Princess from the Moon (1987)

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Image gallery for Princess from the Moon
Credits for Princess from the Moon


Princess from the Moon
Japanese poster for Princess from the Moon
Directed by Kon Ichikawa
Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, Shigeaki Hazama
Written by Ryuzo Kikushima, Mitsutoshi Ishigami,
Shinya Hidaka, Kon Ichikawa
Music by Kensaku Tanikawa
Distributor Toho
Rating Not Rated
Budget ¥2,000,000,000
Box office ¥1,450,000,000
Running time 121 minutes
(2 hours, 1 minute)
Aspect ratio 1.85:1

Princess from the Moon (竹取物語,   Taketori Monogatari, lit. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) is a 1987 Japanese tokusatsu fantasy film co-produced by Toho and Fuji TV. It is an adaptation of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, a Japanese fairy tale. It was released to Japanese theaters on September 26, 1987.

Plot

A poor country couple has just lost their only child. The father sees a strange storm and decides to walk into the forest, and he finds something he did not expect: a strange blue cocoon. Inside he finds a small girl with big blue eyes. The couple then raises her as their own daughter.

Staff

Main article: Princess from the Moon/Credits.

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

  • Directed by   Kon Ichikawa
  • Written by   Ryozo Kikushima, Mitsutoshi Ishigami, Shinya Hidaka, Kon Ichikawa
  • Produced by   Masaru Kakutani, Hiroaki Fuji, Junichi Shinsaka
  • Executive Producers   Tomoyuki Tanaka, Shigeaki Hazawa
  • Music by   Kensaku Tanikawa
    • Conducted by   Michiyoshi Inoue
    • Orchestrated by   Junosuke Yamamoto
  • Theme Song "STAY WITH ME—Song for Princess KAGUYA" Performed by   Peter Cetera
  • Cinematography by   Setsuo Kobayashi
  • Edited by   Chizuko Osada
  • Production Design by   Shinobu Muraki
  • Assistant Directors   Kazuo Yoshida, Masaaki Tezuka
  • Special Effects by   Teruyoshi Nakano, Eiichi Asada, Kiyoshi Kameo, Tadaaki Watanabe, Yasuyuki Inoue, Nobuyuki Yasumaru

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Toshiro Mifune   as   Taketori no Miyatsuko
  • Ayako Wakao   as   Tayoshime
  • Yasuko Sawaguchi   as   Kaya, the Princess Kaguya
  • Koji Ishizaka   as   Mikado
  • Kiichi Nakai   as   Otomo no Dainagon, Minister of the Military
  • Megumi Odaka   as   Akeno
  • Katsuo Nakamura   as   Lise
  • Takeshi Kato   as   Fujiwara no Okuni
  • Kyoko Kishida   as   Kougo
  • Jun Hamamura   as   Sakanoue no Dajo Daijin
  • Koasa Shunputei   as   Kuramochi no Miko, Minister of Culture
  • Takatoshi Takeda   as   Abe no Udaijin, Minister of Finance
  • Shiro Ito   as   Sojo no Doson
  • Fujio Tokita   as   Shonin no Uda
  • Hirokazu Yamaguchi   as   Metal carver
  • Gen Idemitsu   as   Mura no Choja
  • Michiyo Yokoyama   as   Lise's wife
  • Hirokazu Inoue   as   Ono no Fusamori
  • Miho Nakano   as   Kaya

Appearances

Monsters

Gallery

Main article: Princess from the Moon/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Princess from the Moon (Soundtrack).

Alternate Titles

  • The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Literal Japanese Title)

Theatrical Releases

  • Japan - September 26, 1987

Box Office

Princess from the Moon earned only approximately 1.45 billion yen at the Japanese box office, with a budget estimated around 2 billion yen.

Reception

Despite disappointing box office returns, Princess from the Moon was nominated for and won several Japanese Academy Awards.

Awards

Actress Megumi Odaka won the Japanese Academy Award for "Newcomer of the Year" for her role as Akeno in this film. The film also received awards for "Best Art Direction" and the Academy's "Special Award." Princess for the Moon was nominated for "Best Picture," "Best Director," "Best Cinematography," "Best Editing," "Best Lighting," "Best Score," "Best Sound," and "Best Supporting Actor."

Award Category Recipient(s) Result
11th Japan Academy Awards[1] Newcomer of the Year Megumi Odaka Won
Best Art Direction Shinobu Muraki Won
Special Award Teruyoshi Nakano & special effects staff Won
Best Film Princess from the Moon Nominated
Best Director Kon Ichikawa Nominated
Best Cinematography Setsuo Kobayashi Nominated
Best Editing Chizuko Osada Nominated
Best Lighting Kazuo Shimomura Nominated
Best Score Kensaku Tanikawa Nominated
Best Sound Teiichi Saito & Tetsuya Ohashi Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Toshiro Mifune Nominated

Videos

Trailers

Japanese Princess from the Moon trailer
Japanese Princess from the Moon TV Spot

Clips

Princess from the Moon
"Moon Baby Hatching" promotional clip
Princess from the Moon
"Rock to the Face" promotional clip
Princess from the Moon
"Sea Monster Attacks Ship" promotional clip

Trivia

  • Princess from the Moon was the first film appearance for actress Megumi Odaka, who went on to portray Miki Saegusa in the Heisei Godzilla films, starting with Godzilla vs. Biollante two years later.
  • Princess from the Moon was the last film for Teruyoshi Nakano, who served as the director of special effects for most of Toho's tokusatsu productions following Eiji Tsuburaya's death=. Nakano retired from directing following the film at the age of 52. Fittingly, Nakano and his staff won a Special Award at the 11th Japan Academy Awards for their work on the film.

References

This is a list of references for Princess from the Moon. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. "11th Japan Academy Film Prize Productions". Japan Academy Film Prize.

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