Swallowtail butterfly

Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species.Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing butterflies of the genus Ornithoptera.

Swallowtails have a number of distinctive features; for example, the papilionid caterpillar bears a repugnatorial organ called the osmeterium on its prothorax. The osmeterium normally remains hidden, but when threatened, the larva turns it outward through a transverse dorsal groove by inflating it with fluid.

The forked appearance of the swallowtails' hind wings, which can be seen when the butterfly is resting with its wings spread, gave rise to the common name swallowtail. As for its formal name, Linnaeus chose Papilio for the type genus, as Papilio is Latin for 'butterfly'. For the specific epithets of the genus, Linnaeus applied the names of Greek heroes to the swallowtails. The type species: Papilio machaon honoured Machaon, one of the sons of Asclepius, mentioned in the Iliad.

Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)

"Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)" (あいのうた, Suwarōteiru Batafurai Ai no Uta, "Love Song") is a song by Chara, released under the name Yen Town Band. It was the lead single from Montage, a concept album released for the Shunji Iwai film Swallowtail Butterfly that also starred Chara. This song was used as the theme song for the film.

The single debuted at #31 on Oricon's singles charts. Two months later, after the release of the film and album, the single managed to reach #1.

The song was written by Takeshi Kobayashi, in collaboration with Chara and film director Shunji Iwai.

Music video

The music video begins with a long panning shot over a cityscape. It then shows Chara against a farm windmill. It then switches to a junkyard, where Chara and several other people are filtering through rubbish. They eventually find a working piano, which they bring back on the back of a pickup truck. Chara plays the piano as the car drives off. This scene is intersperces with scenes from the movie.

Swallowtail (film)

Swallowtail, also known as Swallowtail Butterfly (スワロウテイル Suwarōteiru), is a 1996 Japanese crime film directed by Shunji Iwai, starring Hiroshi Mikami, pop-singer Chara, and Ayumi Ito.

The film was shot on hand-held cameras using jump cuts and other visual techniques. It covers a wide array of themes and genres, from social realism to coming-of-age to crime.

A theme song for the film under Yen Town Band "Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta)" gained No. 1 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.

Plot

The film is set in Tokyo at an unspecified point in the near future when the Japanese yen has become the strongest currency in the world. This attracts an influx of immigrants, legal and illegal, to work in the city. The immigrants give the city the nickname Yen Town (円都, ien taun). The Japanese natives, however, despise the nickname, and in retribution call the immigrants by the homophone Yen Thieves (円盗, ien taun), anglicised as "Yentowns" in the film's English subtitles.

The story centers around a sixteen-year-old girl (Ito) whose mother has just died. The girl is passed on from person to person until she is taken in by a Chinese Yentown prostitute named Glico (Chara), who names her Ageha (Japanese for swallowtail). Under Glico's care, Ageha starts a new life.