Japan Society’s Fall 2025 Yukio Mishima Centennial Series: Emergences continues with the world premiere dance production of The Seven Bridges (Hashi-zukushi). A vibrant new work for all ages from the Tokyo-based dance company CHAiroiPLIN with choreography by company founder Takuro Suzuki is based on a lesser-known short story of the same title by Yukio Mishima.

The Seven Bridges

Saturday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 16 at 2:30 p.m. — Followed by an Artist Q&A

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $48 | $36 Japan Society members

About The Seven Bridges

CHAiroiPLIN (a tongue-in-cheek amalgamation of Charlie Chaplin’s name and the Japanese word chairoi, meaning “brown”) is acclaimed for converting great authors’ novels into disarmingly enchanting yet satirical performances, appropriate for all ages, told almost entirely through movement. In this work, founder and choreographer Takuro Suzuki and company take on Yukio Mishima’s suspenseful and humorous short story. Following a fanciful superstition that crossing seven bridges without conversing with anyone on a full moon night will make their wishes come true, four women occupying different positions of wealth and societal status set out on a journey under the watchful gaze of the Moon. As distractions and mishaps befall the women, their race to the end of the seventh bridge becomes increasingly fraught—who, if anyone, will be able to make it to the end, and for what kind of wish? With spirited, arresting and slapstick movement set to an impressive range of high-energy music encompassing Daft Punk, Balkan brass band Fanfare Ciocărlia, eccentric original songs performed live, and more, Suzuki and CHAiroiPLIN infuse unbridled charm into Mishima’s compact reflection on ritual and desire.

Yukio Mishima’s short story “The Seven Bridges” was originally published in Japan in 1956. Two years later, Mishima himself developed this story into a dance drama. While CHAiroiPLIN’s entirely original work reflects their own signature gleefully absurdist style, the company has deliberately adapted a narrative which Mishima himself envisioned as uniquely appropriate for the dance stage.

This program is presented by Japan Society as part of Carnegie Hall’s Spotlight on Japan. Recommended for ages 7+. Performance runs approximately 55 minutes. To purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website. Ticketholders will also receive complimentary, same-day admission for one person to Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries, on view at Japan Society Gallery through January 11, 2026. To view the exhibition, please show ticket/receipt to the Welcome Desk for free admission before the performance.

About CHAiroiPLIN

CHAiroiPLIN is a Tokyo-based dance company founded by the dancer/choreographer Takuro Suzuki. Made up of a combination of theater performers and dancers, the company incorporates an expressive variety of forms fusing dance, dialogue, singing, onomatopoeia, and other creative elements. They aim to create highly entertaining and narrative-driven dance performances that can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages.

Since its establishment in 2007, CHAiroiPLIN has received numerous awards for its ongoing “Dancing Literature” series, which adapts modern and classical Japanese literature and plays ranging from novels to manga, rakugo (traditional comedic storytelling) and folktales, utilizing idiosyncratic and stylized body movements and expert choreography. Some notable productions include Fantasy Stone (based on Shigeru Mizuki’s manga), which was awarded the Audience Prize in the 1st Sengawa Drama Contest; Market, a winner of the NEXTREAM21 Dance Festival All Genre Dance Contest; and Friends (based on an absurdist play by the acclaimed Japanese dramatist Kobo Abe), a winner of the Grand Prize at the Young Directors Competition.

About Takuro Suzuki

Takuro Suzuki was born in Niigata Prefecture in 1985. He studied theater, pantomime, and dance at Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music, led by world-renowned Japanese director Yukio Ninagawa. After graduating, he continued to present public performances that spotlight new possibilities of combining dance and theater. He aims to create works incorporating a variety of dance, dialogues, singing, and Japanese onomatopoeia that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Suzuki founded the dance company CHAiroiPLIN in 2007 and has been a primary member of the dance company CONDORS since 2011. He choreographs and has appeared in NHK’s hugely popular weekly children’s program Miitsuketa! (“Found it!”) and created choreography for the television programs Touken Ranbu and Bungo Stray Dogs. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the New Artist Award from the Agency for Cultural Affairs Arts Festival, the Yokohama Dance Collection EX Honorable Mention and was a finalist for the Toyota Choreography Award. In 2015, he was selected as the 2015 Ambassador of Cultural Exchange in East Asia, and he received the New Artist Award in the Dance Division from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology in 2024.

About Yukio Mishima

Born Kimitake Hiraoka, Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, ultra-nationalist, and leader of an attempted coup d'état that culminated in his suicide. Mishima is considered one of the most important postwar stylists of the Japanese language. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times in the 1960s. His works include the novels Confessions of a Mask, Life for Sale, and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea as well as the plays My Friend Hitler, The Lady Aoi, and Madame de Sade.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Mishima’s birth, Japan Society has hosted a compelling roster of new productions and U.S. company premieres throughout the fall. More than half a century since Mishima’s last published work, he continues to inspire artists in the 21st century. Japan Society Artistic Director Yoko Shioya remarks, “This series revitalizes Mishima’s contributions to the world of the arts through a slate of brand-new commissions and premieres adapting his writings, as well as a historic U.S. debut for a revered Noh company. This series not only recognizes Mishima’s critical legacy, but the ongoing current influence of this essential post-war author on artists today.”

The Series launched in September with Yukio Mishima’s KINKAKUJI, a Japan Society world premiere commission adapted for the stage by Leon Ingulsrud and Major Curda from Mishima’s novel Kinkakuji (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion) with scenic design by internationally acclaimed visual artist Chiharu Shiota. The series continued in October with Le Tambour de Soie (The Silk Drum), co-created by Yoshi Oida and Kaori Ito, both headlining artists in France’s performing arts’ scene. This work mixes contemporary dance with exquisite movement adapted from Noh into a dark and seductive piece of dance-theater, based on Mishima’s adaptation on the traditional Japanese Noh classic Aya no Tsuzumi.

Following the world premiere of The Seven Bridges (Hashi-zukushi), the Series culminates with Mishima’s Muse – Noh Theater on December 4 through 6, featuring the momentous U.S. debut of the distinguished Hosho Noh School performing a set of plays which Mishima later adapted, including Aya no Tsuzumi, Aoi no Ue, and the original kyogen (comedic) play Busu, adapted by Mishima into a modern English comedy.

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Susan McCormac 7/20/25 Susan McCormac 7/20/25

Dassai Sake Series Continues at Japan Society

Dassai Sake Series at Japan Society: Conversation with Dassai Chairman Hiroshi Sakurai and Keiko Ono Aoki, entrepreneur and CEO of Benihana of Tokyo

Dassai Sake Series: Benihana and Beyond

Thursday, July 24 at 7:00 p.m. (Please arrive by 6:45 p.m.)

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $45 | $35 Japan Society members

Join Dassai Chairman Hiroshi Sakurai and Keiko Ono Aoki, entrepreneur and CEO of Benihana of Tokyo, for a talk about the past, present, and future of both organizations. Both leaders will engage in a dialogue around the themes of “Challenge” and “Innovation,” discussing how they blend yesterday and tomorrow with the goal of rising to the modern world.

How are we defined by our history, and what is our obligation to it? What are the realities of the U.S.-Japan world today and new dangers and opportunities within it? Is there a future without innovation? How can one create change within a historic organization? And what are the needs to create real revolution? Japan Society invites you to spend the evening with Hiroshi Sakurai and Keiko Ono Aoki to hear their answers.

To purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website.

About the Dassai Sake Series

The Dassai Sake Series is an ongoing lecture series pairing thought and business leaders from across the U.S.-Japan world together onstage with festive sake celebrations. The Dassai brand is built around the goal of bringing revolution to the sake industry, and the Dassai Sake Series is similarly focused on engaging conversations with U.S.-Japan leaders who have created their own revolutions—each concluding with celebratory networking receptions and kampai toasts to their success.

Susan McCormac 7/4/25 Susan McCormac 7/4/25

Japan Society’s Film Festival Begins July 10

JAPAN CUTS 2025 Powered by GU

Thursday, July 10 through Sunday, July 20

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese film returns for its 18th year this summer at Japan Society! In the span of eleven days from July 10 through 20, audiences will be treated to 30 curated films from across Japan featuring major award winners, indie darlings, up-and-coming filmmakers, restorations, documentaries, experimental and short films, and anime. JAPAN CUTS Powered by GU is a showcase of the latest in Japanese cinema, featuring both today’s most popular actors and directors as well as tomorrow’s pioneering talent.

Festival Highlights

JAPAN CUTS Powered by GU will present legendary director Kiyoshi Kurosawa with the CUT ABOVE Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film, host the premieres of his new film Cloud and recent remake of Serpent’s Path, as well as showcase revivals of License to Live and a new 4K restoration of the original Serpent’s Path.
A special screening of Yasuhiro Aoki’s ChaO in collaboration with GKIDS on Opening Night. JAPAN CUTS is presenting ChaO before it goes to theaters in Japan in August.
Yuumi Kawai, Japan Academy Film Prize Best Actress winner, appearing in-person for the North American Premiere of A Girl Named Ann and the U.S. Premiere of She Taught Me Serendipity.
A Closing Night screening and shochu reception following the U.S. Premiere of The Spirit of Japan, featuring Yamatozakura Distillery and the film’s director, Joseph Overbey, in attendance.

Admission Information & Pricing

Screenings with Receptions: $26 Nonmembers | $18 Members | $23 seniors and students
Screenings with Q&As: $24 Nonmembers | $17 Member | $22 seniors and students
All Other Screenings: $20 Nonmembers | $14 Members | $18 seniors and students
Short Films: $10 Nonmembers | Free for Members | $5 seniors and students
All-Access Pass: SOLD OUT

Become a member to save 20% on all tickets and reserve free tickets for the SHORT CUTS short films presentation.

Waitlists for Sold-Out Screenings

Those wishing to attend sold-out screenings can visit the Japan Society Box Office in person. There is no online or email waitlist for sold-out screenings. A physical waitlist will begin one hour before each sold-out event. Ten minutes prior to the screening, any available tickets will be released and can be purchased by those present in the order in which they arrived. Please note, there is no guarantee that tickets will be available for sold-out events.

Schedule

Thursday, July 10 at 6:00 p.m.

ChaO – SOLD OUT

Dir. Yasuhiro Aoki | 2025 | 90 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Ouji Suzuka, Anna Yamada

Special Screening—Followed by Opening Night Reception

Yasuhiro Aoki’s debut feature joins the lineage of Studio 4ºC’s (Mind Game, Tekkonkinkreet) innovative oeuvre, formulating an idiosyncratic Andersen fairy tale set in the cyberpunk mélange of near-future Shanghai where humans coexist with mermen. Ordinary salaryman Stephan is catapulted to instant fame when he is suddenly proposed to by Chao, the mermaid princess. Entrusted with the future of human-mermen relations, Stephan is rushed into the pairing, amid a flurry of politicking and diplomacy, and reluctantly agrees to marry the fish princess. But despite the makings of a political marriage, the effervescent Chao’s ardent affection sparks genuine connection. With its off-kilter brand of humor, unique kineticism, and superb hand-drawn art style—purportedly using more than 100,000 hand-drawn frames—Aoki’s ChaO is a fantastical spectacle with a deluge of heartfelt passion, produced over the course of seven years.

Friday, July 11 at 6:00 p.m.

The Real You

Dir. Yuya Ishii | 2024 | 122 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Sosuke Ikematsu, Ayaka Miyoshi, Koshi Mizukami, Taiga Nakano

North American Premiere

Introduced by author Keiichiro Hirano and followed by a book signing

Based on a novel by the Akutagawa-Prize winning Keiichiro Hirano, The Real You is a sci-fi mystery set in a disturbing future that feels far too real. Following the death of his mother, Sakuya Ishikawa (Sosuke Ikematsu) creates a “Virtual Figure” based on her memories to come to terms with his loss and unravel the mysteries of her passing. While he finds solace in this AI simulacrum, will he find answers—and will they be the answers he seeks? A bleak parable for our own world injected with the same sharp satire as Black Mirror, The Real You casts a cutting eye on artificial intelligence, automation, gig work, influencer culture, and tech billionaires run amok.

Attendees will be able to purchase copies of Keiichiro Hirano’s books at this screening or bring books from home for a signing session following the screening.

Friday, July 11 at 9:00 p.m.

The Gesuidouz

Dir. Kenichi Ugana | 2024 | 94 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Natsuko, Leo Imamura, Yutaka Kyan, Rocko Zevenbergen, Yuya Endo

U.S. Premiere

Musician Hanako (Natsuko) believes she has one year left to live and embarks with her horror-themed punk band on a quest to write the world’s best punk song before she dies at the same age as her heroes Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison. An offbeat, delightful, and deadpan musical comedy from cult filmmaker Kenichi Ugana, The Gesuidouz follows Hanako and her band of misfits’ creative process all while balancing banal life and daily chores in a rural farming village. Overflowing with visual and aural charm, it’s impossible not to cheer for Hanako to live her punk dream.

Saturday, July 12 at 12:30 p.m.

SHORT CUTS – Four short films: FLOW, The Tree of Sinners, End of Dinosaurs, and I Am Not Invisible

FLOW
Dir. Shoko Tamai | 2025 | 5 min. | English | With Dandara Amorim Veiga, Niara Hardister, Minami Ando, Xiaoxiao Cao, Isaiah Newby, Maxfield Haynes
New York Premiere
Introduction by director Shoko Tamai
The word “taboo” comes from the French Polynesian word “tapua.” It means “sacred blood.” FLOW is an experimental short film that honors the taboo inside every woman, the cycle of the moon, and the power of creation.
The Tree of Sinners
Dir. Rii Ishihara and Hiroyuki Onogawa | 2024 | 25 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Sumire, Masatoshi Kihara, Ann Nishihara, Rii Ishihara
North American Premiere
Husband-and-wife team Rii Ishihara and Hiroyuki Onogawa (composer of August in the Water) craft a surreal Taisho fantasy set in a remote mansion, where a maid is forbidden to enter the room of her master’s sick wife. Visually arresting, the pair’s second medium-length work is a beautifully dark fable.
End of Dinosaurs
Dir. Kako Annika Esashi | 2024 | 28 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Kako Annika Esashi, Shota Imai, Leica Sasafu
U.S. Premiere
A young community organizer, a free-spirited girl, and a drag queen set out to challenge a dinosaur-ridden town’s attempt at redevelopment. A delightfully quirky and poignant film from Japanese American filmmaker Kako Annika Esashi. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the PIA Film Festival.
I Am Not Invisible
Dir. Yuki York | 2024 | 24 min. | in Tagalog, English, and Japanese with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere
Winner of the 2024 PIA Grand Prize, Yuki York’s self-reflexive documentary is a personal essay, shot in an impoverished district of the Philippines, deemed “invisible” by York’s on-screen text. Tracing York’s roots, I Am Not Invisible asks residents innocuous questions about their lives to understand them better, in turn offering to understand York’s own Filipina grandmother better.

Saturday, July 12 at 3:00 p.m.

Yasuko, Songs of Days Past

North American Premiere

Helmed by ’80s auteur Kichitaro Negishi (Distant Thunder, Detective Story), Yasuko is a resplendent Taisho-set period drama penned by Seijun Suzuki scribe Yozo Tanaka, whose past works made up some of the most decadent evocations of Taisho through the visual triumphs of Suzuki’s independent triumvirate of Zigeunerweisen, Kagero-za, and Yumeji. Set in the younger days of ill-fated modernist poet Chuya Nakahara (“Japan’s Rimbaud”), Yasuko captures the prodigy’s early love affair with aspiring actress Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose) and the ensuing entanglements when she falls for literary critic Hideo Kobayashi. Negishi’s lush melodrama, his first film in 15 years, burrows deep into the tumultuous entwinement of their bohemian lives, while endowing Hirose’s Yasuko with a depth that exceeds the tired narrative of literary muses.

Saturday, July 12 at 6:30 p.m.

She Taught Me Serendipity

Dir. Akiko Ohku | 2025 | 127 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Riku Hagiwara, Yuumi Kawai, Aoi Ito, Kodai Kurosaki

U.S. Premiere

Q&A with Yuumi Kawai and Reception

Director Akiko Ohku (Tremble All You Want) shifts away from her novel engagements with the neurotic interiorities of young working women to explore the life of college student Konishi (Riku Hagiwara), an anxiety-ridden loner who brandishes an umbrella on sunlit days. Through a progression of coincidences, Konishi forms a bond with classmate Hana (Yuumi Kawai), whose equally vulnerable and eclectic state of mind suggests a perfect match, but in his utter infatuation, Konishi’s self-involved disposition places enormous neglect on friends and co-workers. Sensory and sonically attuned, even balletic at times, She Taught Me Serendipity inventively constructs an approximation of Konishi’s psyche and shines in its open-hearted confessions, soul-baring and poignant in their nature.

Sunday, July 13 at 12:30 p.m.

Kowloon Generic Romance

Dir. Chihiro Ikeda | 2025 | 120 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Riho Yoshioka, Koshi Mizukami

World Premiere

Perhaps nostalgia is nothing more than another form of love. Reiko Kujirai (Riho Yoshioka), who works at a real estate agency in the nostalgic town of Kowloon Walled City, is in love with her senior, Hajime Kudo (Koshi Mizukami). Hajime knows every corner of Kowloon and often takes Reiko to his favorite places, yet the distance between them remains the same. Despite this, Reiko finds comfort in her everyday life, surrounded by dear friends like Yaomay (Minami Umezawa), the shoemaker owner, and Xiaohei (Kotone Hanase), who works part-time at various stores across the town. One day, Reiko is startled when Tao Gwen (Shuntaro Yanagi), a café worker at Goldfish Teahouse, mistakes her for Hajime’s lover. She also stumbles upon a photograph—one that shows Hajime with a woman who looks exactly like her. The forgotten memories of her past, the mystery behind her duplicate self, and the hidden truths buried within Kowloon . . . As the past and present collide, romance becomes the key to unraveling the unknown. Jun Mayuzuki’s acclaimed science fiction mystery manga comes to life!

Sunday, July 13 at 3:00 p.m.

Michiyuki – Voices of Time

Dir. Hiromichi Nakao | 2024 | 79 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Daichi Watanabe, Kanjuro Kiritake, Hiromichi Hosoma

World Premiere of Final Version

Shot in Nara, Hiromichi Nakao’s sophomore feature is an elegant meditation on time and memory with sublime black-and-white cinematography, while also mixing hand-drawn animation with 8mm and digital camerawork. Moving into an old house in the rural countryside, videographer Komai converses with its former owner Umemoto and the town’s inhabitants as he renovates the premises; their discussions draw from personal memories to discuss histories, morphology, cartographies, and the passage of time, reflecting upon the changing tides of tradition and progress within generational spans of the town’s history.

Sunday, July 13 at 5:30 p.m.

A Girl Named Ann

Dir. Yu Irie | 2024 | 113 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Yuumi Kawai, Jiro Sato, Goro Inagaki

North American Premiere

Q&A with Yuumi Kawai

Starring Yuumi Kawai, who won Best Actress at the Japan Academy Film Prize for this stunning performance, A Girl Named Ann tells the story of a teenage dropout attempting to rebuild her life. Ann (Kawai) tries to find hope amid abuse and addiction, and it takes the hand of a Tokyo detective (Sato) to help lift her from the depths. Yet what are the motives of this outstretched hand, and can a single girl climb back to society when the world itself has turned its back? Inspired by a painfully true story, A Girl Named Ann is a testament to individual perseverance and condemnation of larger societal failures, written and directed by the lauded Yu Irie.

Monday, July 14 at 6:00 p.m.

Teki Cometh

Dir. Daihachi Yoshida | 2024 | 108 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Kyozo Nagatsuka, Kumi Takiuchi, Yuumi Kawai, Asuka Kurosawa

New York Premiere

Gisuke (Kyozo Nagatsuka) is a retired college professor who lives a quiet life alone, until one day he finds a post on the internet about an approaching “enemy,” and the world around him begins to melt into paranoia, dream, delusion, and fantasy. Director Daihachi Yoshida (Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction) presents a beautiful, thought-provoking, and arresting film pulled from what many considered an unfilmable novel by Tsutsui Yasutaka. Stunningly lensed and deeply affecting, Teki Cometh poses challenging questions about aging, mortality, and the faulty relationship between memory and reality without offering any easy answers. Widely acclaimed in Japan, Teki Cometh won Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor at last year’s Tokyo International Film Festival.

Monday, July 14 at 8:30 p.m.

A Samurai in Time

Dir. Junichi Yasuda | 2024 | 131 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Makiya Yamaguchi, Norimasa Fuke, Yuno Sakura

New York Premiere

The biggest Japanese indie phenomenon since One Cut of the Dead! This low-budget film financed entirely by director Junichi Yasuda was initially shown in only one theater, but through word of mouth it grew into a sensation across Japan and ultimately took home Best Film at this year’s Japan Academy Film Prize. At the end of the Edo period, a flash of lightning sends a samurai into the present day, and to survive, he takes a job as an actor in jidaigeki movies. This fish-out-of-water comedy is a love letter to moviemaking and an especially heart-felt tribute to Japan’s jidaigeki industry.

Tuesday, July 15 at 6:00 p.m.

What Should We Have Done?

Dir. Tomoaki Fujino | 2024 | 101 min. | Japanese with English subtitles

In 1983, director Tomoaki Fujino’s 20-something sister Masako began exhibiting signs of schizophrenia. Yet his parents—both in research and medical positions—responded by actively denying anything was wrong and refusing to treat her. Recording his sister from 2001 until her death in 2021, Fujino chronicles his family saga in a deeply personal trove of conversations, family scenes, episodes, and meetings, all documented on a handheld consumer-grade camera. What Should We Have Done? actively explores and confronts the cultural disparities associated with mental illness in Japan. Debuting at the 2024 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Tomoaki Fujino’s independent sleeper hit poses a biting titular question, one that has yet to be resolved.

Tuesday, July 15 at 8:30 p.m.

See You Tomorrow

Dir. Saki Michimoto | 2024 | 99 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Makoto Tanaka, Ryota Matsuda, Risa Shigematsu

North American Premiere

The debut feature from director Saki Michimoto is an Osaka-set slice-of-life work, revolving around talented art school student Nao, who roams the streets, framing everything in her line of vision in the viewfinder of her camera. With graduation looming, Nao’s natural abilities, which vastly outshine her friends and classmates, bring promise of new opportunities but at the cost of leaving everything behind. A gentle coming-of-age drama, Michimoto’s See You Tomorrow is subtle and unassuming, quietly affirming the need to branch out and discover fulfillment for oneself.

Wednesday, July 16 at 6:00 p.m.

Cloud – SOLD OUT

Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa | 2024 | 124 min | Japanese with English subtitles | With Masaki Suda, Kotone Furukawa, Amane Okayama

New York Premiere

CUT ABOVE Award Ceremony—Q&A with Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Reception

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s third film in a prolific year, following the creative spurt of Chime and Serpent’s Path, shapes up to be a slow-burn techno-thriller, one which takes its name from today’s ubiquitous virtual cloud. Moonlighting as a black-market internet reseller for fake merchandise and products, factory worker Yoshii’s (Masaki Suda) get-rich-quick schemes and morally dubious actions seem to pay off when afforded the opportunity to move out to a remote, wooded lake house seemingly perfect for his business dealings. Rattled by strange incidents, however, Yoshii finds his errant ways catching up to him when unknown assailants target him. Kurosawa’s suspense-driven exercise in the action genre envisions the amplified ire of internet culture as a radicalized hydra of sprouting heads, amassing an anonymous network to quash its petty grievances. Kurosawa, as he so often does, masterfully finds terror in the mundane.

Thursday, July 17 at 6:00 p.m.

Serpent’s Path

Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa | 2024 |113 min. | French with English subtitles | With Ko Shibasaki, Damien Bonnard, Mathieu Amalric, Hidetoshi Nishijima

East Coast Premiere

Q&A with Kiyoshi Kurosawa

A higher budget remake of Kurosawa’s 1998 straight-to-video effort, Serpent’s Path presents a variation on the original, supplanting Tokyo for the overcast banlieues of Paris while swapping genders with its clinical protagonist and adding new narrative depths despite overtly, if not eerily, echoing its predecessor. Kidnapping an associate of a purported child-trafficking organization ominously named The Circle, Albert (Damien Bonnard) seeks retribution for the death of his child and enacts his cruel vengeance with the aid of physician Sayoko (Ko Shibasaki). The snaking narrative of Kurosawa’s psychological experiment has been told once before, yet its pathway differs ever so slightly. With haunting precision, Serpent’s Path suggests that the destination remains incontrovertibly the same.

Thursday, July 17 at 9:30 p.m.

License to Live

Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa | 1998 | 109 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Hidetoshi Nishijima, Koji Yakusho, Shun Sugata

Archival 35mm Presentation

Introduction by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s fascinating reconstruction of a 1970 Jason Robards picture—Sam Peckinpah’s frontier western The Ballad of Cable Hogue, to be exact—lifts the framework of Bloody Sam’s uncharacteristically subdued hangout film while substituting the twilight days of the Old West for 1990s Tokyo. Awakening from a ten-year coma, 24-year-old Yutaka (Drive My Car’s Hidetoshi Nishijima in his first lead role) finds that his family has separated in the decade-long interim. Expressing disinterest in the time lost, the lackadaisical Yutaka, with the help of his father’s old college friend Fujimori (Koji Yakusho), resolves to establish a pony ranch on a plot once owned by his family, forming an outpost which welcomes a community of outsiders. Irreverent, wryly comic, and heartfelt, License to Live is a marked departure from Kurosawa’s V-Cinema and horror fare, constituting an early show of the filmmaker’s remarkable adaptability and versatile range.

Friday, July 18 at 6:00 p.m.

Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers

Dir. Amélie Ravalec | 2024 | 100 min. | English and Japanese with English subtitles | With Nobuyoshi Araki, Tadanori Yokoo, Keiichi Tanaami

New York Premiere

Q&A with director Amélie Ravalec

Exploring the explosion of postwar radical art in the 1960s and the rise of Japanese avant-garde, Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers covers the multitude of then-burgeoning experimentations in the art form, spanning across the disciplines of photography, film, graphic design, theater, and performance. With the participation of major figures in these revolutionary movements—Hosoe, Araki, Moriyama, Yokoo, to name a few—Amélie Ravalec’s documentary is an enthralling glimpse into the outsider art of Japan’s underground movements.

Friday, July 18 at 8:30 p.m.

Blazing Fists

Dir. Takashi Miike | 2025 | 119 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Danhi Kinoshita, Kaname Yoshizawa, Gackt, Anna Tsuchiya

U.S. Premiere

From iconoclastic director Takashi Miike and with a cast including pop stars Gackt and Anna Tsuchiya, Blazing Fists is the story of two men in a juvenile reformatory determined to redeem themselves through a fighting tournament. Can they change their destinies through their physical mettle, or will the weight of their pasts weigh down their futures? Blazing Fists is a powerfully human film about loyalty and friendship, filled with exuberant outbursts of Miike’s hallmark action, humor, and violence.

Saturday, July 19 at 12:30 p.m.

Promised Land

Dir. Masashi Iijima | 2023 | 89 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Rairu Sugita, Kantaro

New York Theatrical Premiere

Masashi Iijima’s feature film directorial debut is based on an award-winning 1983 novel by Kazuichi Iijima. Set in a rural mountain town, it follows two matagi (traditional Japanese hunters) as they embark on a bear hunt in secret, preserving their custom despite a governmental ban. This tense and austere film told through long shots and minimal dialogue presents a very personal story about the conflict between tradition and progress and allows the audience ample time to reflect in wide stretches of silence amid snowy mountain vistas.

Saturday, July 19 at 2:30 p.m.

My Sunshine

Dir. Hiroshi Okuyama | 2024 | 90 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Sosuke Ikematsu, Keitatsu Koshiyama, Kiara Nakanishi

New York Premiere

On the snowy island of Hokkaido, a young hockey player named Takuya (Keitatsu Koshiyama) becomes transfixed by the figure skaters who share the rink, particularly Sakura (Kiara Nakanishi), a rising star from Tokyo. Her coach, Arakawa (Sosuke Ikematsu), takes an interest in Takuya, seeing himself in the young boy. He pairs the two up and trains them as an ice-dancing duo. Tentatively at first, they grow closer and form a deep bond, but as unspoken feelings begin to surface, the harmony of the trio begins to shake. Intimately lensed and told through a striking kaleidoscope of winter hues, My Sunshine is an aching film that captivates the audience with a nostalgia for both the wonders and pain of young love while at the same time confronting the deeper subjects of Japan’s attitudes toward masculinity and homosexuality.

Saturday, July 19 at 4:30 p.m.

So Beautiful, Wonderful and Lovely

Dir. Megumi Okawara | 2025 | 67 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Megumi Okawara, Shin Namura, Naoko Miya

North American Premiere

Q&A with director Megumi Okawara

A frenetic display of heartbreak filled with whimsical leanings, So Beautiful, Wonderful and Lovely finds school janitor Nozomi Haruta (Megumi Okawara) at her wits’ end when her boyfriend unceremoniously dumps her to marry another woman. Struggling to rationalize the situation, she behaves erratically, photobombing his wedding pictures and fantasizing a Castella version of her boyfriend. Imbued with a sense of real youthful energy at its core due to its rapid-fire demonstration of versatile editing and playfully absurd humor, writer/director/editor and lead actress Megumi Okawara’s So Beautiful overflows with creative ambition.

Love Letter © Fuji Television Network. Inc.

Saturday, July 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Dir. Shunji Iwai | 1995 | 117 min. | With Miho Nakayama, Etsushi Toyokawa, Miki Sakai, Takashi Kashiwabara

30th Anniversary—North American Premiere of 4K Restoration

The feature film debut of ’90s auteur Shunji Iwai is a swell of desiderium and emerging memory, an epistolary melodrama which lightly evokes Proust’s madeleine in the blanche wintertide of Otaru. Framed within the back-and-forth correspondence of heartbroken Hiroko and librarian Itsuki—a widowed fiancée and the former classmate of her deceased lover (Miho Nakayama in dual roles)—Love Letter focuses on buried recollections as their letters uncover Itsuki’s school-age memories of Hiroko’s dead fiancé. Unapologetic in its soft-focus lyricism, Love Letter brims with unbridled emotion, buoyed by its dreamy cinematography, mnemonic constructions, and amber shades. Beloved throughout Asia, Iwai’s breakthrough would capture the hearts of an entire generation, swept over by its sincere convictions and the late Miho Nakayama’s eternal mountainside cry “O genki desu ka?”

Saturday, July 19 at 9:00 p.m.

Serpent’s Path – 4K Restoration

Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa | 1998 | 85 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Sho Aikawa, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yurei Yanagi

North American Premiere of 4K Restoration

Given the chance to shoot two films back-to-back within the same two-week span, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 1998 V-Cinema production, along with its sister film Eyes of the Spider, hinges on the same premise: a man seeking revenge for the murder of his child. With a detached, observational style, Kurosawa relays the grim chain of events with muted horror as Miyashita (Teruyuki Kagawa) and his calculating friend Nijima methodically kidnap and torture a yakuza thought to be involved in the brutal killing of his young daughter. The blind search for vengeance leads them down a convoluted path, ravaging through a string of connected associates. Operating on a low budget, Kurosawa’s taut psychological thriller plumbs the depths of this fanatical obsession, resigning to a goal which becomes ever more obscure.

Sunday, July 20 at 12:30 p.m.

Gridman Universe

Dir. Akira Amemiya | 2023 | 118 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Hikaru Midorikawa, Yuya Hirose, Yume Miyamoto, Soma Saito, Junya Enoki

North American Theatrical Premiere

Studio Trigger, one of the most explosive anime studios in Japan, reimagined Tsuburaya Productions’ classic tokusatsu series Gridman: The Hyper Agent in honor of its 25th anniversary with the anime series SSSS.Gridman. Following the success of SSSS.Gridman and its sequel SSSS.Dynazenon, Trigger now presents an all-new big screen spectacle celebrating the tokusatsu and kaiju genres and injecting them with their trademark over-the-top, stylish action. Perfect for fans of these genres and deeply rewarding for followers of Trigger’s previous Gridman series, Gridman Universe is a dimension-spanning adventure where the fate of more than one world hangs in the balance.

Sunday, July 20 at 3:00 p.m.

Kaiju Guy!

Dir. Junichiro Yagi | 2024 | 80 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Gumpy

North American Premiere

Ichiro Yamada (Japanese comedian Gumpy) works in the Seki City tourism department, and one day he’s ordered to produce a “local movie,” a common Japanese promotional gimmick designed to highlight local hotspots and increase visitors. However, Yamada has doubts about the mayor’s plan and proposes something else: a local kaiju movie. Heads butt, emotions clash, and a monster is unleashed. An absolutely delightful, heartfelt, and rewarding comedy, Kaiju Guy! will make you roar.

Sunday, July 20 at 5:00 p.m.

The Spirit of Japan

Dir. Joseph Overbey | 2024 | 48 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Tekkan Wakamatsu, Kazunari Wakamatsu, Ranko Wakamatsu

World Premiere

Q&A with director Joseph Overbey and producer Stephen Lyman and followed by a reception featuring shochu from Yamatozakura Distillery

The Spirit of Japan is the story of the Wakamatsu family, who have been distilling sweet potato shochu by hand at their Yamatozakura Distillery in Kagoshima Prefecture since the 1850s. This documentary follows fifth generation master brewer Tekkan Wakamatsu as he takes 175-year-old traditions passed down by his father, Kazunari Wakamatsu, and strives to adapt them to a rapidly changing market driven by commodification and mass consumerism. Director Joseph Overbey lived with the Wakamatsu family as he shot The Spirit of Japan, offering a rarified look inside the shochu-making production, an intimate portrait of family succession, and an unflinching glimpse into the harsh realities of preserving tradition in the modern world.

Susan McCormac 5/14/25 Susan McCormac 5/14/25

Dodgers vs Mets on Japanese & Japanese American Community Night at Citi Field

Catch the Los Angeles Dodgers vs the New York Mets on Japanese and Japanese American Community Night at Citi Field!

Japanese and Japanese American Community Night

Friday, May 23 at 7:10 p.m. | Pregame Ceremonies at 5:45 p.m.

Citi Field – Flushing, Queens

Admission: $63.25 to $232.50

Kick off Memorial Day weekend in a memorable way on Friday, May 23 as Kodai Senga and the New York Mets host reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field.

Once again, The Japanese American Association of New York, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), The Nippon Club, Japan Society, U.S.-Japan Council, and the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) will host Japanese and Japanese American Community Night, celebrating the strong bond between the U.S. and Japan through our shared love of baseball.

Pregame Activities

Taiko Drumming
Soh Daiko in Tom Seaver Plaza from 5:45 p.m. until 6:15 p.m.
Amazin' Awards Presentation to Community Leaders
Gary S. Moriwaki – Japan Society Board Member
Masaaki Maeda – Vice President & Assistant Secretary, JCCI
Koji Sato – President, The Japanese American Association of America, Inc.
Darin Arita – Co-Chair, New York & Vicinity Region, U.S.-Japan Council
Kathryn Bannai – Member of the Board of Trustees, JANM
First Pitch Thrown by a Dignitary in the Japanese and Japanese American Community
Pitcher: Tetsuo Kawate – Former JCCI President, President & CEO, Mitsubishi Corporations (Americas)
Catcher: Dr. Joshua Walker – President & CEO, Japan Society

The Mets are offering discount tickets to the Japanese and Japanese American community for the entire three-game series. Click this link https://www.gofevo.com/group/JJANight2025 to purchase tickets. With each purchase, $10 will be donated to the Japanese community organization of your choice, which you will select upon checkout.

Susan McCormac 4/5/25 Susan McCormac 4/5/25

Incarceration & Resettlement Told Through Tanka

Join Japan Society for a special book talk and signing of By the Shore of Lake Michigan, a newly translated tanka poetry collection by Japanese American WWII incarcerees Tomiko and Ryokuyō Matsumoto. Discover firsthand Issei perspectives on displacement, resilience, and postwar life. Free tickets with promo code TANKAFRIEND.

By the Shore of Lake Michigan: Recovering WWII Prison Camp & Resettlement Stories through Poetry

Monday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $15 | $12 Seniors & Students | Free for Japan Society members

Japan Society presents a book talk and signing in honor of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, featuring By the Shore of Lake Michigan, a newly translated collection of tanka poetry by Tomiko and Ryokuyō Matsumoto. As first-generation Japanese Americans, the Matsumotos were among the 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans incarcerated in U.S. wartime prison camps.

Our friends at Japan Society are offering complimentary tickets to JapanCultureNYC readers! Go to Japan Society’s website to select the number of tickets you’d like and use promo code TANKAFRIEND at checkout.

About the Book

The Matsumotos’ poetry, written in tanka—the oldest form of Japanese poetry—captures their experiences of displacement, resilience, and rebuilding life after the war. Published by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press, By the Shore of Lake Michigan spans 17 years, tracing the Matsumotos’ forced relocation from Los Angeles to Wyoming’s Heart Mountain prison camp in 1942 and their postwar resettlement in Chicago. While many accounts of wartime incarceration have come from second- and third-generation Japanese Americans through fiction, theater, and film, Japanese-language writings from the Issei generation remain largely untranslated. This collection is a rare, firsthand poetic chronicle of a pivotal moment in history, nearly 15 years in the making.

Originally in Japanese, these poems are now available to English-language readers for the first time, thanks to the efforts of editor Nancy Matsumoto, the poets’ granddaughter, along with translators Mariko Aratani and Kyoko Miyabe.

Event Highlights

The evening includes a discussion with:

Nancy Matsumoto — editor and granddaughter of the poets
Mariko Aratani — translator
Kyoko Miyabe — translator
Eri F. Yasuhara — scholar and panelist

They’ll offer insights into the power of tanka and its role in documenting history.

Book Signing

Books will be available for purchase at the event. Guests are also welcome to bring their own copies for signing following the talk.

Susan McCormac 3/19/25 Susan McCormac 3/19/25

Award-winning Author Yoko Tawada to Appear at Two NYC Events

Acclaimed Berlin-based Japanese author Yoko Tawada will be in New York City for two special in-person events. Catch her on Tuesday, March 25 at Rizzoli Bookstore and/or on Thursday, March 27 at Columbia University School of the Arts. Both events are free!

Acclaimed Berlin-based Japanese author Yoko Tawada is making her way to New York City for two special in-person events next week. Catch her on Tuesday, March 25 at Rizzoli Bookstore and/or on Thursday, March 27 at Columbia University School of the Arts. Best of all, both events are free — a perfect opportunity to experience Tawada's literary brilliance up close!

Yoko Tawada with Monique Truong

Tuesday, March 25 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

Rizzoli Bookstore – 1133 Broadway (between W. 25th and W. 26th Streets)

Admission: Free

Co-presented by PEN America and Japan Society, internationally renowned writer Yoko Tawada will be in conversation with novelist, essayist, children’s book author, and librettist Monique Truong at Rizzoli Bookstore. Tawada’s rare New York appearance comes on the heels of the English publication of her novel Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel, translated by Susan Bernofsky, and the second installment in her beloved Scattered trilogy, Suggested in the Stars, translated by Margaret Mitsutani.

The discussion will be followed by a book signing.

PLEASE NOTE: RSVPs are encouraged but not required. To register, please visit Rizzoli Bookstore’s Eventbrite page. This event is mixed seated/standing. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Every Work Has Several Faces: A Conversation with Yoko Tawada about Writing and Translation

Thursday, March 27 from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.

Columbia University: Lenfest Center for the Arts – 615 W. 129th Street at Broadway

Admission: Free

International literary luminary Yoko Tawada will discuss writing and translation with co-moderators Writing Professor Rivka Galchen ‘06 and Susan Bernofsky, Director of Literary Translation at Columbia (LTAC). To register, please visit Lenfest’s website.

Tawada, who was born in Tokyo and lives in Berlin, publishes novels, stories, essays, poems, and plays in both Japanese and German. She has received dozens of literary awards including the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, the Goethe Medal, the Kleist Prize, and the National Book Award. Some of her major works available in English include The Emissary and Scattered All Over the Earth, translated from Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani, and Memoirs of a Polar Bear and Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel, translated from German by Susan Bernofsky.

This talk is co-sponsored by The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities, Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, and Weatherhead East Asian Institute.

Susan McCormac 2/17/25 Susan McCormac 2/17/25

“Biri Gal” at Japan Society

Sayaka Kobayashi, the inspiration behind the Japanese film Flying Colors (Biri Gal / ビリギャル), will give an author talk and book signing at Japan Society on Thursday, February 27 at 7:00 p.m.

Author Talk & Signing: Meet Real-Life Biri Gal Sayaka Kobayashi

Thursday, February 27 at 7:00 p.m.

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $25 | $23 Seniors, Students, and Persons with Disabilities | $20 Japan Society Members

Sayaka Kobayashi is the real-life inspiration behind the 2015 Japanese movie Flying Colors (Biri Gal / ビリギャル), which is based on her journey from a troubled middle school student on the verge of expulsion to passing one of Japan’s most difficult university entrance exams. Now, on the 10th anniversary of this beloved film, Japan Society presents Kobayashi for a talk about her life, career, writing and motivation.

About Sayaka Kobayashi

Struggling with poor academic performance throughout high school, Kobayashi dedicated herself to an intense study regimen for a year and a half, and after tremendous effort, she succeeded in securing admission to the prestigious Keio University. Her story became the best-selling book The Story of a Gal at the Bottom of her School Year who Raised her Standard Score by 40 Points in One Year and Got Accepted into Keio University, written by her dedicated tutor, Nobutaka Tsubota. This book, which has sold more than one million copies, led to Flying Colors (Biri Gal / ビリギャル).

Since her Keio success, Kobayashi earned a master’s degree in cognitive science from Columbia University in 2024, and she has recently written the book How I Fell in Love with Learning, a guide that explores the essential elements for effective learning.

To purchase tickets to this event, please visit Japan Society’s website. Our friends at Japan Society are offering JapanCultureNYC members a discount to this event! Members will receive a separate email with the code for $10 tickets. Not member of JapanCultureNYC? Join now by going to https://www.japanculture-nyc.com/membership.

*How I Fell in Love with Learning* by Sayaka Kobayashi

About the Book

How I Fell in Love with Learning (私はこうして勉強にハマった) was published by Sanctuary Publishing in Japan in July 2024. Sayaka Kobayashi unpacks her success story through the lens of cognitive science, drawing on insights gained at Columbia University. The book explores three essential elements for effective learning: strong motivation, the right strategies and study methods and a supportive environment that sustains the learner’s enthusiasm. By focusing on these key factors, How I Fell in Love with Learning offers a practical guide to study techniques for anyone. The book is accessible to everyone from middle school students to parents and educators, providing tools to improve academic performance alongside guidance on fostering a love of learning and confidence-building.

Autographs and Book Sales

Attendees of Japan Society’s Sayaka Kobayashi talk and signing will be able to purchase copies of How I Fell in Love with Learning at the event or bring books from home for a signing session following the author’s talk. Please note How I Fell in Love with Learning is available only in Japanese.

Susan McCormac 2/5/25 Susan McCormac 2/5/25

Japan Society Pays Tribute to Legendary Filmmaker

Japan Society pays tribute to legendary filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi with a series featuring his “seishun eiga”

Obayashi ’80s: The Onomichi Trilogy & Kadokawa Years

Friday, February 7 through Friday, February 14, 2025

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $16 | $12 Japan Society Members

Japan Society presents a tribute to Japanese director and screenwriter Nobuhiko Obayashi, whose career spanned 60 years and multiple genres. Curated by Japan Society Film Programmer Alexander Fee, Obayashi ’80s: The Onomichi Trilogy & Kadokawa Years comprises six films screened across five days.

About the Film Series

The teenage symphonies of Nobuhiko Obayashi (1938-2020) are wound in a melancholy nostalgia for a period indelibly lost to time—that inexpressible gap between adolescence and adulthood. Braiding visually expressive fantasias with striking formal experimentation and pop-art boldness, Obayashi’s idiosyncratic cinematic language produced some of Japan’s most beloved seishun eiga (youth films) in the 1980s. Captivating generations of filmgoers with his earnest portraits of young love and vanished worldviews, Obayashi’s films were further bolstered by film studio Kadokawa’s innovative tactics of popularizing dreamy pop idols such as Hiroko Yakushimaru and Tomoyo Harada.

With a career overshadowed abroad by the oddball eccentricity of his electric 1977 debut House, the 1980s would prove to be the high-water mark of Obayashi’s popularity, epitomized by his endearing Onomichi trilogy—set in the filmmaker’s hometown of Onomichi, the site of Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story. Framed in 35mm viewfinders, against wildly ingenious chroma-key composites and characterized by his unflagging optimism for the youth of Japan, Obayashi’s youth passages are caught up in the ages of transition, demonstrably attuned to the extraordinary nature of ordinary adolescence.

To purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website.

Schedule

Friday, February 7

I Are You, You Am Me (Exchange Students)
7:00 p.m. | 112 min.
A playful mélange of amateur small-gauge, black-and-white, and color photography, Obayashi’s first entry in his hometown trilogy spins into a gender-swap youth film when two classmates switch bodies after a steep fall.
School in the Crosshairs
9:15 p.m. | 90 min.
A psychotronic fantasy forged into a young girl’s destiny to defend the planet, School in the Crosshairs is a cosmic overload of extraterrestrial fascists, preternatural powers, and Obayashi’s uniquely adroit filmmaking abilities.

Saturday, February 8

The Little Girl Who Conquered Time
5:00 p.m. | 104 min.
Schoolgirl Kazuko begins to experience time leaps backwards and forward in time, disorienting her as she yearns to stay in the present. Obayashi’s second Onomichi film is a genuine expression of the transcendence of love—one cast across the stars for a young girl who lives in tomorrow.
Lonely Heart (Miss Lonely)
8:00 p.m. | 112 min.
The final installment in Obayashi’s Onomichi trilogy is celebrating its 40th anniversary. It is a virtuosic ode to first love and the intrinsic emotions that arise with it as a young boy falls in love and encounters a mysterious girl in the viewfinder of his analog camera.

Sunday, February 9

The Island Closest to Heaven
5:00 p.m. | 103 min.
Fulfilling her late father’s dream to take her to “the island closest to heaven,” bookish teen Mari ventures solo to a paradise-laden archipelago in search of the mythic locale.
School in the Crosshairs
7:15 p.m.

Thursday, February 13

His Motorbike, Her Island
7:00 p.m. | 96 min.
A nostalgia-filled reminiscence, Obayashi’s monochromatic dream playfully worships the biker culture of yesteryear, delivering a sentimental and liberating take on young love.
I Are You, You Am Me (Exchange Students)
9:15 p.m. | 112 min.

Friday, February 14

The Little Girl Who Conquered Time
7:00 p.m. | 104 min.
His Motorbike, Her Island
9:15 p.m. | 96 min.

About Nobuhiko Obayashi

Born in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, in 1938, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 60-year film career began with avant-garde experimental shorts in the 1960s. Throughout the 1970, he directed highly stylized and whimsical television commercials, which allowed him to experiment with different techniques and to develop his creative flair. His mainstream films, as featured in Japan Society’s series, focused on the innocence of youth, young love, loss, and nostalgia. In his later works, Obayashi weaved social commentary, such as anti-war themes, into his storytelling.

Obayashi died of lung cancer in April 2020 at the age of 82.

Susan McCormac 1/8/25 Susan McCormac 1/8/25

HARAJUKU BURLESQUE THEATRE AT JAPAN SOCIETY

Shuji Terayama's Duke Bluebeard's Castle ©Yoji Ishizawa

Duke Bluebeard’s Castle

Wednesday, January 15 at 7:30 p.m. — Followed by an opening night reception
Thursday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m. — Followed by an artist Q&A
Friday, January 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $48 | $36 Japan Society members

Japan Society presents the North American premiere of a new production of Duke Bluebeard’s Castle in partnership with Under the Radar, America’s premier experimental performance festival, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Written by revolutionary Japanese angura (underground) theater artist and multi-hyphenate Shuji Terayama, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle is now re-envisioned by illustrious experimental theater director Kim Sujin and performed by the all-female avant-garde ensemble Project Nyx. As part of Under the Radar 2025, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle will have only four performances. The runtime is 135 minutes and will be performed in Japanese with English supertitles.

Ticketholders for performances on Thursday through Saturday will also receive complimentary, same-day admission for one person to Bunraku Backstage, on view at Japan Society Gallery through Sunday, January 19. To view the exhibition please show ticket/receipt to the Welcome Desk for free admission before the performance. PLEASE NOTE: This exhibit will not be available to the public on Wednesday, January 15. Purchase tickets at Japan Society’s website.

Shuji Terayama's *Duke Bluebeard's Castle* ©Yoji Ishizawa

About Duke Bluebeard’s Castle

In this new take, director Kim Sujin gives the play an entrancing and nightmarish Harajuku burlesque makeover. The 30-member company includes the all-female ensemble Project Nyx, the Gothic-Lolita cabaret music duo Kokusyoku Sumire, and the award-winning magician Syun Shibuya. This stage show further twists Terayama’s aggressively subversive play into a macabre, magic-infused Lolita fashion spectacle saturated with dark magic tricks, fiddlers and accordion players, aerial dance, and more.

Set in the backstage of a theater in Japan, the play begins with the arrival of a character, The Girl Set to Play the Seventh Wife, as a theater troupe prepares to perform a play called Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. Determined to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of her missing stagehand brother, she becomes trapped in the twists and turns of the script, which weaves metaphysical layers of the Gothic horror over top of the play, drawing into question the very nature of theater itself.

About Shuji Terayama

Throughout his career, Shuji Terayama, a legendary founding figure of Japan’s raucous avant-garde angura theater movement in the 1960s and ’70s, was repeatedly drawn to the French gothic horror Le Barbe Bleue (Bluebeard), a magic-infused folktale about a nobleman who murders his six wives. Terayama’s obsession with the story of Bluebeard’s seventh wife and the mysterious room in Bluebeard’s castle that she is forbidden to enter culminated in this late-career magnum opus script, a twisting game of cat-and-mouse that asks the question: On the theater stage, where magic and the mundane and fantasy and reality freely mix, can anyone truly determine what is truth, and what is a lie? Terayama wrote Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, nominally drawing from Bela Bartók’s famous operatic version of the French legend, and directed it for his company, Tenjo Sajiki, in 1979 at the Seibu Theater in Shibuya, Tokyo. The premiere production was titled Duke Bluebeard’s Castle – from Bartók and was billed by the company as a work full of “fashion, magic, evil, and eroticism.”

Coinciding with the performances on January 15 through 18, rarely seen artifacts of Terayama’s scripts, letters, photos, and other items from the La MaMa Archive will be displayed in Japan Society’s foyer. All items are collected from presentations of Terayama’s work at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, including La Marie-Vision, directed by Terayama himself and performed by American actors in 1970, and Directions to Servants, by Terayama’s Tenjo Sajiki company in 1980.

About Kim Sujin

Multiple award-winning director Kim Sujin has garnered an international reputation for his experimental theater productions and is recognized as a direct inheritor of the angura movement from founders such as Juro Kara and Shuji Terayama. After graduating from Tokai University, Kim studied under director Yukio Ninagawa and was a member of the Ninagawa Studio, where he learned the basics of theater by appearing in productions such as Chikamatsu Shinju Monogatari (The Tale of Chikamatsu).

In 1978, he joined Juro Kara's company, Jokyo GekijoTheater. He received direct instruction from Ninagawa and Kara, two leading figures in the "underground small theater" scene. Kim quickly established himself through his distinct “tent theater” performances, a unique style of experiential theater inherited from Juro Kara. Kim later founded his theater company, Shinjuku Ryozanpaku, in 1987. He has been directing all of Shinjuku Ryozanpaku productions since the company's launch and is recognized for his dynamic directional skills that make full use of the tent and theater space. Since its inception, the company has travelled across the world. The company had its US debut in 1999 with Kara’s A Cry from the City of Virgins, presented at Japan Society.

Starting in 2016 and continuing over several years, Kim directed Juro Kara's major plays, including Vinyl Castle, Kara-ban Kaze no Matasaburo, Mud Mermaid, and A Cry from the City of Virgins, for the prestigious venue Theater Cocoon in Tokyo as a materialization of the late Yukio Ninagawa's wish. In 2023, he won the 57th Kinokuniya Theatre Award for Individual Achievement, and this year, Kinokuniya Theatre announced the Group Achievement Award to Kim’s Shinjuku Ryozanpaku for its 59th Award. Kim has served as the resident director of Project Nyx’s productions since its founding in 2006. He continues to direct productions around the world and is currently a visiting professor at Chonju National University in Korea.

About Project Nyx

Based on the art and costumes of Akira Uno and the direction of Kim Sujin, Project Nyx was founded in 2006 by Kanna Mizushima, an actress and company member of Shinjuku Ryōzanpaku who plays the role of The Fifth Wife in Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. This all-female experimental theater unit breathes life into art that has drifted into obscurity or oblivion, ranging from timeless masterpieces to lesser-known gems, and reviving them as contemporary performances with an avant-garde spin.

Project NYX has also been recognized in Japan as a current leading interpreter of Japanese angura theater, revitalizing these works in the twenty-first century. By bringing together artists from various genres, Project NYX aims to create new entertainment that transcends the expected boundaries of theater, merging music, dance, and fine art. Since its inception, it has promoted an "exquisite entertainment theater" with a mysterious, glamorous, and avant-garde visual style, continuously expressing the beauty and strength of women. In recent years, Project Nyx has also taken on the challenge of developing "female kabuki," creating a style that blurs, crosses, and transcends preconceived gender boundaries and gender roles on and around the theater stage.

Susan McCormac 12/6/24 Susan McCormac 12/6/24

Meet Cookbook Author Sonoko Sakai

Cookbook author Sonoko Sakai. Photo by Rick Poon.

Book Talk and Signing: Sonoko Sakai and Wafu Cooking

Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 p.m.

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $25 | $20 Japan Society members | $23 Seniors, Students, and Persons with Disabilities

Japan Society is hosting a special talk and signing with bestselling author Sonoko Sakai on December 11 to celebrate the release of her newest book, Wafu Cooking: Everyday Recipes with Japanese Style. This event will be moderated by novelist and cookbook writer Sanaë Lemoine.

Thanks to our friends at Japan Society, JapanCulture•NYC readers have access to complimentary tickets to attend! Please visit Japan Society’s website and enter code SONOKOFRIEND at checkout.

About Wafu Cooking

Wafu (literally “Japanese style”) food combines flavors, ingredients, and techniques from around the planet with a distinctly Japanese personality, and this new cookbook presents 120-plus original globally influenced Japanese recipes. Sakai’s book captures the cultural exchange between Japan and the world in dishes that have come to Japan from abroad and have been “wafu-ed” to suit local tastes and in Japanese dishes that are reimagined through an American lens, reflecting the interconnected way we eat today.

About Sonoko Sakai

Author Sonoko Sakai was born in New York to Japanese parents and grew up in San Francisco, Kamakura, Mexico City, and Tokyo. Her books include Japanese Home Cooking, Rice Craft, and The Poetical Pursuit of Food. She has worked as a recipe developer, producer, creative director, cooking teacher, and lecturer. She lives in California with her sculptor husband, Katsuhisa Sakai.

From *Wafu Cooking* by Sonoko Sakai. Photos by Rick Poon.

Susan McCormac 11/13/24 Susan McCormac 11/13/24

Full Weekend of Anime Talks & Screenings

Foreign Exchange: Anime Inspirations & Visionaries with LeSean Thomas

Friday, November 15 through Sunday, November 17

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission

Ninja Scroll with Reception: $20 | $16 members
Behind-the-Scenes of LeSean Thomas’s Yasuke Talk: $12 | $8 members
All Other Screenings: $16 | $12 members
High School and College Students Talks: Free with RSVP (For Students and Educators Only)
Foreign Exchange Bundle: $80 | $55 Members
Get tickets for all screenings and the Yasuke talk at a discounted price. To get bundle pricing, please add all events into your cart. Discount will be applied automatically. Please note this bundle does not include the High School and College Student Talks.
Prices are inclusive of fees, where applicable. To purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website.

Through Foreign Exchange, Japan Society presents retrospective screenings which spotlight the works that inspired LeSean Thomas, one of the few Black Americans working in the anime industry in Japan, and celebrate the luminaries across the anime world including Masahiro Ando, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Takeshi Koike, Yutaka Minowa, Kenichi Shima, and the late Satoshi Iwataki. Appearing in-person throughout the series, LeSean will discuss his history with anime, his cross-cultural productions with Japanese creators and the artform’s deep impact with diverse audiences, including talks with The Imagination Project Inc. offering guidance for the next generation of creators, directors, producers, artists, and animators.

Schedule

Behind the Scenes of LeSean Thomas’s Yasuke

Friday, November 15 at 6:00 p.m.

This event examines LeSean Thomas’s most recent work, Netflix’s Yasuke, a project he created, directed, and executive produced. In this talk, Thomas will share rare behind-the-scenes Yasuke footage and discuss the creation of the series. It is a glimpse into the synergy that arises when diverse talents from different backgrounds come together to tell stories.

Ninja Scroll with Opening Night Reception

Friday, November 15 at 8:00 p.m.

Dir. Yoshiaki Kawajiri, 1993, 94 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles

Introduction by LeSean Thomas. Written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri and animated by studio Madhouse, Ninja Scroll tells the story of a lone warrior and his battle against a team of supernatural ninjas. A nonstop tour de force, Ninja Scroll continues to be praised more than 30 years after its release, and it is often cited by animators and filmmakers as the film that opened their minds to the possibilities of animation.

Sword of the Stranger

Saturday, November 16 at 5:00 p.m.

Dir. Masahiro Ando, 2007, 102 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles

Introduction by LeSean Thomas. Directed by Masahiro Ando and animated by studio Bones, Sword of the Stranger is a fresh telling of a wandering swordsman tale. In it, a samurai from a strange land must not only battle dangerous mercenaries, but he must also come to terms with his past. The film concludes with a dauntingly choreographed battle that’s one of the most praised fight scenes in animation history.

Redline

Saturday, November 16 at 8:00 p.m.

Dir. Takeshi Koike, 2010, 102 min., Digital, color, in Japanese with English subtitles

Introduction by LeSean Thomas. Directed by Takeshi Koike and animated by studio Madhouse, Redline is a ferociously animated far-future action-adventure spiraling around an intergalactic race. While a box office flop upon its initial release, it would go on to become a classic beloved by cinephiles, animation fans, and industry professionals on both sides of the Pacific.

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

Sunday, November 17 at 4:00 p.m.

Dir. Shinichiro Watanabe, 2001, 115 min., 35mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles

Introduction by LeSean Thomas. Set in a lawless future heavily drawn from inspirations including American science fiction, cyberpunk, noir, and Westerns, the Cowboy Bebop saga is praised for its seamless blend of genre, music, and storytelling. In Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, bounty hunter Spike Spiegel must unravel military conspiracies and hunt down an old soldier before he releases a weapon that could destroy all life on Mars.

Demon City Shinjuku

Sunday, November 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Dir. Yoshiaki Kawajiri, 1988, 82 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles

Introduction by LeSean Thomas. Based on a novel by Vampire Hunter D creator Hideyuki Kikuchi and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Demon City Shinjuku is a pulpy film emblematic of the anime popular with American audiences 30 years ago, when LeSean Thomas himself was growing up. And while essentially a Japanese grindhouse flick filled with supernatural action and grotesque monsters, it was the work of tremendous anime industry talents.

Talks for Students

Inspiring The Next Generation: Creating TV Anime in Japan – High School Talk and Screening

Friday, November 15 at 10:30 a.m.

Free Talk and Screening for High School Students. LeSean Thomas will present his anime Children of Ether and share with high school students his story, from growing up in the Bronx to directing anime in Japan. His goal is to return to his hometown of NYC and inspire the next generation of creators, artists, animators, and directors.

The Business of Creativity: Behind-the-Scenes of TV Anime Creation

Saturday, November 16 at 2 p.m.

Free Talk and Screening for College Students. LeSean Thomas will present the first episode of his anime Cannon Busters and walk college students along his path to work in the animation world, recounting his journey from New York, to LA, to Korea, and then Japan. He will discuss the details of anime production, the skills he needed to work in this field, and recommendations on getting a start in animation.

Special Features

Yasuke Exhibit

Japan Society will present a limited-time pop up exhibit featuring Yasuke production art personally selected by LeSean Thomas. See this exhibit free on Japan Society’s A Level before or after screenings. This exhibit will include never-before-seen sketches and storyboards from legendary Japanese creators.

Yasuke Art Book

Attendees will be able to take home Foreign Exchange: The TV Anime Creations of LeSean Thomas Vol. 1 – Yasuke, a companion art book to the Foreign Exchange film series collecting art and stories from the production of Yasuke. A limited number of books, all pre-signed by Thomas, will be available for purchase at the event.

About LeSean Thomas

South Bronx-born LeSean Thomas is among the distinguished few Black Americans making their mark in the TV anime industry and is currently the only Black American to successfully create, produce, and direct original TV anime series in Japan. His journey began with projects like The Boondocks, where he served as Supervising Character Designer and Co-Director on the NAACP Image Award-winning series, and continued with Black Dynamite: The Animated Series, where he took on the roles of Producer and Supervising Director.

His talents further extended to Studio Mir’s The Legend of Korra while living in Seoul, Korea. These foundational experiences paved the way for his transformative move to Japan, where he created and directed notable works such as Crunchyroll’s Children of Ether and Netflix’s Cannon Busters, produced in collaboration with the renowned studio Satelight. Thomas’s most recent triumph is the critically acclaimed and NAACP Image Award-nominated Netflix series Yasuke. Its unique blend of historical narrative and fantastical elements, set against a backdrop of increasing demand for Black creative inclusion in adult, sci-fi, adventure, and fantasy spaces in media, propelled Yasuke into a resonant project that captured the imagination of audiences worldwide.

Susan McCormac 10/11/24 Susan McCormac 10/11/24

WIN TICKETS TO SEE DIGIMON ADVENTURE AT JAPAN SOCIETY

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna

Wednesday, October 16 at 7:00 p.m.

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $25 Nonmembers | $20 Japan Society Members | $23 Seniors, Students, and Persons with a Disability

Join Japan Society for a one-night-only screening of Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna featuring a special in-person introduction by Hiromi Seki, Toei Animation producer and the film’s supervisor.

The original Digimon Adventure TV series premiered in 1999 and introduced the world to a group of young, hopeful heroes who were brought together to save both the real and digital worlds. The series earned acclaim for its blending of deep narrative arcs and human drama against a backdrop of warring fantastical monsters. Twenty-five years later, the Digimon franchise is more popular than ever. Toei Animation and Japan Society are presenting this special anniversary event with original producer Hiromi Seki. Produced as a special 20th anniversary feature film, Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna was originally slated for U.S. release in March 2020, but due to the pandemic, the movie never made it to North American theaters. Until now.

Ticket Giveaway!

Japan Society is generously giving away three pairs of tickets to the screening of Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna to JapanCulture•NYC followers! To enter for your chance to win, please follow @JapanCultureNYC on Instagram, like the post about the giveaway, and tag your +1! Three lucky winners will be drawn at random from the entries and notified on the morning of Tuesday, October 15. Good luck!

If you aren’t one of the lucky winners, you can still purchase tickets at Japan Society’s website. Tickets are limited, so don’t wait.

The Digimon 25th Anniversary Celebration

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna Screening with honored guest Hiromi Seki
Special Giveaways:
Digimon Comic Volume #1 copy for all attendees
Digimon Card Game card for all attendees
Interactive Experiences:
Digimon Photo Op
Digimon Display from Bandai Tamashii Nations

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. for the Digimon Photo Op, Digimon Display, and Giveaways. Screening begins at 7:00 p.m.

About Hiromi Seki

Known as the “Mother of Sunday Morning Anime,” Hiromi Seki has been associated with Digimon since its very beginning, when she served in the planning and production of the original Digimon Adventure series. Over the last 25 years, Seki has been involved in 13 different Digimon films and series, including supervision of the franchise’s most recent movie, Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning. In addition to Digimon, as a Toei Animation producer, Seki was the series producer who created Magical DoReMi and has worked on such productions as Marmalade Boy, Boys over Flowers, and Zatch Bell.

Susan McCormac 10/3/24 Susan McCormac 10/3/24

JAPANESE MANGA ARTIST & ILLUSTRATOR ACKY BRIGHT FEATURED AT JAPAN SOCIETY

Acky Bright: Studio Infinity

Friday, October 4 through Sunday, January 19, 2025

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $12 nonmembers | $10 students and seniors | Free First Fridays from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Japan Society presents Acky Bright: Studio Infinity, a showcase of the rising star’s unique kawakakkoii (cute and cool) style of illustration and product design. A distinguished Japanese manga artist and illustrator, Acky Bright is known for his unique worldbuilding.

Conceived as Acky Bright’s design studio, the exhibition offers visitors an exceptional opportunity to meet the artist, witness his freestyle “live drawing,” and participate in making a series of manga-style murals. Performative and interactive, the exhibition, which previewed during the weekend of Anime NYC in August, will evolve as Acky Bright makes intermittent appearances in the gallery.

The exhibition will feature two new painting series by Acky Bright, KBK-18, and Ah-Un, that each draw inspiration from traditional Japanese art and theater. Underscoring the impressive range of his contemporary art practice, the show will also highlight Acky Bright’s promotional campaigns designed for major companies, including his multimedia designs for the nationwide “WcDonald’s” campaign, YOASOBI x Vaundy’s FRIES BEAT 2024 music video, and Squid Game coloring book illustrated for Netflix.

Gallery Information

Thursday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.
Closed on major holidays

Tickets include entry to both of Japan Society’s fall exhibitions, Acky Bright: Studio Infinity and Bunraku Backstage. To purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website.

Susan McCormac 8/29/24 Susan McCormac 8/29/24

TOMODACHI NIGHT AT CITI FIELD

Tomodachi Night – Boston Red Sox vs New York Mets

Tuesday, September 3
Pregame Events: 6:40 p.m. — Game: 7:10 p.m.

Citi Field — Flushing, Queens

Admission: $28 to $91.25

Enjoy a special Tomodachi Night as the New York Mets host Masataka Yoshida and the Boston Red Sox in an Interleague matchup. Extend your Labor Day Weekend with baseball!

Special pregame events include

Ceremonial First Pitch by Koji Sato, President of JAANY
Amazin’ Awards to be presented to leaders of Japanese American community organizations
Unforgettable opportunity for 500 members of our community to stand on the warning track at Citi Field to watch the national anthem.* Be sure to wear red and white!

Please purchase tickets through this link: https://fevo-enterprise.com/event/tomodachi

A portion of ticket sales will be donated to The Japanese American Association of New York, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, The Nippon Club, Japan Society, U.S.-Japan Council, and the Japanese American National Museum.

*Please note that you MUST purchase tickets using the special online link that the Mets have created specifically for this game in order to be invited onto the field for the pregame festivities. Approximately one week before the game, you will receive an email with instructions about where and at what time to assemble. This privilege is first come, first served and limited to 500 fans, so please arrive early!

Warning Track Salute Timeline*

Meet up time: 6:00 p.m.
Meet up location: Left Field Ramp (right inside Left Field Gate)
Begin lining up at the ramp: 6:15 p.m.
Line closed: around 6:30 p.m. depending on the size
Arrive at the Warning Track: between approximately 6:45 to 7:00 p.m.
Exit by the staircase to Section 135 after the anthem

*weather permitting

Amazin’ Awards

JAA — Julie Azuma
JCCI — Maasaki Maeda
USJC — Susan McCormac (I’m honored to represent the New York region of the U.S.-Japan Council!)
JANM — Kathryn Bannai

Susan McCormac 2/13/24 Susan McCormac 2/13/24

Explore the Family Dynamic at Japan Society

Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux

Thursday, February 15 through Saturday, February 24

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $16 General | $14 Seniors, Students, and Persons with Disabilities | $12 Japan Society Members (unless otherwise noted)

Presented by Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan and Japan Society, Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux examines the shifting dynamics and struggles of the Japanese household in contemporary cinema. Showcasing ten features, including premieres and revivals, Family Portrait confronts the complexities of familial bonds in the face of adversity—from intergenerational gaps to changing mores and traditions—bringing to question what truly defines a family and its values in a modern world.

Series highlights include the U.S. Premiere of Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s Yoko, starring Academy Award-nominated actress Rinko Kikuchi in a bravura performance as a woman hitchhiking more than 400 miles to her father’s funeral; the U.S. Premiere of Keiko Tsuruoka’s Tsugaru Lacquer Girl, the heart-tugging story of a family lacquerware business on the brink of collapse run by Kaoru Kobayashi of Midnight Diner fame and the daughter who strives to carry on its legacy despite deeply held traditional gender beliefs; and a Classics slate featuring a rare 35mm presentation of Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Twilight.

A special spotlight will shine on director Ryota Nakano, who has spent his career keenly capturing the complex feelings of families when faced with adversity. His latest film, The Asadas, centers on the power of family in the aftermath of the Fukushima tragedy and will be presented along with his two previous works, A Long Goodbye and Her Love Boils Bathwater. Nakano will appear in person at Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux to speak during select screenings and take part in a reception.

To purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website, and visit IFC Center’s website to purchase tickets to the screening of Yoko on February 22.

© 2008 “Still Walking” Production Committee

Lineup and Schedule

Still Walking
Thursday, February 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda | 2008 | 114 min. | Japanese with English subtitles. |. With Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, Kirin Kiki, Yoshio Harada

The Yokoyama family gathers for an annual commemoration of the eldest son, Junpei, who drowned 15 years ago while saving someone’s life. Over the course of the day, suppressed tensions and resentments are gradually revealed amidst forced pleasantries and shared meals as second son Ryo (Hiroshi Abe) endures feelings of inferiority in front of his curmudgeon father (Yoshio Harada) and passively judgmental mother (Kirin Kiki), both of whom disapprove of his recent marriage to a widow (Yui Natsukawa) with a ten-year-old son. Dedicated to his late mother, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 2008 drama is among his most personal films—a masterfully directed, emotionally nuanced expression of the love, heartbreak, and comfort within family relationships—and a modern classic of Japanese cinema.

Tsugaru Lacquer Girl
Friday, February 16 at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Keiko Tsuruoka | 2023 | 118 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Mayu Hotta, Kaoru Kobayashi
U.S. Premiere

Traditional tsugaru-nuri lacquerwork is the Aoki family’s legacy, but their business is in decline and father Seishiro (Kaoru Kobayashi) doesn’t know if it will continue to the next generation. The family’s only hope is daughter Miyako (Mayu Hotta), but her desire to lead the family business upsets generations of customs, established gender roles, and Seishiro himself. Tsugaru Lacquer Girl vividly celebrates one of Japan’s most traditional arts and asks poignant questions about history, family, and if the past has a place in the future.

Muddy River
Saturday, February 17 at 4:00 p.m.
Dir. Kohei Oguri | 1981 | 105 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Takahiro Tamura, Yumiko Fujita, Mariko Kaga, Nobutaka Asahara

Taking place in working class Osaka eleven years after Japan’s defeat, Kohei Oguri’s naturalistic debut detailing an unforgettable summer friendship between two young boys is tinged with a poetic melancholy. Seen through the eyes of ten-year-old Nobuo, whose world is governed by the riverside traffic of sputtering barges, fishing boats, and a “monstrous carp,” Muddy River dwells on Nobuo’s last days of innocence as he befriends poor river dweller Kiichi, who lives nearby with his sister and mysterious mother (Mariko Kaga) on a ramshackle houseboat. Caught in the lives of its worn-down and impoverished residents—some still living the war, others dreaming of a new life—Oguri’s stunning black-and-white feature remains a heart-wrenching portrait of postwar Japan and its afflictions, the effects of which reverberate deep within the wordless exchanges and crestfallen faces of its downtrodden subjects.

Tokyo Twilight
Saturday, February 17 at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Yasujiro Ozu | 1957 | 140 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Setsuko Hara, Ineko Arima, Chishu Ryu

In the thick of the industrial hums and billowing smokestacks of postwar Tokyo, Yasujiro Ozu’s crepuscular drama concerns the lives of elderly Shukichi’s (Chishu Ryu) two grown-up daughters, each taking lodgings at their father’s Tokyo home. Hemmed in by setbacks and personal troubles, Takako (Setsuko Hara) seeks refuge from her abusive husband while “delinquent” younger sister Akiko (Ineko Arima) faces the shock of an unplanned pregnancy. In delicate strokes, Ozu orchestrates Tokyo Twilight across waystations of contemporary Tokyo—from seedy mahjong parlors and Western-themed bars with Latin beats to desolate shipyards and train crossings. With quiet devastation and lingering regret, Ozu’s final black-and-white feature is one of his unequivocal masterpieces, a woeful melodrama illuminated against the fading light of day.

Hoyaman
Sunday, February 18 at 4:00 p.m.
Dir. Teruaki Shoji | 2023 | 106 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Afro, Kumi Kureshiro, Kodai Kurosaki
U.S. Premiere

A tearful comedy set on a beautiful island, Hoyaman follows the strange adventures of two fisherman brothers and a mysterious artist who drifts onto the island and into their lives. The three are at a crossroads in a deeply human story featuring ramen, superheroes, and tsunamis. Hoyaman tells the story of an unorthodox but modern family and the bonds that challenge us to grow. It’s director Teruaki Shoji’s feature film debut and filmed entirely on Ajishima, an island off the coast of his hometown of Ishinomaki. It features a cast of rising talent lead by Afro from the band MOROHA in his own movie debut.

Tokyo Sonata
Sunday, February 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa | 2008 | 119 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyoko Koizumi, Kai Inowaki., Yu Koyanagi

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s appropriately terrifying take on the domestic drama looks beyond the platitudes of familial values and empty promises of a happy life into the recesses of the human condition. Laid off in a wave of company downsizing, salaryman Ryuhei hides his misfortune, opting instead to deceive his family into thinking he still remains employed. Equally adrift are wife, Megumi (Kyoko Koizumi), yearning for someone to pull her out of her banal routines; teen Takashi, who sees no future living in Japan; and younger son Kenji, who simply desires to play the piano. Searching for catharsis, the family members begin to live out clandestine lives rather than confront their creeping divide. Winner of the Jury Prize of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Kurosawa’s cynical look at the subsurface decay and inadequacies of the traditional family points to its inherent breakdown.

Yoko
Thursday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m.
Offsite Screening: IFC Center – 323 6th Avenue
Admission: $18 General | $15 Seniors and Children
To purchase tickets, please visit IFC Center’s website.
Dir. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri | 2023 | 113 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Rinko Kikuchi, Pistol Takehara, Asuka Kurosawa
U.S. Premiere

International star Rinko Kikuchi plays the titular Yoko in an unorthodox road movie that follows an isolated woman’s journey to hitchhike more than 400 miles to her estranged father’s funeral. As she encounters a sweeping range of travelers across her trek, what will Yoko learn from each of them, and what will they learn from her? And in crossing this physical distance, can Yoko mend the emotional distance between her father and herself?

Her Love Boils Bathwater
Friday, February 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Admission: $18 General | $16 Seniors, Students, and Persons with Disabilities | $14 Japan
New York Premiere with Director Q&A and Reception
Dir. Ryota Nakano | 2016 | 125 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Rie Miyazawa, Hana Sugisaki, Joe Odagiri

Rie Miyazawa stars as Futaba, a single mother diagnosed with terminal cancer. With little time left, she sets out on a mission to reconnect her family, reuniting with her husband, reassuring her daughter, and bringing both together to save the family business. A popular and critical hit, Her Love Boils Bathwater won Miyazawa Best Actress and Hana Sugisaki Best Supporting Actress at the Japan Academy Awards, and the film was Japan’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

A Long Goodbye
Saturday, February 24 at 4:00 p.m.
Dir. Ryota Nakano | 2019 | 127 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Yu Aoi, Yuko Takeuchi, Tsutomu Yamazaki
New York Premiere

Based on the book by Naoki Prize-winning writer Kyoko Nakajima, A Long Goodbye traces the gradual memory loss of the aging Shohei (Tsutomu Yamazaki) due to Alzheimer’s and the painful challenges and unexpected joys his two daughters experience as they return home to care for him. While Alzheimer’s robs Shohei of his past, his long goodbye brings new memories and a new closeness to his loved ones.

The Asadas
Saturday, February 24 at 7:00 p.m.
Introduction by director Ryota Nakano and Followed by a Talk Session
Dir. Ryota Nakano | 2020 | 127 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Kazunari Ninomiya, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Masaki Suda

Inspired by real-life photographer Masashi Asada, director Ryota Nakano’s latest film balances humor and heart in an unexpectedly true story. As an energetic dreamer in a traditional family, Masashi (Kazunari Ninomiya)’s initial artistic endeavors are met with skepticism and little support, but in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, Masashi’s photographic skills are given new purpose, and he embarks on a mission that brings his family—and families across Japan—together.

About the ACA Cinema Project

The ACA Cinema Project is a new initiative organized as part of the “Japan Film Overseas Expansion Enhancement Project,” an ongoing project founded by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan (ACA) to create opportunities for the increased exposure, development, and appreciation of Japanese cinema overseas through screenings, symposiums, and other events held throughout the year. The ACA Cinema Project introduces a wide range of Japanese films in the United States, a major center of international film culture, together with local partners, such as Japan Society, IFC Center, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Linwood Dunn Theater.

Susan McCormac 1/9/24 Susan McCormac 1/9/24

Japanese Reimagining of HAMLET at Japan Society

HAMLET | TOILET

Wednesday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m. [SOLD OUT]
Friday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m. (followed by artist Q&A)
Saturday, January 13 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $35 | $28 Japan Society Members and Persons with Disabilities

Number two or not number two? That is the question in HAMLET | TOILET, a hilariously nonsensical reimagining of William Shakespeare’s classic from Yu Murai, one of Japan’s “most innovative contemporary playwright-directors” (Asian Theatre Journal), and performed by his Kaimaku Pennant Race theater company cast, fearlessly clad in their signature full-body white unisuits.

Kaimaku Pennant Race (KPR) has become known for its antic movement style mixed with profound interpretations of Western masterpieces, weaving scenes from Elizabethan-era tragedy with bursts of Japanese pop culture references in sensational and surprising ways. Following the company’s groundbreaking Romeo and Toilet and 2019’s unpredictable manga-meets-Macbeth Ashita no Ma-Joe, which turned Japan Society’s stage into a boxing ring, this production marks the New York premiere of Murai’s latest madcap Shakespearean innovation. Hamlet | Toilet is performed by KPR members Masayuki Gouke (professionally known as G.K. Masayuki), Yuki Matsuo, and Takuro Takasaki. Performed in Japanese with English supertitles.

The troupe will give four total performances, but please note that the first performance, on Wednesday, January 10, is sold out. There are still tickets available for the remaining three, with an artist Q&A following the performance on Friday, January 12. To purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website.

*HAMLET* | *TOILET* ©photo by Takashi Ikemura

About Kaimaku Pennant Race

Founded by Yu Murai in 2006, Kaimaku Pennant Race (KPR) is a Tokyo-based theater company known for off-the-wall theater work presenting a uniquely contemporary Japanese view, often inspired by Western masterpieces. They have achieved worldwide recognition through their in-demand repertoire pieces such as 1969: A Space Odyssey? Oddity!; Romeo and Toilet, and Ashita no Ma-Joe: Rocky Macbeth, performed in France, Romania, Thailand, South Korea, the US, and Japan. In 2009, the company performed Romeo and Toilet in the New York International Fringe Festival, earning Four Stars from Time Out New York for its “fantastic combination of ingenious movement; surreal story lines; and dynamic, startlingly disciplined performers."

The company’s remarkable sets have also caused quite a stir, with one of their most notable set designs being a large toilet created from 10,000 toilet paper rolls for Romeo and Toilet. 1969: A Space Odyssey? Oddity! had its successful world tour, visiting popular international theater festivals and venues such as Festival d’Avignon (France), BABAL F.A.S.T. (Romania), Carthage Theatre Festival (Tunisia), ST-BOMB festival (South Korea) and Thong Lor Art Space (Thailand) from 2015 through 2018. Audiences around the world have embraced the company’s original approach to physical comedy and Western adaptations, describing their work as “a real artistic experience” (La Provence, France).

Ashita no Ma-Joe: Rocky Macbeth premiered at the Theater Rakuen in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, in February 2017 and was presented by Japan Society in New York in May 2019, garnering rave reviews. Their most recent work, HAMLET | TOILET premiered at Komaba Agora Theater in Tokyo in September 2023.

About Yu Murai

Founder and Director Yu Murai reinterprets a wide variety of classical plays using extreme physicality and over-the-top humor. Known for his bold stage designs and sharp, witty dramas, he is able to convey his original and singular point of view through his meticulous and highly choreographed directing style. Most recently, he has started conducting workshops, lectures, and readings to expose young actors to his quirky and rich methodologies. Of his plays, Theatrorama (France) wrote, “If you see [his] shocking work, you cannot return to earth ever again.” His company’s performances invite audiences to enter surreal, high-octane worlds, through aesthetics and tropes borrowed from Japanese pop culture. Today, the troupe is one of the most promising theater companies in Japan, blending high-art and entertainment.

Susan McCormac 12/12/23 Susan McCormac 12/12/23

JapanCulture•NYC x Japan Society Ticket Giveaway!

🚨🎟️GIVEAWAY ALERT ‼️

We're teaming up with our friends at Japan Society Film for a ticket giveaway to the screening of Dogra Magra on Friday, December 15 at 9:00 p.m.!

Japan Society Film is generously giving five pairs of tickets to this Japanese mystery fiction fantasy extravaganza by Toshio Matsumoto! That means five winners will each take a +1 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Matsumoto's final feature!

DETAILS

🎥 Dogra Magra

📅 Friday, December 15

⏰ 9:00pm

📍 Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

HOW TO ENTER

🎯Follow @japanculturenyc, @jsfilmnyc, and @japansociety on Instagram

🏷️ Tag @japanculturenyc in an Instagram post related to Japanese Culture in New York City (food, drink, film, art, music, books, crafts)

☠️ Deadline: Thursday, December 14 at 12:00pm

🏆 Winners announced Thursday, December 14 by 6:00pm

ABOUT DOGRA MAGRA

Based on one of the Sandaikisho (Three Great Occult Books) of Japanese mystery fiction, Toshio Matsumoto’s fourth and final feature adapts the unadaptable: a filmed version of surrealist 1935 avant-garde classic Dogra Magra written by Kyusaku Yumeno—the famous detective novelist whose pen name fittingly translates to “person who always dreams.”

In Taisho 15, the period’s final year, an amnesiac awakens in a sanatorium without recollection of his name or face. Forced to reconstruct his memory, the patient is accosted by two doctors (including one purported to be deceased) who relate his condition in differing fashions, complicating whether physicians are telling the truth or playing a Fowlesian godgame.

Working with frequent cinematographer Tatsuo Suzuki (Himiko, Pastoral: To Die in the Country), Matsumoto constructs a disorienting Jungian work, overwrought with conspiracies and intermingling tales. Delivering intra-womb fetuses, red herrings, and false revelations, Dogra Magra unfurls a complex tapestry of alternating histories—resulting in a whirlwind tragedy brought on by fantasies of eternal recurrence.

Dir. Toshio Matsumoto, 1988, 109 min., 35mm, color, in Japanese with live English subtitles. With Yoji Matsuda, Shijaku Katsura, Hideo Murota, Eri Misawa.

This screening is part of Japan Society’s current series Taisho Roman: Fever Dreams of the Great Rectitude, running through December 16. To see the remaining films and to purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website.

Huge thanks to Japan Society, Japan Society Film, and Peter Tatara for making this giveaway possible.

Susan McCormac 11/21/23 Susan McCormac 11/21/23

Japan Society Reruns Holiday Cooking Online Workshop

Thanksgiving, Japan Style

Available through November 30

Online Cooking Workshop

Free

Give your Thanksgiving feast a Japanese spin this year with shio koji butter-brined turkey, blistered green beans and shishito peppers, and Japanese sweet potatoes. In this online workshop presented by Japan Society, Maiko Kyogoku, owner of Bessou, a modern Japanese comfort food kiosk at Market 57, will teach a variety of festive recipes that bridge cultural traditions, using ingredients perfect for the season.

This year, dazzle guests at your holiday feast with a menu bursting with the flavors of Japan. Please note: This workshop was recorded on November 2, 2021. Some information may have changed since the time of recording.

To register for YouTube access and the recipe card, please visit Japan Society’s website.

Susan McCormac 11/14/23 Susan McCormac 11/14/23

Film at Lincoln Center to Spotlight Japan’s Cinematic Rebel

The Radical Cinema of Kijū Yoshida

Friday, December 1 through Friday, December 8

Walter Reade Theater – 165 W. 65th Street (unless otherwise noted)

Admission: $17 General Public | $14 Students, Seniors, individuals with disabilities | $12 Members

Film at Lincoln Center presents “The Radical Cinema of Kijū Yoshida,” a retrospective spotlighting the films of one of Japan’s greatest cinematic rebels. Running from December 1 through 8, all 16 films will be presented on 35mm or 16mm at Film at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, and Japan Society.

The retrospective presents the most comprehensive collection of Yoshida’s work ever screened in the United States. Most notably, the series will feature Yoshida’s famed political trilogy, which captures significant moments in 20th century Japanese history: Eros + Massacre (1968), regarded as his masterpiece; Heroic Purgatory (1970), a kaleidoscopic, mazelike memory piece about an atomic engineer whose past as a college-age revolutionary militant erupts into the present; and Coup d’état (1973), a spellbinding portrait of notorious militarist Ikki Kita.

To purchase tickets, please visit Film at Lincoln Center’s website. Use promo code OKADA to enjoy $5 off all ticket purchases.

Lineup

Good-for-Nothing
Friday, December 1 at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 5 at 8:45 p.m.

Yoshida’s debut feature vividly depicts the ennui and intellectual and spiritual restlessness of a generation of bourgeois youth in Tokyo at the dawn of the 1960s.

Blood Is Dry
Friday, December 1 at 4:15 p.m.
Saturday, December 2 at 8:30 p.m.

Yoshida’s satirical second feature again ferociously critiques Japanese society following its postwar reinvention as a capitalist giant.

Eros + Massacre
Friday, December 1 at 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 5 at 2:00 p.m.

Among the greatest of all political films and perhaps the work that best embodies the spirit of Yoshida’s artistic project, Eros + Massacre is an epic, historiographic examination of the points of intersection between the domains of desire and politics.

Affair in the Snow
Saturday, December 2 at 1:00 p.m.

A love triangle plays out in the snow in Yoshida’s eleventh feature, a striking deconstruction of the melodrama.

Heroic Purgatory
Saturday, December 2 at 3:15 p.m.

The second film in a trilogy (inaugurated by Eros + Massacre) concerning 20th century Japanese history, Heroic Purgatory is a kaleidoscopic, mazelike memory piece that is perhaps Yoshida’s most recognizably avant-garde work.

The Affair
Saturday, December 2 at 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, December 6 at 1:00 p.m.

Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center – 144 W. 65th Street

Again using the melodrama genre as an instrument of oblique social critique, Yoshida’s ninth feature stars Mariko Okada as a woman trapped in a loveless marriage to a philandering businessman who finds herself mysteriously drawn toward an old lover of her deceased mother’s.

Akitsu Springs
Sunday, December 3 at 1:00 p.m.
Thursday, December 7 at 1:00 p.m.

The first great commercial success of his young career, Akitsu Springs is a tear-jerking romance that finds Yoshida working in color and in collaboration with his frequent star and lifelong filmmaking partner Mariko Okada (in her 100th on-screen appearance).

Wuthering Heights
Sunday, December 3 at 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 7 at 3:30 p.m.

Emily Brontë’s Gothic romance is transposed to feudal Japan for Yoshida’s powerfully stark, elemental take on the story.

18 Who Cause a Storm
Sunday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 6 at 3:15 p.m.

Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center – 144 W. 65th Street

A group of migrant workers fed up with their being ruthlessly exploited by the society around them lash out in Yoshida’s rugged widescreen chronicle of proletarian unrest.

Women in the Mirror
Sunday, December 3 at 9:00 p.m.

In his final fiction feature, Yoshida returned to an old subject in his work: the unfathomable trauma known by Japan due to the United States’s dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Flame and Women
Tuesday, December 5 at 6:30 p.m.

Yoshida returned to the melodrama—this time synthesizing elements of the horror film in the process—with this chronicle of a woman’s suddenly swelling desire for her child’s biological father.

Coup d’état
Wednesday, December 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center – 144 W. 65th Street

The culminating film in the trilogy formed by Eros + Massacre and Heroic Purgatory, Yoshida’s 16th feature is a spellbinding portrait of notorious militarist Ikki Kita, whose 1936 attempt at staging a coup against the Japanese government would later serve as inspiration to the similarly controversial nationalist writer Yukio Mishima some years later.

A Promise
Wednesday, December 6 at 8:45 p.m. – Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center
Friday, December 8 at 9:00 p.m. – Japan Society

Yoshida came out of his feature filmmaking retirement with this typically idiosyncratic meditation on what was, at the time, a taboo topic: euthanasia.

Farewell to the Summer Light
Thursday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m.

A fascinating transitional film for Yoshida, Farewell to the Summer Light finds the restless iconoclast heading to Europe to tell the tale of an on-again-off-again romance between Naoko, a married expat who specializes in import-export (Mariko Okada), and Makoto (Tadashi Yokouchi), a Japanese scholar who is searching for a cathedral that served as the architectural inspiration for a church built in Nagasaki by Portuguese missionaries.

Confessions Among Actresses
Thursday, December 7 at 8:45 p.m.

Something like Yoshida’s response to Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, Confessions Among Actresses finds Yoshida teaming up with three prominent Japanese actresses—Mariko Okada, Ruriko Asaoka, and Ineko Arima, each renowned for playing eminently modern women who have been wronged by the men around them—to craft a fragmentary, perpetually shapeshifting work on the relationship between performance and trauma.

A Story Written with Water
Friday, December 8 at 6:00 p.m.

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street

Bearing a title inspired by John Keats’s epitaph and taken from the Yōjirō Ishizaka novel it adapts, Yoshida’s first independent film is a startling affair, depicting the unbreakable love of mother and child.

For full descriptions of the films and to learn more about Kijū Yoshida, please visit Film at Lincoln Center’s website.

Susan McCormac 10/13/23 Susan McCormac 10/13/23

Japan Society Spotlights Women Artists

Image: Products for Fluxus editions, 1964.

Out of Bounds: Japanese Women Artists in Fluxus

Friday, October 13 through Sunday, January 21

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $12 | $10 Seniors and Students | Free Japan Society Members

Japan Society’s latest exhibition, Out of Bounds: Japanese Women Artists in Fluxus, explores the essential role of Japanese women in Fluxus, a movement instigated in the 1960s that helped contemporary artists define new modes of artistic expression. Near the 60th anniversary of the movement’s founding, this exhibition highlights the contributions of four pioneering Japanese artists: Shigeko Kubota, Yoko Ono, Takako Saito, and Mieko Shiomi. Displays of their works and the ephemera surrounding it contextualize their place within Fluxus and the broader artistic movements of the 1960s and beyond.

Out of Bounds: Japanese Women Artists in Fluxus is organized by guest curator Midori Yoshimoto and Tiffany Lambert, Curator and Interim Director, Japan Society, with Ayaka Iida, Assistant Curator, Japan Society.

For full details and to book your tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website.

The Seven Bridges

About The Seven Bridges

About CHAiroiPLIN

About Takuro Suzuki

About Yukio Mishima

Dassai Sake Series: Benihana and Beyond

About the Dassai Sake Series

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Festival Highlights

Admission Information & Pricing

Waitlists for Sold-Out Screenings

Schedule

Japanese and Japanese American Community Night

Pregame Activities

By the Shore of Lake Michigan: Recovering WWII Prison Camp & Resettlement Stories through Poetry

About the Book

Event Highlights

Book Signing

Yoko Tawada with Monique Truong

Every Work Has Several Faces: A Conversation with Yoko Tawada about Writing and Translation

Author Talk & Signing: Meet Real-Life Biri Gal Sayaka Kobayashi

About Sayaka Kobayashi

About the Book

Autographs and Book Sales

Obayashi ’80s: The Onomichi Trilogy & Kadokawa Years

About the Film Series

Schedule

About Nobuhiko Obayashi

Duke Bluebeard’s Castle

About Duke Bluebeard’s Castle

About Shuji Terayama

About Kim Sujin

About Project Nyx

Book Talk and Signing: Sonoko Sakai and Wafu Cooking

About Wafu Cooking

About Sonoko Sakai

Foreign Exchange: Anime Inspirations & Visionaries with LeSean Thomas

Schedule

Talks for Students

Special Features

About LeSean Thomas

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna

Ticket Giveaway!

The Digimon 25th Anniversary Celebration

About Hiromi Seki

Acky Bright: Studio Infinity

Gallery Information

Tomodachi Night – Boston Red Sox vs New York Mets

Special pregame events include

Warning Track Salute Timeline*

Amazin’ Awards

Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux

Lineup and Schedule

About the ACA Cinema Project

About Kaimaku Pennant Race

About Yu Murai

🚨🎟️GIVEAWAY ALERT ‼️

DETAILS

HOW TO ENTER

ABOUT DOGRA MAGRA

Thanksgiving, Japan Style

The Radical Cinema of Kijū Yoshida

Lineup

Out of Bounds: Japanese Women Artists in Fluxus

LEARN MORE