From Up on Poppy Hill


From Up on Poppy Hill is a 2011 Japanese animated drama film directed by Gorō Miyazaki, written by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi, and Toho, and distributed by the latter company. It is based on the 1980 manga 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 Ōmori and Teruyuki Kagawa.
Set in 1963 Yokohama, Japan, the film tells the story of Umi Matsuzaki, a high school girl living in an old hospital turned boarding house, the 'Coquelicot Manor'. When Umi meets Shun Kazama, a member of the school's newspaper club, they decide to clean up the school's clubhouse, the 'Latin Quarter'. However, Tokumaru, the chairman of the local school board and a businessman, intends to demolish the building for redevelopment for the 1964 Summer Olympics, Umi and Shun, along with class president Shirō Mizunuma, must persuade Tokumaru to reconsider.
From Up on Poppy Hill premiered in Japan on July 16, 2011. It received positive reviews from most film critics and grossed $61 million worldwide. An English version was distributed by GKIDS; it was released to theaters on March 15, 2013, in North America.

Plot

In 1963 Japan, teenager Umi Matsuzaki lives in Coquelicot Manor, a boarding house overlooking the Port of Yokohama. Her mother, Ryoko, is a medical professor studying in the United States. Umi runs the house and looks after her younger siblings and her grandmother. 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 is published in Konan Academy's newspaper. Shun Kazama, the poem's author, witnesses the flags from the sea as he rides his father's tugboat to school. At first, Umi gets the wrong impression of Shun as he does a daredevil stunt on behalf of the "Latin Quarter", an old building housing their high school's clubs that is being threatened with demolition. Upon her sister's request, Umi accompanies her to obtain Shun's autograph at the Latin Quarter. She learns Shun and the school's student government president Shirō Mizunuma publish the school newspaper. Umi convinces Shirō and Shun to renovate the Latin Quarter, and all the students contribute, both boys and girls. Umi and Shun start having feelings for each other.
At a party, Umi shows Shun a photograph of three young naval men. One of them is her deceased father, Yūichirō Sawamura, who was killed while serving on a supply ship during the Korean War. Shun is stunned, as he has a duplicate of the photograph. His father admits shortly after the end of World War II, Yūichirō arrived at their house one evening with an infant, Shun, along with a birth certificate from the Family Registry. The Kazamas had recently lost their newborn, so they adopted Shun. At first, Shun tries to avoid Umi, then he finally tells her they are siblings. Umi and Shun repress their romantic feelings and they continue to see each other as friends.
The renovation of the Latin Quarter is complete, but the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education decides to proceed with the building's demolition anyway. Shirō, Shun, and Umi take the train to Tokyo, which is preparing for the 1964 Summer Olympics, and meet with Tokumaru, the school board's chairman. They successfully convince him to come inspect the Latin Quarter. Umi later professes her love to Shun, and he reciprocates in spite of their situation.
Having just returned from the United States, Ryoko tells Umi that Shun's father was actually Hiroshi Tachibana, the second man in the photo. 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 bombing of Nagasaki. Ryoko was unable to raise Shun, as she was already pregnant with Umi at the time. Yūichirō registered the child as his own to avoid leaving Shun as an orphan in the confusing postwar years, but Shun was eventually given to the Kazamas.
Tokumaru visits the Latin Quarter and, impressed by the students' efforts, cancels the demolition. Umi and Shun are summoned to the harbor. They meet Yoshio Onodera, the third man in the photograph and the sole survivor of the three, now a ship's captain. Confirming Umi and Shun are not related by blood, he tells the full story of the three men's history. With everything resolved, Umi resumes her daily routine of raising the flags, but now, it is not just for her father.

Voice cast

  • Masami Nagasawa as Umi Matsuzaki, the oldest daughter of a family that runs a lodging house and a student at Konan Academy. 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. In the series she is nicknamed "Meru". "Umi" and "Mer" means "sea" in Japanese and French respectively.
  • 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 Yūichirō Sawamura, Umi Matsuzaki's deceased father.
  • Keiko Takeshita as Hana Matsuzaki, Umi's maternal grandmother and owner of boarding house. Hana is voiced by Edie Mirman.
  • Jun Fubuki as Ryoko Matsuzaki, Umi's mother, who is a medical professor studying 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 Gillian Anderson in the English-language version.
  • Nao Ōmori 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 school board 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.
  • 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 as Sachiko Hirokoji, an art college student staying at Coquelicot's apartment; Aubrey Plaza voices Sachiko in the English-language version.
  • Eiko Kanazawa provides the voice of Saori Makimura, a boarder at Coquelicot's house; Christina Hendricks 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 in the English-language version.
The cast also includes director Gorō Miyazaki with the voice of Konan Academy's world history teacher. In the English version, he is voiced by Ronan Farrow. In the English-language version, Jeff Dunham voiced Gen and Ron Howard voiced the Philosophy Club's president.

Historical basis

In the film, Umi's father was killed when his Landing Ship, Tank 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 for the 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". Most ships of the opponents of North Korea were repelled by the navy's Second Torpedo Boat Squadron.
According to estimates, 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. Official estimates of the total number of Japanese killed in the Korean War have never been published, nor have the U.S. or Japanese governments officially recognised the role of Japanese non-combatants in the Korean War.
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 December 15, 2010. It is based on the 1980s shōjo manga of the same name by Tetsuo Sayama and Chizuru Takahashi. It was revealed the director Gorō Miyazaki would be directing. Gorō Miyazaki is the eldest son of Studio Ghibli's co-founder and acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki; he made his directorial debut in the 2006 film Tales from Earthsea. From Up on Poppy Hill is his second work.
Much like with other Ghibli films, the film is a co-production with Studio Ghibli, Nippon Television Network, Dentsū, Hakuhōdō DY Media Partners, Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi Corporation and 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, it was revealed that the animation was "about 50% completed", though it was 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 July 16, 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 Latin Quarter, 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 lived through".