The critically acclaimed manga, "Umimachi Diary," by Akimi Yoshida will join the list of popular mangas to have live action adaptations. The Asahi Shimbun confirms Cannes-winning Hirokazu Koreeda to spearhead the feature film.

Koreeda is one of Japan's leading film directors. He has a number of awards to his name from film festivals at home and abroad. His latest work, "Like Father, Like Son" won the jury prize at the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival. Although the prestigious director used his own original ideas for his past films, The Asahi Shimbun, reports Koreeda as "eager to make a feature film adaptation of the manga series."

"Umimachi Diary" is set in the Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. Three sisters, who live together with their grandmother, receive news of their estranged father's death. They also meet their younger half sister and decide to live together with her. The story evolves around the four sisters trying to build a family after losing their father.

In 2007, the manga won the Manga Division's Excellence Award at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival. It also received the Cartoon Grand Prize in 2013. Shogakukan Inc.'s Flowers monthly comic anthology has been publishing the original series since 2006. It is currently being released irregularly and has spanned five volumes.

Four actresses has been confirmed to play the Koda sisters in the "Umimachi Diary" live action, according to Tokyo Hive. Koda Sachi, the eldest sister, will be played by Haruka Ayase while Masami Nagasawa will be the second sibling, Yoshino. The third daughter, Chika, will be portrayed by Kaho. The sibling's half sister, Suzu, will be played by Suzu Hirose.

Director Koreeda plans to depict one year of the girls' lives as they adjust to becoming a family of four. The production will start shooting for official promotional materials in July, although some footage have already been shot ahead of time. The "Umimachi Diary" live action will be showing in Japanese theaters summer of 2015.