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Hula Girls (フラガール, Fura gāru) is a Japanese film, directed by Sang-il Lee and co-written by Lee and Daisuke Habara, and first released across Japanese theaters on September 23, 2006. Starring Yū Aoi, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Shizuyo Yamazaki, Ittoku Kishibe, Eri Tokunaga, Yoko Ikezu and Sumiko Fuji, it is based on the real-life event of how a group of enthusiastic girls take on hula dancing to save their small mining village, Iwaki, helping the formation of Joban Hawaiian Center (now known as Spa Resort Hawaiians), which was later to become one of Japan's most popular theme parks. It received its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Hula Girls was critically acclaimed upon release in Japan and nominated for a total of 12 awards at the 2007 Japan Academy Awards, going on to win five major awards, including that of best film, best director, best screenplay, best supporting actress (for Yū Aoi), and most popular film. It also won two major awards at the 80th Kinema Junpo awards, including that of best film and best supporting actress (for Yū Aoi). Since its release in Japan, the film has been shown across theaters and film festivals worldwide.
Original Release
09/09/2006
US Release
02/18/2007
Links
Cast
Name | Character |
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Yasuko Matsuyuki | Madoka Hirayama |
Etsushi Toyokawa | Yojiro Tanikawa |
Yu Aoi | Kimiko Tanikawa |
Shizuyo Yamasaki | Sayuri Kumano |
Shoko Ikezu | Hatsuko Sasaki |
Eri Tokunaga | Sanae Kimura |
Hiroki Miyake | Mitsuo Igari |
Susumu Terajima | Ishida |
Masaru Shiga | Goro Kumano |
Hiroshi Ohkôchi | Union Leader for Miners |
Directors
Writers
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Yasuko Matsuyuki | Madoka Hirayama |
Etsushi Toyokawa | Yojiro Tanikawa |
Yu Aoi | Kimiko Tanikawa |
Shizuyo Yamasaki | Sayuri Kumano |
Shoko Ikezu | Hatsuko Sasaki |
Eri Tokunaga | Sanae Kimura |
Hiroki Miyake | Mitsuo Igari |
Susumu Terajima | Ishida |
Masaru Shiga | Goro Kumano |
Hiroshi Ohkôchi | Union Leader for Miners |
Daikichi Sugawara | Koji Wakamatsu |
Tomori Abe | Yoneko Tsutaya |
Natsuhi Ueno | Hiroko Miyata |
Hidekazu Mashima | Toru |
Sumiko Fuji | Chiyo Tanikawa / Chiyo Tanikawa (as Junko Fuji) |
Ittoku Kishibe | Norio Yoshimoto |
Katsumi Takahashi | Seiji Kimura |
Juan Angel | Junko Soma |
Bill Curry |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Yoshiaki Hosono | Executive Producer |
Hiroshi Kawai | Executive Producer |
Bong-ou Lee | Executive Producer |
Akira Inori | Producer |
Hitomi Ishihara | Producer |