Shodo Girls

is a 2010 Japanese film. This film is based on the story behind the '' Shodō Performance Kōshien'', a performance calligraphy competition in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. Directed by Ryuichi Inomata, this film stars actress Riko Narumi as the head of the school's calligraphy club. Set in Shikokuchuo, a town famous for its calligraphy paper, ''Shodo Girls'' tells the story of three high school girls who revived the depression-battered town by organizing a performance calligraphy competition.

''Shodo Girls'' was featured at the 2010 Cannes market, an event that runs concurrently with the Cannes Film Festival. It was subsequently released in the Japanese box office on 15 May 2010. In total, ''Shodo Girls'' grossed a total of US$1,394,221 in Japan and Taiwan.

Plot

Shikokuchūō is a town that specializes in making calligraphy paper. However, the town had been devastated by the Japanese Recession, and many shops in the town's shopping arcade were forced to close. Over at Tsumishima High School's calligraphy club, a membership crisis ensues after many of its members left the club in quick succession. Satoko refuses to be worried, and continues to focus on her work for the upcoming national calligraphy competition.

One day, a new relief teacher, Ikezawa, is assigned to the calligraphy club as its adviser. After Satoko and Kana mistake him as a thief, they throw calligraphy ink on him, thus leaving a bad first impression. After hearing that the club only has seven members left, Ikezawa puts up a performance calligraphy show to attract new members. This enraged Satoko, who strongly believes in the traditional method of calligraphy. However, another member, Kiyomi was deeply impressed by the performance and started practicing it, putting her at odds with Satoko, who later chases her away from the club.

Satoko later has a change of heart when she realizes how much calligraphy meant to Kiyomi. She also agreed to put up a performance to commemorate the closure of the shop that Kiyomi's father runs. Ultimately, the performance was a failure, but the club members were surprised at the number of people who came to watch their performance. Just before Kiyomi moved to Hiroshima, she requested Satoko to continue practicing performance calligraphy. At around the same time, Tomoya's grandfather's paper-making workshop burnt down after Tomoya's grandfather started burning the high-quality calligraphy paper he made that no shop wanted to purchase.

Satoko gets a revelation that all is not lost after she finds an unburnt calligraphy paper amidst all the rubble. The calligraphy club then got to work convincing the town's residents to support their idea of starting a performance calligraphy competition and to drum up publicity for the event. The members wanted the competition to revive their dying town. They started practicing very hard, but were frustrated due to the lack of progress. Initially reluctant, Ikezawa finally stepped in to coach them after much persuasion.

Even after practicing for a long time, Ikezawa thinks that their work is still missing something. To overcome this problem, the club members decide to persuade Mio, a former talented club member, back into the club. They eventually succeed and their work gets a big boost. Meanwhile, many schools from around the region have volunteered to participate in the competition. Even the national media have reported about the upcoming competition. To make the competition more meaningful, the members decide only to use the town's famed calligraphy paper, even though those they had were too fragile. Upon seeing their determination, Satoko's father, who was initially opposed to the competition, commissioned Tomoya's grandfather to make a suitably strong calligraphy paper as a sign of his support.

On the day of the competition, the team faces strong teams from other high schools. During their performance, they are off to a good start. However, several mishaps occur and their work is ruined. Despite this setback, the team did not give up and completed their work. After the performance, Ikezawa left the town. In the background, a poster was advertising the next edition of the competition. Ikezawa later opened a letter containing a group photograph of the team and the words "Thank you" written behind. Meanwhile, the members of the calligraphy club vowed not to lose again at the next edition of the competition after receiving a challenge letter from another school.

Cast

* Riko Narumi as , a third-year student and the president of Tsumishima High School's calligraphy club. Although she is the daughter of a calligraphy teacher and is good at it, she has no interest in calligraphy until she discovers performance calligraphy.
* Rio Yamashita as , Satoko's main calligraphy rival. She quit the calligraphy club because she needed to work part-time to support her sick mother. Her dream is to become a calligraphy master.
* Nanami Sakuraba as , a third-year student and the vice-president of the calligraphy club. She is an enthusiastic person, and is also a good friend of Satoko.
* Mitsuki Takahata as , a member of the calligraphy club. She is unable to read people's feelings, and is not good at studies. Her father runs a shop selling calligraphy supplies, though the shop eventually closed down. She later moved to Hiroshima Prefecture.
* Fujiko Kojima as , a member of the calligraphy club. She was bullied in junior high school, resulting in her fear of going to school. Even in high school, she is a person who rarely says anything. She uses calligraphy as a means to express herself.
* Nobuaki Kaneko as , a temporary teacher and the adviser to the calligraphy club. An accomplished calligraphy master, he lost his passion in calligraphy after participating in numerous competitions. Thanks to the students, he later found his passion again.
* Tomohiro Ichikawa as , Satoko's childhood friend.
* Win Morisaki as , a member of the calligraphy club.
* Ryu Morioka as , a member of the calligraphy club.
* Ryotaro Sakaguchi as , a member of the calligraphy club.
* Junkichi Orimoto as Tomoya's grandfather.
* Meikyo Yamada as Satoko's father, a calligraphy teacher.
* Mayumi Asaka as Satoko's mother.
* Yoshiko Miyazaki as Mio's mother. She is a single parent and is hospitalized due to a major illness.
* Hajime Okayama as Kiyomi's father. He runs a calligraphy supply shop in the town's shopping arcade that later closed down due to poor business.

Production

Development

On 27 August 2009, Nippon Television's "Zoom-in!!Super" program featured a segment regarding Shikokuchuo High School's ''Shodo Performance Koshien'' competition. The performance calligraphy competition consists of six-people groups who draw calligraphy while dancing to the background music. This segment received a respectable viewership rating of 10%, despite the segment being only 9 minutes long. In an announcement made on 24 December 2009, it was revealed that a film will be produced based on the story of this competition.

It was revealed that the director Ryuichi Inomata will be in charge of the film. He previously directed the 2007 film '' A Tale of Mari and Three Puppies''. Riko Narumi, who also starred in the 2010 film ''Bushido Sixteen

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