"Hotaru no Hoshi" is quite a wonderful film. It is a warm story about a young teacher who has some good ideas about teaching, but he finds himself up against Japan's regimented and conservative school system.
As a class project he decides to raise Hotaru (fireflies). Through the project his students become united and end up cleaning up a local river so the fireflies will have a home.
Hiroshi Sugawara who directed this film was offered a part in "The Last Samurai" starring Tom Cruise. He rejected the part to make this film. When he approached people to get the film made, they asked him if it had a love interest, he answered that the only love scenes were the fireflies. They asked if there was any action, to which he answered there was no action. They then asked, how long would it take to make and his answer was he needed 12 months so he could capture all the seasons. They thought he was crazy but thankfully someone saw the potential and the film was made.
