Welcome to the second of two trailer posts covering this weeks Japanese films.
You can find the first post here.
Since it is Halloween, I’ve been bouncing around horror films via various Twitch streams. They are less than legal but excellent at helping discover titles from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. I’ve also found a stream that replays Stargate SG-1 and The X-Files. All of this is the stuff that I like to watch – or, at least, have on in the background.
This week I posted a preview of the Chicago Japan Film Collective‘s November event. I posted a review of the film Made in Japan. I also recorded an episode of the Heroic Purgatory podcast dedicated to looking at some of Roger Corman’s adaptations of the works of Edgar Allan Poe.
What are the rest of the Japanese films getting a release this weekend?
Musuko to Yobu hi Made / Until the Day I Call You Son 
息子と呼ぶ日まで 「Musuko to Yobu hi Made」
Release Date: November 01st, 2024
Duration: 25 mins.
Director: Ayumi Kurokawa
Writer: Ayumi Kurokawa (Screenplay),
Starring: Takayuki Goda, Sawa Masaki, Momoka Ayukawa, Orie Akiyoshi, Takeshi Masu,
Website Twitter: @BAMIRI18
For this film with a story involving transgenderism, Takayuki Goda, a first-time actor, was selected through an audition for transgender people.
Synopsis: Shota is a transgender man who works as a real estate agent. Ever since coming out, he has become estranged from his father and family and has also faced prejudice. However, together with his partner Emi, he discovers a way of life that is uniquely his own.
Festival Day 
お祭りの日 「Omatsuri no Hi」
Release Date: November 02nd, 2024
Duration: 89 mins.
Director: Yuki Horiuchi
Writer: Yuki Horiuchi (Screenplay),
Starring: Masahiro Mera, Yukari Saito, Kanoko Sudo, Ayano Kasumi, Ryo Igarashi, Ami Tsukada,
Website Twitter: @omatsurinohi
Director Yuki Horiuchi has previously made the award-winning film All Summer Long. His latest won the Special Prize at the 2023 TAMA NEW WAVE competition.
Synopsis: On the day of a summer festival, a whole buncha people don’t get to experience the festival. People such as those at a bus stop waiting for a bus that never comes, people so angry that the festival fireworks display has been cancelled that they steal the fireworks, two young women who wake up with a hangover and a missin remote control for the air conditioner, and a girl working part-time at a coffee shop who is asked to star in an indie film.
STRANGERS 
ストレンジャー 「Sutorenja-」
Release Date: November 02nd, 2024
Duration: 99 mins.
Director: Kenta Ikeda
Writer: Kenta Ikeda (Screenplay),
Starring: Ayaka Onishi, Reiya Masaki, An Ogawa, Yoshinori Miyata, Ryo Sato,
Website Twitter: @STRANGERS_1102
Synopsis: After discovering that her fiancé is cheating on her, Naoko hits the dating apps and meets various men for a series of casual dates under the influence of her friend. She becomes more daring with her actions and soon becomes upset when she realizes that she is starting to look more and more like her friend but continues on her path believing that it will help her to cope with her anxiety. It isn’t long before she gradually loses sight of herself and sinks further into a whirlpool of insecurity…
Nitobe no yune manabu koto wa ikiru akashi 
新渡戸の夢 学ぶことは生きる証 「Nitobe no yune manabu koto wa ikiru akashi」
Release Date: November 02nd, 2024
Duration: 25 mins.
Director: Kazuyuki Nozawa
Writer: N/A
Starring: Yoshiyasu Sugiyama
Website Twitter: @nitobenoyume
Synopsis: This film is about Inazo Nitobe, an educator and scientist, philosopher, diplomat and politician, alongside his wife Mary, a professor at Sapporo Agricultural College, started a night school for those who were too poor to attend school. It was the only school Nitobe established andthere were no tuition fees and no age limit. Approximately 1,170 students graduated from the school over the 50 years until its closure in 1944.
The film depicts Nitobe visiting the children of graduates and asking them about their parent’s life at the school while also showing a present day equivalent that was established at Hokkaido University in 1990.