Casting Blossoms to the Sky (Japanese: この空の花　長岡花火物語, Hepburn: Kono sora no hana: Nagaoka hanabi monogatari) is a 2012 Japanese drama film directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi.

[1] In the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, a journalist is invited to Nagaoka by her ex-boyfriend, a schoolteacher who is directing a play about how the city was decimated by a WWII air raid and the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake.

She travels to the city to report on the disaster and perhaps to meet the ex-boyfriend.

While there, she learns about the experiences of its inhabitants and stumbles upon a stage play written by an enigmatic student.

The film tells the story of the city, its people and the various Japanese views of war (past and present).