The Homeless Student

The Homeless Student (Japanese: ホームレス中学生, Hepburn: Hōmuresu Chūgakusei, literally: "Homeless Middle School Student") is a Japanese autobiographical novel by Hiroshi Tamura. The novel was published Wani Books on August 31, 2007 and is licensed in China by Shanghai Translation Publishing House and in Korea by Cine21.

The Homeless Student
The Homeless Student novel written by Hiroshi Tamura as published Wani Books.
ホームレス中学生
(Hōmuresu Chūgakusei)
GenreAutobiography, Homelessness, Child abandonment
Novel
Written byHiroshi Tamura
Published byWani Books
DemographicGeneral Interest
PublishedAugust 31, 2007
Manga
Written byHiroshi Tamura
Illustrated bySanta Uonome
Published byYoshimoto Books
DemographicShōnen
Original runJanuary 17, 2008 – April 24, 2008
Volumes2
Live-action television film
Directed byHideki Takeuchi
Produced bySansao Reiko
Written byYuichi Tokunaga
StudioFuji TV
ReleasedJuly 12, 2008 (2008-07-12)
Live-action film
Directed byTomoyuki Furumaya
Produced byHomeless Middle School Student Production Committee, SEDIC International
Written byTomoyuki Furumaya, Noriko Goto
Music byTadashi Ueda
StudioToho
ReleasedOctober 25, 2008 (2008-10-25)
Runtime116 minutes
Novel
Homeless University Student
Written byKenichi Tamura
Published byWani Books
DemographicGeneral Interest
PublishedOctober 25, 2008
Live-action television film
Homeless as a Junior High School Student
Directed byHideo Jōjō
Produced byMiyabiro Toshima
Written byIzumi Yoshihiro
StudioAce Dunce Entertainment
ReleasedOctober 25, 2008 (2008-10-25)
Live-action television film
Homeless Student 2
Directed byShin Hirano
Produced bySansao Reiko
Written byYuichi Tokunaga
StudioFuji TV
ReleasedApril 12, 2009 (2009-04-12)

The novel was adapted into a two-volume manga by Yoshimoto Books, an elementary student's novel, two television specials by Fuji TV, another novel by Hiroshi's brother and a parody film by Hideo Jōjō. The novel was ranked first in the first half of 2008 on the Oricon charts. Teppei Koike was awarded the Newcomer of the Year award in 2008 at the 32nd Japan Academy Prize.

Development

Tamura credits the success of his novel to his "admittedly poor literary skills", for as a 28-year-old he was able to write like an eighth grader.[1]:390 Thesimple language, excessive use of exclamations, bold type and cartoon drawings are reminiscent of an adolescent's diary in the days before blogs.[1]:390 Freedman claims that the success of Diary of a Wimpy Kid was due to writing in a similar style to Homeless.[1]:390

Freedman comments on Homeless use of cross-media marketing pioneered by Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World.[1]:392 She notes that "all versions of Homeless Junior High School Student use Osaka dialect, and almost every artist and actor involved was from Osaka."[1]:392 The children's book was marketed through the use of the obi strip as being "full of affection for parents", framing the "importance of home and family" in homeless narratives.[1]:392

Releases

Novel
Slide at Second West Yamada Park[1]:390[2]

The Homeless Student is a novel written by Hiroshi Tamura[1]:387 On Hitoshi Matsumoto's reality television show True Funny Stories Brought to You by Hitoshi Matsumoto (人志松本のすべらない話, Hitoshi Matsumoto no suberanai hanashi) in 2006, Tamura recounted his experience of being homeless for a few weeks of the age of thirteen, where he went to a nearby park.[1]:389 The novel was published by Wani Books on August 31, 2007.[1]:389[3] The novel is licensed in China by Shanghai Translation Publishing House and in Korea by Cine21.[4][5]

Manga

The novel was adapted into a two volume manga by Yoshimoto Books, with Hiroshi Tamura as writer and Santa Uonome as illustrator, which released the books on January 17, 2008 and April 17, 2008.[6][7]

Children's book

On July 24, 2008, Wani Books published an abridged version of the novel for elementary students, illustrated by Yūji Yamamoto, using large-print and hiragana instead of kanji.[1]:393[8]

Television dramas

On July 12, 2008, a special television drama produced by and was aired on Fuji TV.[9] Hideki Takeuchi directed the special, with Yuichi Tokunaga as screenwriter and Sansao Reiko as producer.[10] Tatsuya Kuroki was cast as Hiroshi Tamura, with Kaho as Yukie Tamura, Kei Tanaka as Kenichi Tamura, Takashi Naitō as Michinori Tamura and Hiroko Yakushimaru as Keiko Tamura.[10]

A second television drama was produced by Fuji TV as The Homeless Student 2, which was broadcast as a special on April 12, 2009.[11] Shin Hirano directed the second special, with Yuichi Tokunaga as screenwriter and Sansao Reiko as producer.[11] The cast of the first special reprised their roles in the second special.[11] The ending theme for both the television specials are "Here" by The Grace.[1]:394[11]

Film

It was adapted into a Japanese film directed by Tomoyuki Furumaya in 2008.[1]:393[12] The film was produced by Toho and premiered on October 25, 2008.[1]:393 Tomoyuki Furumaya and Noriko Goto wrote the screenplay for the film.[13] The film cast Teppei Koike as Hiroshi Tamura, Akihiro Nishino as Kenichi Tamura, Chizuru Ikewaki as Sachiko Tamura and Yuko Kotegawa as Kyoko Tamura.[12] The ending theme of the film is "Here" by The Grace.[1]:394 Yoshimoto R&C released the normal and special DVDs of the film on April 24, 2009.[14][15]

Homeless University Student novel

On October 25, 2008, Kenichi Tamura, Hiroshi's brother, released a book with his own version of the novel, titled Homeless University Student (ホームレス大学生, Hōmuresu daigakusei).[16] It was published by Wani Books.[16]

Parody film

On the same date, a parody film Homeless as Junior High School Student (ホームレスが中学生, Hōmuresu ga chūgakusei) directed and written by Hideo Jōjō was released, with the main character as a middle-aged homeless man forced to return to finish his compulsory education.[1]:398 The film was produced by Jolly Roger Co. Ltd.[17] Hachirō Utsunomiya plays the lead role as Masaru Suzaki.[1]:398 In the film, Suzaki only has one spoken line, whilst most of portrayal of Suzaki's view is shown through a documentary film made by three cinema club members of the school.[1]:398 Utsunomiya also sang the parody film's ending song "What Now, Japan?" (Dō naru no, Nippon?).[1]:398 Miyabiro Toshima was the producer, whilst Izumi Yoshihiro wrote the screenplay.[17] The parody film's DVD was released Ace Dunce Entertainment on April 24, 2009.[18]

Reception

The Homeless Student novel sold over 1 million copies in a month and became the second best-selling book of 2007.[1]:388 By the premiere of the film on October 25, 2008, the book has sold 2.2 million copies.[1]:393 The novel was ranked first in the first half of 2008 on the Oricon charts.[9]

The Homeless Student film premiered on the box office in fourth place, with $1.2 million over 90,246 admissions on 309 screens.[19] Teppei Koike was awarded the Newcomer of the Year award in 2008 at the 32nd Japan Academy Prize.[20] The Japan Times' Mark Schilling compares the film to Nobody Knows, citing the similarities between the two movies. However, he criticizes the casting of Teppei Koike as he "is nearly a decade older than his character and looks it, no matter how wide he opens those baby-fawn eyes."[12] Midnight Eye's Miguel Douglas further criticizes the film for showing that "Hiroshi doesn't have the slightest chance of dying from hunger or lack of shelter". He continues his criticism of the "highly unrealistic" with "complete strangers" that "show an incredible amount of decency and hospitality towards [Hiroshi]".[21]

References
  1. Freedman, Alisa (December 9, 2011). "The Homeless Junior High School Student Phenomenon: Personalising a Social Problem". Japanese Studies. 31 (3): 387–403. doi:10.1080/10371397.2011.619171. ISSN 1469-9338.
  2. ホームレス中学生 - フジテレビ [Homeless Student - Story] (in Japanese). Fuji TV. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  3. ホームレス中学生 [単行本（ソフトカバー）] [Homeless Student (The Novel - Softcover)] (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  4. 无家可归的中学生 [Homeless Student] (in Chinese). Douban. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  5. 홈리스중학생(양장) [Homeless Student (Paperback)] (in Korean). Daum Communications. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  6. コミックホームレス中学生 [Comic: Homeless Student] (in Japanese). Yoshimoto Books. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  7. 続コミックホームレス中学生 [Continued Comic: Homeless Student] (in Japanese). Yoshimoto Books. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  8. 児童書版 ホームレス中学生 [単行本] [Children's book version of The Homeless Student [Paperback]] (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  9. ドラマ放映を受け『ホームレス中学生』が再上昇 [The Homeless Student adapted into drama] (in Japanese). Oricon. July 17, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  10. ホームレス中学生(1) [Homeless Student 1] (in Japanese). TVDrama DB. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  11. ホームレス中学生２ [Homeless Student 2] (in Japanese). TVDrama DB. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  12. Schilling, Mark (October 31, 2008). "Homeless Chugakusei". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  13. ホームレス中学生 [The Homeless Student] (in Japanese). Cinema Today. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  14. ホームレス中学生　スタンダード・エディション [Homeless Student Standard Edition] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  15. ホームレス中学生　スペシャル・エディション [Homeless Student Special Edition] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  16. "ホームレス大学生 / Hōmuresu daigakusei" (in Japanese). WorldCat. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  17. ブラック会社に勤めてるんだが、もう俺は限界かもしれない (in Japanese). Cinema Today. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  18. ホームレスが中学生 [Homeless as Junior High School Student] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  19. "Suspect X tops Japanese box office". Variety. October 28, 2008. Archived from the original on 2013-12-25. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  20. 第32回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品 [32nd Japanese Academy Award Excellent Work] (in Japanese). Japan Academy Prize. February 20, 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-04-13. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  21. Douglas, Miguel (August 10, 2010). "The Homeless Student". Midnight Eye. Archived from the original on 2013-03-27. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
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