The death of her precious cat, Cava who has been her companion for 15 years, plunges Asako, a 40-year old comic book artist, in deep depression. Her assistant, Naomi, watches on with concern as Asako's meltdown starts to affect her work. One day, Asako chanced upon a new cat, GuGu. GuGu's energy and innocence brings renewed joy and vitality into Asako's life. Her newfound radiance also attracts the attention of a man named Seiji. Just when life starts to become purrfect for Asako, she gets news that threatens everything...

Based on a true story, Hula Girls is a heartwarming comedy about the change in the lives of a group of coal miners' daughters and the story behind one of Japan's most popular theme park. Living in the remote mining town of Joban, a town that is still struggling through the post-war devastation, the girls took an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to escape from their monotonous boring lives by taking up hula dancing. Even though the young girls face objections and obstacles as they learn the skills from scratch from a disinterested Tokyo professional dancer, they persevere and eventually become unwitting heroines to their mining town. The movie won numerous awards in the country, including the best film, best director, best screenplay, best supporting actress and most popular film at the 2007 Japan Academy Awards.