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Only Yesterday (1991 film) | HearLore
Common questions
When was the film Only Yesterday released in Japan?
Only Yesterday was released in Japan on the 20th of July 1991. This release date marked the film as the highest-grossing domestic movie of that year.
Who directed the film Only Yesterday and who produced it?
Isao Takahata wrote and directed Only Yesterday while Toshio Suzuki produced the film. Takahata was known for tackling difficult emotional subjects and Suzuki later became the driving force behind the studio's global success.
What specific crop does Taeko harvest in the film Only Yesterday?
Taeko helps harvest safflower in the Yamagata Prefecture countryside. This crop was once used to create red dye for women in Kyoto and serves as a symbol of the agricultural industry's decline.
Why was Only Yesterday delayed in North America until 2016?
Walt Disney Studios refused to release Only Yesterday in North America because of its candid treatment of menstruation in the flashback sequences. The film finally premiered in New York City on the 1st of January 2016 with an English dub.
What music styles are featured in the soundtrack of Only Yesterday?
The soundtrack includes Eastern European folk music such as Bulgarian Women's Chorus and Romanian folk songs played by Gheorghe Zamfir. It also features Hungarian music like Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 and a Japanese translation of The Rose performed by Harumi Miyako.
What adaptations of Only Yesterday have been created since the film's release?
Only Yesterday (1991 film)
On the 20th of July 1991, a film released in Japan that would quietly become the highest-grossing domestic movie of the year, defying the typical blockbuster expectations of the summer season. This was Only Yesterday, a story about a twenty-seven-year-old office worker named Taeko Okajima who decides to take a holiday to the countryside to help with a safflower harvest. The film did not feature the fantastical creatures or epic battles common to Studio Ghibli productions; instead, it focused on the mundane yet profound internal journey of a woman reconnecting with her past. Taeko boards a sleeper train at night, and as the wheels clatter against the tracks, she begins to recall memories from when she was ten years old. These memories are not just nostalgic daydreams but vivid flashbacks that shape her understanding of her present life, creating a narrative tapestry that weaves the 1960s with the 1980s. The film was written and directed by Isao Takahata, a man known for his willingness to tackle difficult emotional subjects, and it was produced by Toshio Suzuki, who would later become the driving force behind the studio's global success. The story follows Taeko as she travels to Yamagata Prefecture, where she meets a farmer named Toshio who has returned to the land from the city, and through their interactions, she begins to question the life she has built in Tokyo. The film's ending theme song, a Japanese translation of Amanda McBroom's The Rose, underscores the melancholy and beauty of the journey, setting a tone that would resonate deeply with adult audiences who had never before seen themselves reflected in an animated feature. The film's success was a surprise to the industry, proving that there was a massive appetite for stories about ordinary people dealing with the complexities of growing up and finding one's place in a rapidly changing Japan.
The Safflower Harvest And The Unripe Pineapple
The narrative of Only Yesterday is anchored by specific, sensory details that ground the story in the reality of rural Japan during the 1960s and 1980s. When Taeko arrives in the countryside, she is tasked with helping to harvest safflower, a crop that was once used to create a red dye for women in Kyoto but had become a symbol of the agricultural industry's decline. The film meticulously depicts the physical labor involved, showing Taeko taking off her gloves to touch the flowers, a gesture that connects her to the generations of farmers who worked the land before her. This connection is not merely symbolic; it is a central theme of the film, exploring how the rural landscape represents a disappearing model of sustainable stewardship known as satoyama. The safflower harvest serves as a backdrop for Taeko's internal transformation, as she moves from an isolated city dweller to someone who understands the value of community and hard work. The film also includes a memorable scene where Taeko and her family eat a pineapple for the first time, only to find it unripe and hard. This moment of disappointment mirrors the broader theme of unfulfilled dreams and the struggle to come to terms with the past. The pineapple scene is a small but significant detail that highlights the film's attention to the mundane aspects of life, showing how even the smallest disappointments can shape a person's character. The film's animation style reflects this attention to detail, with 450 colors used to create the scenery of Yamagata, and the color department taking a year to find the correct shade of red to accurately capture the flowers during summer. The film's setting in the Takase district of Yamagata City is based on real locations, including the Takase Station and Mount Zaō, which have remained largely unchanged since the film was made. The film's attention to the physical environment is a testament to the dedication of the animation team, who worked to create an accurate picture of the rural landscape. The film's depiction of the safflower harvest and the unripe pineapple are just two examples of the many details that make Only Yesterday a rich and rewarding experience for viewers.
A stage musical toured Japan in 2011 and a 2021 live-action sequel follows a 64-year-old Taeko with her daughter and granddaughter. The film also maintains a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has inspired academic studies by scholars such as Susan Napier.
One of the most poignant moments in Only Yesterday occurs when Taeko recalls a brief encounter with an ill-mannered, working-class boy she was forced to sit next to at school. Despite her initial dislike of him and the way her friends bad-mouthed him, she was the only one who treated him with kindness and dignity. When he moved to a different school, he was the only person she refused to shake hands with, a gesture that symbolized her rejection of the social norms that had dictated her behavior. This memory is a crucial part of Taeko's journey, as it helps her understand the complexities of human relationships and the importance of treating others with respect, even when they are different from oneself. The film uses this memory to explore the theme of social class and the ways in which it can shape our interactions with others. The boy's refusal to shake hands with Taeko is a powerful symbol of the barriers that can exist between people, and it serves as a reminder that even the smallest gestures can have a profound impact on our lives. The film's depiction of this memory is a testament to the power of animation to convey complex emotions and ideas, and it is one of the many reasons why Only Yesterday has been so well-received by critics and audiences alike. The film's use of this memory to explore the theme of social class is a testament to the depth and complexity of the story, and it is one of the many reasons why Only Yesterday has become a classic of the genre.
The Producer Who Doubled The Costs
The production of Only Yesterday was fraught with challenges, as the relationship between Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata was at times fraught with tension. Miyazaki, who was intrigued by the original manga, felt he was not up to the task of adapting it into a film, but he eventually brought the idea to Takahata. During production, Miyazaki and Takahata's relationship was at times fraught, with artists sometimes subject to bursts of anger, and although they later made up, Miyazaki would constantly complain that Takahata was unable to meet production deadlines. Due to Takahata's laxity in meeting scheduled deadlines, spring screenings planned in advance of the summer release had to be cancelled. The film's animation director was Yoshifumi Kondo, and the need for more people to work on the film caused Studio Ghibli to place advertisements in Animage. In Japan's animated film industry at the time, common practice was to pay workers per drawing or painting they did, which often led to animators earning at a lower rate than the average in society. During production of Only Yesterday, Miyazaki proposed changes to the staffing of Studio Ghibli, and beginning in November 1990, full-time employment, including fixed salaries, regular recruitment, and in-house animation training programs were initiated, doubling production costs. This required a constant stream of production, leading Miyazaki to begin working on Porco Rosso by himself before work could be finished on Only Yesterday. It was around this time that he proposed building a new studio in Koganei, Tokyo. The film's production was a testament to the dedication and hard work of the animation team, who worked to create a film that was both visually stunning and emotionally resonant. The film's success was a testament to the vision and leadership of Takahata and Miyazaki, who were able to overcome the challenges of production to create a film that has become a classic of the genre.
The Voice That Was Recorded First
Unlike the typical Japanese character animation style, the characters in Only Yesterday have more realistic facial muscles and expressions due to much of the dialogue being recorded first, a tradition in Japan that is usually reversed. The animators fit the animation to the spoken dialogue, and Takahata also had voice actors record some of their lines together, using footage of their performances as a guide for both design and the animation. Some changes had to be made to the film, requiring re-recording of certain parts. Only Yesterday was the first film that Toshio's voice actor, Miki Imai, had dubbed, and he described his reaction to the unity of voice and animation as finding it very strange. Assistant director Norihiko Sudo used an 8 mm camera and quick action recorder to study realistic movements, and these images were then printed in order to deconstruct unnatural movements that were standardized in animation at the time. However, the scenes of Taeko's childhood past were animated before the voices were recorded, subtly contrasting the anime style of her childhood and the adult reality of the framing story. Voice actress Miki Imai was the model for the adult Taeko, and her performance was a key part of the film's success. The film's use of realistic animation and dialogue recording was a testament to the dedication and hard work of the animation team, who worked to create a film that was both visually stunning and emotionally resonant. The film's success was a testament to the vision and leadership of Takahata and Miyazaki, who were able to overcome the challenges of production to create a film that has become a classic of the genre.
The Three Pillars Of The Soundtrack
Takahata commissioned an image album from Katsu Hoshi, credited as Katz, releasing in December 1990, preceding the release of the film by nearly seven months. Hoshi and Takahata repurposed some of these songs for the film's soundtrack, while also including snippets from popular Japanese rock bands, motifs from Schubert and Brahms, and international folk music. Takahata even wrote his own translation of the pop song The Rose, performed by enka singer Harumi Miyako. Takahata planned three pillars of music for the film, the first pillar was diegetic and non-diegetic snippets of music highlighting specific moments of Taeko's flashbacks; the second pillar was Eastern European folk music such as the Bulgarian Women's Chorus and a Romanian folk song written by Gheorghe Zamfir, using a nai played by Zamfir himself, cimbalom and violins; the third pillar was a series of introspective compositions for the piano and a small string ensemble designed to be played over scenes of Taeko's self-examination of her past. These three pillars were used by Takahata to help conceptualize the film's structure of quotation. The repeated Eastern European theme in the film, particularly in the soundtrack reflecting the peasant lifestyle still present in the area, draws parallels with Japanese rural life. For instance, Hungarian music in the film, such as the use of Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 in a scene where Taeko is eating lunch, and making references to Hungarian musicians when she is in the car with Toshio, are used in several scenes as well. Bulgarian folk music is also used in the soundtrack, and when Taeko is on the field, one can first hear Dilmano, Dilbero, followed by Malka Moma Dvori Mete. These are typical Bulgarian folk songs, and the lyrics of both are connected to topics mentioned in the film, the life of farmers and marriage. The film's use of music was a testament to the dedication and hard work of the music team, who worked to create a soundtrack that was both visually stunning and emotionally resonant. The film's success was a testament to the vision and leadership of Takahata and Miyazaki, who were able to overcome the challenges of production to create a film that has become a classic of the genre.
The Decade Long Delay In The West
Despite the movie's success in the Japanese box office, Only Yesterday was not released to other Western countries for over a decade. The film had an advertisement tie-in with the tomato sauce brand Kagome, and children's lunch sets were made and launched upon the film's release. The film was released theatrically in Brazil on the 10th of July 1993, but it was not until 2015 that GKIDS announced it would release the film in theaters in North America in 2016 along with an English dub, with actors Daisy Ridley, Dev Patel, Ashley Eckstein, and Alison Fernandez confirmed to lend their voices. The film premiered in New York City on the 1st of January 2016, with a wider North American release on the 26th of February 2016. In North America, the film held the longest distinction of being the only theatrical Studio Ghibli feature not yet released on home video. Walt Disney Studios, which had then owned the North American distribution rights to Studio Ghibli's catalog, refused to release it because of its candid treatment of menstruation in the flashback sequences. In celebration of its 25th anniversary, Only Yesterday was later released on Blu-Ray and DVD on the 5th of July 2016, by GKIDS and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, earning $1,780,357 in sales revenue. A subtitled version of the film was aired on Turner Classic Movies in January 2006, as part of the channel's month-long salute to Miyazaki and Ghibli. The film's long delay in the West was a testament to the challenges of distributing animated films to Western audiences, and it was only through the dedication and hard work of the distribution team that the film was finally able to reach a wider audience. The film's success in the West was a testament to the vision and leadership of Takahata and Miyazaki, who were able to overcome the challenges of production to create a film that has become a classic of the genre.
The Legacy Of The Safflower And The Rose
Only Yesterday has left a lasting legacy in the world of animation, with its themes of memory, nostalgia, and personal growth resonating with audiences around the world. The film has been well received by critics outside of Japan, maintaining a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it has been praised for its psychological depth and emotional resonance. The film's success has also led to a number of adaptations, including a stage musical that toured Japan in 2011, and a 2021 live-action sequel that follows a 64-year-old Taeko with her daughter and granddaughter. The film's legacy is a testament to the power of animation to convey complex emotions and ideas, and it is one of the many reasons why Only Yesterday has become a classic of the genre. The film's success has also led to a number of academic studies and analyses, with scholars such as Susan Napier, Colin Odell, and Michelle Le Blanc writing about the film's themes and significance. The film's legacy is a testament to the vision and leadership of Takahata and Miyazaki, who were able to overcome the challenges of production to create a film that has become a classic of the genre. The film's success has also led to a number of adaptations, including a stage musical that toured Japan in 2011, and a 2021 live-action sequel that follows a 64-year-old Taeko with her daughter and granddaughter. The film's legacy is a testament to the power of animation to convey complex emotions and ideas, and it is one of the many reasons why Only Yesterday has become a classic of the genre.