Film
Year One in the North (Kita no Zeronen)
Central Hokkaido area
In 1871, settlers from Awaji Island between Honshu and Shikoku arrive in Hokkaido. This film tells the story of their will to survive despite greater hardships than they ever imagined. Shino Komatsubara (Sayuri Yoshinaga) is exiled to the north with her husband Hideaki (Ken Watanabe) and daughter Tae (Satomi Ishihara) and must carve out a life in the wilderness. The film explores the origin of the resilient spirit of Hokkaido's population. This blockbuster opened up new frontiers for the Japanese film industry, spending seven months on location in Hokkaido and creating an open set outdoors.
© 2005, Year One in the North Production Committee
- Year released
- 2005
- Starring
- Sayuri Yoshinaga, Etsushi Toyokawa, Ken Watanabe, etc.
- Director
- Isao Yukisada
- Screenwriter
- Machiko Nasu
- Distributor
- TOEI
STAMP SPOT!
Memorial of the Developers' Arrival in Hokkaido
This monument was built in 1980 in the Shizunai area of Shinhidaka Town, where this film was set, to commemorate the arrival of Hokkaido's developers. The history of Shizunai's development began in 1871 when 546 people, led by Lord Inada Kurobe Kunitane, sailed from Awaji Island to Shizunai on three steamers. Year One in the North captures how these settlers must have felt as they arrived in Hokkaido and made the first steps in Hokkaido's development.
- Address
- Shizunai-tachiharu, Shinhidaka Town, Hidaka District, Hokkaido 059-2565
- Phone
- 0146-42-1000 (Shinhidaka Tourism Association)
- Access
- Around 40 minutes from Hidaka-Atsuga Interchange on the Hidaka Expressway
- Open hours
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- Open period
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- Closed
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- Admission
- -
- Notes
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