The Place Promised in Our Early Days - Allusions

Allusions

The film includes several references to other literary works and themes, such as separation and dreams. The poem read by Sayuri in class is Eiketsu no Asa (永訣の朝, Morning of the Last Farewell?) from the poem collection Haru to Shura (春と修羅, Spring and Asura?) by a well-known Japanese writer Kenji Miyazawa (1896–1933). It was written on the occasion of the premature death of his sister, Toshi Miyazawa (1898–1922). Furthermore, during the summer sequence of the film, Sayuri is seen reading a novel titled "The Net Involved in a Dream" ("夢網", "Dream Net"?) by Morishita Sakae. Although the author is fictional, a book of the same name exists by a similarly named poet, Hoshio Sakae.

A reference to the director's previous work is made when Takuya and Hiroki meet at the station. They see a cat which Takuya calls Chobi, the name of the cat from She and Her Cat.