In the year of its 20th anniversary, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme will grace the screens of arthouse cinemas across the UK from February 03 to March 31. During that time audiences in the region will be able to see a selection of 20 films that have been selected to fit this year’s theme, “the evolution of Japanese cinema” and audiences will have the chance to watch films that have a connection to themes of previous editions of the programme. The idea is to get viewers to think about the path of Japanese cinema.
Here are trailers for the films:
FILMS
マイ・ブロークン・マリコ 「Mai Buro-ken Mariko」
Release Date: September 30th, 2022
Duration: 85 mins.
Director: Yuki Tanada
Writer: Kosuke Mukai, Yuki Tanada (Script), Waka Hirako (Original Manga),
Starring: Mei Nagano, Nao, Masataka Kubota, Yo Yoshida, Toshinori Omi,
Yuki Tanada has racked up an impressive filmography with titles like One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman, The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky, My Dad and Mr. Ito, and Romance Doll. This is her latest title and she works with experienced screenwriter Kosuke Muka (Nobuhiro Yamashita’s regular writer) to bring to life a manga. It won Best Screenplay at the recent Fantasia Film Awards. It stars Mei Nagano (Parks) and Nao (The Sound of Grass).
Synopsis: Tomoyo Shiino is an office lady going through a patch of depression. When she learns of the suicide of her best friend, Mariko Ikagawa, it prompts Tomoyo to launch a rescue mission. Tomoyo knew that Mariko was abused by her father for a long time and so, in order to save Mariko’s soul, Tomoyo steals her ashes from Mariko’s family and goes on a journey with memories of Mariko.
流浪の月 「Rurou no Tsuki」
Release Date: May 13th, 2022
Duration: 150 mins.
Director: Sang-il Lee
Writer: Sang-il Lee (Script), Yuu Nagira (Original Novel),
Starring: Suzu Hirose, Tori Matsuzaka, Ryusei Yokohama, Mikako Tabe, Akira Emoto,
Sang-il Lee of Villain and Rage fame returns with this weighty and long drama. It features Suzu Hirose (Our Little Sister) and Tori Matsuzaka (Call Boy).
Synopsis: When Fumi Saeki finds a 10-year-old girl named Sarasa Kanai alone in a park in the rain, he gives her shelter after she says she is separated from her parents and living with an aunt but doesn’t want to go back. After two month’s together (and not calling the police!), Fumi is arrested for kidnapping and Sarasa is returned to her family. 15 years later, Sarasa Kanai (Suzu Hirose) and Fumi Saeki (Tori Matsuzaka) happen to meet each other again…
ツユクサ 「Tsuyukusa」
Release Date: April 29th, 2022
Duration: 95 mins.
Director: Hideyuki Hirayama
Writer: Teruo Abe (Script),
Starring: Satomi Kobayashi, Yutaka Matsushige, Kami Hiraiwa, Taiyo Saito, Noriko Eguchi, Kiyohiko Shibukawa,
Satomi Kobayashi, lead actor in Nobyhiko Obayashi’s Tenkousei and featured in Sabishinbo and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After the Storm is paired with Solitary Gourmet star Yutaka Matsushige (The Guard from the Underground).
Synopsis: Fumi Igarashi (Satomi Kobayashi) lives in a small port town on the Izu Peninsula where she enjoys spending time with her friends. The quiet life that she lives begins to change slowly but dramatically as all sorts of things happen. A meteorite hits her while she is driving her car and she meets Goro Shinoda (Yutaka Matsushige), a new man in town.
死刑にいたる病 「Shikei ni Itaru Yamai」
Release Date: May 06th, 2022
Duration: 128 mins.
Director: Kazuya Shiraishi
Writer: Ryo Takada (Script), Riu Kushiki (Original Story),
Starring: Sadao Abe, Kenshi Okada, Takanori Iwata, Miho Nakayama, Yu Miyazaki, Ryo Sato, Takuji Suzuki, Miki Kamioka, Ririka Kawashima,
Kazuya Shiraishi of The Blood of the Wolves / Last of the Wolves teams up with Sadao Abe (Dreams for Sale) for a serial killer story. You can read my review here.
Synopsis: Masaya (Kenshi Okada) spends his days going to a second-choice university so you can imagine how negative his days are. Fate brings further darkness into his life when he is contacted by a serial killer named Yamato (Sadao Abe) who used to run a bakery that Masaya went to as a school student. Now on death row, Yamata is facing his final days but he claims that he did not commit the last murder that he is accused of. Masaya decides to investigate… rather than leaving it alone and concentrating on his studies to get into a better university.
ジョイント 「Jointo」
Release Date: November 20th, 2021
Duration: 118 mins.
Director: Oudai Kojima
Writer: HAM-R (Script),
Starring: Ikken Yamamoto, Kim Jin-cheol, Kim Chang-bak, Keisuke Mitsui, Sogen Higuchi,
Joint is the debut feature of director Oudai Kojima and I saw it as part of the Osaka Asian Film Festival. I wish I could have seen it on a big screen but even on the small one I found that it’s a gripping film thanks to its atmosphere and stellar acting – A-tier stuff. Here’s my JOINT review and interview with Oudai Kojima, the director.
Synopsis: The story follows Takeshi Ishigami (Ikken Yamamoto), an ex-con who aims to leave his shady past behind. Before he can do that, he must return to a life of crime in Tokyo. Reacquainting himself with Yakuza contacts he restarts his “list business,” an innocuous name used to describe harvesting information for fraud schemes. His path isn’t easy but as he painstakingly climbs his way out of the criminal underworld, he begins to attempt to drag his friends along. However, just as Takeshi thinks that he might get out, he is dragged back in as a gang war erupts.
Sensei, Would You Sit Beside Me? 
先生、私の隣に座っていただけませんか？ 「Sennsei, Watashi no Tonari ni Suwatte Itadakemasennka?」
Release Date: September 10th 2021
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Takahiro Horie
Writer: Takahiro Horie (Script)
Starring: Haru Kuroki, Tasuku Emoto, Daichi Kaneko, Nao, Jun Fubuki,
Haru Kuroki (The Bride of Rip van Winkle) and Tasuku Emoto (And Your Bird Can Sing) form a double-act in this film which looks very intriguing. It also stars Nao (The Sound of Grass).
Synopsis: Manga artist Sawako (Haru Kuroki) is working on her latest title and her husband Toshio (Tasuku Emoto) is worried. The manga shows Sawako embarking upon an affair with a young driving instructor. Her story about adultery and the details inside are close to his affair with her editor Chika. Is this her way of getting even???
すばらしき世界 「Subarashiki Sekai」
Release Date: February 11th, 2021
Duration: 126 mins.
Director: Miwa Nishikawa
Writer: Miwa Nishikawa (Script), Ryuzo Saki (Original Novel)
Starring: Koji Yakusho, Taiga Nakano, Isao Hashizume, Meiko Kaji, Seiji Rokkaku, Masami Nagasawa, Narumi Yasuda, Yukiya Kitamura,
Under the Open Sky is the latest work from Miwa Nishikawa (Sway (2006), Dear Doctor (2009)) and the first film she has directed that isn’t based on a novel or script written by herself. The novel is by Ryuzo Saki and that had the original title Mibuncho. It stars the fantastic Koji Yakusho (Cure, Charisma, The Eel, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge) who gives a really moving performance as an at times frightening yet ultimately sympathetic character. Apparently, was character is modelled on a real-life person.
Synopsis: Masao Mikami (Koji Yakusho) has spent 13 years in prison for committing a murder. Upon his release, he struggles to re-integrate into society due to his violent nature. Meanwhile, he begins to think about his mother, from whom he was separated from as a child when she placed him in an orphanage. However, he becomes connected with various people from a TV station who want to make a TV program that shows his life, he goes on a search for his mother, a process that might ultimately allow him to control his temper.
世界は僕らに気づかない 「Seikatsu wa Bokura ni Kidzukanai」
Release Date: , 2022
Duration: 112 mins.
Director: Kasho Iizuka
Writer: Kasho Iizuka (Screenplay),
Starring: Kazuki Horike, GOW, Masafumi Shinohara, Tomoka Murayama, Kenji Iwaya,
This comes from Kasho Iizuka who is a writer, director and cinematographer whose works, like his 2011 Pia Film Festival Special Jury Prize-winning autobiographical debut Our Future, are concerned with the existence of people who don’t fit neatly in society. In 2022, he released two films, Futari no Sekai, a drama concerned with transgenderism, and Angry Son, in which he tackles immigration through the prism of a single-parent family.
You can read my review of the film here and an interview with director Kasho Iizuka here.
Synopsis: If ever a film lived up to its title, it’s Angry Son which presents a perma-mad protag Jungo (HORIKE Kazuki), a high school student living in rural Ota City, Gunma Prefecture. Audiences are asked to sympathise with his temper tantrums, most of which are aimed at his feisty Filipina mother Reina (GOW). Fortunately, she gives as good as she gets as she and her son navigate aggravating instances of xenophobia, being a single-parent household, and his quest to search for a father he has only ever known through child-support payments.
If you can resist the urge to dislike the angry one, you will find writer/director IIZUKA Kasho’s drama rich with incidents and issues, from exploring homosexuality and the mixed-race experience, to Filipino life in Japan. It always remains entertaining and has a heart-warming tear-jerker of a finale that replaces anger with love thanks to fully fleshed-out side characters offering a hopeful look at people learning to live together.
Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo [4K Digitally Restored and the Longest Version] 
丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺 「Tange sazen yowa hyakuman ryou no tsubo」
Release Date: June 15th, 1935
Duration: 92 mins.
Director: Sadao Yamanaka
Writer: Shintaro Mimura (Script),
Starring: Denjiro Okochi, Kiyozo, Kunitaro Sawamura, Ranko Hanai, Soji Kiyokawa, Reizaburo Yamamoto,
This restoration received it’s premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2020.
Synopsis: The Lord of the Yagyu region gives an old “Kokezaru” pot to his brother Genzaburo, who sells it without noticing that is contains a treasure map inside. When this mistake is made and comes to light, everyone wants to get their hands on the map, including Tange Sazen, the one-eyed one-armed samurai.
超高速!参勤交代「Chokosoku! Sankin kotai」
Release Date: June 21st, 2014
Running Time: 119 mins
Director: Katsuhide Motoki
Writer: Akihiro Dobashi (Screenplay),
Starring: Kuranosuke Sasaki, Kyoko Fukada, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Masahiko Nishimura, Takanori Jinnai, Yasufumi Terawaki, Seiji Rokkaku,
Synopsis: The story starts in the Yunagaya Domain in the Tohoku region. It is small but it has a gold mine that some in the Shogun’s government want. Masaatsu Naito is ordered to perform Sankin-kotai which means that his daimyo, the feudal lord, must visit the Shogun in Edo. Unfortunately the cost is high and the time limit of 8 days is short. Could this be a plot to steal the gold mine? Masaatsu has to get the Sankin-kotai done!
グッバイ・クルエル・ワールド 「Gubbai Kurueru Wa-rudo」
Release Date: September 09th, 2022
Duration: 127 mins.
Director: Tatsushi Omori
Writer: Ryo Takada (Script),
Starring: Hideotshi Nishijima, Takumi Saito, Tomokazu Miura, Hio Miyazawa, Tina Tamashiro,
Synopsis: Five different people from different backgrounds raid a secret yakuza money laundering operation at a love hotel. They succeed in stealing nearly 100 million yen in cash and return to their normal lives but the yakuza aren’t going to give up the cash that easily and recruit a detective to track them down and a furious fight for the cash begins.
来る 「Kuru」
Release Date: December 07th, 2018
Running Time: 134 mins.
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima
Writer: Tetsuya Nakashima, Hideto Iwai (Screenplay), Ichi Sawamura (Original Novel)
Starring: Junichi Okada, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Haru Kuroki, Nana Komatsu, Takako Matsu, Munetaka Aoki, Taiga, Rie Shibata, Miho Ninagawa, Eri Ishida,
Excellent director and excellent cast. Tetsuya Nakashima is back after making The World of Kanako and he brings some of the stars from that film, Satoshi Tsumabuki (Rage, Gukoroku) and Nana Komatsu as well as Takako Matsu (Dreams for Sale) and Junichi Okada (The Fable 1 and 2, Hell Dogs).
Synopsis: Newlyweds Hideki and Kana Tahara are awaiting the arrival of their first child, a girl they plan to name “Chisa” and life seems to be going smoothly but everything is thrown out of whack when a mysterious person visits Hideki’s workplace and leaves a note with the cryptic message, “about Chisa-san case”. Now, Hideki and Kana are the only ones who know what they plan to name their daughter so that’s odd but stranger things happen when the colleague who passed Hideki the note is killed and Hideko and Kana’s home is attacked… To protect his family, Hideki asks for help from a journalist named Nozaki and a prestigious exorcist because what they are dealing with is something totally unnatural and mind-blowing...
家族はつらいよ 「Kazoku wa tsuraiyo」
Release Date: March 12th, 2016
Running Time: 108 mins.
Director: Yoji Yamada
Writer: Yoji Yamada, Emiko Hiramatsu (Screenplay) halyosy (Original Novel)
Starring: Isao Hashizume, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Masahiko Nishimura, Yui Natsukawa, Shozo Hayashiya, Tomoko Nakajima, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Yu Aoi, Jun Fubuki,
Yoji Yamada, of Twilight Samurai fame, returned to one of the many long-running franchise films he has helmed, the It’s Tough to Be a Man series, to make a film that was lauded at the Japan Academy Awards.
Synopsis: A family is thrown into chaos when the matriarch Tomiko (Kazuko Yoshiyuki) announces to her husband Shuzo (Isao Hashizume) that she wants a divorce. Their children are shocked about the news of the separation and things spiral out of control as each member of the family opens up about their grievances.
The Past is Always New, The Future is Always Nostalgic: Photographer Daido Moriyama 
過去はいつも新しく、未来はつねに懐かしい 写真家 森山大道 「Kako wa itsumo atarashiku, mirai wa tsuneni natsukashī shashin-ka moriyama taidō」
Release Date: April 30th, 2021
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Gen Iwama
Writer: N/A
Starring: Daido Moriyama, Satoru Machiguchi, Yutaka Kamibayashi,
Synopsis: A documentary about award-winning and world-renowned photographer Daido Moriyama, winner of the Hasselblad International Photo Award, which is said to be the Nobel Prize in the photography world in 2019. He is in his 80s and first got his start in the 1960s with his blurry, high-contrast, shoot-from-the-hip style and uncanny ability to find arresting compositions and subjects on Tokyo’s bustling streets. He still works today and the documentary tracks his work and glances back at past photos since it was recorded after the 50th anniversary edition of his ground-breaking book, Japan: A Photo Theater which was published in 1968.
いとみち 「Itomichi」
Release Date: June 25th, 2021
Duration: 92 mins.
Director: Satoko Yokohama
Writer: Satoko Yokohama (Script), Osamu Koshigaya (Original Novel)
Starring: Ren Komai, Etsushi Toyokawa, Mei Kurokawa, Yoko Nishikawa, Mayuu Yokota, Ayumu Nakajima, Daimaou Kosaka, Shohei Uno,
Winner of the Grand Prix and Audience Award at the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021, Ito is the first solo feature film from director Satoko Yokohama since her 2015 drama The Actor. Her cinematic return is set in Aomori Prefecture, the birthplace of Yokohama and also of the film’s lead actress Ren Komai.
I saw this as part of the Osaka Asian Film Festival earlier this year. I found it a charming film. You can read my review here and my interview with the director, Satoko Yokohama, here.
Synopsis: High schooler Ito Soma (Ren Komai) is a gangly girl who hails from Itayanagi, a small town outside Hirosaki city. She has a timid nature and a thick Tsugaru accent which makes her sound a bit like a hick. However, far from being a hayseed, Ito is very knowledgeable about her local culture and dialect and she can also play the shamisen, a three-stringed instrument that is particularly popular in Aomori. This skill is something she picked up from her grandmother (Yoko Nishikawa) and a massive part of the few memories she holds of her late mother, a talented shamisen player in her own right. Alas, Ito refuses to practice and stays silent due to her embarrassment over her country roots and also her melancholy over never having known her mother. However, it is through fully embracing these factors that Ito can eventually unlock her ability to express herself. What puts the girl on the path of self-acceptance and self-expression is an unlikely job at a maid café in Hirosaki City.
メタモルフォーゼの縁側 「Metamorufo-zu no Engawa」
Release Date: June 17th, 2022
Duration: 118 mins.
Director: Shunsuke Kariyama
Writer: Yoshikazu Okada (Script), Kaori Tsurutani (Original Webcomic),
Starring: Mana Ashida, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kyohei Takahashi, Kotone Furukawa, Asumi Kikuchi, Ken Mitsuishi, Tomoko Ikuta, Taeko Ito, Yuki Shioya,
Synopsis: 17-year-old high school student Urara who works at a book store and secretly enjoys reading boy’s love manga, something she shares with 78-year-old Yuki, a widow who has just started out in the genre. Their shared love of the manga creates a relationship that transcends age and position.
また逢う日まで 「Mata au hi made」
Release Date: March 21st, 1950
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Tadashi Imai
Writer: Toshio Yasumi, Yoko Mizuki (Script),
Starring: Yoshiko Kuga, Eiji Okada, Osamu Takizawa, Akitake Kono, Haruko Sugimura, Akira Oizumi, Akiko Kazami,
Apparently, this wartime romance was a critical and commercial hit. It was considered for Japan’s submission to the Venice Film Festival in 1951, but ultimately lost out to Rashomon.
Synopsis: It is World War II a young man named Saburo meets Keiko on a underground platform during an air raid and their brief encounter blossoms into love. However, Saburo’s pro-militarism family, the crazed war effort, and fate intervene at every opportunity to keep the young couple apart…
The Tokyo Night Sky is Always the Densest Shade of Blue
夜空はいつでも最高密度の青色だ 「Yozora wa Itsudemo Saiko Mitsudo no Aoiro da」
Release Date: May 13th, 2017
Running Time: 108 mins.
Director: Yuya Ishii
Writer: Yuya Ishii (Screenplay), Tahi Saihate (Original Poet)
Starring: Shizuka Ishibashi, Sosuke Ikematsu, Ryo Sato, Takahiro Miura, Mikako Ichikawa, Ryuhei Matsuda, Paul Magsalin, Tetsushi Tanaka,
Yuya Ishii was one of the first directors I started tracking on my blog thanks to his films getting UK releases thanks to the bravery and good taste of Third Window Films. Sawako Decides (2010), Mitsuko Delivers (2012), and The Great Passage (2013). He has gone from indie kid to award-winning adaptations and kept a certain level of quality in his incisive look at human nature, regardless of genre and who the stars are. Here, he works with newbie actors like Shizuka Ishibashi and Ryo Sato. He pairs them up with the more experienced Sosuke Ikematsu (How Selfish I Am!) and Ryuhei Matsuda (Nightmare Detective, My Little Sweet Pea) who was the lead in The Great Passage. The actors all portray characters caught up in the world of Tokyo, alienated, stressed, failing to cope and looking for relief from the everyday grind. It is shot with “lightness,” “enchanting visual ideas,” and “candour.” It’s only 108 minutes and doesn’t drag. Here’s my review.
Synopsis from the Berlin International Film Festival Site: Mika (Shizuka Ishibashi) works as a nurse by day; by night she works as a bartender in a girls’ bar. Having recently broken up with her boyfriend and lost her mother, she walks the streets of Tokyo and ponders on what she sees as the meaningless of life. Shinji (Sosuke Ikematsu) is blind in one eye and ekes out a living as a construction worker. Manically talkative, he accepts the label of being “weird” in order to cover up a deep sense of alienation. Young and grown-up at the same time, they both lead a lonely existence, but somehow their paths keep miraculously crossing under the Tokyo sky. Can loneliness be experienced together?
私をくいとめて 「Watashi o Kuitomete」
Release Date: December 18th, 2020
Duration: 135 mins.
Director: Akiko Ohku
Writer: Akiko Ohku (Script), Risa Wataya (Original Novel)
Starring: Non, Kento Hayashi, Asami Usada, Hairi Katagiri, Takuya Wakabahayshi, Ai Hashimoto,
This won Best Film at the 2020 edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival thanks to audience votes. Here’s a Festival Report from the event to clue you in as to why it was so popular. Here’s my film review to show you why I was so charmed by the film.
Synopsis: 31-year-old Mitsuko Kuroda (Non) is happily enjoying her life as a singleton. A big reason for her happiness is that she has a consultant, counsellor “A”, a voice in her mind which gives her advice on how to behave and on her relationships. She believes her happy and peaceful single life with “A” will continue, but she falls in love with Tada-kun (Kento Hayashi), a salesman who is younger than her. Mitsuko decides to take a step forward, even though she is confused by her new lack of courage.
ブルーサーマル 「 Buru- Sa-maru」
Release Date: March 04th, 2022
Duration: 103 mins
Director: Masaki Tachibana
Writer: Masaki Tachibana, Natsuko Takahashi (Screenplay), Kana Ozawa (Original Creator)
Starring: Mayu Hotta (Tamaki Tsuru), Ayumu Murase (Eita Narihara), Daisuke Ono (Yo Ashina), Rie Takahashi (Kaori Michida), Minori Terada (Aonagi’s Director),
Animation Production: Telecom Animation Film
Synopsis: University student Tamaki Tsuru used to love volleyball but when a guy she was crushing on in high school rejected her for being too athletic, she switched to tennis. While practising the game as a uni student, she accidentally hit a glider pilot named Daisuke and damaged his glider. Unable to afford the costs, Tamaki joins the aviation club as a helper.
Intolerance 
空白 「Kuuhaku」
Release Date: September 23rd, 2021
Duration: 99 mins.
Director: Keisuke Yoshida
Writer: Keisuke Yoshida (Script),
Starring: Arata Furuta, Tori Matsuzaka, Aoi Ito, Tomoko Tabata, Kisetsu Fujiwara, Shinobu Terajima,
Keisuke Yoshida (Thicker than Water, My Little Sweet Pea, The Workhorse and the Bigmouth) has earned a lot of praise for this film.
Synopsis: Mitsuru Soeda (Arata Furuta) is a fisherman who lives with his daughter, a shy teenage girl named Kanon (Aoi Ito). When she is caught shoplifting at a local supermarket, she is pursued by the manager, Naoto Aoyagi (Tori Matsuzaka) but in her attempt to flee gets killed in a tragic car accident. A media circus ensues over her death and Mitsuru is riven with rage that leads him to persecute Naoto. This rage alienates people while Naoto is a victim of a media witch hunt…
To keep up to date with the Japan Foundation, you can check out their website, Facebook page, and Twitter account.