is a 1986 Japanese

romance film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

directed by

Nobuhiko Obayashi was a Japanese film director, director, screenwriter and film editing, editor of films and television advertisements. He began his filmmaking career as a pioneer of Japanese experimental films before transitioning to directing more mainstream m ...

, based on a 1977 novel by Yoshio Kataoka. Produced by Kadokawa Haruki Jimusho, the film stars Kiwako Harada,

Riki Takeuchi is a Japanese actor best known for his roles in v-cinema yakuza movies. Takeuchi has starred in many yakuza films and action films, such as ''Dead or Alive'' by Takashi Miike. Takeuchi also starred in '' Battle Royale II: Requiem'', in which h ...

Noriko Watanabe is a Japanese actress and singer. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 8th Yokohama Film Festival for '' His Motorbike, Her Island''. Filmography See also *Hiroko Yakushimaru is a Japanese actress and singer. Biography A ...

and

Tomokazu Miura is a Japanese actor. Life and career Miura attended Hino high school in Tokyo. He was originally a member of rock group RC Succession, but was asked to leave the group by their management when they signed a record contract. However, impressed b ...

. Takeuchi, in his acting debut, plays a motorbike enthusiast who falls in love with a young woman (Harada) after teaching her how to ride. The film frequently switches between

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

and color photography. ''His Motorbike, Her Island'' won three awards at the 8th

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

, including Best Supporting Actress for Watanabe and 3rd Best Film.

Plot

Koh Hashimoto is a student and motorbike enthusiast who has a part-time job delivering copy for a newspaper agency on his Kawasaki W3 motorbike. He claims, "Some guys have vividly colored dreams, but mine were always in monochrome. This is the story of one of those monochrome dreams." One day, Koh arranges to meet Fuyumi Sawada, a young woman who wants to ride a motorbike. Like Koh, Fuyumi's brother Hidemasa also owns a Kawasaki, but Hidemasa refuses to let her ride it. Koh and Fuyumi go for a nighttime ride on Koh's motorbike. Though the two begin a relationship, Koh eventually breaks up with Fuyumi on the basis that all she does is cry and cook. Koh's decision to leave Fuyumi draws the ire of Hidemasa; Koh and Hidemasa have a

jousting Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French , ultim ...

duel on their motorbikes, which Koh wins. Koh meets a young woman named Miyoko Shiraishi, who takes photographs of him and his motorbike. Some time later, Koh crosses paths with Miyoko again at a mountain spa, where he sees her naked. He drives her back to the inn at which she is staying on his motorbike. A week after the duel between Koh and Hidemasa, Koh agrees to meet Fuyumi at Michikusa, a bar they frequented when they were together. Koh sits down with his friend Keiichi Ogawa at the bar, while Fuyumi tearfully sings a song on the bar stage. At home, Koh receives a letter from Miyoko, with the photos from their first meeting enclosed. Koh and Miyoko talk on the telephone, and Miyoko invites Koh to visit her island in the

Inland Sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large in area and is either completely surrounded by dry land (landlocked), or connected to an ocean by a river, strait or " arm of ...

, where she will soon be going home for the Obon Festival. Koh travels with his Kawasaki to Miyoko's island on a ferry, and he lets her try riding the motorbike by herself. At night, Koh and Miyoko go with Miyoko's father to the

Bon dance or just is a fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhism, Buddhist custom to veneration of the dead, honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday d ...

in town. By the sea, Koh and Miyoko discuss Koh's love for his motorbike and Miyoko's desire to ride it, and the two kiss. Back on the mainland, Koh and Miyoko accompany Ogawa—who is now dating Fuyumi—to Michikusa, where Koh learns that Fuyumi has become the bar's resident singer-songwriter. Ogawa and Koh head out into the night on their motorbikes so that Ogawa can smash the side mirrors of passing cars with a wrench. Afterwards, they return to Michikusa, where Koh discovers that Miyoko was riding behind them the whole time on one of Ogawa's other motorbikes. Koh and Miyoko's romance continues to develop as he teaches her how to ride a motorbike. One day, when Hidemasa declares Miyo a biker prodigy, Koh fears that she is destined to crash. After returning from work one night, Koh sees that Miyoko has ridden off on a motorbike alone. When she returns, he angrily confronts her for riding without her license; she argues that he does not like her riding motorbikes, and is jealous of her fondness for them. They fight, and Koh tells her that she will die riding motorbikes, to which she responds that she would have no regrets if that were to happen. Six months later, Fuyumi is pregnant with Ogawa's baby, and Miyoko has disappeared and taken Koh's Kawasaki with her. From letters written to Koh and Fuyumi, Koh learns that Miyoko has returned to her island. Koh goes back to the island to reunite with her, and they kiss. One day, while riding their motorbikes together in the rain, Koh and Miyoko agree to meet up at a restaurant. Koh reaches the restaurant first and overhears a group of bikers talking about an accident. They say a woman on a motorbike swerved to avoid a hare in the road, and that she crashed into a truck and was killed instantly. Koh sees Miyoko outside the restaurant, and she apologizes for being late. Koh states, "She was there from one summer to the next. She became my story." They take a photo behind a motorbike together in a field.

Cast

* Kiwako Harada as Miyoko Shiraishi *

as Koh Hashimoto *

as Fuyumi Sawada *

as Hidemasa Sawada * Ryōichi Takayanagi as Keiichi Ogawa *

Takahiro Tamura was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1954 and 2005. He and his younger brothers Masakazu and Ryō were known as the three Tamura brothers. They were sons of actor Tsumasaburo Bando. Biography Tamura graduated from Dosh ...

as Kouichiroh Shiraishi

Themes

James Balmont of ''

Another Magazine ''Another Magazine'', styled ''AnOther'', is an international fashion and culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, bel ...

'' cited ''His Motorbike, Her Island'' as an example of a film with a relatively sympathetic view towards ''

bōsōzoku is a Japanese youth subculture associated with customized motorcycles. The first appearance of these types of biker gangs was in the 1950s. Popularity peaked at an estimated 42,510 members in 1982. Their numbers dropped dramatically in the 200 ...

'', a Japanese

youth subculture Youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, employment, work, home and school. Youth ...

associated with motorcycles. Balmont describes Koh's Kawasaki motorbike as "more of a symbol for freedom than anarchy", and writes: "From the opening shots, in which the camera fetishises the bike

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

in close-up as the engine gently purrs and rumbles, the bike is a beloved object that brings Koh in touch with the resplendent natural surroundings of Japan's countryside as well as stoking a blossoming romance."

Awards

Home media

On 17 October 2022, Third Window Films released ''His Motorbike, Her Island'' on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in Region B as part of the four-disc box set ''Nobuhiko Obayashi's 80s Kadokawa Years''.

References

External links

* * {{Nobuhiko Obayashi 1986 films Films directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi 1980s Japanese-language films 1980s Japanese films 1986 romance films Japanese romance films Motorcycling films