Hula Girls

Hula Girls , Fura gru? is a Japanese film, directed by Sangil Lee and cowritten by Lee and Daisuke Habara, and first released across Japanese theaters on September 23, 2006. Starring Y Aoi, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Shizuyo Yamazaki, Ittoku Kishibe, Eri Tokunaga, Yoko Ikezu and Sumiko Fuji, it is based on the reallife event of how a group of enthusiastic girls take on hula dancing to save their small mining village, Iwaki, helping the formation of Joban Hawaiian Center now known as Spa Resort Hawaiians, which was later to become one of Japans most popular theme parks. It received its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In 1965, the cold, northern coal mining town of Iwaki, was facing unemployment due to oil becoming the predominant energy resource in Japan.The mining company develops a plan to use hot springs, which seeped into the mines, to provide heat for a Hawaiian Center spa resort. The plan is greeted with hostility by the miners, but the company recruits Madoka Hirayama Matsuyuki a downonherluck dance instructor from Tokyo to train local girls in the hula. ........

Source: Wikipedia