View source for Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms

'''Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms''' is a one-volume [[manga]] written and illustrated by [[Fumiyo Kōno]]. The two connected stories were first published in Japan by [[Futabasha]] in ''[[Weekly Manga Action]]'' in 2003 and 2004, then collected in a single ''[[tankōbon]]'' volume in 2004. The story is about a family of survivors of the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|atomic bombing of Hiroshima]]. The author based the characters on people who were in [[Hiroshima]] or [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]].

''Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms'' was adapted as a [[live-action]] film directed by Kiyoshi Sasabe released in 2007, called '''''Yunagi City, Sakura Country''''' in English. It has also been adapted as a 2006 radio drama, as 2007 novels by Kei Kunii and Yohei Makita, as a 2017 stage play and as a 2018 television special.

The manga has received international praise for its simple but beautiful artwork and its quiet but "humane" anti-war message.<ref name="Deppey"/><ref name=PopCultureShock/><ref name="manganews"/><ref name="comicworldnews"/><ref name="otaku"/><ref name="about"/> It received the Grand Prize for manga at the 2004 [[Japan Media Arts Festival]] and the 2005 [[Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize]] Creative Award. [[Kumiko Asō]] won several acting awards for her portrayal of Minami Hirano, one of the two protagonists, in the film adaptation.

==Plot==

''Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms'' comprises two stories, "Town of Evening Calm" and "Country of Cherry Blossoms".

===Family tree===
{{Tree list}}
*Hirano Tenma (c. 1905–7 August 1945) m. Fujimi (c. 1907–27 August 1987)
**Kasumi (c. 1930–11 October 1945)
**Minami (c. 1932–8 September 1955)
**Midori (c. 1933–6 August 1945)
**{{Tree list/final branch}}Ishikawa Asahi (b. 1937) m. Ota Kyoka (1945–1983)
***Nanami (b. 1976)
***{{Tree list/final branch}} Nagio (b. 1977 or 1978)
{{Tree list/end}}
<ref>{{cite book |last=Kouno |first=Fumiyo |author-link= |date=2009 |title=Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms |url= |location= |publisher=Last Gasp |page=67 |isbn=978-0867196658}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite book |last=Kouno |first=Fumiyo |author-link= |date=2009 |title=Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms |url= |location= |publisher=Last Gasp |pages=23–26 |isbn=978-0867196658}}</ref>

===Town of Evening Calm (''Yūnagi no Machi'')===

Set in Hiroshima in 1955, ten years after the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|atomic bomb was dropped]], "Town of Evening Calm" is the story of a young woman, Minami Hirano, who [[Hibakusha|survived the bomb]] when she was in her early teens. She lives with her mother, Fujimi, in a shanty-town near downtown, having lost her father and two sisters to the bomb; her younger brother, Asahi, was evacuated to [[Mito, Ibaraki]], where he was adopted by his aunt. Fujimi is a seamstress while Minami, who is "all thumbs" as her mother puts it, works as a clerk in an office, and together they are saving money for the trip to Mito to visit Asahi.

One of her co-workers, Yutaka Uchikoshi, cares for Minami and visits her shanty when she misses work because her mother is sick. He later gives her a pair of sandals made by his mother and a handkerchief, but when he tries to kiss her, she has a [[Flashback (psychological phenomenon)|flashback]] where she sees the victims of the bombing where they now stand and pushes him away. She runs off, still reliving the horrors of the attack, including finding her little sister's blackened body and watching her older sister die of [[radiation poisoning]] two months later. The next day at the office, she apologizes to Uchikoshi, saying she wants to somehow put the past behind her. She spends the day exhausted, however, and the next day becomes bedridden from the long-term effects of radiation poisoning. As Minami's condition worsens, she is visited by Uchikoshi and other co-workers, and dies just as her brother and aunt arrive.

===Country of Cherry Blossoms (''Sakura no Kuni'')===

"Country of Cherry Blossoms" is a story in two parts. Part one is set in 1987 in Tokyo. At the start of fifth grade, Nanami Ishikawa, the daughter of Minami's brother Asahi (and thus second-generation [[Hibakusha|atomic bomb victim]]), is a tomboy nicknamed "[[Ishikawa Goemon|Goemon]]" by her classmates, to her disgust. At baseball practice, she gets a bloody nose after being hit by a ball, after which she skips practice to visit her brother Nagio in the hospital, where he is being treated for asthma. On the way, she meets her best friend and next-door neighbor, a feminine girl named Toko Tone, who loans her subway fare and accompanies her. In Nagio's hospital room, they toss [[Sakura|cherry blossom petals]] that Nanami collected into the air, to give him the [[Hanami|experience of spring]] that he's missing. Nanami is scolded by her grandmother for visiting Nagio when she's not supposed to. That summer, her grandmother, Asahi's mother, Fujimi, dies, and that fall Nanami loses touch with Toko after her family moves closer to Nagio's hospital.

Part two takes place 17 years later, in 2004. Nanami, now working as an [[office lady]], lives with her recently retired father. One day Nagio, who recently graduated from [[medical school]], tells Nanami he ran into Toko as a nurse at the hospital where he is [[Internship (medicine)|interning]]. Nanami tells him she's worried their father's going [[senile]] because he has started wandering off for a couple days at a time without explanation.

One evening, Nanami follows Asahi as he leaves the apartment, and while she tails him runs into Toko and together they follow him onto an overnight bus to Hiroshima. In the morning, they follow as he visits several people before Toko leaves to visit the [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park|Peace Park]]. Asahi visits his [[Japanese funeral#Grave|family grave]], then sits by the riverside, and while waiting Nanami discovers in the pocket of Toko's borrowed jacket a letter from Nagio to Toko, saying that her family asked him to stop seeing her as they believe his asthma is a result of the atomic bomb.

In a [[Flashback (narrative)|flashback]], Asahi recalls the riverbank as a shantytown, then remembers meeting Kyoka Ota, a neighborhood girl his mother hired to help her after Minami died, when he returns to Hiroshima to start college. Asahi begins tutoring Kyoka because her teachers believe she is stupid due to the atomic bomb. When Toko finds Nanami by the river, Toko is upset to the point of illness by what she saw at the [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum|Peace Memorial Museum]], and Nanami finds them a hotel room and cares for her, even though she has flashbacks to seeing her mother's last illness when she was a young child. In another flashback, Asahi proposes to a grown Kyoka, against his mother's wishes, as Kyoka was exposed to the bomb.

On the ride back to Tokyo, Nanami arranges for Nagio to meet her and Toko, then leaves them alone together. Asahi tells Nanami he visited Hiroshima for the 49th anniversary of Minami's death, and that Nanami resembles her.

==Development==

[[File:AtomicEffects-Hiroshima.jpg|thumb|The effects of atomic bombing on Hiroshima]]
According to Fumiyo Kōno's afterword, she was prompted to write ''Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms'' when her editor asked her for a Hiroshima story. She was initially reluctant because, while she was born in Hiroshima neither she nor anyone in her family was a [[Hibakusha|survivor of the atomic bomb]], and growing up she found the subject upsetting and had tried to avoid it ever since. She decided to tackle the subject because she felt it was "unnatural and irresponsible for me to consciously try to avoid the issue." Living in Tokyo, she had come to realize that people outside of Hiroshima and Nagasaki didn't know about the effects of the bomb, not because they were avoiding the subject but because it is never talked about, and so she attempted the story because "drawing something is better than drawing nothing at all."<ref name="afterword">{{cite book | title=Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms | first=Fumiyo | last=Kouno | year=2007 | publisher=Last Gasp | chapter=Afterword | pages=102–103}}</ref>

Kōno described "Country of Cherry Blossoms" as "what I most needed to hear two years ago, when I still avoided anything to do with the atomic bomb."<ref name="afterword"/>

==Media==

===Manga===

''Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms'' was serialized in Japan by [[Futabasha]] in two parts in the ''[[seinen]]'' (aimed at younger adult men) [[manga magazine]] ''[[Weekly Manga Action]]'' in September 2003 and July 2004.<ref name="otaku"/> The two serial numbers were collected in a ''[[tankōbon]]'' edition published on 12 October 2004 ({{ISBN|4-575-29744-5}}).<ref name="futabasha-tank">{{cite web | url=http://www.futabasha.co.jp/booksdb/book/bookview/4-575-29744-5.html | script-title=ja:株式会社双葉社 夕凪の街 桜の国(ユウナギノマチサクラノクニ) | language=ja | publisher=[[Futabasha]] | access-date=11 March 2009}}</ref> It was reprinted in a ''[[bunkoban]]'' edition on 8 April 2008 ({{ISBN|978-4-575-71343-5}}).<ref name="futabasha-bunk">{{cite web | url=http://www.futabasha.co.jp/booksdb/book/bookview/978-4-575-71343-5.html | script-title=ja:株式会社双葉社 コミック文庫)夕凪の街 桜の国(ユウナギノマチサクラノクニ) | language=ja | publisher=[[Futabasha]] | access-date=11 March 2009}}</ref> <!-- NEED MAGAZINE SERIALIZATION INFO! -->

It has been published in English by [[Last Gasp (publisher)|Last Gasp]],<ref name="last-gasp">{{cite web | url=http://www.lastgasp.com/d/28619/ | title=TOWN OF EVENING CALM, COUNTRY OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS | publisher=[[Last Gasp (publisher)|Last Gasp]] | access-date=11 March 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017094404/http://www.lastgasp.com/d/28619/ | archive-date=17 October 2006 }}</ref> in Korean by [[Munhak Segye Sa]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5M2MgAACAAJ | script-title=ko:저녁뜸의 거리 | language=ko | isbn=9788970753492 | author1=고노후미요 | date=25 November 2005 | publisher=문학세계사 }}</ref> in Traditional Chinese by [[Sharp Point Press]],<ref name="sharppoint">{{cite web | url=http://www.spp.com.tw/spp2006/all/asp/search/bookfile.asp?bc=25033005 |script-title=zh:【2013卡漫送】夕凪之街櫻之國(全) |trans-title=2013 ''Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms'' (Complete)|publisher=[[Sharp Point Press]] |language=zh |access-date=12 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080331110301/http://www.spp.com.tw/spp2006/all/asp/search/bookfile.asp?bc=25033005 |archive-date=31 March 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> in French by [[Kana (publisher)|Kana]] as ''Country of Cherry'' ({{langx|fr|Le Pays des Cerisiers}}),<ref name="kana">{{cite web |url=http://www.mangakana.com/s4770/Le-Pays-des-Cerisiers.html |title=Le Pays des Cerisiers |trans-title=Country of Cherry |language=fr |access-date=11 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220051943/http://www.mangakana.com/s4770/Le-Pays-des-Cerisiers.html |archive-date=20 December 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> in Portuguese by [[Editora JBC]] as ''Hiroshima - A City of Calm'' ({{langx|pt|Hiroshima -  A Cidade da Calmaria}}),<ref>{{cite web | url=http://mangasjbc.uol.com.br/titulos/hiroshima/ | title=Hiroshima - A City of Calm |trans-title=Hiroshima - A City of Calm |publisher=[[Editora JBC]] |language=pt| access-date=2013-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108024522/http://mangasjbc.uol.com.br/titulos/hiroshima/ |archive-date=8 January 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> in Spanish by [[Glénat (publisher)|Glènat España]]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.editoresdetebeos.com/catalogo/comics/chix/la-ciudad-al-atardecer-el-pais-de-los-cerezos/1 | title=La ciudad al atardecer / el país de los cerezos |publisher=[[Glénat (publisher)|Glènat España]] |language=es| access-date=2013-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224122045/http://www.editoresdetebeos.com/catalogo/comics/chix/la-ciudad-al-atardecer-el-pais-de-los-cerezos/1 |archive-date=24 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and in Russian by Alt Graph.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Город, где вечером стихает ветер. Страна, где расцветает сакура |url=https://alt-graph.ru/product/gorod-gde-vecherom-stihaet-veter-strana-gde-rascvetaet-sakura/ |access-date=2023-09-26 |language=ru-RU}}</ref>

===Radio drama===

The story was adapted as a 50-minute [[Radio drama in Japan|radio drama]] broadcast by [[NHK]] on 5 August 2006.<!-- by internet? --><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nhk.or.jp/awards/award/06_061225.html | title=文化庁芸術祭でNHKスペシャルが芸術祭大賞を受賞 | language=ja | publisher=[[Japan Broadcasting Corporation]] | access-date=5 October 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401174859/http://www.nhk.or.jp/awards/award/06_061225.html | archive-date=1 April 2012 }}</ref> It won the 2006 [[Agency for Cultural Affairs]] Art Festival Award in the Radio Division,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bunka.go.jp/geijutsu_bunka/geijutsusai/pdf/18_jyusyou_sakuhin.pdf | script-title=ja:平成18年度(第61回)文化庁芸術祭賞受賞一覧 (参加作品) | publisher=[[Agency for Cultural Affairs]] | language=ja | access-date=16 April 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and was shortlisted for the 2007 [[Prix Italia]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.prixitalia.rai.it/pdf/short_list2007.pdf | title=SHORT LIST 2007: TV PERFORMING ARTS, MUSIC AND ART DOCUMENTARIES | publisher=[[Prix Italia]] | access-date=16 April 2009}}</ref>

The drama was directed by [[Kenji Shindo]] and produced by Shinya Aoki, with the script adapted by [[Hirofumi Harada]]. Music was provided by [[Jun Nagao]], and sounds were provided by [[Ai Sato]]. The three lead actors were [[Isao Natsuyagi]], Tomoko Saito, and Kayu Suzuki.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.prixitalia.rai.it/pdf/Radio_Drama.pdf | title=RADIO DRAMA PROGRAMMES | publisher=[[Prix Italia]] | access-date=16 April 2009}}</ref> [[Kenji Anan]] was a supporting cast member.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nhk.or.jp/audio/prog_fm_former2006.html | title=FMシアター 2006年 放送済みの作品 : NHKオーディオドラマ | publisher=[[NHK]] | language=ja | access-date=16 April 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224183141/http://www.nhk.or.jp/audio/prog_fm_former2006.html | archive-date=24 February 2009 }}</ref>

;Cast<ref name="dramabook">{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624005600/http://www.writersguild.or.jp/school/renmei/f_sakuhin.html | archive-date=24 June 2009 | url=http://www.writersguild.or.jp/school/renmei/f_sakuhin.html | title=テレビドラマ代表作選集2007年版 | publisher=[[Writer's Guild of Japan]] | access-date=20 November 2015}}</ref>

* [[Isao Natsuyagi]] as Asahi Ishikawa
* [[Kayu Suzuki]] as Nanami Ishikawa
* [[Tomoko Saito]] as Minami Hirano
* [[Kenji Anan]] as Yutaka Uchikoshi
* [[Toshie Kobayashi]] as Fujimi Hirano
* [[Shin Yazawa]] as Toko Tone
* [[Kenta Chabana]] as younger Asahi Ishikawa
* [[Yuna Mimura]] as younger Kyoka Ota
* [[Yukie Ito]] as Kyoka Ota
* [[Kanako Obayashi]] as Sachiko Furuta

===Novels===

Two novelizations were released in conjunction with the film adaptation in 2007. A novelization of the film by {{nihongo|Kei Kunii|国井 桂|Kunii Kei}}, with a cover featuring the film's actors, was published by [[Futabasha]] on 3 July ({{ISBN|978-4-575-23582-1}}).<ref name="futabasha-novel">{{cite web | url=http://www.futabasha.co.jp/booksdb/book/bookview/978-4-575-23582-1.html?c=30701&o=date&type=t&word=%E5%A4%95%E5%87%AA%E3%81%AE%E8%A1%97+%E6%A1%9C%E3%81%AE%E5%9B%BD | script-title=ja:株式会社双葉社 小説 夕凪の街 桜の国(ショウセツ ユウナギノマチサクラノクニ) | publisher=[[Futabasha]] | language=ja | access-date=11 March 2009}}</ref> A novelization of the manga by {{nihongo|Yohei Makita|蒔田陽平|Makita Yohei}} was published by Futabasha on 22 July ({{ISBN|978-4-575-24046-7}}).

===Film===

''Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms'' has been adapted into a [[live-action]] film directed by [[Kiyoshi Sasabe]],<ref name="film">{{cite web | url=http://www.yunagi-sakura.jp/ | title=映画「夕凪の街 桜の国」OFFICIAL SITE | language=ja | access-date=11 March 2009}}</ref> which is called ''Yunagi City, Sakura Country'' in English.<ref name="asiaarts"/> The outdoor sets were filmed in [[Kawaguchi, Saitama]], including a recreation of part of the Hiroshima's shantytown c. 1958.<ref name="skipcity">{{cite web | url=http://www.skipcity-dcf.jp/2007/en/program/premier/ | title=SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL 2007 : Premiere Screening | publisher=Skip City International D-Cinema Festival Committee | access-date=23 April 2009}}</ref> The story of "Country of Cherry Blossoms" was filmed in Hiroshima.<ref name="hiroshimafilmcommission">{{cite web | url=http://www.fc.hcvb.city.hiroshima.jp/jiseki/index.html | title=Filmed with Hiroshima Film Commission | publisher=Hiroshima Film Commission | access-date=6 September 2009}}</ref> The film premiered at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] in May 2007,<ref name="film-cannes">{{cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-04-19/town-of-evening-calm-country-of-cherry-blossoms-goes-to-cannes | title=Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms goes to Cannes | publisher=[[Anime News Network]] | date=19 April 2007 | access-date=11 March 2009}}</ref> then released in theaters in Japan on 28 July 2007.<ref name="film"/> It was released on DVD in Japan on 28 March 2008.<ref name="dvd">{{cite web | url=http://www.yunagi-sakura.jp/special.html | title=映画「夕凪の街 桜の国」OFFICIAL SITE | language=ja | access-date=11 March 2009}}</ref> A soundtrack was also released.<ref name="soundtrack">{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B000PIU02A/ |title=「夕凪の街 桜の国」オリジナル·サウンドトラック [Soundtrack]|publisher=Amazon.co.jp|access-date=16 April 2009}}</ref>

====Key items====

* An attractive handmade short-sleeved dress: there is the reason that Minami can't wear the short-sleeves.
* The white [[barrette]] (hair clip): Minami's father gave white one to Minami's sister Midori and red one to Minami, and soon Midori liked red one so Minami keep the white one. And the barrette will be kept by her sister in law Kyoka and her niece Nanami.
* The river and an old water tank for fire fighting on the street: People at the time wanted water.
* A white handkerchief with two red goldfish: The family used live in a house with a pond in the yard. Asahi tried to catch the goldfish and was scolded by father.
* A family picture: Only one Minami's family picture is left with Asahi in Mito, but all pictures were burn out with Minami's house.
* An [[acacia]]-tree on the river side: Asahi and Yutaka will meet under the acacia-tree. People in Hiroshima, they take care left standing a-bombed trees now, because Hiroshima was called "the city where no plants can be grown for seventy-five years".
* The name of the characters: Their names come from the name of the towns in Hiroshima. (Nagio from Yūnagi(Evening Calm)).
* Dialects: Minami, Fujimi, Kyoka and Yutaka speaks Hiroshima dialect. Asahi speaks Mito dialect. Nanami, Nagio and Toko speaks Tokyo dialect.

====Cast====

* [[Kumiko Asō]] as Minami Hirano, the heroine of "Town of Evening Calm". Minami lives in Hiroshima with her mother Fujimi. She wears a white barrette, a memento of her father and sister. Minami eventually dies as a result of radiation sickness.
* [[Rena Tanaka]] as Nanami Ishikawa, Minami's niece and the heroine of "Country of Cherry Blossoms". Nanami grew up in Tokyo and speaks the Tokyo dialect, unlike the Hiroshima-dwelling characters of Town of Evening Calm who speak in the local dialect. Throughout the story, Nanami learns the family history of her relatives in Hiroshima.
* [[Mitsunori Isaki]] as the younger Asahi Ishikawa, Minami's little brother. Asahi lives with his aunt in Mito, where he was raised, and thus speaks in the Mito dialect. He and his aunt lives far away from Minami and her mother, only arriving in Hiroshima to visit as her illness finally claims her life. After Minami's death, he decides to stay with his mother Fujimi in Hiroshima and attends [[Hiroshima University]].
* [[Masaaki Sakai]] as the adult Asahi Ishikawa, Minami's brother and Nanami's father. When Nanami follows him, she discovers he has returned to Hiroshima for the fiftieth anniversary of Minami's death.
* [[Yû Yoshizawa]] as the younger Yutaka Uchikoshi, Minami's coworker who falls in love with her. She refuses his affections, but he stays by her side as she dies of radiation sickness.
* [[Ryosei Tayama]] as the adult Yutaka Uchikoshi. Yutaka and Asahi meet under the acacia tree when Asahi returns to Hiroshima.
* [[Shiho Fujimura]] as Fujimi Hirano, Minami's mother and Nanami's grandmother, who appears in both stories.
* [[Yuta Kanai]] as Nagio Ishikawa, Nanami's younger brother, who works as an intern at a hospital. He has feelings for Toko.
* [[Noriko Nakagoshi]] as Toko Tone, Nanami's childhood friend who works as a nurse in the same hospital as Nagio.
* [[Rina Koike]] as the young Kyoka Ota, a girl from Minami's neighborhood who sometimes visits to help out around the house.
* [[Urara Awata]] as Kyoka Ota, Nanami's mother. She and Asahi move from Hiroshima to Tokyo after their marriage.
* [[Asami Katsura]] as Sachiko Furuta, Minami's coworker who helps her make a copy of the dress in the shop window.

====Soundtrack====

The soundtrack of the film was released<ref name="soundtrack" /> on 16 July 2007. It is composed by [[Takatsugu Muramatsu]], with performances on the harp by [[Naori Uchida]] and harmonica by [[Masami Ohishi]].

===Stage===

A stage adaptation by Stray Dog Promotion, written and directed by Toshiyuki Morioka, was performed from August to September 2017. It was re-performed in Augusts of 2019 and 2021.

===TV special===

NHK Hiroshima's 90th anniversary drama ''Yunagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni 2018'' was produced as a regional drama by NHK Hiroshima Broadcasting Station, and was released as a "special drama" on [[NHK General TV]] on 6 August 2018 and rebroadcast on 14 October. It was directed by Ritsutoki Kumano and written by Nao Morishita.

While keeping the setting of "Town of Evening Calm" as is, the 2004 setting of "Country of Cherry Blossoms II" was moved to 2018, and the characters were also aged by 14 years. The role of accompanying Nanami to Hiroshima in pursuit of Asahi was replaced by Fuko, Nagio and Toko's daughter, and Toko does not appear in this work because "Country of Cherry Blossoms I" was cut.

====Cast====
;Heisei
* Nanami Ishikawa - [[Takako Tokiwa]]
* Asahi Ishikawa - [[Isao Hashizume]]
* Fuko Ishikawa - [[Yuna Taira]]
* Nagio Ishikawa - [[Satoshi Kashiwabara]]
* Yuji Daimon - [[Shosuke Tanihara]]
* Sachiko Furuta - [[Tayo Iwamoto]]
* Akira Uchikoshi - [[Mitsuo Sagawa]]

;Showa
* Minami Hirano - [[Rina Kawaei]]
* Hirano Fujimi - [[Midoriko Kimura]]
* Sachiko Furuta - [[Masa Murasaki]]
* Akira Uchikoshi - [[Asuka Kudo]]
* Kyoka Ota - [[Fuka Koshiba]] (childhood - [[Shinyo Nemoto]])
* Asahi Ishikawa - [[Yosuke Asari]]

==Reception==

The story was praised by the award jury of the [[Japan Media Arts Festival]] for its brevity and its "depiction of 'the dark shadow of war'".<ref name="manga-mediaarts">{{cite web|url=http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/english/festival/2004/manga/000446/index.php |title=Grand Prize YUNAGI NO MACHI SAKURA NO KUNI |publisher=[[Japan Media Arts Festival]] |access-date=10 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116070507/http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/english/festival/2004/manga/000446/index.php |archive-date=16 January 2010 }}</ref> According to Izumi Evers, one of the editors of the English edition, the Japanese edition created a sensation despite being little-promoted because it made readers want to talk about the bombing of Hiroshima, which is a controversial topic.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://manga.about.com/od/mangaartistswriters/a/Macias_Evers_2.htm | title=Interview: Patrick Macias and Izumi Evers&nbsp;— Page 2 | first=Deb | last=Aoki | publisher=[[About.com]] | access-date=17 March 2009 | quote=The book was more of a sensation than a controversy, if you get the meaning. | archive-date=25 January 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125004810/http://manga.about.com/od/mangaartistswriters/a/Macias_Evers_2.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> The manga sold over 180,000 copies in Japan.<ref name="film-cannes"/>

The simple artwork and story's "light, ephemeral touch" was praised by [[Dirk Deppey]] in ''[[The Comics Journal]]'',<ref name="Deppey">{{cite web| url=http://www.tcj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=564&Itemid=70 | title=The Comics Journal&nbsp;— Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms | first=Dirk | last=Deppey | author-link=Dirk Deppey | publisher=[[The Comics Journal]] | date=13 March 2007 | access-date=17 March 2009 }}</ref> and ''PopCultureShock'' called the character designs "slightly rough, clumsy", which they consider makes the characters "more human and more believable" because they are "more vulnerable, more imperfect, more fragile". ''PopCultureShock'' also praised the background art, which "bring[s] the streets of Hiroshima to vivid life".<ref name=PopCultureShock>{{cite web | url=http://www.popcultureshock.com/reviews/review-town-of-evening-calm-country-of-cherry-blossoms/ | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120111011605/http://www.popcultureshock.com/reviews/review-town-of-evening-calm-country-of-cherry-blossoms/ | url-status=usurped | archive-date=11 January 2012 | title=Manga Review: Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms | first=Katherine | last=Dacey-Tsuei | publisher=PopCultureShock | date=23 March 2007 | access-date=17 March 2009 }}</ref> ''Manga News'' described the apparently simplistic art as beautiful, which emphasizes the story's depth without ever going over-the-top or into excess morality.<ref name="manganews">{{cite web | url=http://www.manga-news.com/index.php/manga/Le-pays-des-cerisiers#review | title=Pays des cerisiers (le) ( KONO Fumiyo KONO Fumiyo ) Kana - 夕凪の街 桜の国 - Manga news | author=Shinob | publisher=Manga News | language=fr | access-date=18 March 2009 | quote=The drawings, at first simplistic, appear particularly beautiful and characteristic of the author's particular style. They serve and emphasize the depth of a story that seeks to show us the daily life of a survivor, without ever going over-the-top or into excess morality, which would be particularly indigestible. (Les dessins, de prime abord simplistes, se révèlent particulièrement beaux et caractéristiques du style particulier de l'auteur. Ils servent et mettent en valeur la profondeur d'un récit qui s'attache à nous montrer le quotidien d'une survivante, sans jamais tomber dans une surenchère ou un excès de morale qui se reléverait particulièrement indigeste.)}}</ref> ''Comic World News'' called the story "humane" and "profoundly moral", and praised the characterization as being "real".<ref name="comicworldnews">{{cite web | url=http://www.comicworldnews.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?column=flipped&page=113 | title=Buy this Book: Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms | first=David | last=Welsh | publisher=Comic World News | access-date=17 March 2009 | quote=But ''Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms'' is a profoundly moral work and, even better, a singularly humane one. | archive-date=13 January 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113012636/http://www.comicworldnews.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?column=flipped&page=113 | url-status=dead }}</ref> ''[[Otaku USA]]'' described the scenes of daily life as "welcoming" and the art "lovely", saying the "antiwar message is unspoken, and comes naturally from the desire not to see the characters die."<ref name="otaku">{{cite web | url=http://otakuusamagazine.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=1A1B839DB3E44AA6A2839AC75EEC84DC&AudID=06FF02C5E62142AEA5B1D121FA444C6A | title=Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms | first=Jason | last=Thompson |author-link=Jason Thompson (writer) | publisher=[[Otaku USA]] | access-date=17 March 2009 | date=30 October 2007}}</ref> A review at [[About.com]] described it as a "deeply moving story" that's "told in whispers rather than screams," and praised Kōno for resisting "the urge to pile on the melodrama" and so conveying "a deeply moving story."<ref name="about">{{cite web | url=http://manga.about.com/od/lastgasp/gr/TownofEvening1.htm | title=Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms | first=Deb | last=Aoki | publisher=[[About.com]] | access-date=17 March 2009 | quote=Compared to its thematic predecessor ''Barefoot Gen'', ''Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms'' is an atom bomb story that's told in whispers rather than screams. | archive-date=16 July 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716151445/http://manga.about.com/od/lastgasp/gr/TownofEvening1.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> ''[[Manga: The Complete Guide]]'' called the work "a beautiful manga and an understated antiwar statement", praising its "dreamlike and evocative" stories and its artwork, especially the "lovely" backgrounds.<ref name="MangaGuide">{{cite book | last=Thompson | first=Jason | title=[[Manga: The Complete Guide]] | date=9 October 2007 | publisher=[[Del Rey Books|Del Rey]] | location=New York, New York | isbn=978-0-345-48590-8 | oclc=85833345 | page=371 }}</ref>

''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' named the English translation one of the best ten manga of 2007, calling it "too important to pass up" and comparing it to ''[[Barefoot Gen]]'',<ref>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430091418/http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6514738.html?nid=2789 | archive-date=30 April 2009 | url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6514738.html?nid=2789 | title=Top 10 Manga for 2007 | author=Kai-Ming Cha | date=1 January 2008 | access-date=20 November 2015}}</ref> and ''[[New York Magazine]]'' named it one of the top five comics in English of 2007.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://nymag.com/arts/cultureawards/2007/41812/ | title=Best Comics of 2007 | first=Dan | last=Kois | magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] | date=10 December 2007 | access-date=17 March 2009}}</ref> The [[American Library Association]] placed the manga on its list of "Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2008".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/greatgraphicnovelsforteens/08ggnt.cfm | title=Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2008 | publisher=[[American Library Association]] | access-date=17 March 2009}}</ref> It was nominated for an [[Eisner Award]] in two categories, Best Short Story for "Town of Evening Calm" and [[Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia|Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12389.html | title=Eisner Awards Share the Wealth: Manga Gets More Attention | publisher=ICv2 | date=14 April 2008 | access-date=6 May 2009}}</ref> but lost to "Mr. Wonderful" by [[Dan Clowes]] and ''[[Tekkonkinkreet]]'' respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_08win.shtml |title=Eisner Awards Celebrate the "Magic of Comics" |publisher=Comic-Con International |access-date=6 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203042038/http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_08win.shtml |archive-date=3 December 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-07-26/tekkonkinkreet-wins-eisner-award | title=Tekkonkinkreet Wins Eisner Award | publisher=[[Anime News Network]] | date=26 July 2008 | access-date=17 March 2009}}</ref>

According to [[Patrick Macias]], an English editor of the manga, the film was "kind of ignored" at Cannes because of competition from other high-profile Japanese films.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://manga.about.com/od/mangaartistswriters/a/Macias_Evers_2.htm | title=Interview: Patrick Macias and Izumi Evers&nbsp;— Page 2 | first=Deb | last=Aoki | publisher=[[About.com]] | access-date=17 March 2009 | quote=PM: Unfortunately, it was kind of ignored at Cannes last year because of all the attention lavished upon Beat Takeshi’s new film and this other movie, ''Dai Nihonjin''. | archive-date=25 January 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125004810/http://manga.about.com/od/mangaartistswriters/a/Macias_Evers_2.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> According to a review in ''Asia Pacific Arts'', during the sequence when the father returns to Hiroshima, the film shows "an interaction" of the past, present, and future, which is indicative of "the slipperiness of memory", a technique that "makes more visible and effective the ongoing resonance of the past in the present" but that "rejects the politics of the bombing" of the first part of the film.<ref name="asiaarts">{{cite web | url=http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=91609 | title=Japan Film Festival 2008: capsule reviews | last=Aquino | first=Rowena | publisher=UCLA Asia Institute | date=2 May 2008 | access-date=17 March 2009 | archive-date=23 July 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723082816/http://asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=91609 | url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Kumiko Asō]] won several acting awards in Japan for her role as Minami Hirano.<ref name="hochi-award"/><ref name="Blue Ribbon"/><ref name="mainichi-award"/>

===Awards===

The manga has won two awards, the 2004 [[Japan Media Arts Festival]]'s Grand Prize for manga<ref name="manga-mediaarts"/> and the 2005 [[Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize#2005|Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize]]'s Creative Award.<ref name="manga-tezuka">{{cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-05-10/tezuka-award-winner-announced | title=Tezuka Award Winner Announced | publisher=[[Anime News Network]] | date=10 May 2005 | access-date=11 March 2009}}</ref>

The film won several awards, including the 17th [[Japanese Film Critics Award]] for Best Picture,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-2758 | title=17th Japan Movie Critics Awards | publisher=Tokyograph | date=13 March 2008 | access-date=17 March 2009}}</ref> placing sixth in the top ten films list of the 3rd [[Osaka Cinema Festival]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-2431 | title=Osaka Museum of History announces 3rd festival winners | publisher=Tokyograph | date=18 January 2008 | access-date=17 March 2009}}</ref> and placing ninth in the top ten domestic films list of 2007 by ''[[Kinema Junpo]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-2378 | title="Soredemo" tops Kinema Junpo list | publisher=Tokyograph | date=10 January 2008 | access-date=17 March 2009}}</ref> The [[Blue Ribbon Awards]] also named the film one of the top ten films of the year.<ref name="Blue Ribbon">{{cite web | url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-2445 | title=50th Blue Ribbon Awards: "Kisaragi" takes top prize | publisher=Tokyograph | date=22 January 2008 | access-date=17 March 2009}}</ref> Kumiko Asō won several "Best Actress" awards for her portrayal of Minami Hirano in the film, including that of the 32nd [[Hochi Film Award]]s,<ref name="hochi-award">{{cite web | url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-2154 | title=32nd Hochi Movie Awards announced | publisher=Tokyograph | date=27 November 2007 | access-date=17 March 2009}}</ref> the 62nd [[Mainichi Film Awards]],<ref name="mainichi-award">{{cite web | url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-2425 | title=Mainichi Film Awards: Suo on a streak | publisher=Tokyograph | date=17 January 2008 | access-date=17 March 2009}}</ref> and the 50th [[Blue Ribbon Awards]].<ref name="Blue Ribbon"/>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.yunagi-sakura.jp/ Official film site] {{in lang|ja}}
* [http://blog.eigaseikatu.com/yunagi-sakura/index.html Official film blog] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235134/http://blog.eigaseikatu.com/yunagi-sakura/index.html |date=27 September 2007 }} {{in lang|ja}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061017094404/http://www.lastgasp.com/d/28619/ Last Gasp manga website]
* {{anime News Network|manga|7749}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081206185707/http://feature.movies.jp.msn.com/interview/070723_b_1.htm Interview with Kumiko Asō] {{in lang|ja}}
* [http://movies.yahoo.co.jp/interview/200707/interview_20070726001.html Interview with Rena Tanaka] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212223121/http://movies.yahoo.co.jp/interview/200707/interview_20070726001.html |date=12 February 2012 }} {{in lang|ja}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071005195050/http://www.web-cri.com/review/misc_yuunagi-sakura_v04.htm Japanese review of the manga and film] {{in lang|ja}}
* [http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainment/cinema/review/20070806et05.htm Film review] {{in lang|ja}}
* [http://www.fc.hcvb.city.hiroshima.jp/info/yunagi/index.html Snap photos by Hiroshima Film Commission]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jun/30/featuresreviews.guardianreview22 Manga review]
*{{IMDb title|0997193}}

{{Manga Action}}
{{Kiyoshi Sasabe}}
{{Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize}}

[[Category:2004 manga]]
[[Category:2007 films]]
[[Category:Books about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]]
[[Category:Films about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]]
[[Category:Films directed by Kiyoshi Sasabe]]
[[Category:Films set in Hiroshima]]
[[Category:Films set in Tokyo]]
[[Category:Films shot in Hiroshima]]
[[Category:Films shot in Tokyo]]
[[Category:Futabasha manga]]
[[Category:Japanese radio dramas]]
[[Category:Last Gasp titles]]
[[Category:Live-action films based on manga]]
[[Category:Manga adapted into films]]
[[Category:Seinen manga]]
[[Category:Sharp Point Press titles]]
[[Category:Winner of Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (Creative Award)]]