Wood Job!

2014 Japanese film

Shota Sometani
Masami Nagasawa
Hideaki Itō

Production
companies

Asahi Shimbun
Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting
Chugoku Broadcasting
Django Film
Hakuhodo DY Media Partners
Hokkaido Broadcasting
Mainichi Broadcasting System
Nikkatsu
RKB Mainichi Broadcasting
Shizuoka Broadcasting System
Toho
Tohoku Broadcasting Company
Tokuma Shoten
Tokyo Broadcasting System

Distributed byToho

Release date

10 May 2014 (2014-05-10) (Japan)

Running time

116 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapaneseBox office¥107 million (Japan)

Wood Job! is a 2014 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Shinobu Yaguchi and based on the novel Kamusari naa naa Nichijō (神去なあなあ日常) by Shion Miura. The film stars Shota Sometani, Masami Nagasawa, and Hideaki Itō. The main theme song is "Happiest Fool", sung by Maia Hirasawa.^[1] The film was released on 10 May 2014, and made its North American premiere at LA Eigafest 2014.

Plot

The story revolves around Yuki Hirano (played by Shota Sometani), who, after failing his university entrance examinations and being left by his girlfriend, decides to join a forestry training program on seeing an attractive female face (Nagasawa) on a promotional leaflet.^[2] The program is difficult, and while he wants to quit, he continues. Many others from the program drop out. Initially being skeptical of the newcomer, the villagers grow to like him and accept him as one of their own.

However, he soon discovers that the job is harder than he expected, working under the hard-working superior played by Hideaki Itō.^[2] Yuki learns respect for the forest, and the traditions of the town, opening his eyes to life outside a big city. All the while, he pursues the woman from the pamphlet whose beauty motivated to move in the first place. The film ends with the Onbashira Festival, a dangerous festival involving riding huge logs down a hill.

Cast

The following people appear in the film.^[1]^[3]

Shota Sometani as Yūki Hirano
Masami Nagasawa as Naoki Ishii
Hideaki Itō as Yoki Iida
Yūka as Miki Iida
Naomi Nishida as Yūko Nakamura
Sports Makita as Iwao Tanabe
Masashi Arifuku as Saburō Koyama
Yoshimasa Kondo as a senior executive director of forestry association
Ken Mitsuishi as Seiichi Nakamura
Akira Emoto as Toshirō Yamane
Yuki Furukawa

Production

The film was shot on location in the mountains of Mie Prefecture, taking approximately six weeks and completed by 31 July 2013.^[4]

Reception

The film has grossed ¥107 million in Japan.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b "マイア・ヒラサワ、映画『WOOD JOB！（ウッジョブ）～神去なあなあ日常～』主題歌担当" [Maia Hirasawa to sing main theme song for movie "Wood Job"]. Barks (in Japanese). Japan: Global Plus. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
^ ^a ^b "染谷将太「WOOD JOB！」特報公開ヒルに血を吸われ、ふんどし一枚で体当たり演技" [Shota Sometani on "Wood Job": tough acting wearing only a loincloth and bitten by leeches]. Eiga.com (in Japanese). Japan: Eiga.com Inc. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
^ "Wood Job!". AllCinema Movie & DVD Database (in Japanese). Japan: Stingray. 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
^ Nakayama, Yuichiro (8 August 2013). 『ウォーターボーイズ』矢口監督の最新作！染谷将太×長澤まさみ×伊藤英明クランクアップ！ [Filming completed on director Yaguchi's latest work]. Cinema Today (in Japanese). Japan: Cinema Today Inc. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
^ Kevin Ma (13 May 2014). "Frozen tops Japan B.O. for tenth weekend". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 15 May 2014.