Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (夕凪の街 桜の国, Yūnagi no machi, sakura no kuni?) is a one-volume manga written and illustrated by Fumiyo Kōno. The two connected stories were first published in Japan by Futabasha in Weekly Manga Action in 2003 and 2004, then collected in a single tankōbon volume in 2004. The story is about a family of survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The author based the characters on people who were in Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms was adapted as a live-action film directed by Kiyoshi Sasabe released in 2007, called Yunagi City, Sakura Country in English. It has also been adapted as a novel by Kei Kunii and as a radio drama produced in 2006.
The manga has received international praise for its simple but beautiful artwork and its quiet but "humane" anti-war message. It received the Grand Prize for manga at the 2004 Japan Media Arts Festival and the 2005 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Creative Award. Kumiko Aso won several acting awards for her portrayal of Minami Hirano, one of the two protagonists, in the film adaptation.
Read more about Town Of Evening Calm, Country Of Cherry Blossoms: Plot, Development, Reception
Famous quotes containing the words town, evening, country, cherry and/or blossoms:
“He builds a big town with his mouth, but not even a fly’s nest with his hands.”
—Estonian. Trans. by Ilse Lehiste (1993)
“There is an evening coming in
Across the fields, one never seen before,
That lights no lamps.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“No, in country money, the country scale of gain,
The requisite lift of spirit has never been found....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,”
—A.E. (Alfred Edward)
“Listen, Buster you and your quick-change acts aren’t going to hang orange blossoms all over me just because you feel the cold weather coming on. No thank you. I’ll go back where I can be honest without getting kicked around for it.”
—John Lee Mahin (1902–1984)