Happy Weekend
Welcome to the first trailer post of 2023
This is split into two parts and the second part is released tomorrow. There were a couple of films released earlier in the week but the majority hit screens on Friday.
What are the first bunch of films for 2023?
Familia 
ファミリア 「Famiria」
Release Date: January 06th, 2023
Duration: 121 mins.
Director: Izuru Narushima
Writer: Kiyotaka Inagaki (Screenplay),
Starring: Koji Yakusho, Ryo Yoshizawa, Lucas Sagae, Fadile Waked, Koichi Sato, Miyavi, Yutaka Matsushige,
This looks like a meaty drama about people exploring what it takes to form a family that spans continents. It places together heavyweight acting talents Koji Yakushi (Eureka, Shall We Dance?, The World of Kanako), Koichi Sato (Starfish Hotel, When the Last Sword is Drawn), and Yutaka Matsushige (The Guard from Underground, Eureka, Solitary Gourmet).
Synopsis: Seiji Kamiya (Koji Yakusho) is a pottery craftsman living and working in a mountain village. His son, Gaku (Ryo Yoshizawa), is a plant engineer for a large company in Algeria and he has returned home to introduce Seiji to his Algerian fiancée Nadia (Fadile Waked). Gaku wants to quit his job and take over the pottery business but Seiji is against it.
Meanwhile, a young Brazilian man named Marcos (Lucas Sagae) becomes interested in pottery after meeting Seiji and being rescued by him from a gang. Just as this relationship seems to get going, Gaku and Nadia return to Algeria and a tragedy strikes…
Thorns of Love 
恋のいばら 「Koi no Ibara」
Release Date: January 06th, 2023
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Hideo Jojo
Writer: Kaori Sawai, Hideo Jojo (Screenplay),
Starring: Honoka Matsumoto, Tina Tamashiro, Keisuke Watanabe, Ayumu Nakajima, Reiko Kataoka,
Honoka Matsumoto, mesmerising as the titular Mio in Mio on the Shore (2019) plays the lead in Hideo Jojo’s latest film. He’s on a great run as of late with about four or five films released last year. You can see one of his most recent films, On the Edge of their Seats, online later this year thanks to the Japan Film Festival+. I interviewed him a couple of years ago and discovered he was dedicated to the craft, ingenious at making films, and eager to watch films.
Synopsis: A love triangle forms when a quiet librarian named Momo (Honoka Matsumoto) gets dumped by her boyfriend Kentaro (Keisuke Watanabe) and he shacks up with the more adventurous and outgoing Riko (Tina Tamashiro), a dancer. Momo is hurt and also paranoid because he took nude photographs of her and he hasn’t deleted them. Momo seeks Riko’s help to delete the images and a bond forms between the two women, one that includes jealousy…
We Make Antiques! Osaka Dreams 
嘘八百 なにわ夢の陣 「Uso Happyaku: Naniwa Yume no Jin」
Release Date: January 06th, 2023
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Masaharu Take
Writer: Masako Imai, Shin Adachi (Screenplay),
Starring: Kiichi Nakai, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Shota Yasuda, Yuri Nakamura, Tomochika, Aoi Morikawa, Shohei Uno, Tomoya Maeno, Akaji Maro, Takashi Sasano,
Funnyman and decent dramatist Kiichi Nakai (When the Last Sword is Drawn) is back with a third instalment in the We Make Antiques comedy franchise that is directed by Masaharu Take (100 Yen Love) and writing from Shin Adachi (A Beloved Wife) and Masako Imai, a native of Osaka and writer on the previous entries of We Make Antiques. I mention her background because this instalment is set in the fine city!
Synopsis: The Phoenix, a valuable tea bowl once used by Hideyoshi Toyotomi is considered one of the “Seven Good Luck Items” that helped him rise to power. Long thought lost, it appears ahead of a big show dedicated to Toyotomi and antique dealer Norio (Kiichi Nakai) and potter Sasuke (Kuranosuke Sasaki) get mixed up in it alongside a charismatic artist named TAIKOH and a beautiful and mysterious woman. This treasure might be valuable in monetary terms, however when Norio and Sasuke find their friendship threatened by it, the boys might discover something more valuable…
Chokore-tona Hitobito 
チョコレートな人々 「Chokore-tona Hitobito」
Release Date: January 02nd, 2023
Duration: 102 mins.
Director: Yuji Suzuki
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Kyuon Chocolate company get their own documentary that is the latest instalment in a series of documentaries made by Tokai TV. This entry, which won the Grand Prix in the TV category at the 2021 Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association Awards, was turned into a film version with additional filming and re-editing.
Synopsis: Since being started by Koji Natsume in 2003, Kyuon Chocolate has grown from a bakery in Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, to a chain of 52 stores spanning Japan. Over its 19 years of existence it has grown in size due to its unique and flavourful creations and management has tried to create a workplace where people with diverse backgrounds, including those with mental or physical disabilities, single parents, those who have never attended school, and sexual minorities. The film depicts the background and working practises that has gone into the making of this chocolate brand.
Nagasaki Tsuisou 
長崎追想 父・井上ひさしへの旅 「Nagasaki Tsuisou – Chichi Inoue Hisashi e no Tabi」
Release Date: January 02nd, 2023
Duration: 110 mins.
Director: Katsuya Matsumura
Writer: N/A
Starring: Maya Inoue
Synopsis: A documentary about the work of writer and playwright Hisashi Inoue told via the journey of Maya Inoue. Upon his death, he had unrealised idea for a play which was turned into a film called Nagasaki: Memories of My Son (2015) by Yoji Yamada (The Twilight Samurai) with involvement from Maya Inoue. The play was later adapted for the stage but the performance in Nagasaki was cancelled due to the spread of Covid-19. Maya explores the story that she has helped adapt multiple times and also different aspects of Nagasaki.
Bokura no Eiga 
ボクらの映画 「Bokura no Eiga」
Release Date: January 04th, 2023
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Ryo Moroe, Kousuke Hishinuma, Fuga Yaegashi,
Writer: Ryo Moroe, Kousuke Hishinuma, Fuga Yaegashi, (Screenplay),
Starring: Runa Kano, Haruka Imou, Shinzo Hotta, Aoki Minamino, Izumi Yamamoto, Hinako Saeki, Ryusei,
An omnibus consisting of three short films with children in the leading roles. It was produced by ACT Performing Arts School and the directors have been involved in teaching many children. The cast features some well-known actors including Haruka Imou.
Synopsis: Three stories: one shows a little girl named Kana make fun of her grandfather who cannot write but when she finds out the reason why and her teacher suggests that she help him, Kana decides to take a positive step; another has a kid named Yuzuki get his much-coveted supernatural powers with unintended results; and the other features a boy on the cusp of adolescence find a condom in a park toilet and get into an embarrassing situation at cram school only for it to be a formative moment he can learn from and mature with.
Detective Conan Ai Habara’s Story ~Jet-Black Mystery Train~ 
名探偵コナン 灰原哀物語 黒鉄のミステリートレイン 「Meitantei Conan Haibara Ai Monogatari: Kurogane no Misuteri- Torein」
Release Date: January 06th, 2023
Duration: 90 mins
Director: Junichi Miyashita
Writer: Junichi Miyashita (Screenplay), Gosho Aoyama (Original Creator)
Starring: Minami Mitsunaka (Conan Edogawa), Megumi Hayashibara (Ai Haibara), Kenichi Ogata (Professor Hiroshi Agasa), Yukitoshi Hori (Gin),
Animation Production: TMS Entertainment
A special compilation film made up of four episodes of the TV anime – episodes 701-704 – with key scenes of Ai Haibara from other episodes and some new scenes. This is in the run-up for a new film that will debut in April.
Synopsis: Ai Haibara was a member of the Black Organisation and worked as a scientist under the name Sherry Miyano. She was the one who developed APTX 4869, the pill that shrunk Conan Edogawa into the little boy that he is. When she learned that the organisation killed her older sister Akemi, she quit and took APTX4869 herself and changed her name to Ai Haibara. Her old employers are slowly closing in on her. We get some of her background in this film!