Poppoya

For the 1956 Italian film, see The Railroad Man.

Poppoya (鉄道員（ぽっぽや）, Poppoya^[a]) is a 1999 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata. It was Japan's submission to the 72nd Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.^[4] It was chosen as Best Film at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony.^[5] The film was the third-highest-grossing film of the year in Japan.

Poppoya
Theatrical poster for Poppoya (1999)
Directed by	Yasuo Furuhata[1]
Written by	Jirō Asada (novel) Yoshiki Iwama (screenplay)
Produced by	Jun'ichi Shindō Tan Takaiwa
Starring	Ken Takakura
Cinematography	Daisaku Kimura
Edited by	Kiyoaki Saitō
Music by	Ryoichi Kuniyoshi Ryuichi Sakamoto
Distributed by	Toei Company
Release date	5 June 1999 (1999-06-05)
Running time	112 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	¥3.49 billion[2] ($30.6 million)[3]

Synopsis

A railway station master at a dying end-of-the-line village in Hokkaido is haunted by memories of his dead wife and daughter. When the line serving the village is scheduled for closure, an erstwhile colleague offers him a job at a resort hotel, but he is emotionally unable to part with his career as a railwayman. His life takes a turn when he meets a young woman with an interest in trains who resembles his daughter.

Cast

• Ken Takakura: Otomatsu Satō
• Shinobu Otake: Shizue Satō
• Ryōko Hirosue: Yukiko Satō
• Hidetaka Yoshioka: Hideo Sugiura
• Masanobu Andō: Toshiyuki Yoshioka
• Ken Shimura: Hajime Yoshioka
• Hirotarō Honda : Miner
• Tomoko Naraoka: Mune Katō
• Yoshiko Tanaka: Akiko Sugiura
• Nenji Kobayashi: Senji Sugiura

See also

• Film portal

• Cinema of Japan
• List of submissions to the 72nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Notes

1. The kanji spelling is from the word tetsudōin (鉄（てつ）道（どう）員（いん）; railway worker), which is also the Japanese title of the Italian film The Railroad Man. The reading, Poppoya, comes from poppo (Japanese for a steam locomotive sound effect) and ya (屋; dealer; seller).