is a 2016 Japanese

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

romantic

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

film written and directed by and starring

Suzu Hirose is a Japanese actress and model. Despite her young age, she is widely regarded as one of the most promising Japanese actresses of her generation. Biography Hirose debuted as a model for Japanese fashion magazine ''Seventeen'', alongside her sis ...

Shūhei Nomura is a Japanese actor. He was born in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, and is of one-quarter Chinese descent and speaks fluent Chinese. In 2009, he was selected from about 30,000 applicants as the winner of the Nationwide Amuse Audition. Career Filmogr ...

Mackenyu is an American-born Japanese actor. He is the son of Japanese actor, producer, director, and martial artist Sonny Chiba. Mackenyu rose to fame after portraying Wataya Arata in the Chihayafuru live-action trilogy in 2016, which earned him the ...

Mone Kamishiraishi is a Japanese actress and singer. She is the older sister of actress and singer Moka Kamishiraishi. Biography Born in Kagoshima, Her family lived in Mexico for three years due to her father's work. She can speak English and a little bit of Spa ...

, , , ,

Miyuki Matsuda is a Japanese actress, the widow of Yūsaku Matsuda, and the sister of Mami Kumagai. At the age of 17 she appeared in a television series, ''Tantei Monogatari'', starring Yūsaku Matsuda, who was then married. They started a relationship and, ...

and

Jun Kunimura is a Japanese actor who has performed in Japan, Hollywood and Hong Kong. He won Best Supporting Actor and the Popular Star Award at the 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards for his performance in the South Korean horror film '' The Wailing'', directed ...

. It is the second of three

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

s of the

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series ''

Chihayafuru is a Japanese ''josei'' manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''josei'' manga magazine ''Be Love'' from December 2007 to August 2022, with its chapters collected in 50 ''tankōbon'' vo ...

'', written and illustrated by

Yuki Suetsugu is a Japanese manga artist. Career She debuted in 1992 in Kodansha's ''Nakayoshi'' magazine with ''Taiyō no Romance''. Her works later moved to ''Bessatsu Friend'' magazine, also published by Kodansha. Her career was put on hiatus in October ...

. The film was released in Japan by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

on April 29, 2016. ''Chihayafuru: Musubi'', the third and final film in the series, was released in Japan on March 17, 2018.

Plot

Cast

as Chihaya Ayase *

as Taichi Mashima *

as Arata Wataya *

as Kanade Ōe * as Yūsei Nishida * as Tsutomu Komano * as Akihito Sudō *

Mayu Matsuoka is a Japanese actress. She has been awarded the Tama best Emerging Actress Award and Fumiko Yamaji Freshman Actress Award in 2016. She gained international attention as an ambassador of the Tokyo International Film Festival for 2017 and her rol ...

as Shinobu Wakamiya *

as Taeko Miyauchi *

as Harada Hideo * as Hiro Kinashi *

Alice Hirose is a Japanese actress, TV personality, and model. She has a younger sister, Suzu Hirose, who is also a model and actress. Appearances TV dramas * ''Geki Koi: Unmei no Love Story'' (NHK, 2010), Kaho Hisanaga * ''Asu no Hikari o Tsukame'' ( Tō ...

as Chitose Ayase, Chihaya's sister *

Masane Tsukayama is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator from Naha, Okinawa. His wife is opera singer . He is best known for dubbing over Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Richard Gere, Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne. Filmography Film * ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo' ...

as Hajime Wataya * Riku Hagiwara

Production

The film was shot at the

Omi Shrine or Omi Shrine is a List of Jingū, Jingū shinto shrine in Ōtsu, Shiga, Ōtsu, a city in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It was constructed in 1940 and is dedicated to Emperor Tenji. It was formerly an imperial shrine of the first rank (官幣大社, '' ...

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...

. The

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

of the two films is "

FLASH Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...

" by the Japanese group

Perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

. The original soundtracks are composed by

Masaru Yokoyama is a Japanese composer and arranger, known for his work on television dramas and anime series. Biography Yokoyama was born in Nagano Prefecture. He started to take piano lessons at the age of three, taught by his aunt who is an alumna of Kunita ...

Release

The release date of the film was announced in December 2015 for April 29, 2016.

Sequel

A sequel was announced at ''Chihayafuru: Shimo no Kus premiere. This third and final film, titled ''Chihayafuru: Musubi'', was released on March 17, 2018. Koizumi returned as director and the main cast reprised their roles. The conclusion of the story, set two years after the events of the first two films, features four new cast members, including

Kaya Kiyohara is a Japanese actress, model and singer. She was named the Best Supporting Actress at the 45th Japan Academy Film Prize for her role in the film ''In The Wake''. Biography Kiyohara was born on January 30, 2002, in Osaka. Kiyohara signed as a ...

who portrays Io Wagatsuma, a character written exclusively for the film.

Kento Kaku is a Japanese actor born in Tokyo. He has appeared in a number of feature films, television series, and stage productions. He is represented by Amuse, Inc. His wife is actress Nana Eikura. Biography He made his acting debut in films in 2007. In ...

appears as Hisashi Suō, Hayato Sano as Akihiro Tsukuba and

Mio Yūki , whose real name is , is a Japanese actress, model and tarento from Fukushima Prefecture. Career Yūki's acting career began in 2012 when she won the 37th Horipro talent scout caravan. She was chosen from 29,521 applicants. On November 14, 2012, ...

as Sumire Hanano.

References

External links

* * 2010s teen drama films 2010s Japanese films Nippon TV films Films directed by Norihiro Koizumi Films set in Tokyo Live-action films based on manga Japanese high school films Japanese teen drama films Toho films 2018 drama films 2010s high school films {{2010s-Japan-film-stub