｜Length : 45min. ｜Year : 2010 ｜

"Shodo Performance" -- a creative form of calligraphy in which high school girls draw characters on an oversized sheet of paper while performing routines to music. The "Shodo Performance Koshien" was first held in 2008 in the city of Shikokuchuo, Ehime Prefecture, which is known as the number one producer of paper in Japan. A group of local high school students decided to host this event in order to create publicity and revitalize their recession-hit hometown.
The movie was made based on this true story. The Shodo Girls and Shodo Performance became widely known throughout Japan by the time the third "Shodo Performance Koshien" took place on July 31st, 2010. In the first tournament only 3 schools participated and then 5 schools in the second; this time, 18 schools applied from all over the country.
The original Shodo Girls of Ehime Prefectural Mishima High School not only made their film debut in the movie but also put on a live Shodo Performance in Cannes, France where the International Film Festival was being held. The now popular Shodo Girls search for ways to make the best of the dynamic movements of calligraphy in its original form.
First-time contestant Kumamoto Prefectural Tamana High School applied in order to create one last memory with their beloved instructor, who will retire at the end of the academic year. But differences in opinion occur frequently between the 60-year old coach and the 17-year old students. The trouble continues up through the day before the tournament, when the coach instructs his students to cut a specific portion of the performance so that their presentation is completed within the time limit of 6 minutes. Team members gather in one room of the boarding house that evening, and decide to disobey him to perform the way they originally intended without telling him. They did this because they loved the coach, and wanted a chance to say 'thank you.'
3,000 spectators filled the site on the day of the tournament. The Shodo Girls are tense, feeling immense pressure. After completing the performance the Shodo Girls cry, relieved and recalling various hardships they had to overcome.
And finally, the presentation of the results. More tears fall at the tournament site -- for a variety of different reasons and sentiments.