is a 2015 Japanese animated film based on the book of the same name by Genjiro Ito. Produced by

Mushi Production or Mushi Pro for short, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Fujimidai, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. It previously had a headquarters elsewhere in Nerima. The studio was headed by manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka started it as a rivalry wi ...

and distributed by Kansai Produce Center, the film is directed by Shunji Ōga from a script written by Ryōichi Matsushita and Kōji Miura. It follows the history of the Japanese

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

Hikawa Maru is a retired Japanese ocean liner that Yokohama Dock Company built for the NYK Line. She was launched on 30 September 1929 and made her maiden voyage from Kobe to Seattle on 13 May 1930. She is permanently berthed as a museum ship at Yamashit ...

'' in the eyes of Jirō Hirayama. The film began its production in April 2014 and the staff working on it were announced in May 2015. The

dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...

was completed in June 2015, with Chihiro Kusaka and Keisuke Kōmoto confirming their voice role as Jirō. The film was completed the following month. ''Hikawa Maru Monogatari'' premiered in

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

on July 24, 2015, and was released in Japan on August 22.

Synopsis

The film depicts four different time periods of ''

''s history in the eyes of Jirō Hirayama. Jirō, who have lost is mother in the

Great Kanto earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

, is helping his father Genzō run

soba Soba ( or , "buckwheat") are Japanese noodles made primarily from buckwheat flour, with a small amount of wheat flour mixed in. It has an ashen brown color, and a slightly grainy texture. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sau ...

stall and desires to board the

. In May 1930, he witnesses the departure of the ship from the

Port of Yokohama The is operated by the Port and Harbor Bureau of the City of Yokohama in Japan. It opens onto Tokyo Bay. The port is located at a latitude of 35.27–00°N and a longitude of 139.38–46°E. To the south lies the Port of Yokosuka; to the nort ...

on its maiden voyage to

Seattle, United States Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. With the help of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Hachirō Akinaga and officer Akinobu Matsuda, who both become his customers in the stall, Jirō joins the crew as an apprentice cook. In 1941, ''Hikawa Maru'' is converted into a

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...

by the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

. Meanwhile, Jirō gets drafted. He later reunites with the ship along with other injured soldiers. After the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

ended, the ship helps in the repatriation of Japanese soldiers and citizens. After that, Jirō and the crew begin accepting passengers and serve them on board as ''Hikawa Maru'' becomes cargo-passenger ship and returns to its North American route.

Voice cast

Keiko Toda is a Japanese actress, singer and narrator. Her most famous role is the voice of the children's hero Anpanman on the long running anime ''Soreike! Anpanman''. She was also the voice of Thomas the Tank Engine in the Japanese dub of ''Thomas & F ...

as Narrator * Chihiro Kusaka as Jirō Hirayama (13–16 years old) * Keisuke Kōmoto as Jirō Hirayama (24 years old and above) * Masahiro Yamanaka as Hiroshi Yamanaka * Takayuki Sasada as Sadao Inagaki (

deckhand An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...

) * Kiyohiro Yamaguchi as Seiichi Morimoto (nurse) *

Sanae Kobayashi is a Japanese voice actress formerly affiliated with Production Baobab, and now with Sigma Seven. She has voiced in a number of anime shows and films. Some of her major roles are Allen Walker in '' D.Gray-man'', Miyuki Tanokura in '' Kaze no ...

as Kiyoko Sugata *

Takuya Kirimoto is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Gifu Prefecture, Japan. He is attached to Aoni Production. He is the official dubbing actor for Bradley Cooper, Hyun Bin, So Ji-sub and many more. Biography Filmography Television animation *'' Turn ...

as Genzō Hirayama * Nayu Kazetani as Mitsue Hirayama * Jiro Saito as Tetsuzō Ōkubo *

Jin Yamanoi is a Japanese voice actor from Tokyo, Japan. He has voiced a number of roles originally played by David Harbour and Eric Bana. He also voiced Ghostface in the ''Scream'' series. Biography Born Hitoshi Yamanoi on November 16, 1962 in Tokyo. ...

as Hachirō Akinaga * Naomi Kusumi as Shigeo Kakamigahara * Masashi Nogawa as Akinobu Matsuda *

Yūko Sanpei is a Japanese actress and voice actress from Tokyo, Japan. She voiced Nozomi Yumehara/Cure Dream in ''Yes! PreCure 5'' and its sequel ''GoGo!''. She currently voices the eponymous character in '' Boruto''. Biography Sanpei made her voice acti ...

as Hikaru Kasuga * Kenta Sasa as Chūji Ishii * Tomotaka Hachisuka as Head steward * Kōsuke Echigoya as Kasuga * Tomoki Atsuta as Deckhand A * Hiroyuki Honda as Cook A * Hayato Horiuchi as Kudō (cook) * Mari Hino as Jirō Hirayama (3 years old, flashback) * Arōta Nonogaki as Chūdō * Masatsugu Saitō as Utsumi * Yūhana Maruyama as Nurse * Ryan Drees as Radio broadcaster * Norio Kanaya as Captain Shiromoto

Production

Development on ''Hikawa Maru Monogatari'' began in April 2014. In December 2014, the

scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; from Italian , "that which is pinned to the scenery") is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and actio ...

for the film was drafted.

Storyboarding A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of Previsualization, pre-visualizing a film, motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The ...

began in March 2015. The basis for the

3DCG 3D computer graphics, sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics, are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of perfor ...

of the Japanese

'' was the ship's model located at NYK Maritime Museum in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, which began in May 2015. The museum and the All-Japan Seamen's Union helped in historical research. That month, the staff working on the film at

were revealed, including Shunji Ōga as the director, Ryōichi Matsushita and Kōji Miura as scriptwriters, Kenji Takehara as the

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, and Yumiko Nakaba as the editor. The book that the film was based on, written by Genjiro Ito, was published by Kamakura Shunjusha on June 5, 2015. The

was completed by late June 2015, with

doing the narration, and Chihiro Kusaka and Keisuke Kōmoto voicing the main character Jirō Hirayama. Captain Norio Kanaya, the 28th

of the ship, would be voicing Captain Shiromoto. The film was completed in July 2015. It would be distributed by Kansai Produce Center.

Music

Reijiro Koroku was first attached to ''Hikawa Maru Monogatari'' as its composer in May 2015. However, in June 2015, he was replaced by Kōsuke Yamashita. That month, the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which 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 ...

for the film was titled by

Kazumasa Oda is a Japanese singer-songwriter, and composer. He was the leader of folk rock band Off Course from 1969 to 1989, and has done solo work since 1985. As the vocalist of Off Course, Oda wrote many Japanese standard numbers in the 1970s and 1980 ...

. The song was included in Oda's album , which was released on July 2, 2014, and was first used in a commercial for the

Japan Racing Association The Japan Racing Association () is a public company established in Japan under a law to operate Chūō Keiba (中央競馬 Central horse racing) and to manage racecourses, betting facilities, and horse-training facilities in the country. It was ...

Marketing

In August 2015,

Japan Post Holdings is a Japanese publicly traded Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is mainly engaged in postal and logistics business, financial window business, banking business and life insura ...

released a limited edition frame

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

set based on ''Hikawa Maru Monogatari''. That month, a trailer for the film was released.

Release

''Hikawa Maru Monogatari'' had a VIP screening at Meiji Yasuda Life Hall in

Shinjuku, Tokyo , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

on July 24, 2015, and was released in Japan on August 22. That year marked the 85th anniversary of the ship's maiden voyage. Mushi Production planned to screen the film in community centers, schools, and overseas beyond October 2015 for the next three years, with the goal to reach one million viewers. The film had its international premiere at the

Asian Film Festival of Dallas The Asian Film Festival of Dallas (AFFD) is an annual film festival that takes place in July or August in Dallas, Texas. The festival showcases a diverse range of international films from Asia alongside Asian-American features and short films. Sc ...

in July 2016.

Reception

Nick Askam gave ''Hikawa Maru Monogatari'' a score of 7 out of 10 for '' Selig Film News'', feeling that the film was "better than average and I'll try my hardest to see it again". Askam praised the relationship between the characters, particularly of Jirō with his father, a kid from his hometown, and the actual ''Hikawa Maru'' itself. As for the animation, he described it as "fantastic" and felt that it looked "hyper-realistic". However, Askam felt the film should feature non-fictional characters whom he could get behind, stating that it was "just something that takes me out of it and makes me focus on the time period"; this was also the same issue he had with the film ''

Beasts of No Nation ''Beasts of No Nation'' is a 2005 novel by the Nigerian-American author Uzodinma Iweala, that takes its title from Fela Kuti's 1989 album of the same name. The book won the 2005 Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Barnes & Noble ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{Anime News Network, film, 17554 2010s Japanese-language films 2015 anime films 2015 films Animated films set on ships Films set on ocean liners Sea adventure films Seafaring films based on actual events