Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Mahou

Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Mahou

The story is set in 1955 in Kokuga, Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. One thousand years ago it was the site of the ancient capital, Suo no Kuni, and traces of the Heian Period (year 794-1185) are passed down to us in the form of ruins and historical place names. The protagonist is Shinko, a third grade elementary school student, who was born and raised in one of the town's venerable families. She is a little girl whose characteristic is a strange curl on her forehead (she calls it her "Mai Mai"), and her love for playing in the fields. On the other hand, her secret joy is to imagine and to daydream about the world of one thousand years ago. Her fantasies travel far into the days of the Heian Period... One day, a girl called Kiiko transfers from Tokyo and enters Shinko's class. This girl from the big city has difficulty feeling at home in this small town, but gradually her friendship with Shinko deepens. Before long, the two of them become engulfed in a strange incident of one thousand years earlier...?!In 1955 in western Japan, nine-year-old Shinko knows she comes from a family that dates back to over a thousand years. This long genealogy and stories about it feed her daydreams: she invents an imaginary friendship with a young girl in the Japan of a thousand years ago. One day, Kiiko, a timid child from Tokyo, is transferred into Shinko's class at school. Struggling to fit in, she finds a friend in Shinko. They set off together on a magical adventure into a story from ancient history.Note: Adapted from the Takagi Nobuko novel Mai Mai Shinko — winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize — this animated feature film portrays the relationship of two children linked not only by friendship, but also by that power that transcends eras: imagination.European premiere — 15.08.2009 at the Locarno International Film Festival, Japan premiere — 21.11.2009