Shun's adoptive
father. Akio is voiced by Chris Noth in the English-language version.
Takashi Naito as Yoshio Onodera, a ship captain and an old friend of Umi and Shun's parents.
Onodera is voiced by Bruce Dern in the English-language version.
Shunsuke Kazama as Shirō Mizunuma, the student council president and Shun's friend. Shirō
is voiced by Charlie Saxton in the English-language version. Kazama also provides the uncredited
voice of Hiroshi Tachibana, Shun Kazama's deceased father.
Teruyuki Kagawa as Chief Director Tokumaru, the chairman of the high school and a businessman
living in Tokyo. He is based on Tokuma Shoten president Yasuyoshi Tokuma. Tokumaru is voiced
by Beau Bridges in the English-language version. The cast also includes: Haruka Shiraishi as
Sora Matsuzaki and Tsubasa Kobayashi as Riku Matsuzaki, Umi's younger siblings; Sora is
voiced by Isabelle Fuhrman and Riku is voiced by Alex Wolff and Raymond Ochoa in the English-language
version. Rumi Hiiragi provides the voice of Sachiko Hirokouji, an art college student
staying at Coquelicot's apartment; Aubrey Plaza voices Hirokouji in the English-language
version. Eiko Kanazawa provides the voice of Saori Makimura, a boarder at Coquelicot's
house; Elisa Gabrielli voices Makimura in the English-language version. Toshimi Kanno
and Aoi Teshima voice Nobuko and Yuko respectively, Umi's friends and classmates; Emily Osment
voices Nobuko and Bridget Hoffman voices Yuko respectively in the English-language version.
Director Gorō Miyazaki provides the voice of Isogo High School's world history teacher
while in English version world history teacher is voiced by Ronan Farrow. Jeff Dunham voices
Gen in the English-language version. Ron Howard voices Philosophy Club's president in the
English-language version. Historical basis
In the film, Umi's father was killed when his supply ship was sunk by mines in the Korean
War, and Shun's biological father died aboard a repatriation vessel after the end of the
Second World War. Following Japan's defeat in the Second World
War, the Supreme Commander Allied Powers assumed control over the Japanese merchant marine
to return repatriates to their homelands. At the start of the Korean War, those ships,
together with their Japanese crews, were pressed into service by the US military to carry forces
and supplies to Korea. Japanese vessels played a significant role at the Incheon and Wonsan
landings. The shipping firm Tozai Kisen was among the most prominent firms involved, concluding
"an agreement with the US military’s Japan Logistical Command to provide 122 small vessels
and around 1,300 crew for transport and landing work."
"Japanese workers were being recruited both via the Japanese government’s official procurements
program and through companies like Tozai Kisen to unload supplies, repair equipment and carry
out other military support duties for UN/US bases in Korea during the War. These workers
were confined either within the bases or on Japanese cargo vessels which had been specially
modified for use as floating barracks and were moored in Korean ports. An article published
by the Asahi Shimbun in January 1953 reported that there were thought to be about 1000 Japanese
labour recruits still engaged in this work in Korea at that time. According to an estimate
by Japan’s Special Procurement Agency, 56 Japanese sailors and labourers were killed
in the Korean War zone in the first six months of the war alone; 23 of the deaths occurred
when Japanese-crewed ships were sunk by mines. No official estimate of the total number of
Japanese killed in the Korean War has ever been published, indeed, there has never been
official recognition by the US or Japanese governments of the role of Japanese in the
war zone." The 1960s saw an escalating increase in student
activism and campus revolts in Japan as well as in other parts of the world.
Production
From Up on Poppy Hill was officially revealed as the new Studio Ghibli film for 2011 on
15 December 2010. This film is based on the 1980s shōjo manga of the same name by Tetsuo
Sayama and Chizuru Takahashi. It was also revealed the director Goro Miyazaki would
be directing the film. Goro Miyazaki is the eldest son of Studio Ghibli's co-founder and
acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki, and had made his directorial debut in the 2006 film
Tales from Earthsea. From Up on Poppy Hill is his second work. The film is a co-production
by its animation studio Studio Ghibli, Nippon Television, Dentsū, Hakuhōdō DY Media Partners,
home video distributor Walt Disney Pictures, Mitsubishi Corporation and theatrical distributor
Tōhō. In a press interview given after the 2011
Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, it was announced the film's production was affected by the
rolling blackouts imposed after this disaster. In particular, the animation process was forced
to proceed in the night to minimize disruptions. When pressed about the progress of the film,
it was revealed that the film's animation was "about 50% completed", though it was also
added that the "animation would have otherwise been over 70% completed without the disaster".
However, Hayao Miyazaki assured the public that the film would still be released on 16
July 2011, as previously announced, saying that it was their responsibility to do so.
Gorō Miyazaki stated that while most of the staff was not affected by the disaster, there
were several "who did go through a period of mental affectedness because of what happened
and that took some time to recover from." Gorō Miyazaki initially researched Yokohama,
intending to be faithful to the city's historical details. However, after realizing that "simply
re-enacting something of the time may seem real enough but may not necessarily be beautiful."
Miyazaki decided to show the location as "shimmering and bustling with life" from the viewpoint
of the characters. In designing the Quartier Latin, Miyazaki worked with the art directors
who added ideas about the "amalgamation of clutter in the house’s many rooms" and attempted
to "look at the architecture of the building, but to also remember back to my college years
and the clutter and filthiness that [Miyazaki] lived through."
Animation The film's animation directors are Akihiko
Yamashita, Atsushi Yamagata and Kitarō Kōsaka and its most-known key animators include Makiko
Futaki, Shinji Ōtsuka, Takeshi Honda, Takashi Hashimoto, Hideki Hamasu, Atsuko Tanaka, The
Secret World of Arrietty director Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Hiroyuki Aoyama.
Voice acting The main voice cast members were officially
unveiled on 13 May 2011. It was announced that actress Masami Nagasawa would voice Matsuzaki,
the film's main high school character. This was Nagasawa's first voice acting role in
a Studio Ghibli film. In addition, Jun'ichi Okada, a member of the Japanese band V6, would
be voicing Shun Kazama, who is a member of the school newspaper publishing team. Additionally,
Jun Fubuki, Keiko Takeshita, Takashi Naito, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yuriko Ishida, Nao Ōmori
and Shunsuke Kazama would voice other minor characters in the film.
In June 2012, it was announced that a North American dub would be recorded and that it
was being executive-produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, written by Karey Kirkpatrick
and directed by Gary Rydstrom. The cast members of the dub include Sarah Bolger, Anton Yelchin,
Ron Howard, Jeff Dunham, Gillian Anderson, Chris Noth, Ronan Farrow, Isabelle Fuhrman,
Emily Osment, Charlie Saxton, Alex Wolff, Beau Bridges, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bruce Dern,
Christina Hendricks, Elisa Gabrielli and Aubrey Plaza.
Music The film score of From Up on Poppy Hill was
composed by Satoshi Takebe. In December 2010, it was announced that singer Aoi Teshima would
sing the film's theme song, "Summer of Farewells - From Up on Poppy Hill".
The 1961 song "I Shall Walk Looking Up", better known in English-speaking countries as "Sukiyaki"
and performed by Kyu Sakamoto, is included in this film as one of its insert songs. The
instrumental version of this song was later released in the United States under the title
of "Sukiyaki" by musician Kenny Ball. This song was chosen for the film because From
Up on Poppy Hill is set in the year 1963, the same year that this song debuted and became
a hit in America. Soundtrack
The soundtrack album was released by Tokuma Japan Communications on July 13, 2011. It
contains the film score to From Up On Poppy Hill, as well as six insert songs and the
film's theme song. All music composed by Satoshi Takebe, except
as noted. Release
From Up on Poppy Hill was released in Japanese cinemas on 16 July 2011. It debuted at third
placing in the Japanese box office, behind films Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
– Part 2 and the dual-release Pokémon anime film Victini and the Black Hero: Zekrom and
Victini and the White Hero: Reshiram. It managed to gross approximately 587 million yen and
attracted around 450,000 viewers. Furthermore, an art exhibition, entitled THE ART OF From
Up On Poppy Hill was held to coincide with the film's release. This exhibition featured
more than 130 art and storyboards used in the making of this film, and it was held from
23 to 28 July 2011 in the Seibu Ikebukuro Main Store in Tokyo. The exhibition was later
moved to Sogo's Yokohama Branch Store from 10 to 15 August 2011.
The movie was released in France on January 11, 2012 as La Colline aux coquelicots by
Walt Disney Pictures. It gathered over 287,281 viewers in its four weeks of exhibition far
more than Tales from Earthsea. On 17 August 2011, it was announced the film
From Up on Poppy Hill would be one of the Japanese films being showcased at the 2011
Toronto International Film Festival, which was held from 8 to 18 September 2011. It was
also revealed that the film would be showcased in the "Japan International Premiere" section,
which is part of the "Contemporary World Cinema" event in the festival.
The film received a limited theatrical release in North America on March 15, 2013. An English
dub was recorded for this release directed by Gary Rydstrom and produced by The Kennedy/Marshall
Company, who also oversaw the English dubs for Ponyo and The Secret World of Arrietty.
The release was licensed by Studio Ghibli to GKIDS, which marked the first time a Studio
Ghibli film was not distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in North America since
the 1999 North American release of Princess Mononoke by then-Disney owned Miramax Films.
Reception Box office
During the survey period between 16–18 July 2011, Bunkatsushin.com reported From Up on
Poppy Hill had grossed over 587,337,400 yen at the box office. During these three days,
over 445,000 people watched this film. In a survey which was done online and on mobile
platforms, it was revealed the ratio of female audience to male audience was 57% to 43%.
By age, 34.8% of the audience were in their twenties, 18.9% of them were aged between
16 and 19 years old, and people who were aged over 30 made up 32.6% of the audience. This
film crossed the 3 billion yen gross mark during the weekend of 21–22 August 2011.
From Up on Poppy Hill earned $1,002,895 in North America and $60,456,530 in other territories
for a worldwide total of $61,459,425. It is the 14th highest-grossing anime film. Between
Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday, Ocean Waves, Whisper of the Heart and My Neighbors
the Yamadas, From Up on Poppy Hill is the highest grossing Ghibli film about specialising
in Japanese local customs, behind The Wind Rises, and it's 7th best grossing one of the
Ghibli films in United States. In France, the film was well received by the
public. It gathered over 287,281 viewers in its four weeks of exhibition far more than
Tales from Earthsea. Critical reception
From Up on Poppy Hill received generally positive reviews from film critics; Rotten Tomatoes
sampled 83 reviews and judged 83% of them to be positive, and the consensus: "Gentle
and nostalgic, From Up on Poppy Hill is one of Studio Ghibli's sweeter efforts—and if
it doesn't push the boundaries of the genre, it remains as engagingly lovely as Ghibli
fans have come to expect". Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score, rated the
film 71 out of 100 based on 20 reviews. Mark Schilling of The Japan Times described
From Up on Poppy Hill as a "pure-hearted, melodramatic youth film". The reviewer criticized
the story as "predictable" and called the film's direction "pedestrian". However, he
concluded the review by praising the film, saying "a wealth of period detail brings the
era to nostalgic/realistic life". Takashi Kondo of The Daily Yomiuri said that the film
"is filled with many experiences that have been lost in our daily life". Kondo also said
that "the father-son joint production [of Hayao and Goro Miyazaki] achieved a wonderful
result and Kokuriko-zaka Kara is a work that needs to be seen in this day and age".
A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised From Up on Poppy Hill for its visuals as well
as its characterization. Although Scott said that the "specific tragedy that lies in the
background may not register with children," he would say that adults are "likely to be
charmed by the love story and enchanted by the delicate rendering of a bygone but not
entirely forgotten era". Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a time-machine
dream of a not-so-distant past, a sweet and honestly sentimental story that also represents
a collaboration between the greatest of Japanese animators and his up-and-coming son." Turan
also said that Latin Quarter "is "Poppy Hill" at is most fantastical." On the characterizations,
Turan stated, "the respect and politeness with which all the characters, even the teenage
protagonists, treat one another is a far cry from what can go on in this day and age."
In France, the film was favorably received by the press although the script and animation
were judged to be slightly lacking by some. Accolades
See also Kokurikozaka kara
Post-occupation Japan Japan, Our Homeland, Mai Mai Miracle, and
Only Yesterday References
External links コクリコ坂から 公式サイト
Official website Official website
From Up on Poppy Hill at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
BD review
From Up on Poppy Hill at the Internet Movie Database
From Up on Poppy Hill at the Big Cartoon DataBase From Up on Poppy Hill at Box Office Mojo
From Up on Poppy Hill at Rotten Tomatoes From Up on Poppy Hill at Metacritic
GhibliWiki Information