The short film "The Sleigh Bride" (30 minutes) will be shown at Theater Kino in Sapporo from Saturday, April 5th to Friday, April 11th, 2025.

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The famous Showa era song "Koko ni Shiawase Ari" is revived with a reenactment of footage from 70 years ago
The original scenes of family and weddings in the rural areas of Tokachi
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As the melting snow begins to flow quietly, the sound of sleigh bells gently echoes throughout the rural countryside.
After surviving the harsh winter, the wedding season arrives with family.
This is the story of a family waiting for spring, living in an old Japanese farm village.

"The Horse-Drawn Bride" depicts the life of Kazuko, the eldest daughter of a family living in Tokachi, Hokkaido, who is attracted to Yutaka, who lives in the same village, and their marriage, interwoven with rural scenes, in a sophisticated manner that seems to connect each photograph. The scenery of Tokachi, Hokkaido in the early 1950s is brought to life in delicate black and white images, including bean-throwing with horses and donkoro, drinking parties with the youth group, sumo tournaments and bon dances.

"Koko ni Shiawase Ari" became an unprecedented hit in 1956. Along with the song by Yoshiko Otsu (who has appeared in the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen seven times), the film depicts the beautiful scenery of Tokachi, Hokkaido, and the daily lives of the families who live there.

This film is unique to Hokkaido and was shot in Taiki Town and Makubetsu Town in Tokachi in the summer of last year (September) and the winter of last year (March), with many of the cast and staff being Hokkaido residents. A story that lives in Hokkaido has been created together with the local community. The premiere screening in Makubetsu Town in June of last year attracted 800 local supporters. Since then, the film has been shown at film festivals both in Japan and abroad, and has been nominated for the Kaohsiung Film Festival, Hainan Island International Film Festival, Sapporo International Short Film Festival, and Tehran International Short Film Festival.
The director, Yoshiro Osaka, is from Tokachi and earned a bachelor's degree in film production from the City University of New York, Brooklyn. After returning to Japan, he began working as a freelance filmmaker based in Tokyo. In 2022, he returned to his hometown of Tokachi and began making films unique to Hokkaido.

The first showing will be on Saturday, April 5th from 11:25am and will also feature a talk session with the cast and director.
The cast members include comedian duo Up and Down Abe Hiroki and Takemori Takumi, who are popular entertainers in Hokkaido and have made it to the semi-finals of the M-1 Grand Prix; renowned actor Isogai Keiko of Sapporo-za, the No. 1 theater company in Sapporo's theater world; and Yasu-san, one of Sapporo's popular comedy duo Yasu and Yokozawa, who also serves as radio personalities. They will talk with the audience about what goes on behind the scenes in the production of the show, as well as about entertainment and culture in Hokkaido.