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Hula girls (Hula gâru) - Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Yû Aoi, Sang-il Lee

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Movie propaganda

They danced their way into the hearts of a nation.

In 1965, the Joban coal mine - the largest mine in mainland Japan - faces a crisis; massive lay-offs are imminent and its once-thriving mainstay industry is barely hanging on bay a thread. In a desperate move to revive the town, a plan is developed to create a "Hawaiian Paradise" in this cold, northern region. The featured attraction is to be a hula show, but of course in this isolated place far north of the equator and Hawaii, there are no palm trees... nor are there hula dancers. To train the young coal miners' daughters in hula dancing, a dance instructor is brought in from Tokyo. Once a leading performer, she at first looks down on the coal miners and their amateurish daughters, but the girls' sincere dedication gradually rekindles a passion in her. Each dealing with their own harsh lives, the local girls find a new lease on life and, for the first time, support in their friendships as they absorb the essence of hula dancing.