is a 1983 Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese science fiction film

Science fiction film

Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...

 directed and edited by Nobuhiko Obayashi

Nobuhiko Obayashi

is a Japanese director, screenwriter and editor of films and television advertisements who is well known for his surreal visual style. He began his career as a pioneering figure in Japanese experimental film during the 1960s before transitioning to directing more mainstream works such as television...

, written by Wataru Kenmotsu, and starring idol

Japanese idol

In Japanese culture, are media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g...

 Tomoyo Harada

Tomoyo Harada

Tomoyo Harada is a Japanese actress, singer, and lyricist, and was a popular idol in the 80's. She was cast in numerous films and TV-series since her beginning in 1982 in the leading role of the original TV-series Sailorfuku to kikanju...

 in her first film. It is based on the Japanese novel of the same name

Toki o Kakeru Shojo

is a soft science fiction novel by Japanese writer and actor Yasutaka Tsutsui which tells the story of Kazuko Yoshiyama, a schoolgirl who accidentally acquires the ability to time travel...

 and released on July 16, 1983 in Japan by Toei

Toei Company

is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...

, It's been since released internationally on DVD, with English sub-titles, under several unofficial English titles (The Little Girl Who Conquered Time, Girl Of Time, The Girl Who Cut Time, among others).

Cast

• Tomoyo Harada
  Tomoyo Harada
  Tomoyo Harada is a Japanese actress, singer, and lyricist, and was a popular idol in the 80's. She was cast in numerous films and TV-series since her beginning in 1982 in the leading role of the original TV-series Sailorfuku to kikanju...
  
   as Kazuko Yoshiyama
• Ryôichi Takayanagi as Kazuo Fukamachi
• Toshinori Omi as Goro Asakura
• Yukari Tsuda as Mariko Kamiya
• Ittoku Kishibe as Toshimi Fukushima
• Takako Irie
  Takako Irie
  was a Japanese film actress. Born in Tokyo into the aristocratic Higashibōjō family , she graduated from Bunka Gakuin before debuting as an actress at Nikkatsu in 1927. She became a major star, even starting her own production company, Irie Productions, in 1932...
  
   as Tatsu
• Wakaba Irie as Noriko
• Toshie Negishi
  Toshie Negishi
  -External links:...
  
   as Namiko Tachibana
• Akiko Kitamura as Sadako Asakura
• Taizoh Masumoto as Takeo Haramichi
• Makoto Naito as Tetsuyo Yoshiyama
• Ken Uehara
  Ken Uehara
  was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in over 200 films between 1935 and 1990. He starred in Entotsu no mieru basho, which was entered into the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival.His son is the singer and actor Yūzō Kayama.-Selected filmography:...
  
   as Masaharu Fukamachi
• Yoko Yamashita as Ryoko Yoshiyama

Soundtrack

Single
The song was the popular theme-song for the 1983 movie, inspired by the story, written by Yumi Matsutoya

Yumi Matsutoya

', nicknamed , is an influential Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. She is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice, and live performances, and is an important figure in Japanese popular music....

, and originally sung by the film's lead-actress, then-rookie idol

Japanese idol

In Japanese culture, are media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g...

 Tomoyo Harada

Tomoyo Harada

Tomoyo Harada is a Japanese actress, singer, and lyricist, and was a popular idol in the 80's. She was cast in numerous films and TV-series since her beginning in 1982 in the leading role of the original TV-series Sailorfuku to kikanju...

. There are several different versions.

Harada versions
The first version was released in April 1983 as the A-side of Tomoyo Harada

Tomoyo Harada

Tomoyo Harada is a Japanese actress, singer, and lyricist, and was a popular idol in the 80's. She was cast in numerous films and TV-series since her beginning in 1982 in the leading role of the original TV-series Sailorfuku to kikanju...

's third single (7A0275), with a B-side "Zutto Soba ni" also written by Yumi Matsutoya

Yumi Matsutoya

', nicknamed , is an influential Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. She is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice, and live performances, and is an important figure in Japanese popular music....

 and two different cover pictures, and was included on the original soundtrack album for the film (C28A0279). A second version of this song was released in 1983 on Harada's first album Birthday album (WTP-40188), and in 1986 on her compilation album (CA30-1326). A third version was recorded in 1987 for her greatest hits

Greatest hits

A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...

 album From T (32DH-848), and a fourth one in 2007 for her twenty-fifth anniversary original album Music & Me (XNHL-13001/B).

Matsutoya versions
Matsutoya covered her own song it the same year on the B-side of her single and on her album Voyager in 1983. She later rewrote it and renamed it as to be the theme song for the new 1997 "Toki o Kakeru Shōjo" film, along with another of her songs: "~We are not alone, forever~", both released on the original soundtrack album for the film (TOCT-9940) and on her album in 1997.

Other versions
The original song was adapted in a commercial for noodles with then-beginning idol

Japanese idol

In Japanese culture, are media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g...

 Yuki Kudo parodying the 1983 movie shortly after its release. Voice actress

Seiyu

Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...

 Ai Shimizu

Ai Shimizu

is a Japanese voice actress who is employed by Haikyou. She also has a career as a singer an signed to Lantis. She has released 14 singles and four albums. She covered Yumi Matsutoya's "Toki o Kakeru Shōjo" as the B-side of her first single "Angel Fish" in 2003...

also covered the song as the B-side of her first single Angel Fish in 2003 (KICM-1077).