is a 1999 Japanese

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Shunichi Nagasaki is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Filmography Director *1982 in film, 1982 ''Yamiutsu shinzo (1982 film), Yamiutsu shinzo'' a.k.a. ''Heart, Beating in the Dark'' *1988 in film, 1988 ''Rock yo shizukani nagareyo'' *1988 in film, 19 ...

and written by Kunimi Manda and Takenori Sento.

Plot summary

Years after moving to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

with her parents, Hinako returns to her hometown in rural

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

. She soon learns that her childhood friend, Sayori, died several years ago and that Sayori's mother, a Shinto priestess(?) who used to perform

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spe ...

s and

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

s, has gone almost insane with grief. After seeing Sayori's

yūrei are figures in Japanese folklore analogous to the Western model of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, (''yū''), meaning "faint" or "dim" and (''rei''), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include , meaning ruined or depart ...

several times during the night, Hinako consults with some local experts on the paranormal and discovers that Sayori's mother has something planned for her daughter.

Cast

Yui Natsukawa is a Japanese actress. She co-starred with Hiroshi Abe in the 2006 Japanese drama Kekkon Dekinai Otoko and in Hirokazu Kore-eda's 2008 film '' Still Walking''. Filmography Film * ''Sora ga Konnani Aoi Wake ga Nai'' (1993) - Kaoru Aoki * ''Yoru ...

as Hinako Myoujin *

Michitaka Tsutsui Michitaka (written: , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese ''kugyō'' *, Japanese hurdler *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese ''kuge'' *, Japanese baseball player {{g ...

as Fumiya Akizawa *

Chiaki Kuriyama is a Japanese actress, singer, and model. She is best known in the West for her roles as Takako Chigusa in Kinji Fukasaku's 2000 film '' Battle Royale'' and Gogo Yubari in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film '' Kill Bill: Volume 1''. Life and career ...

as Sayori Hiura *

Toshie Negishi is a Japanese film and television actress. Filmography Film * ''Kaerazaru hibi'' (1978) * '' Toki o Kakeru Shōjo'' (1983) - Tachibana * '' Lonely Heart'' (1985) - Makoto's mother * ''The Sea and Poison'' (1986) - Ueda * '' Sada'' (1998) - Yosh ...

as Teruko Hiura (Sayori's mother) *

Ren Osugi , born was a Japanese actor. For his work in ''Cure'', ''Hana-bi'' and other films, Osugi was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1999 Yokohama Film Festival. He often worked alongside Takeshi Kitano and Susumu Terajima. In the DVD comme ...

as Yasutaka Hiura (Sayori's father) * Makoto Satô as Sendo *

Taro Suwa Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a food ...

as Oda *

Tomoko Otakara Tomoko (ともこ, トモコ) is a female Japanese given name. Like many Japanese names, Tomoko can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: * 友子 - "friendly child" * 知子 - "knowing child" * 智子 - "wise child" * 朋子 ...

as Yukari Asakawa * Haduki Kôzu as Chizuko Oono

Release

''Shikoku'' was released in Japan on January 23, 1999 where it was distributed 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 ...

. It was released as a double feature with ''

Ring 2 is a 1999 Japanese supernatural horror film, directed by Hideo Nakata and serves as a sequel to ''Ring''. ''Ring'' was originally a novel written by Koji Suzuki; its sequel, ''Rasen'' (a.k.a. ''Spiral''), was also adapted into a film as the se ...

''. ''Shikoku'' was later shown at the

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

as part of a program of modern Japanese horror films at the festival, including ''

Ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

'', ''

Audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

'' and ''

Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Northern ...

''. The film was released directly to video in the United States on October 26, 2004 by Adness.

Reception

Jasper Sharp writing for Midnight Eye referred to the film as a "pedestrian addition to the late 1990s horror boom.", finding it "Hideo Nakata's high-concept popcorn movie Ring had proven pretty convincingly that the supernatural could be a lucrative cash cow in late-1990s recessional Japan. A contract job, co-written by one of Ring's original producers, Takenori Sento, and circulating on the lower half of a double bill with Ring 2, Shikoku is less an indication of either Bando or Nagasaki's thematic interests than an obvious attempt to milk the current interest in horror before it dried up. As such, it doesn't deviate too far from the path forged by its model in either style or formula. John Kenneth Muir in his book ''Horror Films of the 1990s'' gave the film a three and a half star rating out of five, finding the film "Beautifully shot and visually realized" and that the film had "more on its mind than scary dead girls with long hair"

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0213245, Shikoku 1999 films Films directed by Shunichi Nagasaki Japanese ghost films 1990s Japanese-language films Japanese horror thriller films Japanese supernatural horror films Folk horror films 1990s supernatural horror films 1990s horror thriller films Toho films 1990s Japanese films