I was re-watching this recently, and I was wondering if anyone knows what the book is that Sawatari is reciting from at the beginning of the movie (in the classroom)? Is it the same book that Hiroki is reading on the train near the end (Kenji Miyazawa's Spring and Asura)?
As an aside, a new Makoto Shinkai film is apparently currently due in "early spring" 2007. There's a short trailer on the official page,
http://5cm.yahoo.co.jp/.