7 Days of Himawari & Her Puppies

7 Days of Himawari & Her Puppies (Japanese: ひまわりと子犬の7日間, Hepburn: Himawari to Koinu no Nanokakan) is a 2013 Japanese drama film directed by Emiko Hiramatsu. The screenplay, co-written by Hiramatsu, is based on a novel by Yumi Yamashita. The film, produced and distributed by Shochiku, was released in Japan on March 16, 2013, and has a runtime of 117 minutes.

Himawari to Koinu no Nanokakan promotional image — Promotional image for the film.

Plot

The narrative centers on the operations of a local animal shelter in Japan. The facility adheres to a strict policy where stray animals are held for a period of seven days; if an owner does not claim the pet within this timeframe, the animal is euthanized. The story follows a female dog named Himawari, who struggles to protect her puppies while navigating the challenges of the shelter environment.

Cast

The film features an ensemble cast, including:

Masato Sakai as Shoji Kanzaki
Miki Nakatani as Yoshihisa Igarashi
Denden as Yasuoka
Masayasu Wakabayashi as Kazuya Sasaki
Isao Natsuyagi as Takao Nagatomo
Reiko Kusamura as Koshi Nagatomo
Tokie Hidari as Assemblywoman Matsunaga
Risa Kondou as Satomi Kanzaki
Kanata Fujimoto as Fuyuki Kanzaki
Rei Dan as Chinatsu Kanzaki
Nenji Kobayashi as Sakurai
Kazuko Yoshiyuki as Kotoe Kanzaki
Kaito Matsushima as Katsuyuki Kikuchi

Tokie Hidari as Assemblywoman Matsunaga.

Reception

At the 37th Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony held on March 7, 2014, Masayasu Wakabayashi received the Popularity Award for his performance in the film.