DIRECTOR

Lee Sang-il "Kokuho" “Rage” “Wandering”

CAST

Yasuko Matsuyuki “Mother (Nippon TV, 2010)”
Etsushi Toyokawa “Tokyo Swindlers (Netflix,2024)”
Yū Aoi “Wife of a Spy (2020)”, “Asura (Netflix,2025)”

CREW

Screenplay: Lee Sang-il, Daisuke Habara
Production Designer: Yohei Taneda　“Kill Bill: Vol. 1”, “The Third Murder”

Film Festivals & Awards

30th Japan Academy Awards (2007)
– Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress

Duration/Release

121 min / Release in Japan: September 23, 2006

Synopsis

In a declining coal-mining town in 1965, a group of young girls stands up to save their community – and their own futures. When the coal-mining company proposes a daring project to transform the northern town into a Hawaiian paradise with a hula dance show, the coal miners’ daughters are complete amateurs who don’t even know a single dance step. A proud ex-star dancer, brought in from Tokyo to teach them, initially scoffs at the country girls as hopeless but soon had her passion reignited. Facing a hostile and conservative community, along with the harsh, chilly realities of decaying town, they grow through laughter and tears, pressing on toward the grand opening of the resort.