School Days with a Pig
# School Days with a Pig

School Days with a Pig (ブタがいた教室, Buta ga ita Kyōshitsu) is a 2008 Japanese drama film that is based on a true event that took place in an elementary school in Osaka Prefecture. The film is directed by Tetsu Maeda, and its story is based on a novel about the event by Yasushi Kuroda. Actor Satoshi Tsumabuki plays the lead role of the class teacher in this film. Additionally, this film stars 28 school children chosen by audition.

School Days with a Pig was first screened at the 21st Tokyo International Film Festival, and it was subsequently released in Japanese cinemas on 1 November 2008.

## Plot

The film revolves around the story of an elementary school teacher who proposes that his class raise a piglet at school with the aim of eating it once it has grown up.

## Cast

* Satoshi Tsumabuki as Mr. Hoshi, the class homeroom teacher
* Ren Ohsugi as Mr. Nishina (school Vice Principal)
* Tomoko Tabata as Ms. Ikezawa
* Seiji Ikeda as Mr. Kowasi
* Mieko Harada as School Principal Mrs. Takahara
* Ryohei Kondo
* Runa Natsui
* Itsumi Osawa
* Yumi Shimizu as the music teacher
* Pierre Taki
* Naho Toda

## Production

### Development

School Days with a Pig was first announced on 25 August 2008.

### Music

The theme song for the film School Days with a Pig is the song Hana no yō ni hoshi no yō ni (花のように星のように, lit: Like a Flower, like a star) that is sung by singer Tortoise Matsumoto. This was announced together with the announcement of this film on 25 August 2008.

* 「Prayer」 Lyrics By：Tatsu Maeda (前田哲)　Lyrics (English) by ：Lynne Hobdny　Songwriter： 吉岡聖治　歌：清水ゆみ

## Release

This film was first released at the 21st Tokyo International Film Festival, where it was one of the films participating in the competition. It was then released in Japan cinemas on 1 November 2008.

Later, this film was released in Singapore on 8 April 2009. It was also released in Taiwan on 10 April 2009 and in Hong Kong on 27 August 2009 under the name of (Chinese: 和豬豬一起上課的日子; pinyin: Hé zhū zhū yīqǐ shàngkè de rìzi).

### Home Video

The home video was released in DVD (Region 2) format on Amazon Japan on 4 October 2009. A special limited 2-disc edition was also released on the same day.

## Reception

### Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes reported that 78% of users liked this movie, based on 104 user ratings. The DVD version of this movie was ranked #30,660 on the Amazon Bestsellers Rank (in DVD) The special version was ranked #39,011 on the same list.

According to this movie's Taiwanese release official site, more audiences did not want to eat the pig as compared to those who voted to eat the pig.

### Accolades

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 28th Tokyo International Film Festival | 2008 | Audience Award | School Days with a Pig | Won |
| Zlín International Film Festival for Children and Youth | 2009 | Award of the City of Zlín | School Days with a Pig | Won |
| Jeonju International Film Festival | 2009 | JIFF Audience Award | School Days with a Pig | Won |
