News

Yoshika is a young hard working woman with an obsession for extinct animals. Pouring so much passion into her job and interests, her love life has remained stagnant throughout her life. This does not stop her from injecting romance into her daily life as she relieves and tells stories of a school crush to everyone she meets in her life. Determined that she will eventually be reunited with “Ichi” through a romantic fate, Yoshika is able to live a rather carefree existence that allows her to indulge in her own eccentricities. Yoshika's comfortable existence begins to change when one of her co-workers begins to openly court her.

“Tremble All You Want” is streaming on Sakka Films

With the possibility of having her first boyfriend, the memories of her high school crush, whom she views as the ideal partner, begins to escalate, culminating in her planning a school reunion to see him again.

Out of fear, out of the unknown, arises the irrational. As the paranoia of uncertainty runs amok, the responses trigged by individuals, whole communities, and even whole civilizations to clamber on to some sense of normality arouse our own perplexions; to have all we know as societies rejected and reduced to footnotes of “simpler times” produces nothing but extreme reverberations from all walks of life. When the world shutdown amidst Covid-19’s reckless rampage, the immediacy of the ordeal left its irreparable stain on the lives of all those it touched, not to mention all the lives it has thus claimed. Life became fleeting, time stood still, and the endless vacuum that sucked us all in spiraled out of control. It is the search for a new purpose that preoccupies Non’s (Rena Nounen) sophomore feature “Ribbon”, not so much as an existential yearning but as a means to stave...

Out of fear, out of the unknown, arises the irrational. As the paranoia of uncertainty runs amok, the responses trigged by individuals, whole communities, and even whole civilizations to clamber on to some sense of normality arouse our own perplexions; to have all we know as societies rejected and reduced to footnotes of “simpler times” produces nothing but extreme reverberations from all walks of life. When the world shutdown amidst Covid-19’s reckless rampage, the immediacy of the ordeal left its irreparable stain on the lives of all those it touched, not to mention all the lives it has thus claimed. Life became fleeting, time stood still, and the endless vacuum that sucked us all in spiraled out of control. It is the search for a new purpose that preoccupies Non’s (Rena Nounen) sophomore feature “Ribbon”, not so much as an existential yearning but as a means to stave...

Japanese director Ryuichi Hiroki’s career spans over many decades as well as genres, from pink film to serious drama. Ever since his feature debut “Seigyaku!” his films have been regularly featured in many international festivals such as Nippon Connection.

We sat down with the director to discuss his film “It’s Boring Here Pick Me Up”, its portrayal of youth and village life as well as his opinion to themes like being young or the meaning of family.

“It’s Boring Here Pick Me Up” is screening at Nippon Connection

As you know, this year’s Nippon Connection features the topic of outsiders and outlaws in Japanese society. Do you consider yourself an outlaw or, more specifically, an outlaw filmmaker?

What do you think?

Well, I would not say outlaw. But you most certainly show characters who are outsiders or who feel as outsiders at least.

That might be true,...

"You're wasting your time! Go away" Grasshopper Films has debuted the official Us trailer for a Japanese romantic drama titled Asako I & II, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year. This is actually just one 119 minute film, despite the title including what references to what looks like Part I & Part II. The title is actually a reference to the plot - where a woman from Osaka (named Asako) meets a man, falls in love with him, then he disappears. Two years later, she meets his perfect double. Erika Karata stars as Asako, along with Masahiro Higashide as both Baku & Ryôhei (of course), plus Sairi Itô, Kôji Nakamoto, Kôji Seto, Misako Tanaka, and Daichi Watanabe. This played to quite a bit of acclaim at Cannes, and stopped by a number of other prestigious festivals last fall. Everyone always talks about the cat. If you're in the mood for...

Yoshika is a young hard working woman with an obsession for extinct animals. Pouring so much passion into her job and interests, her love life has remained stagnant throughout her life. This does not stop her from injecting romance into her daily life as she relieves and tells stories of a school crush to everyone she meets in her life. Determined that she will eventually be reunited with “Ichi” through a romantic fate, Yoshika is able to live a rather carefree existence that allows her to indulge in her own eccentricities. Yoshika’s comfortable existence begins to change when one of her co-workers begins to openly court her.

Tremble All You Want is screening at Camera Japan

With the possibility of having her first boyfriend, the memories of her high school crush, whom she views as the ideal partner, begins to escalate, culminating in her planning a school reunion to see him again.

Based on the novel of the same name (2010) by Risa Wataya and directed by Akiko Ohku , “Tremble All You Want” conquered the public’s hearts at the Tokyo Film Festival 2017 by winning the Audience Award. And the award is well deserved as this romantic comedy might speak to many people, as it goes beyond the film’s genre stereotypes and focuses on a more recurrent issue: how to love and confess.

“Tremble All You Want” is screening at the 19th Jeonju International Film Festival

Yoshika (Mayu Matsuoka), 24 years old, is a peculiar accountant that has a 10-year-long crush on her first love whom she calls ‘Ichi’ (Takumi Kitamura) from ‘ichiban’ which means number one. Yoshika is content with her life, talking nonstop about ‘Ichi’ with everyone, until one day, an event occurs that sets her mind towards finding ‘Ichi’ and confess. Meanwhile, her office friend Kurumi (Anna Ishibashi) tries to...

Film producer and screenwriter Norio Enomoto has uploaded a trailer for an upcoming film he’s written and directed called A Sky Too Far to See (Mienai hodo no Tooku no Sora o).

The film stars Ryu Morioka (To Walk Beside You) as Ken, a young film student hard at work on his graduation film project. However, the female lead, Risa (Natsuki Okamoto)—who had been at odds with Ken regarding the final scene—dies in an accident right before they get a chance to shoot it. Thus, the film is shelved.

A year later, Ken meets Risa’s twin sister, Yoko. He decides to re-shoot the final scene of his movie with her in the lead, but once again things don’t go quite according to plan.

The film’s youth-slanted main cast also includes Daichi Watanabe (The Shikisoku Generation), Ichiro Hashimoto (son of Koji Yakusho), Takahiro Sato (The Taste of Tea), Tomoya Maeno,...

Japan Cuts Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema (July 1-16) is coming to Japan Society for its fourth consecutive year, with its biggest line-up ever. With 24 titles and 30 screenings, this is the largest showcase of contemporary Japanese film outside Japan, with international and U.S. premieres, special guests (filmmakers Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Tomorowo Taguchi, Toshiaki Toyoda, Hitoshi Yazaki, and Isao Yukisada; and actors Tatsuya Fujiwara and Daichi Watanabe), parties (Festival Launch Party on July 1st, Sushi Typhoon! on July 3rd and Night Of The Filmmakers on July 10th) and giveaways.

[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]

On my first day of film viewing at the 10th Nippon Connection film festival, I had the great pleasure of seeing what might turn out to be one of it's strongest entries: "Oh, My Buddha!," the second film directed by Tomorowo Taguchi, who is best known for his acting work in films as diverse as "Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha," "Gohatto," "The Eel" and "Tetsuo: the Iron Man," in which he plays the title character. Though I haven't yet seen his 2003 directorial debut "Iden & Tity," it is clear from "Oh, My Buddha!" alone that he has developed a very confident and mature understanding of filmmaking, maintaining a sharp control over his style and drawing you into a well-told and compulsively watchable story.

The film follows young Jun, a first-year student at an all-boys Buddhist high school in Kyoto. The year is 1974, and Jun is an aspiring musician who lovingly worships...