Synopsis

Set in Hokkaido, Kazumi is the lead soprano in her high school’s chorus who is quite proud of her voice. When her secret crush, the Student Council chair, Makimura shows her a photo, she is seized with shock. Rather than the image of her singing with a silly face, it was his comment, “you look like a salmon laying eggs” that left her in despair. She decides to quit the chorus. But when she hooks up with Gondo and the Yunokawa Academy High chorus he led, and experiences their passion in music despite their delinquent exterior, she acquires a deeper understanding of herself. High school dramas are popular long-running items in Japan including the latest hit, *Swing Girls* and *Linda, Linda, Linda* and *Hula Girls*, which all present high school girls as their main characters. Director, Tanaka Makoto’s *Sing, Salmon, Sing!* too follows this path, but if *Swing Girls* deals with a girls’ high school jazz band and *Hula Girls* with a hula dance group in a mining town during the 1960s, this film moves the stage to a high school choral competition. Kazumi is played by upcoming star, Kaho, who is actually an 18-year-old still in high school herself. She became familiar to the Korean audience with her role as an innocent country girl in Yamashita Nobuhiro’s *A Gentle Breeze in the Village*. In *Sing, Salmon, Sing!* she gives a superb performance as a prim, perfectionist teenager. (Chung Woochung)

Director

• 
  • Tanaka Makoto
  • Born in 1960 in Tokyo. While in university, he directed *Sushigake no Romanoff* (1983) and after graduation, worked as a freelance video director for music and variety programs. He was an assistant producer for Suzuki Seijun’s *Pistol Opera* (2001) and an associate producer for Kiriya Kazuki’s *Casshern* (2004). His directorial debut was with *Tanaka Hiroshi's All* (2004), which he also wrote, and his other works include *Rainy Town* (2005) and *Ajumma Chips* (2006).