Suzume

Original title: Suzume no Tojimari

International title: Suzume

Director / Screenplay / Original story: Makoto Shinkai

Production studios: CoMix Wave Films, STORY inc.

Distributor (Japan): Toho

Runtime: 122 minutes

Country: Japan

Language: Japanese (released internationally with subtitles and dubs)

Japanese theatrical release: 11 November 2022

Worldwide gross: about 324 million USD (including about 149 billion yen in Japan)

The film is Shinkai’s follow‑up to Your Name. and Weathering With You, and completes an informal trilogy about youth, love, and large‑scale disasters.

Suzume Iwato is a 17‑year‑old girl living in a quiet town in Miyazaki Prefecture with her aunt Tamaki Iwato.

One day on her way to school she meets a mysterious young man, Souta Munakata, who says he is looking for abandoned places with “doors”.

Following him into a ruined resort area, Suzume finds a freestanding old door standing alone in a flooded building.

When she opens it, she glimpses a vast otherworldly grassland under a sky where all times overlap, but she cannot step through.

At her feet lies a cat‑shaped stone.

When she casually lifts it, it transforms into a living white cat, escapes, and the “seal” on the nearby door is broken.

Soon after, a massive red‑black plume shaped like a writhing “worm” rises from the sky above the ruins, visible only to Suzume and Souta.

When the worm crashes to the ground, it triggers powerful earthquakes.

Souta is a “closer” who travels Japan shutting such doors and keeping a colossal underground entity in check by means of “keystone” stones.

Because Suzume pulled out the western keystone, the balance is broken.

The runaway cat, now known to the internet as Daijin, casually curses Souta, turning his body into Suzume’s three‑legged childhood chair.

Together, Suzume and chair‑Souta chase Daijin across Japan, closing doors and trying to stop catastrophic quakes, while Suzume gradually uncovers her own forgotten past tied to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Prologue and Setup

Suzume has recurring dreams of a little girl wandering through overgrown ruins, searching for her mother and collapsing in a field.

A woman in white appears, but Suzume always wakes up before seeing what happens.

The main story is set around 25 September 2023, as hinted by smartphone dates shown in the film.

On that morning, Suzume encounters Souta Munakata, a college student, on a mountain road and is intrigued by his strange question: “Are there any ruins nearby?”

Doubling back, she tracks him to an abandoned mountain resort.

There she finds the lonely door and opens it, glimpsing the “Ever‑After”, a timeless other world, but an invisible barrier keeps her out.

When she lifts the cat‑shaped stone at her feet, the stone transforms into a scrawny white cat with golden eyes.

It speaks in a childlike voice, runs away, and the world seems to shift.

At school during lunch, Suzume sees a column of smoke‑like red energy rising from the mountains where the resort lies.

No one else can see it, but everyone’s phones blare an emergency earthquake warning.

Running back to the ruins, she finds Souta struggling to close the door as the enormous red “worm” surges upward from the Ever‑After.

Golden threads appear from the ground and cling to the worm, which begins to topple.

Together, Souta and Suzume push the door shut while Souta chants a ritual prayer.

The voices of people who once thrived in that hot spring resort echo through Suzume’s mind as the door seals and the quake subsides.

Souta’s Curse and Daijin’s Game

Suzume takes the injured Souta back to the house she shares with her aunt Tamaki.

He explains that doors appear in abandoned places across Japan, connecting the living world to the Ever‑After, and that when the worm escapes and crashes it manifests as a real‑world earthquake.

To prevent this, “keystones” pin the worm beneath the Japanese archipelago.

Closers like Souta travel to doors and shut them before the worm falls.

The thin white cat appears again in their house.

Suzume feeds it and cheerfully asks, “Do you want to be my cat?” — to which it replies “Yes. Suzume, kind. I like you. You’re in the way,” and curses Souta.

In an instant, Souta’s human body turns into Suzume’s small three‑legged wooden chair, a cherished handmade gift from her late mother Tsubame Iwato.

Still conscious and mobile, he panics and chases Daijin, leaping out a second‑floor window, with Suzume sprinting after him.

Tamaki happens to return and crosses paths with Suzume mid‑chase, but Suzume dashes past, determined to help Souta.

They just manage to board a ferry as Daijin jumps onto a patrol ship and escapes again.

Journey Through Shikoku and Kansai

After spending the night on the ferry, Suzume and chair‑Souta arrive in Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku.

There, Daijin becomes a social‑media sensation under the nickname “Daijin”, given because his puffy whiskers resemble those of an old “minister” in historical photos.

Suzume and Souta meet Chika Amabe, a lively girl their age who works at her family’s seaside inn.

They catch a falling bag of oranges from Chika’s scooter, and she soon befriends them.

When another worm appears in the sky, Chika helps them reach a disused middle school with a back door that has become another gate.

Suzume and Souta perform the closing ritual again and avert another disaster.

Chika lets Suzume stay at her inn and even gives her a set of casual clothes so Suzume will attract less attention than in her school uniform.

The next day, Suzume and Souta resume their journey.

Hitchhiking in the rain goes poorly, so they take shelter by a bus stop.

There they meet Rumi Ninomiya, a tough but warm‑hearted single mother who runs a snack bar in Kobe and is driving a compact minivan home.

Rumi takes in Suzume and the seemingly “possessed” chair along with her twin children Hana and Sora.

At night, while Suzume helps babysit and works at the bar, she spots Daijin sitting casually at the counter.

Chasing him leads her and Souta to a decaying amusement park on the outskirts of Kobe, “Kobe Dreamland”, inspired by real‑world park architecture.

As another worm emerges, Suzume boards a Ferris wheel gondola where the back door is located.

Through the window she again glimpses the dreamlike field of her childhood vision and almost loses herself reaching toward it.

Souta, still a chair, desperately climbs up to her gondola and shouts her back to reality, and together they close the door.

Back at Rumi’s bar they share a quiet night, forming a short but sincere connection.

In the morning, Rumi drives them to the Shinkansen station, and Suzume heads for Tokyo.

Tokyo and the Fall of the Keystone

In Tokyo, Suzume and Souta reach his small apartment near Ochanomizu Station.

There, they pore over old documents on worms, keystones, and closers.

Tomoya Serizawa, Souta’s sharp‑tongued but good‑hearted friend from university, drops by the apartment and discovers Suzume and the walking chair.

Before they can fully explain, a tremor rattles the building and Suzume sees a worm rising nearby.

They hurry to a huge underground space beneath a skyscraper, where the Tokyo back door and the eastern keystone should be.

To their horror, they find that the eastern keystone — another cat‑shaped stone — has also been loosened and is beginning to move.

Daijin appears and seems pleased that both keystones are now “free”.

The worm shoots out of the Tokyo door and climbs higher and higher into the sky, visible to everyone below.

Souta leaps onto the worm’s back, trying to guide it away, and Suzume clings to him.

High above Tokyo, under the looming mass of the worm, Daijin tells Souta, “You are the keystone now.”

Souta’s body begins to freeze into stone as Suzume watches helplessly.

He chooses to accept the burden to save the city, and his chair form turns into a new keystone, piercing the worm’s body.

The worm explodes into rain before it can fall, sparing Tokyo from a catastrophic quake.

Suzume plummets toward the ground, but Daijin softens her fall.

In the Ever‑After, she glimpses Souta impaled as a keystone, motionless amid swirling energy.

When she returns to the underground room, Daijin approaches her again, but she cannot forgive him and rejects him.

Daijin withers into a scrawny, frail cat and disappears into the shadows.

Suzume closes the Tokyo door and heads to the hospital where Souta’s grandfather, Hitsujirou Munakata, is recovering.

Decision to Rescue Souta

Hitsujirou Munakata is the elder “closer” who once used the eastern keystone in 2011 to protect Tokyo during the Tohoku earthquake, losing his right arm in the process.

He explains that the Ever‑After is where the dead go, and that living people can only cross its threshold through one door in their lifetime.

Suzume, determined to save Souta, asks how to enter the Ever‑After again.

Hitsujirou tells her that the door she first entered as a child — her personal Ever‑After door — still exists somewhere in her destroyed hometown in Iwate Prefecture.

Suzume returns to Souta’s apartment to prepare for a journey north.

As she leaves Ochanomizu Station, she runs into Tomoya Serizawa, who has come with Tamaki after learning from her that Suzume has gone missing.

Tamaki and Serizawa both insist on accompanying her, despite not fully understanding what she is about to do.

Daijin reappears and jumps into the car as if nothing has happened.

The four of them — Suzume, Tamaki, Serizawa, and Daijin — drive north in Serizawa’s old red convertible, retracing parts of Suzume’s earlier journey.

On the way, they stop at a coastal roadside station, Michi‑no‑Eki Ooya Kaigan in Miyagi Prefecture, where a huge rainstorm forces them to change clothes.

There, Suzume and Daijin notice a gigantic black cat watching them.

This cat introduces itself as Sadaijin, the eastern keystone’s counterpart.

Sadaijin clashes playfully but powerfully with Daijin and then lets Suzume take both of them along toward her hometown in Iwate.

The convertible slides off the road and becomes stuck, so Suzume runs ahead on foot with the two keystone spirits, while Tamaki follows on a discarded bicycle.

Suzume’s Hometown and the Buried Box

Suzume arrives at the empty lot where her childhood home once stood in the coastal district of Akamae in Miyako City, Iwate.

The surrounding landscape still bears scars of the 2011 tsunami.

Near the ruins she digs into the earth and finds a rusty can labeled in childish writing, “Suzume’s Treasure”.

Inside are small toys and a diary she kept as a child.

The pages from March 11 onward are scribbled over in black crayon, reflecting the trauma she couldn’t express.

On the final page, however, she has drawn the very same field and door she has been seeing in her dreams.

Following Daijin, Suzume discovers that her personal Ever‑After door is still standing, overgrown by plants and rust.

She realizes that Daijin has been guiding her to all the crucial doors, including this one, all along.

Suzume thanks Daijin for leading her here.

With both Daijin and Sadaijin by her side, she opens the door and steps into the Ever‑After.

Final Battle in the Ever‑After

The Ever‑After manifests as a vast grassland under a sky filled with layers of different times, a place where all moments coexist.

From a massive door in this realm, the worm is trying once more to force its way into the living world.

Sadaijin grows into a gigantic white‑furred cat and grapples with the worm, trying to hold it back.

Suzume runs toward the stone form of Souta, still functioning as a keystone lodged in the worm’s body.

She tries to pull him free but cannot.

Daijin joins in, straining with her to free Souta.

As they pull, Suzume’s key necklace glows and she hears Souta’s voice, encouraging her.

With one final effort, they wrench Souta from the worm’s body.

Souta returns to human form, exhausted but alive.

Daijin, drained of strength, collapses and asks Suzume to restore him to his original role.

He transforms back into a keystone at her feet.

Souta recites the closing prayer while Suzume hears the voices of countless people who lived and died in the places she visited.

Sadaijin lifts Suzume and Souta into the sky above the worm.

Together they plunge Daijin, now once again a keystone, into the worm’s head.

The worm collapses and dissolves, transforming into a lush green hill covered with plants.

The burning landscape around them shifts into peaceful grassland as the Ever‑After calms.

Meeting Her Younger Self

In the quiet that follows, Suzume encounters a small girl wandering the field, crying and calling for her mother.

She realizes this girl is her four‑year‑old self, who stumbled into the Ever‑After on the morning of March 11, 2011.

Dressed in the same white outfit as the mysterious woman from her dreams, the present‑day Suzume approaches the child and gently speaks to her.

The little Suzume resists, still desperate to find her mother, and sobs in protest.

The older Suzume tells her she will grow up, make friends, and keep living even after heartbreak.

When the little girl asks, “Who are you?”, Suzume answers, “I’m your tomorrow.”

She hands the three‑legged chair — the last tangible gift from their mother Tsubame — to her younger self.

The child takes the chair and walks back through the door to the living world.

From the hill, the little Suzume glimpses her mother and Tamaki waiting for her in the distance, echoing events she has already lived.

The time loop of her life gently closes.

Suzume and Souta return from the Ever‑After and shut the door one last time.

Afterward, Suzume travels back south with Tamaki and Serizawa, retracing their journey in reverse, bringing emotional closure to her travels.

Epilogue

A few months later, on a February morning, Suzume walks her familiar route to school in Miyazaki Prefecture.

On the same road where she first saw him, Souta appears, now back in his human body and free of his keystone burden.

Suzume stops, looks at him, and simply says, “Welcome back.”

Both of them smile, suggesting the beginning of a new chapter rather than a dramatic farewell.

Suzume Iwato

Suzume Iwato is the protagonist, a 17‑year‑old high school girl living in southern Miyazaki Prefecture with her aunt Tamaki.

She was born on 24 May 2006 and originally comes from Akamae in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture, on the tsunami‑stricken Tohoku coastline.

Suzume lost her mother Tsubame Iwato at the age of four during the 2011 disaster.

Her aunt Tamaki then took her in and raised her.

She treasures a small wooden chair with one missing leg, handmade by her mother as a birthday present when she was four.

This “Suzume’s chair” becomes both her emotional anchor and, thanks to Daijin’s curse, the temporary body of Souta Munakata.

Despite her trauma, Suzume is energetic, impulsive, and kind‑hearted.

She easily befriends people during her journey, from Chika in Ehime to Rumi in Kobe, and she is quick to risk herself to help others.

She can see the worm and doors, which ordinary people cannot.

This sensitivity likely stems from her childhood encounter with the Ever‑After.

Throughout the film, Suzume’s road trip doubles as a journey to confront her own buried memories of the Tohoku disaster.

By the end, she is able to accept her pain, affirm her past self, and choose to keep living forward.

Souta Munakata

Souta Munakata is a university student and trained “closer” who travels Japan in search of doors to the Ever‑After.

He was born on 24 February 2002 and studies in an education department, aspiring to become a teacher like his father.

Souta comes from a family of closers and is the grandson of Hitsujirou Munakata, a veteran closer who sealed the eastern keystone during the 2011 disaster.

Souta’s duty is to locate back doors in abandoned locations and close them before the worm can fall and cause quakes.

When Daijin curses him, he is trapped in the form of Suzume’s small three‑legged chair.

Despite the ridiculous appearance, he continues his mission, running, jumping, and even fighting while in wooden form.

Souta is serious, gentle, and somewhat awkward, but he respects Suzume’s courage and treats her as an equal.

He is ultimately willing to sacrifice himself by becoming a keystone to save Tokyo.

His bond with Suzume deepens as they travel together.

Their relationship is understated but emotionally significant, built on mutual trust and shared responsibility for doors and disasters.

Daijin

Daijin is a white cat‑like spirit with golden eyes and a childlike voice.

He speaks human language and can change size, though he usually appears as a small cat.

In appearance he looks fluffy and slightly skinny, with whiskers that resemble the stylized beards of old‑time “ministers”, inspiring the nickname “Daijin” (“minister”) given by social‑media users.

He becomes a viral sensation as people post photos of him across Japan.

In truth, Daijin is the western keystone that once pinned the worm under western Japan.

When Suzume pulls him out in the ruins of the mountain resort, he reverts to his free form and leaves his keystone duties behind.

Daijin is mischievous, possessive, and emotionally needy.

He loves Suzume when she shows him kindness and curses Souta out of jealousy, calling him “in the way”.

Though he causes chaos, he also repeatedly lures Suzume to doors that need closing, acting like a strange guide.

At the climax, he sacrifices his freedom and once more becomes a keystone to stop the worm, asking Suzume to restore him.

Daijin’s arc is about duty versus desire.

He wants love and individuality, yet ultimately chooses responsibility again to protect the world.

Sadaijin

Sadaijin is a black cat spirit with a white patch around his large right eye.

Like Daijin, he can change size and can grow into a towering feline when needed.

Sadaijin is the eastern keystone, originally placed in Tokyo to restrain the worm beneath eastern Japan.

In battles, he can become enormous with white fur and physically fight the worm.

He appears gentler and more mature than Daijin, acting almost like a big brother figure.

In the Ever‑After, Sadaijin’s strength helps Suzume and Souta get close enough to the worm to reseal it.

Tamaki Iwato

Tamaki Iwato is Suzume’s aunt and legal guardian.

Born on 12 July 1982, she works at a fishing cooperative in Miyazaki Prefecture.

After the 2011 disaster and the death of Tsubame Iwato, Tamaki took four‑year‑old Suzume from Iwate and started a new life with her in the south.

She has raised Suzume alone for over a decade, struggling with work, finances, and the emotional weight of parenthood.

Tamaki loves Suzume deeply but sometimes feels trapped by the responsibility she never planned for.

During a heated argument later in the film, she blurts out pent‑up resentment, confessing she sometimes wished Suzume would disappear.

Despite those moments, Tamaki’s actions throughout show fierce dedication, from driving across regions to find Suzume to confronting supernatural dangers she barely understands.

Her relationship with Suzume explores the complicated, sometimes messy love between a guardian and a child who are not parent and offspring in the traditional sense.

Tsubame Iwato

Tsubame Iwato is Suzume’s mother and Tamaki’s older sister.

A nurse by profession, she died during the 2011 Tohoku disaster when Suzume was four.

Tsubame lovingly built the small wooden chair for Suzume as a birthday present.

In Suzume’s childhood memory and her time‑loop encounter, Tsubame appears as a warm, gentle figure who encourages Suzume’s curiosity.

Although deceased before the main events, Tsubame’s presence is felt through the chair, the buried diary, and Suzume’s memories.

Her loss is the emotional core of Suzume’s grief and part of what the film asks Suzume to accept but not forget.

Tomoya Serizawa

Tomoya Serizawa is Souta’s friend and fellow education student at Rikkyo University.

He drives a used red convertible that resembles an Alfa Romeo Giulia and smokes, giving him a slightly rough but charming aura.

Serizawa is loud, blunt, and sarcastic, but he cares deeply about Souta’s well‑being.

When Suzume and Tamaki cross his path in Tokyo, he throws himself into helping them travel north.

During the road trip, he provides comic relief as he argues with Tamaki and grumbles about the bizarre situation.

Beneath the joking, he backs Suzume’s determination and continues supporting Souta even when he’s missing in the Ever‑After.

Rumi Ninomiya

Rumi Ninomiya runs the snack bar “Harbor” in Kobe and is the mother of energetic twins, Hana and Sora.

She speaks in a Kansai accent and drives a compact minivan.

She picks up Suzume and chair‑Souta while they are soaking wet at a rural bus stop and, without asking many questions, gives them a ride and a place to stay.

Warm but straightforward, she scolds Suzume for disappearing at night but clearly worries about her.

Rumi’s scenes show an everyday kindness that leaves a deep impression on Suzume.

Her bar later becomes the setting for one of the film’s most relaxed, homely sequences.

Chika Amabe

Chika Amabe is a cheerful high school girl from Ehime Prefecture, the same age as Suzume.

She works at her family’s seaside inn “Amabe” and rides a small motorbike with a New Niihama license plate.

Suzume and Souta meet her when oranges spill from her bike and they help catch them.

Chika quickly invites them to stay at her inn and helps them find the abandoned middle school door.

She speaks in Ehime dialect and provides a burst of bright, local energy in the Shikoku segment.

Before they part, she gives Suzume her own clothes, telling her that a uniform will stand out too much.

Minoru Okabe

Minoru Okabe works at the same fishing cooperative as Tamaki and harbors an unspoken crush on her.

He has a mild, supportive presence, often worrying about Tamaki and Suzume.

Though he never confesses his feelings directly in the film, his concern shows in small gestures, offering rides or help with work.

He represents the quiet community surrounding Suzume and Tamaki in Miyazaki.

Hitsujirou Munakata

Hitsujirou Munakata is Souta’s grandfather and mentor in the art of closing doors.

He lives in Tokyo but is hospitalized during the events of the film, missing his right arm.

In 2011, he forced the eastern keystone into place in Tokyo to suppress the worm during the Tohoku quake, sacrificing his arm.

He now worries whether Souta truly wants to inherit the role of closer or is simply following family expectations.

Hitsujirou provides Suzume with crucial information about the Ever‑After and how to reach her childhood door.

His character highlights the generational burden of guarding Japan against invisible disasters.

Miki and Other Supporting Characters

Miki is a part‑time worker at Rumi’s snack bar.

Friendly and down‑to‑earth, she chats with Suzume about everyday life and hints she currently has no boyfriend.

Suzume also has school friends in Miyazaki, classmates like Aya and Mami, who appear briefly during her normal school life.

They help show what Suzume is leaving behind as she runs off to chase doors and cats.

Various minor characters across Japan — inn owners, shopkeepers, station staff, and strangers — briefly interact with Suzume.

Together they paint a portrait of a country full of ordinary lives, each with its own joys and sorrows, that Suzume is trying to protect.

Doors and the Ever‑After

The film’s “doors” appear in abandoned places: closed schools, shuttered theme parks, depopulated resorts, and other ruins.

Physically, they are ordinary doors left standing among decay, but they function as “back doors” connecting the living world to the Ever‑After.

The Ever‑After is a realm where all times overlap and where souls of the dead pass.

It appears differently to each person; to Suzume, it is a vast grassland under a layered sky.

Most living humans cannot see doors as anything special, nor can they see the worm.

Closers and a few sensitive individuals like Suzume can perceive them, hear the echoes of past voices, and interact with the realm.

Each person has only one door through which they can personally cross into the Ever‑After in their lifetime.

For Suzume, that door is the one she stumbled through as a child in Iwate, which she revisits at the climax.

Suzume’s Chair

Suzume’s chair is a small three‑legged wooden chair her mother built and gave her on her fourth birthday.

One leg later broke off, but Suzume kept it as a treasured keepsake.

When Daijin curses Souta, his human body transforms into this chair, which then becomes animated.

The chair hops, runs, and even fights, resulting in many of the film’s most humorous visual gags.

The chair embodies Suzume’s connection to her mother and her lost childhood home.

In the time‑loop scene, Suzume gives the chair back to her younger self, symbolically handing herself the strength to survive what is coming.

Keystones

Keystones are mystical anchors that pin the worm beneath the Japanese archipelago.

Traditionally, there are two: a western keystone and an eastern keystone.

Over history, these keystones have been placed in different locations.

In modern times, the eastern keystone was driven into a door in Tokyo in 2011 by Hitsujirou Munakata, while the western keystone had been set in Miyazaki by a closer from the Mitai family long ago.

Both keystones are personified as cat spirits when freed: Daijin (west) and Sadaijin (east).

Pulling out a keystone frees the worm to move more violently, increasing the risk of devastating earthquakes.

The Worm

The worm is a giant red‑black energy mass that rises from doors into the sky, visible only to Suzume, closers, and certain animals like crows.

When it falls and collides with the ground, it manifests as a real earthquake in the human world.

The worm initially erupts from the first door Suzume finds in Miyazaki and then from other doors in Ehime, Kobe, and Tokyo.

Every time Suzume and Souta close a door in time, golden threads bind the worm, and it bursts into rain instead of crashing.

The worm represents both literal seismic energy and accumulated fear of disasters.

By the end, when it is finally pinned in the Ever‑After and turns into a green hill, the film suggests a kind of reconciliation between humanity and the land’s violent forces.

Ever‑After and “Voices”

When Suzume and Souta perform the closing ritual, they hear the voices of people who lived and worked in each ruined location.

These include voices from a once‑thriving hot spring town, a middle school before a landslide, or an amusement park full of families.

These echoes remind viewers that every “abandoned place” was once filled with real lives and memories.

Shinkai has said he wanted to “mourn places” that disappear without any formal farewell, like towns emptied by disasters or depopulation.

The film suggests that doors are formed where human activity has ceased and memories are thick.

Closing a door requires acknowledging those memories rather than ignoring them.

Suzume’s journey stretches across Japan, and many locations are modeled on real places.

At the same time, the film sometimes blends or fictionalizes details to serve the story.

Miyazaki Prefecture

The opening setting, Suzume’s current hometown, is in southern Miyazaki Prefecture.

While the exact town is not named, clues like smartphone maps suggest a location around Nichinan City.

Her daily walk to school features views of Aburatsu Port, a real port in Nichinan.

Miyazaki is also chosen because Shinkai associates it with the mythic beginnings of Japan and the deity Ame‑no‑Uzume, whose name echoes Suzume’s.

Oita and the Ferry Crossing

The ruins where Suzume first opens a door are visually inspired by the preserved Bunrabori Roundhouse locomotive depot in Oita Prefecture.

Its distinctive semicircular engine shed appears in posters and promotional art.

From Kyushu, Suzume and Souta take a ferry across the sea.

The ship resembles vessels of the “Kyushu‑Shikoku Orange Ferry” line, and the departure port is modeled on Saganoseki, though the real service now mainly runs from the nearby Usuki Port.

Ehime, Shikoku

In Ehime Prefecture, Suzume and Souta arrive at Yawatahama Port, whose old terminal building appears on screen even though it has been demolished in reality.

They board local JR trains and pass landmarks such as Ozu Castle and the scenic coast.

Chika’s scenes are set around rural roads by Otani Pond in Saijo and other Ehime countryside vistas.

The famed seaside Shimonada Station briefly appears as a place Daijin passes through.

Kobe and Hyogo

In Kobe, Suzume stays in a district based on real shopping arcades like Higashiyama and Ninomiya shopping streets.

Rumi’s snack bar “Harbor” sits in a retro arcade alley, giving the scenes a warm, lived‑in feel.

The ruined amusement park where Suzume closes a door is inspired by “Kobe Oto Giro no Kuni”, a small park within the roadside station Kobe Fruit & Flower Park Ozo.

In reality, the park is still operating, and staff jokingly noted their surprise at seeing it depicted as abandoned.

From Shikoku to Kobe, Suzume and Rumi cross the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, visible in news footage showing Daijin strutting across the cables.

Kobe’s inclusion honors a city that endured the 1995 Hanshin‑Awaji earthquake and rebuilt.

Tokyo

In Tokyo, key landmarks include Tokyo Station, Ochanomizu Station, and the Kanda River under Hijiri Bridge.

Suzume jumps from that bridge to reach the worm rising over the river.

The hospital where Hitsujirou Munakata stays is modeled on Juntendo University Hospital.

Skyscrapers around Shinjuku, including the Sompo Japan headquarters building, form the backdrop when the worm curls over the city.

At Akihabara, a Bic Camera store and its pedestrian bridges appear briefly during a moment when the worm disappears and daily life continues.

The Tokyo door itself is depicted in a huge subterranean cavern reminiscent of the Oya stone quarry museum in Tochigi Prefecture.

Tohoku and Iwate

In the final act, Suzume travels to Tohoku, stopping at Michi‑no‑Eki Ooya Kaigan in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.

This roadside station was destroyed by the tsunami but rebuilt and reopened in 2021.

Suzume’s original hometown is Akamae district in Miyako City, Iwate.

Nearby stands an actual telecommunications tower similar to the one visible in the film.

The station where Suzume and Souta finally part during their earlier, pre‑loop journey is based on Orikasa Station along the Sanriku Railway.

Fans have visited the station as a “pilgrimage” site, prompting local authorities to request respectful behavior.

The film also briefly references the sightseeing vessel “Hamayuri”, which famously ended up stranded on a building in Otsuchi during the tsunami.

In reality, it has since been removed.

Conception and Themes

Makoto Shinkai has stated that since 2011 he has continuously thought about the Tohoku earthquake while making films.

In Your Name. and Weathering With You, disasters appeared as comets or abnormal weather.

With Suzume, he chose to address the Tohoku disaster directly.

He wanted to tell a story about a girl who lost her mother and hometown and now lives in a different region, carrying a trauma that is not always visible.

Shinkai has traveled widely across rural Japan for film promotion and noticed many places slowly emptying due to depopulation.

He was struck by the fact that buildings have ground‑breaking ceremonies when created but no formal “funerals” when abandoned.

He therefore conceived a story about “mourning places” — closing doors to acknowledge lost towns and communities.

This naturally led to a road‑movie structure in which the protagonist travels across Japan visiting ruins.

Shinkai has cited Haruki Murakami’s short story “Super‑Frog Saves Tokyo” and Hayao Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service as influences.

He wanted a magical yet grounded adventure that speaks to today’s teenagers, especially those who have no direct memory of 2011 but still live in its aftermath.

Timeline

Concept development took place from January to March 2020.

Scriptwriting lasted from April to August 2020, followed by storyboards from September 2020 to December 2021.

Animators began full‑scale drawing work in April 2021.

The film’s title, teaser visual, key staff, and “autumn 2022” release window were announced in December 2021.

In April 2022, the full‑color poster and final release date (11 November 2022) were unveiled in a newspaper ad, and the first teaser trailer dropped online.

Kadokawa also released an early sample of the novelization during its summer campaign.

Main casting was announced over mid‑2022:

Suzume Iwato is voiced by Hanoka Hara; Souta Munakata by Hokuto Matsumura; Tamaki Iwato by Eri Fukatsu; Rumi Ninomiya by Sairi Ito; Chika Amabe by Kotone Hanase; Tsubame Iwato by Kana Hanazawa; Tomoya Serizawa by Ryunosuke Kamiki; and Hitsujirou Munakata by Hakua Matsumoto.

Recording, animation, and compositing continued into late 2022.

Final mastering was completed on 21 October 2022.

Staff

Makoto Shinkai directed, wrote, and edited the film, and also provided storyboards and color direction.

Character designs were by Masayoshi Tanaka, with Kenichi Tsuchiya as animation director and Takumi Tanji as art director.

The CG character direction was by Hiroyuki Seshita and CG direction by Yoshitaka Takeuchi.

Yoko Miki served as assistant director and special‑effects lead.

The main producers included Noritaka Kawaguchi and Genki Kawamura.

Music was composed by RADWIMPS and Kazuma Jinnouchi, with sound direction by Yo Yamada.

Production was handled by CoMix Wave Films, with production‑producing by STORY inc.

The film’s production committee included CoMix Wave Films, Toho, STORY inc., RADWIMPS’ company voque ting, Kadokawa, JR East Marketing & Communications, Lawson Group, and Aniplex.

The soundtrack was a collaboration between rock band RADWIMPS (led by Yojiro Noda) and composer Kazuma Jinnouchi.

It includes two main theme songs and extensive orchestral and electronic score pieces.

The first main theme, “Suzume feat. Toaka”, is sung by vocalist Toaka and plays over key scenes of Suzume’s journey.

The second, “Kanata Haruka”, performed by Yojiro Noda, serves as another emotional theme and was released digitally ahead of the full soundtrack.

The full album Suzume was released on 11 November 2022, containing 25 score tracks, the two main themes, and two additional songs sung by Noda: “Tamaki” and “Suzume no Namida”.

A vinyl edition followed in March 2023.

Several famous Japanese pop songs also appear diegetically in the film’s world.

In Rumi’s snack bar in Kobe, characters sing karaoke songs like “Man and Woman’s Love Game”, “Giza‑Giza Heart’s Lullaby”, and other old hits.

Tomoya Serizawa’s car stereo plays 1980s and early‑90s J‑pop classics as he drives: “Rouge no Dengon”, “Sweet Memories”, “Dreaming Inside”, “Graduation”, “Valentine Kiss”, and “Stop Fighting”.

These songs give nostalgic color and contrast the serious supernatural events with everyday life.

Japan

Suzume opened in Japan on 11 November 2022, with special IMAX previews on 7 November.

In its first three days (including IMAX previews), it attracted over 1.33 million viewers and earned about 1.88 billion yen, the best opening for a Shinkai film at that time.

So many screenings were scheduled that some theaters reduced showings of other films, leading to commentary about Suzume “locking other movies out of screens”.

Critics noted that after a slow autumn box office, exhibitors relied heavily on Suzume and other major titles to survive financially.

By its seventh weekend, Suzume had surpassed 10 billion yen in Japan.

By day 45, it had passed 100 billion yen in domestic box office, making Shinkai’s third consecutive film to cross that threshold after Your Name. and Weathering With You.

On its 87th day, the film exceeded 10 million admissions in Japan.

It ultimately reached about 1115 million domestic viewers and nearly 148 billion yen in Japanese box office.

According to the Japanese box office ranking, Suzume became the 14th highest‑grossing film of all time in Japan, just behind Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.

Toho later revised its domestic total upward to about 148.6 billion yen.

International Release

Suzume was released in a total of 199 countries and regions, surpassing the international reach of Your Name. and Weathering With You.

Crunchyroll, working with Sony Pictures Releasing and Wild Bunch International, handled distribution outside Asia in many territories.

In East and Southeast Asia, various local distributors released the film.

GaragePlay released it in Taiwan on 2 March 2023 as Suzume’s Journey; it opened the same day in Hong Kong and Macau via Intercontinental Film.

In South Korea, Suzume opened on 8 March 2023 through Showbox and quickly became a hit.

It had the year’s fastest climb to one million viewers there, reaching that milestone in six days and surpassing three million soon after, prompting Shinkai to visit again for promotional events.

In mainland China, Road Pictures released the film on 24 March 2023 under the title Suzume’s Journey.

Advance ticket pre‑sales exceeded 100 million yuan before release, and within three days the film amassed more than 10 million admissions and around 340 million yuan in box office.

By early April 2023, Suzume had earned about 611 million yuan in China, surpassing the Chinese total of Your Name. and becoming the highest‑grossing Japanese film ever in that market.

By mid‑April, Chinese revenue alone exceeded the Japanese domestic total, and by the end of its run there it had earned about 807 million yuan (over 110 million USD).

Through Crunchyroll and partners, Suzume opened in North America, Europe, Oceania, and Latin America around mid‑April 2023.

In many countries it ranked first in daily box office on opening day and contributed significantly to its worldwide total.

Dolby Cinema and Special Screenings

From 24 December 2022, Suzume was shown in Dolby Cinema format at select Japanese theaters in Tokyo, Yokohama, Saitama, Nagoya, Kyoto, and Fukuoka.

This high‑dynamic‑range version emphasized the vivid skies and subtle lighting of Shinkai’s visuals.

Japan’s theatrical run officially ended on 27 May 2023.

A final “door‑closing” set of screenings was held, accompanied by a last round of limited‑edition postcards as gifts.

On 20 September 2023, Blu‑ray and DVD editions went on sale in Japan, including a “retouched” version with 273 shots enhanced.

To celebrate, an “okaeri” (“welcome back”) rerelease took place at 100 cinemas across Japan, with new stage greetings by Shinkai and voice actress Kana Hanazawa at selected screenings.

From April 2024, Suzume became available on Netflix in 169 countries and regions as part of an exclusive streaming deal.

This made it widely accessible outside theaters for the first time.

Because Suzume prominently features earthquakes and the distinctive emergency earthquake warning sound used in Japan, the filmmakers and distributors issued warnings.

The official site, Twitter, and theaters all notified audiences that such sounds and scenes appear, so viewers would not mistake them for real alerts.

In Taiwan’s Mandarin dub, the film actually uses the authentic Taiwanese earthquake early warning sound to maintain realism for local audiences.

Local media noted that this choice heightened immersion but could also unsettle viewers who had experienced quakes.

The timing of broadcasts also drew attention.

When the film had its Japanese TV premiere on WOWOW on 1 January 2024, a major real‑world earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula just hours earlier, and Shinkai publicly expressed concern that the film might distress some viewers.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Suzume holds an approval rating in the mid‑90s from over a hundred reviews, with an average rating around 7.8/10.

The consensus describes it as slightly below Shinkai’s very highest bar but still visually stunning and emotionally impactful.

Some viewers, especially those who personally experienced the 2011 disaster, found the film painful or felt it simplified complex trauma.

Others praised it for gently addressing grief, trauma, and rebuilding rather than focusing solely on spectacle.

Suzume was selected for the Competition section of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, the first Japanese animated feature in that section since Spirited Away.

It had a gala screening at the Berlinale Palast, where Shinkai spoke about 2011 and contemporary Japan.

The film did not win Berlin’s top awards but went on to receive many honors elsewhere.

It won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Animation and Best Music at the 46th Japan Academy Awards, and actor Hokuto Matsumura received the “Newcomer” style topic award.

Suzume also won the VFX‑Japan Award for best theatrical animated film and a Silver Raven at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.

It was nominated for animated film awards by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Satellite Awards, International Cinephile Society, and several North American critics’ groups.

At the Golden Globes, Suzume was nominated for Best Animated Film alongside other international titles, as was Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron.

At the 51st Saturn Awards and 51st Annie Awards it received multiple nominations, including for Best Animated Feature, score, storyboarding, and character animation.

At the 2024 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Suzume won Best Anime Film and was nominated for Best Score and Best Anime Song (“Suzume”).

It also received recognition at a special “Celebration of Cinema & Television” event honoring Black, Latino, and Asian‑Pacific creators, where it won International Animated Film.

Novelizations

Makoto Shinkai wrote a prose novel version titled Suzume published by Kadokawa’s Kadokawa Bunko imprint on 24 August 2022.

The novel adds details about characters’ inner thoughts and clarifies timeline elements, including explicit dates and backstory for Tamaki and others.

A children’s version was released under the Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko label in October 2022, with illustrations by Chiko.

This edition retells the story in simpler language for younger readers while preserving the main plot.

Manga Adaptation

A manga adaptation illustrated by Denki Amashima ran in the monthly magazine Afternoon from December 2022 to February 2024.

Amashima had previously won awards in Kodansha’s Four Seasons manga competition.

The manga is collected in three volumes under the Afternoon KC label.

It closely follows the film’s story while expanding certain scenes and character interactions through visual pacing.

Visual Guide

Kadokawa published Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume Official Visual Guide in January 2023.

The book includes storyboards, concept art, background paintings, interviews with staff and cast, and commentary from Shinkai.

It serves as an in‑depth companion, revealing how specific shots and color schemes were conceived.

Fans can see how real locations were transformed into the film’s stylized backgrounds.

Picture Book “Suzume and the Chair”

In collaboration with McDonald’s Japan, a short picture book titled Suzume and the Chair was created as an official spin‑off prequel.

It was distributed as part of the “Happy Meal” book line from 4 November 2022.

The picture book, written by Shinkai and illustrated (under a pen name) by artist Senbon Umi, focuses on Suzume’s early days with her special chair.

It offers a gentle, child‑friendly introduction to the characters and themes.

Traveling Exhibition

A large‑scale exhibition, Suzume Exhibition, displayed original drawings, concept art, background paintings, and production materials.

It began at Matsuzakaya’s Ginza department store in Tokyo in April–May 2023.

The exhibition then toured Sapporo, Osaka, Kanazawa, Fukuoka, Yonago, Nagoya, Hamamatsu, Matsumoto, and Morioka through 2023 and early 2024.

Each venue included life‑size recreations of key sets, like doors and the chair, plus exclusive goods.

Theater Gifts

The film offered several sequential theater bonuses to encourage repeat viewings.

The first was a “Makoto Shinkai Book”, a small booklet with the original Suzume project proposal, interviews, and partial proposals from Your Name. and Weathering With You.

A second booklet, “Makoto Shinkai Book 2”, included interviews with Shinkai, Hanoka Hara, Hokuto Matsumura, and Yojiro Noda, along with Q&A about story mysteries and image pages retracing Suzume’s journey.

A third gift, “Short Novel: Suzume – Tamaki’s Story”, was a short piece written by Shinkai from Tamaki’s point of view.

A fourth booklet, “Short Novel: Suzume – Serizawa’s Story”, focused on Tomoya Serizawa.

A final limited “Thank You Door‑Closing Postcard” was distributed late in the run, printed with the “Welcome Back” visual and a message from Shinkai.

Stage Greetings and “Going Around Japan” Tour

On opening day, a stage greeting took place at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills with Shinkai and main cast members.

They spoke about the production, the earthquake themes, and the challenge of voice acting.

A national stage‑greeting campaign titled “I’m off, Japan” then brought Shinkai and the cast to theaters across many prefectures.

They visited Osaka, Kobe, Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kumamoto, Fukuoka, Miyazaki, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Miyagi, Iwate, Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Ehime, Kagawa, Nagano, Tottori, Shimane, Okinawa, and Fukushima.

At each stop, they held short talks before or after screenings, often tailored to local audiences and their experiences with earthquakes or depopulation.

These events reinforced the sense that Suzume was about the whole of Japan rather than a single city.

Bookstore Display Contest

Kadokawa organized a national display contest for the Suzume novel.

Bookstores created elaborate in‑store decorations using visuals from the film and novel.

The best displays won special events: two selected stores hosted signings with Shinkai, while the top store hosted a joint signing with Shinkai and voice actress Hanoka Hara.

Photos of creative displays, including life‑size chairs and door installations, circulated widely online.

Corporate Collaborations

A “Japan’s Door‑Closing Project” partnered with 47 local companies around the country.

They used Suzume visuals in regional ads, products, and posters, linking the film’s theme to local pride and resilience.

KDDI and Okinawa Cellular launched an “au x Suzume” campaign titled “Traveling Japan with Suzume”.

It included a co‑branded TV commercial, AR experiences at landmarks, and a promotional program encouraging regional tourism.

JR East’s Tokyo metropolitan project “FUN! TOKYO!” featured Suzume.

Large door photo spots appeared at the east exit of Shinjuku Station and at Ochanomizu Station’s Ochanomizu Bridge entrance.

JR East’s Acure vending machines in Ochanomizu Station were wrapped in Suzume designs.

In the film itself, Suzume buys a bottle of mineral water “From AQUA” from a similar machine, tying product placement to location.

Lawson Store 100 sold Suzume‑themed foods such as “Suzume’s Chair Bread” and a cookie‑cream sandwich featuring Daijin.

Due to popular demand and in celebration of the Berlin festival selection, these items were reissued, accompanied by in‑store audio messages from Hanoka Hara.

McDonald’s Japan aired a special Big Mac commercial directed by Shinkai, featuring his trademark visuals and a subtle door motif.

Simultaneously, the Happy Meal picture book “Suzume and the Chair” brought the world of the film to families.

JR Tokai Passengers sold a limited “aluminum ice‑cream spoon set” themed around Suzume, Souta, and Daijin.

The spoons were designed to make the famously hard Shinkansen ice cream easier to eat, and were sold on Tokyo–Osaka trains and online.

A limited‑time themed cafe, “Suzume Limited Cafe”, opened in Shinjuku and later Osaka.

It served dishes and drinks inspired by scenes and characters — such as worm‑colored desserts and chair‑themed plates — in photo‑friendly arrangements.

Finally, the film collaborated with a famous YouTube cat, Mochimaru, casting him as an unofficial “publicity ambassador”.

Special videos showed the cat interacting with a TV airing Suzume footage, though this collaboration drew mixed responses due to unrelated controversies around the channel.