Nobuhiko Obayashi gained a cult following for his debut feature film House. The horror comedy remains popular nearly 50 years later. I saw a couple folks wearing House t-shirts at a recent Japanese anime convention. His later films haven’t made such an impact mainly because they were never exported to America. Luckily this is being remedied in the coming months thanks to Cult Epics releasing his four “teenage symphonies” films on home video. His Motorcycle, Her Island is the first and shows that Obayashi knew how to deal with romance as well as horror-comedy.
Koh Hashimoto (Dead Or Alive‘s Riki Takeuchi) is a music student in college who has a part time job with a newspaper. He rides his Kawasaki motorcycle to accident scenes to collect a reporter’s notes and rolls of film and then races through the traffic back to the office to get the wreckage in the next edition. This is what we did before the digital age. Things look good for him until the brother of his ex-girlfriend surprises him in the work parking lot. He’s not happy that Koh broke up with her and wants him back with her. Instead of waiting around, Koh hops on his motorcycle and takes a long trip into the countryside. On the journey, he meets Miyoko Shiraishi (Kiwako Harada). She likes taking pictures of him on his bike. Later they have a chance encounter at a bathhouse. They become intimate enough that Koh teaches Miyoko how to ride a motorcycle. But he still has flashbacks to the ex-girlfriend. Is he really over her or is he mostly not wanting to deal with her brother?
His Motorbike, Her Island gets to the core of a man who thinks he’s free on his motorcycle except he’s finding himself being drawn to two young women. Director Nobuhiko Obayashi keeps the viewer able to tell the difference between Koh’s relationship with the women by having scenes in color and others in black and white. This is explained that Koh claims he dreams in black and white. We know who is his dream girl. The film also shows how reckless Koh and his pals are on their motorcycles. At one point he and another rider get into a dangerous jousting attack. Even when they’re not doing something reckless, there’s a sense that around any corner, a motorcycle rider will get hit by a truck or just lay their bike down. While not a horror film like House, there’s plenty of scares. Being on a motorcycle comes off as death defying and not just a transportation choice. There is jeopardy in the feeling of freedom. The same can be said of Koh’s relationships with the two women. Obayashi takes us on a wild ride of the heart and asphalt in His Motorbike, Her Island.
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic. The transfer looks great for the black and white scenes and the color action. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 Mono and DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono. Both tracks are in Japanese. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary by Samm Deighan has her giving a perspective on Obayashi’s melodrama period in the ’80s. She points out an actor who also worked with Godzilla. She gets into how people who enjoy House, need to see more of Obayashi’s now that it’s finally arriving in America.
Becoming the Wind: His Motorbike, Her Island and the Biker Movie (25:11) is a visual essay by Esther Rosenfield. The exploration goes into earlier motorcycle films from America including Marlon Brando in The Wild One and Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising. There is also talk of female biker movies and how there’s openly ladies liking ladies elements. Esther gets into the meaning of the ending of the film which we won’t spoil.
Her Island: Onomichi Pt. 1 (21:18) is a visual essay by Alex Pratt about director Obayashi filming in his hometown island. He gives meaning to locations in the film for both the plot and the director’s childhood.
Director Nobuhiko Obayashi Archival Interview (15:44) has him point out that he won’t rank his films because they are matter in different ways to him. He does talk about American B-movies versus A-movies. He gets into how His Motorcycle, Her Island came together. We get a tale of when things almost went bad during the motorcycle shoot. Nobuhiko Obayashi passed away in 2020.
Nobuhiko Obayashi Trailers includes all four of the films Cult Epics will be releasing: His Motorbike, Her Island, School In The Crosshairs, The Island Closest to Heaven and The Girl Who Leapt Thru Time.
24-page reproduction of the Japanese booklet has how the movie was sold. This is filled with photos from the production. This is only included in the first pressing.
Cult Epics present His Motorcycle, Her Island. Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. Screenplay by Ikuo Sekimoto. Starring Kiwako Harada, Riki Takeuchi, Noriko Watanabe, Tomokazu Miura, Ryōichi Takayanagi and Takahiro Tamura. Running Time: 90 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: August 12, 2025.
