Kabukicho Love Hotel (さよなら歌舞伎町, Sayonara Kabukichō, lit. "Goodbye Kabukichō") is a 2014 Japanese drama film directed by Ryūichi Hiroki, starring Shota Sometani and Atsuko Maeda. It was selected to be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[1]

Kabukicho Love Hotel
Film poster
Directed byRyūichi Hiroki
Written byHaruhiko Arai
Futoshi Nakano
Starring
CinematographyAtushiro Nabeshima
Music byAyano Tsuji
Release dates
  • 7 September 2014 (2014-09-07) (TIFF)
  • 25 January 2015 (2015-01-25) (Japan)
Running time
135 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguagesJapanese
Korean

Plot

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Having lost his job at a five-star hotel, Toru (Shota Sometani) is now a manager of a love hotel in the titular district of Kabukicho in Tokyo. Toru's girlfriend, Saya (Atsuko Maeda) is an aspiring singer. Saya doesn't know that Toru manages a love hotel. She ends up being a client there one night, where Toru discovers that she has agreed to sleep with a music executive so she can get a record deal.

Cast

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Reception

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Don Brown of Asahi Shimbun called it "one of Hiroki's most purely entertaining and satisfying films to date".[5]

References

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  1. ^ "TIFF Adds 'Clouds of Sils Maria' and 'Two Days, One Night,' Reveals 5 More Lineups". Indiewire. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "TIFF.net | Kabukicho Love Hotel". tiff.net. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Hot Japanese Stars Sometani Shota and Maeda Atsuko Say 'Sayonara Kabukicho' | Variety". variety.com. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  4. ^ a b Tsui, Clarence (5 September 2014). "'Kabukicho Love Hotel' ('Sayonara kabukicho'): Toronto Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  5. ^ Brown, Don (23 January 2015). "One Take on Japanese Cinema: A filmmaker equally comfortable with the commercial and the controversial". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
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