rail & train in japanese cinema

[Taro Goto]

Trains also figure in other Ghibli films:

Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies): The spirits of Seita and Setsuko
are carried away by a train during the opening credits.  They watch the
burning landscape from the windows.

Omoide Poroporo (Only Yesterday): Taeko reminisces about her childhood days
from a train taking her to the countryside.  At the end, she boards a train
to say goodbye to her brief attempt at rural life, but, as the ending theme
enters and the spirits of her childhood prod her along, she decides to turn
back and begin a new life.

Mimi o Sumaseba (Whisper of the Heart): The film begins with the song
"Country Road" juxtaposed over an urban image of a train streaking through
the Tokyo sprawl.  Shizuku meets the snobby cat on a train.

Taro Goto

----- Original Message -----
From: Christian M Hermansen <morimoto at hum.ku.dk>
To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2000 4:08 AM
Subject: Re: rail & train in japanese cinema


> As far as I remember a railway employee is the main character in Noboru
> Nakamura's Shiokari Pass from 1977, and the title refers to a railway pass
> somewhere in Hokkaido. As for amine, there is a well crafted train chase
> sequence in Miyazaki Hayao's Tenku no shiro Rapyuta (Laputa: Castle in the
> Sky) from 1986, and a short train scene in his Majo no takkyubin (Kiki's
> Delivery Service) from 1989.
> Regards
> Christian
>