Quick answer: In the US, you can stream The Watch The Garden of Words on Crunchyroll, HIDIVE or Kanopy, depending on your region and subscription. It is also listed on Prime Video for rent or purchase, and Netflix has a title page for it in some countries. Catalogs rotate, so check the app before you subscribe.
Makoto Shinkai’s 2013 film runs about 46 minutes, which makes it an easy single-evening watch. It follows a teenage aspiring shoemaker and an older woman who keep meeting in a Tokyo garden on rainy mornings.
Where can you watch The Garden of Words?
Availability shifts by country, and different tracking sites report different results, so treat the list below as a starting point.
| Option | What to know |
|---|---|
| Crunchyroll | Wikipedia records the film as added to Crunchyroll on December 3, 2025, and the service has a dedicated title page for it. |
| HIDIVE | JustWatch’s US listing showed the film streaming here at the time of writing. |
| Kanopy | Listed as free to stream in the US. Kanopy typically works through a participating library or university membership, so you may need to sign in with those details. |
| Prime Video | Has a title page for the film. Rental and purchase are the more reliable way to watch there. |
| Netflix | Has a title page in at least some regions. TV Guide’s listing showed the film as not currently streaming, so confirm in your own region. |
| Blu-ray / DVD | Sentai Filmworks holds the North American license, Anime Limited the UK license and Madman Entertainment the Australian one. |
Three tips help avoid frustration:
- Search the title inside your own streaming apps first, because regional catalogs differ.
- Use JustWatch to check quickly, but treat the app itself as the final word.
- Stick to licensed platforms. The film has been on official storefronts since its 2013 debut, so there is little reason to use anything else.
What is The Garden of Words about?
The film opens at the start of Tokyo’s rainy season. Takao Akizuki, a 15-year-old who wants to become a shoemaker, skips first period to sketch shoe designs in a garden modelled on Shinjuku Gyoen. There he meets Yukari Yukino, a 27-year-old woman drinking beer and eating chocolate on a weekday morning. They never introduce themselves properly, but they keep returning on rainy days.
Yukari leaves Takao a fragment of classical poetry, a tanka, when they part. He doesn’t understand it yet. The rest of the story turns on him finding the answer, and on what each of them is hiding from the other.
Without giving away the ending, the story develops in three stages:
- The rainy-season meetings. The garden acts as a private space away from school, work and family pressure.
- The reveal. Takao learns who Yukari really is and why she has been avoiding her job.
- The confrontation. Both characters have to decide what their bond actually is.
Who are Takao and Yukari?
Takao Akizuki is voiced by Miyu Irino in Japanese and Patrick Poole in English. He is focused and serious about his craft, but his home life is unsettled. His mother is more absorbed in her own love life than his, and his older brother is moving out.
Yukari Yukino is voiced by Kana Hanazawa in Japanese and Maggie Flecknoe in English. She is a literature teacher who has withdrawn from work after being targeted by gossip and bullying at school. Shinkai has said he wanted her to feel imperfect and human, so he gave her nervous habits and flaws instead of writing a flawless older woman.
sourecs: tvguide.com
Is The Garden of Words a romance?
It is a love story in the older sense of the word, and it is not a conventional romance. Shinkai has explained that he built the film around the traditional Japanese idea of love as longing for someone while alone, a “lonely sadness,” instead of the more modern idea of romantic courtship.
That matters for how you read the age difference between the leads. Takao is 15 and Yukari is 27, and she is also a teacher at his school, though not one he knows at first. The film treats his feelings as sincere but does not present a relationship between them as the answer. Yukari reminds him of the boundary between them, and reviewers have argued about how to read this. Some see two lonely people who mistook mutual comfort for romance. Others find the age gap uncomfortable however carefully it is handled. Both readings are fair, and the film’s restraint is part of why it stays discussed.
The core theme is loneliness. Shinkai has said the film doesn’t treat loneliness as something that must be fixed. Instead, the characters help each other learn to keep walking, which is why shoes appear as a recurring symbol.
Why is the film so admired? A look at its craft
Shinkai wrote, directed and edited the film, and CoMix Wave Films animated it. Several choices stand out.
- Rain as texture. The film blends hand-drawn work, computer animation and rotoscoping to make rain look tactile. Shinkai drew half his backgrounds over his own photographs of Shinjuku and invented the rest.
- Detailed settings, lighter characters. As in most of his work, the environments are richly detailed while the figures are simpler.
- Music. Daisuke Kashiwa composed the score, replacing Tenmon, who scored many of Shinkai’s earlier films. The closing theme is a remake of Senri Oe’s 1988 song “Rain,” performed by Motohiro Hata.
- Awards. The film won the 2013 Kobe Theatrical Film Award and took awards at Fantasia and the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film. iTunes also named it the year’s best animation in 2013.
Critical response was strong on visuals but divided on story. Some reviewers wished it were longer or thought the climax was overwrought, while others called it one of Shinkai’s most focused works. This is a fair summary if you’re deciding whether it’s for you: the art is nearly always praised, and the emotional payoff depends on your patience for melodrama.
How does it connect to Your Name and Suzume?
The links are small but real. Takao makes a silent cameo at the end of Your Name, and Yukari appears in that film as a teacher in Mitsuha’s class. Shinkai’s later films, including Your Name (2016) and Suzume (2022), are far larger productions. The Garden of Words is intimate by comparison, with two main characters and one location. If you found Your Name too sprawling, this shorter film is a good next step. If you want to explore the rest of the director’s work first, see our Makoto Shinkai films guide.
Is there a Garden of Words 2?
No sequel has been announced. I searched for any official announcement and found none, so there is no release date. Some sites list “The Garden of Words 2” pages, but I could not find any confirmation from Shinkai or CoMix Wave Films behind them.
There is, however, a continuation of sorts in print. Shinkai’s own novelization, published in 2014, includes scenes not in the film. In the novel, Takao prepares to study shoemaking in Italy, the two exchange letters, and they reunite in Tokyo in May 2018. The film’s manga adaptation and a stage play, which ran in London and Tokyo in 2023, also interpret the story differently. For sequel news, check CoMix Wave Films and Shinkai’s official channels.
Who should watch it?
The film suits viewers who like quiet, atmospheric drama and don’t need action or fantasy. It is rated PG-13 in the US and is generally considered more appropriate for teenagers and adults because of its emotional themes. It does touch on bullying, workplace stress and a difficult age gap.
6. Custom FAQ Section
Is there a Garden of Words 2?
No. There has been no official announcement of a sequel to Makoto Shinkai’s 2013 film. Takao and Yukari’s later story is only continued in Shinkai’s novelization, which adds new scenes.
What is The Garden of Words movie about?
It is a 46-minute Japanese animated drama about Takao Akizuki, a teenager who wants to become a shoemaker, and Yukari Yukino, an older woman. They keep meeting in a Tokyo garden on rainy mornings and slowly open up to each other about their struggles.
Is The Garden of Words on Netflix?
It depends on your country. Netflix has a title page for the film, but a TV Guide listing showed it as not currently streaming. In the US it has more consistently appeared on Crunchyroll, HIDIVE and Kanopy, so check your own Netflix catalog before subscribing.
When is the release date for The Garden of Words 2?
There is no release date because no sequel has been announced. The original film was released in Japan on May 31, 2013.
Is The Garden of Words an anime movie?
Yes. It is a Japanese animated film directed by Makoto Shinkai and produced by CoMix Wave Films. It runs about 46 minutes, so it is shorter than a typical feature.
7. FAQ Schema (JSON-LD)
8. Important Entities Mentioned
- Film and creators: The Garden of Words (言の葉の庭, Kotonoha no Niwa), Makoto Shinkai, CoMix Wave Films, Toho, Daisuke Kashiwa, Senri Oe, Motohiro Hata, Tenmon
- Characters: Takao Akizuki, Yukari Yukino
- Voice cast: Miyu Irino, Kana Hanazawa, Patrick Poole, Maggie Flecknoe
- Related films: Your Name, Suzume
- Setting and concepts: Tokyo, Shinjuku Gyoen, Shikoku, rainy season, tanka, Man’yōshū poetry, koi (“lonely sadness”), shoemaking, loneliness, bullying, age difference
- Streaming and licensors: Crunchyroll, HIDIVE, Kanopy, Prime Video, Netflix, JustWatch, TV Guide, Sentai Filmworks, Anime Limited, Madman Entertainment
- Publishers and adaptations: Kadokawa Shoten (novel), Yen Press (English novel), Kodansha and Vertical (manga), Whole Hog Theatre (stage play)
- Awards and festivals: Kobe Theatrical Film Award, Fantasia International Film Festival, Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film, iTunes Best of 2013
9. Suggested Featured Image Idea
A wide, rain-soaked garden scene in a soft green-and-grey palette, with a wooden pavilion roof in the background and a single pair of handmade shoes resting on a bench in the foreground. Rain streaks and puddle reflections give the image the film’s atmosphere. Overlay the title text “Where to Watch The Garden of Words” in a clean serif font on the left third.
Use original artwork or a licensed stock illustration in this style. Do not use stills or posters from the film unless you hold the rights, since they belong to CoMix Wave Films and its distributors.
Suggested alt text: Rainy Tokyo garden with a pair of handmade shoes on a bench, illustrating where to watch The Garden of Words.
Editorial notes for you:
- Recheck the streaming table right before publishing. HIDIVE, Kanopy and Crunchyroll listings changed between sources I checked, which is normal for older anime catalogs.
- If you publish mainly for a UK audience, I can rewrite the viewing section around UK platforms and the Anime Limited Blu-ray. I could not confirm current UK streaming options in my search.
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