Shodo Girls
| Shodo Girls: Watashitachi no Koshien | |
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Film poster advertising this film in Japan
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| Directed by | Ryuichi Inomata |
| Produced by | Naoto Fujimura, Sakashita Teshiya |
| Screenplay by | Yuko Nagata |
| Starring | Riko Narumi |
| Music by | Taro Iwashiro |
| Cinematography | Masaaki Ichikawa |
| Edited by | Toshiro Matsutake |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Running time
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120 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Box office | US$1,394,221 |
Shodo Girls: Watashitachi no Koshien (書道ガールズ!! わたしたちの甲子園?) 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.
Shikokuchuo 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.
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