Utatama

Utatama
Utatama
	Film poster
Directed by	Makoto Tanaka [ja]
Written by	Makoto Tanaka
Produced by	Naoki Sato; Yoichi Arishige; Kiyoe Noma; Ryusei Kawakami;
Starring	Kaho; Gori; Hiroko Yakushimaru; Hideo Ishiguro;
Cinematography	Kazuhiro Suzuki
Edited by	Masahiro Onaga
Music by	Yûsuke Hayashi
Production; company	Nikkatsu
Distributed by	Nikkatsu
Release date	April 5, 2008 (Japan);
Running time	120 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Utatama (うた魂♪), also known as Sing, Salmon, Sing!, is a 2008 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Makoto Tanaka [ja]. The film stars Kaho and Gori in a story about a school choir competition and features music from Kōsaku Yamada, Yutaka Ozaki, Mongol800, and Gospellers.^[1] Nikkatsu released the film on April 5, 2008, in Japan.^[2]

Premise

Kasumi loves singing until she is given a photo of herself mid-song by a boy she likes. Embarrassed, she quits, but is later encouraged to rejoin by Hiroshi, the leader of a rival all-male choir.

Cast

Kaho as Kasumi Ogino
Gori as Hiroshi Gondo
Hiroko Yakushimaru as Yoko Senuma
Hideo Ishiguro as Junichi Makimura
Akiko as Momiji Matsumoto
Akari Hayami as Kasumi Ogino (young)
Sayuri Iwata as Rena Aoyagi
Eri Tokunaga as Mitsuki Nomura
Rie Tomosaka as Kyoko Kuroki
Hikaru Yamamoto as Sakurako Yamada
Yukiko Yabe as Yuki Shinohara
Yuka Rikuna as Miyuki Maeda
Hiroki Ebata as Atsushi Kouroki
Kanpei Hazama as Chiezo Ogino
Takashi Kodama as Eiji Tsurumoto
Masashi Arifuku as High school principal
Yōji Tanaka as Cameraman
Saki Fujimoto as Female student
Ayaka Miyoshi
Takashi Yamanaka
Shinichi Inoue
Manami Teramoto
Masaaki Akahori
Bobby

Critical reception

Reviewing Utatama for The Japan Times, Mark Schilling gave the film three out of five stars, describing it as "closer to a straight-ahead seishun eiga (youth film)" compared to Swing Girls and highlighted its "big chorus competition" scene as "soul-stirring".^[3]

References

↑ "夏帆主演、ゴスペラーズ初出演の映画！". Barks [ja] (in Japanese). 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2026-04-16. そして、合唱シーンには、山田耕筰、尾崎豊、MONGOL800、本作で映画初出演を果たしたゴスペラーズの提供曲と、クラシックやポップスの名曲が勢揃いしているこの『うた魂（たま）♪』。
↑ "うた魂（たま）♪ | あらすじ・内容・スタッフ・キャスト・配信・作品情報". Natalie (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-04-16.
↑ Schilling, Mark (2008-04-04). "'Uta Tama'". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2026-04-16. The big chorus competition, though, is soul stirring, with everyone, punks and straights alike, singing their hearts out. "Uta Tama" finally lives up to its title.

External links

Official website
Utatama at IMDb

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[1] "夏帆主演、ゴスペラーズ初出演の映画！". Barks [ja] (in Japanese). 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2026-04-16. そして、合唱シーンには、山田耕筰、尾崎豊、MONGOL800、本作で映画初出演を果たしたゴスペラーズの提供曲と、クラシックやポップスの名曲が勢揃いしているこの『うた魂（たま）♪』。

[2] "うた魂（たま）♪ | あらすじ・内容・スタッフ・キャスト・配信・作品情報". Natalie (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-04-16.

[3] Schilling, Mark (2008-04-04). "'Uta Tama'". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2026-04-16. The big chorus competition, though, is soul stirring, with everyone, punks and straights alike, singing their hearts out. "Uta Tama" finally lives up to its title.

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