Teen Actress Riko Narumi in movie Performance Calligraphy

Teen actress Riko Narumi (17) will star in a movie about "performance calligraphy," directed by Ryuichi Inomata ("Mari to Koinu no Monogatari"). Its focus is the Shodo Girls Koshien event, which was started last year by the NTV show "Zoom In!! SUPER."

About ten years ago, "Zoom In!! SUPER" (then known as "Zoom In!! Asa!") started following performance calligraphy, which involves teams creatively drawing kanji on large sheets of paper. In July 2008, NTV collaborated with the Kami Matsuri (paper festival) in Ehime, which produces the largest amount of paper in Japan, to hold a Shodo Performance Koshien competition. The program drew a lot of attention for performance calligraphy, so the network started holding a regular tournament known as the Shodo Girls Koshien.

The first Shodo Girls Koshien was held on January 1, 2009. Teams of high school girls drew on 10m x 12m sheets of paper while performing routines to music. By September, two more tournaments were held, and a fourth has been scheduled for January 1, 2010.

In the movie, Narumi plays the head of her high school's calligraphy club, leading her team to the Koshien. She will undergo training in calligraphy soon, as filming begins in mid-January. The movie, which is scheduled for release in May 2010, does not have an official title yet. The title will be revealed on New Year's Day, when NTV broadcasts the 4th Shodo Girls Koshien during the four-and-a-half-hour-long "Zoom In!! SUPER" special.

Tokyograph