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 07 until March 31. During that time audiences in many region will be able to see a selection of films connected by the theme of justice, justification and judgement in Japanese cinema. The aim of this festival is to look at how Japanese filmmakers use the language of cinema to explore the concepts of criminal, social, and moral justice, along with the ways people respond to external judgement.
Special guests for this years fest, including Q&A sessions, are Kosai Sekine, director of Stay Mum, and Akihiro Toda, director of Ichiko.
Here are trailers for the films:
FILMS
夜明けのすべて 「Yoake no Subete」
Release Date: February 09th, 2024
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Sho Miyake
Writer: Sho Miyake, Kiyoto Wada (Screenplay), Maiko Seo (Original Novel),
Starring: Mone Kamishiraishi, Hokuto Matsumura, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Ken Mitsuishi Ryo, Haruka Imou, Sawako Fujima,
Website Twitter: @yoakenosubete IMDB
My first encounter with Sho Miyake was through the film Wild Tour (2018). He has since gone on to make And Your Bird Can Sing (2018), and Small, Slow But Steady (2022), the Japan Academy Award hit film. I was really moved by this film, as my review attests, and it made my Top Ten Films of 2024.
Synopsis: Misa Fujisawa experiences premenstrual syndrome and she is unable to control her irritability. During one particularly severe bout of PMS, she explodes with anger at a work colleague, a new hire named Takatoshi Yamazoe who seems unmotivated at work. His behaviour is because he has something going on inside himself, too. He suffers from panic disorder and has become withdrawn. The more time they spend together, the more they develop a mutual understanding and a bond forms as they see ways to support each other.
クオリア 「Kuoria」
Release Date: November 18th, 2023
Duration: 96 mins.
Director: Ryo Ushimaru
Writer: Kenzo Kaga (Screenplay), Ryoichi Oshitomo (Original Story),
Starring: Kokone Sasaki, Ruka Ishikawa, Kenta Kiguchi, Maya Kudamatsu, Chikara To,
Synopsis: Yuko has married into the Tanaka family. They run a chicken farm and she has a tough time fitting in with various members. Things get even more twisted when her husband’s mistress applies to be a live-in worker and joins the dysfunctional band…
99％、いつも曇り 「99%, Itsumo Kumori」
Release Date: December 15th, 2023
Duration: 72 mins.
Director: Midori Sangomi
Writer: Midori Sangomi (Screenplay),
Starring: Midori Sangomi, Satoshi Nikaido, Ayumi Ena, Ami Ide, KOTA,
Actor Midori Sangomi is making her directorial debut with this film that was programmed for the Tokyo International Film Festival 2023.
When I watched it for the Chicago Japanese Film Collective, I was utterly charmed and came to care about the characters while the social issues based on neuro-divergent people, women approaching middle age, and perceptions of discrimination were movingly wrapped together in the central couple’s drama.
Synopsis: Kazuha is a 45-year-old woman who has Asperger Syndrome. After meeting her uncle on the first anniversary of her mother’s death, his questions about her not having children seem to presage a change with her husband Daichi who wants to have kids. Kazuha is not confident since she has Asperger and, 15 years ago, she suffered a miscarriage.
侍タイムスリッパー 「Samurai Taimu Surippa-」
Release Date: August 17th, 2024
Duration: 113 mins.
Director: Junichi Yasuda
Writer: Junichi Yasuda (Screenplay), ,
Starring: Makiya Yamaguchi. Yuno Sakura, Yuji Takadera, Norimasa Fuke, Yoshihary Fukuda, Hajime Inoue, Ichiko Kurenai, Ken Shonozaki,
Website Twitter: @samurai_movie IMDB
A week before its release in Japan, this indie film about a time-travelling samurai won gold in the BEST ASIAN FEATURE category at Fantasia Film Festival. Here were the winners:
Gold: A SAMURAI IN TIME (Dir. Junichi Yasuda, Japan)
Silver: TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN (Dir. Soi Cheang, Hong Kong)
Bronze: PENALTY LOOP (Dir. Shinji Araki, Japan)
This may be an indie but it looks great because it was shot with the special cooperation of Toei Kyoto Studio, a site that has produced many major dramas and films, like Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji (1955) and Samurai Reincarnation (1981), and that also houses a theme parl. Third Window Films are going to release a home version of this.
Synopsis: It is the end of the Edo period and Kosaka Shinzaemon, a samurai of the Aizu domain, is in Kyoto to assassinate another samurai but just as their blades are about to clash, Kosaka struck by a lightning bolt and knocked unconscious. When he comes to, he finds himself in a modern-day period drama studio where he is taken in by the kind-hearted people and his well-practiced swordsmanship earns him a living.
望み 「Nozomi」
Release Date: October 09th, 2020
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Writer: Satoko Okudera (Script), Shusuki Shizukui (Original Novel)
Starring: Shinichi Tsutsumi, Yoshie Ichige, Yuriko Ishida, Kaya Kiyohara, Shota Matsuda, Kenshi Okada, Raita Ryu,
Synopsis: Kazuto Ishikawa iand his wife Kiyomi have an ideal life. He is an architect and she is a proof reader and they live in a house designed by Kazuto in the leafy suburbs with their high schooler son, Tadashi, and their junior high schooler daughter, Miyabi. Things turn sour when an injury causes Tadashi to quit playing for the school football team. He begins to hang out with delinquents and soon stays out all night without permission. One evening, Tadashi disappears. Kazuto and Kiyomi become concerned and their worries grow when he is implicated in the murder of a classmate. They want to believe in his innocence but the police suspect him…
朽ちないサクラ 「Kuchinai Sakura」
Release Date: June 21st, 2024
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Hiroto Hara
Writer: Yoshitatsu Yamada, Shota Gajin (Screenplay), Yuko Yuzuki (Original Novel),
Starring: Hana Sugisaki, Riku Hagiwara, Kosuke Toyohara, Ken Yasuda, Kokoro Morita, Tomoko Fujita, Soko Wada,
Website Twitter: @kuchinai_sakura
This is an adaptation of a novel by Yuko Yuzuki (The Blood of the Wolves).
Synopsis: A female university student living in Hirai City, Aichi Prefecture, is found murdered after reporting that she had been repeatedly stalked. An article in a local newspaper reveals that the police had been slow to act because the person handling the case had gone on a trip. The apartment is thrown into disarray as a search is on for the source of the leak and Izumi Moriguchi, a member of the Prefectural Police Public Relations and Appeals Section, suspects that her best friend, Chika Tsumura, a reporter, broke a promise to her and wrote the article. Chika denies this and tries to prove her innocence, but she is found dead a week later. Moved by remorse and guilt over, Izumi vows to catch Chika’s killer…
茶飲友達 「Chanomi Tomodachi」
Release Date: February 04th, 2023
Duration: 135 mins.
Direction: Bunji Sotoyama
Writer: Bunji Sotoyama (Screenplay),
Starring: Rei Okamoto, Mako Isonishi, Miu Kainuma, Tetsu Watanabe, Maki Taki,
Bunji Sotoyama directed Soiree, an underappreciated drama starring Haruka Imou. Apparently, this is based on a real-life case involving an elderly sex worker club.
Synopsis: Mana Sasaki and her friends set up “Tea Friend,” a club of sex workers who cater to the elderly by dispatching elderly women. These are women who have various social problems and they form a bond with Mana and the staff to become something like a pseudo-family.
デイアンドナイト 「Dei ando Naito」
Running Time: 134 mins.
Release Date: January 26th, 2019
Director: Michihito Fujii
Writer: Shinnosuke Abe, Kazuhisa Kodera, Michihito Fujii, Takayuki Yamada (Screenplay),
Starring: Shinnosuke Abe, Masanobu Ando, Kaya Kiyohara, Tetsushi Tanaka, Manami Konishi, Aimi Satsukawa, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Shigeru Muroi,
Super-handsome and cool Takayuki Yamada has produced this crime drama starring super-handsome Shinnosuke Abe, the hapless teacher in Ordinary Everyday (2017)
Synopsis: Koji Akashi’s (Shinnosuke Abe) family is falling apart after his father committed suicide due to his involvement as a whistleblower in a corporate scandal. This is connected to an orphanage under threat and one of the workers, Kitamura (Masanobu Ando), approaches Koji Akashi asking him to protect the children. The two men go to extreme lengths…
カラオケ行こ！ 「Karaoke Iko!」
Release Date: January 12th, 2024
Duration: 107 mins.
Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita
Writer: Akiko Nogi (Screenplay), Yama Wayama (Original Manga),
Starring: Go Ayano, Jun Saito, Kazuki Kitamura, Maki Sakai, Jun Hashimoto, Chance Oshiro, Kyoko Yoshine,
Website Twitter: @moviekaraokeiko JFDB IMDB
Nobuhiro Yamashita (Hard-Core, The Drudgery Train) and Akiko Nogi (I Am a Hero, Library Wars) have both adapted manga for the screen. This looks like it has a mix of drama and comedy. The set-up and tone makes me think of the Korean film My Boss My Hero.
This one is charming in its earnestness as it presents an odd-couple scenario and introduces a decent coming-of-age drama within that framework.
Synopsis: Kyoji Narita (Go Ayano) is a high ranking yakuza member and his gang have a karaoke competition. This leads him to recruit a junior high school student named Satomi Oka (Jun Saito), a sincere and blunt boy who once had the voice of an angel who led the school’s chorus club but has since found it difficult because puberty has made his vocals change. Kyoji arranges singing lessons and the song he wants to sing is “Kurenai” by X Japan. The two gradually get to know each other.
市子 「Ichiko」
Release Date: December 08th, 2023
Duration: 125 mins.
Director: Akihiro Toda
Writer: Akihiro Toda, Naho Kamimura (Screenplay),
Starring: Hana Sugisaki, Ryuya Wakaba, Yuki Morinaga, Yuki Kura, Ruka Ishikawa, Shohei Uno,
This features selection of great performers like Ryuya Wakaba (Over the Town), Shohei Uno, and Ruka Ishikawa (colorless).
It’s a drama in a vein similar to Yoshitaro Nomura’s crime output and the title character is in a dilemma that is quite heartrending.
Synopsis: Ichiko and Yoshinori have been together for three years. That seems long enough to get to know someone and so Yoshinori proposes to Ichiko. She disappears. Yoshinori finds himself discovering that he never knew Ichiko at all after a detective visits him and reveals more. Yoshinori begins to track down Ichiko through the people she knew and he uncovers a shocking past.
碁盤斬り 「Gobangiri」
Release Date: May 17th, 2024
Duration: 129 mins.
Director: Kazuya Shiraishi
Writer: Masato Kato (Screenplay),
Starring: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kaya Kiyohara, Taishi Nakagawa, Takumi Saito, Kyoko Koizumi, Jun Kunimura,
Website Twitter: @gobangiri_movie JFDB IMDB
This is the first jidaigeki by Kazuya Shiraishi, a director who has carved a path of gangster and true-crime features such The Blood of Wolves, Last of the Wolves, and Lesson in Murder.
Synopsis: Kakunoshin Yanagida was a proud samurai before being falsely accused of a crime and cast out of his domain. This was the start of his journey into becoming a ronin living in Edo with his daughter and along the way, he loses his wife but when the truth behind his downfall comes to light, he finds himself heading back to his old home to take revenge, even if it means that he sacrifices his relationship with his daughter…
ペナルティループ 「Penaruti Ru-pu」
Release Date: March 22nd, 2024
Duration: 99 mins.
Director: Shinji Araki
Writer: Shinji Araki (Screenplay),
Starring: Ryuya Wakaba, Yusuke Iseya, Rio Yamashita, Jin Dae-yeon, Yuuya Matsuura, Asami Shibuya,
Website Twitter: @PenaltyLoopfilm JFDB
Shinji (The Town of Headcounts) Araki has Ryuya (Over the Town) Wakaba take on a time-loop challenge.
Synopsis: Jun puts together the perfect plot to kill a mysterious man named Mizoguchi and pulls it off after Mizoguchi murders Jun’s girlfriend. However, when Jun wakes up the next morning, nothing has changed. Indeed, he has returned to the day before the murder. Thus, he keeps trying to kill the killer in an endless loop…
かくしごと 「Kakushigoto」
Release Date: June 07th, 2024
Duration: 128 mins.
Director: Kosai Sekine
Writer: Kosai Sekine (Screenplay), Koji Kitakuni (Original Novel),
Starring: Anne Watanabe, Toma Nakasu, Eiji Okuda, Aimi Satsukawa, Soko Wada, Aoba Kawai, Masanobu Ando,
Kosai Sekine (Love at Least) had a fashion documentary and this one released lasth year. This particular one was adapted from a novel by author Koji Kitakuni. It stars Anne Watanabe, who was most recently in the sequel to Fly Me to Saitama. I like the double-entendre of the English-language title.
Synopsis: Picture book author Chisako returns to her hometown and her estranged father, Kozo, when he develops Alzheimer’s. She is frustrated with the distant relationship and caring until she encounters a young boy who has just had an accident. He has no memory but marks on his body suggest abuse. She takes him in and pretends that she is his mother. A new family emerges for Chisako and she feels happy but…
あんのこと 「An no Koto」
Release Date: June 07th, 2024
Duration: 113 mins.
Director: Yu Irie
Writer: Yu Irie (Screenplay),
Starring: Yuumi Kawai, Goro Inagaki, Jiro Sato, Aoba Kawai, Yuriko Hirooka, Akari Hayami,
Website Twitter: @annokoto_movie JFDB IMDB
Yu Irie (Ninja Girl) wrote this drama after reading a newspaper article. He cast Yuumi Kawai (In Her Room, Sayonara, Girls) who is a young talent to watch out for. She was in headlines as she starred in Desert of Namibia which won an award at Cannes 2024.
Synopsis: Ann Kagawa’s life has been miserable, having grown up living with her alcoholic hostess mother who abused her and sold her to men during her mid-teens and turning to drugs to escape. Tatara, a police detective, shows her kindness and helps her into a drug rehabilitation group he runs. Ann opens her heart to him as he helps her to find a job and study and escape from home, but a rumour of a scandal surrounds Tatara and isolation during the Covid pandemic brings things to a head.
What Happened to Our Nest Egg!?
老後の資金がありません! 「Rougo no Shikin ga Arimasen」
Release Date: October 30th, 2021
Duration: 115 mins.
Director: Tetsu Maeda
Writer: Hiroshi Saito (Screenplay), Miu Kakiya (Original Novel),
Starring: Yuki Amami, Mitsuko Kusabue, Yutaka Matsushige, Yua Shinkawa, Toshiki Seto, Rie Shibata, Tomochika, Sho Aikawa, Mayumi Wakamura, Koki Mitani, Maryjun Takahashi,
Synopsis: At her age in life, all Atsuko (Yuki Amami) wants is an easy retirement. She is an ordinary housewife with a university-student son and freelancer daughter, a loving but careless husband, and a part-time job she does which is going okay. She manages her family’s finances, including her husband Akira’s salary, and is quite thrifty and she has done a good job building up a bank but it gets drained by a series of disasters! First off, her father-in-law dies abroad! Secondly, her part-time job is terminated! Thirdly, her daughter Mayumi is going to get married and requires a lavish wedding! Fourthly, she has agreed to take in her mother-in-law, Yoshino, a woman with no sense of saving money! Fifthly (can it get any worse???), Akira loses his job when his company goes bankrupt! Atsuko has to figure out how to get herself out of dire straits!
新米記者トロッ子 私がやらねば誰がやる！ 「Shinmai Kisha Torokko Watashi ga yaraneba dare ga yaru!」
Release Date: August 09th, 2024
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Keiich Kobayashi
Writer: Daisuke Ono (Screenplay), Shotaro Miyakawa (Original Story)
Starring: Karin Fujiyoshi, Akari Takaishi, Rinka Kumada, Tomo Nakai, Nene Sotohara, Keito Tsuna, Masahiro Takashima, Miwako Kakei,
Website Twitter: @torokko_movie
Karin Fujiyoshi, of the idol group Sakurazaka46, plays the lead role and she is joined by Akari Takaishi (Perfect Nervous, Baby Assassins trilogy) and Miwako Kakei (Thicker than Water). The film was directed by Keiichi Kobayashi (About the Pink Sky, Bon Lin).
The original story was conceived by Shotaro Miyakawa, a student in the film department of Nihon University’s College of the Arts, and it caught the attention of a producer of projects such as On the Edge of Their Seats.
Synopsis: High school girl Yui Tokoro loves literature and so she has enrolled in the elite Sakuraba Gakuen High School, which is where her favourite writer, Konoha Midorimachi, is reputed to be a student. However, she ends up in the newspaper club to find Konoha. It is there, surrounded by the unique members of the club, that she becomes fascinated by the work of a reporter and learns of the darkness hidden in the school…
化け猫あんずちゃん 「Bakeneko Anzu-chan」
Release Date: July 19th, 2024
Duration: 94 mins.
Director: Yoko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita
Writer: Shinji Imaoka (Screenplay), Takashi Imashiro (Original Manga),
Starring: Mirai Moriyama (Anzu), Noa Goto (Karin), 
Animation Production: Shin-Ei Animation, MIYU Productions
Website Twitter: @ghostcat_anzu ANN IMDB
Nobuhiro Yamashita (Hard-Core, The Drudgery Train) is co-directing with Yoko Kuno, who is making her directorial debut with this title. Her credits feature many animation production roles such as animation director of rotoscope on The Murder Case of Hana and Alice (2015) and animator/designer positions on various Crayon Shin-chan films. Anzu will combine 2D digital animation with rotoscope animation.
Shinji Imaoka (Reiko and the Dolphin (2020) interview with director Imaoka, Far Away, Further Away) adapted Takashi Imashiro’s manga into screenplay form.
In terms of cast, ghost cat Anzu is voiced by Mirai Moriyama, lead of The Drudgery Train, while Noa Goto voices Karin. Both actors had their movements and facial expressions captured in footage by the live-action team led by director Yamashita and this footage will serve as a reference for the rotoscoping, which will be handled by Shin-Ei Animation (responsible for Doraemon and Shin-chan films) and French studio Miyu Productions.
The film was featured at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and Annecy Animation Festival.
Synopsis: Karin is taken by her father to the family-run temple which is where she meets a cat named Anzu. He isn’t an ordinary cat. He lives like a human and speaks like a human and rides a moped around town and earns his keep as a part-time masseuse like a human. This jovial bipedal creature was found by Karin’s grandfather over 30 years ago and has a strong personality. Karin has a strong personality too, but after initial clashes…
嘘八百 「Usohappyaku」
Running Time: 105 mins.
Release Date: January 05th, 2018
Director: Masaharu Take
Writer: Shin Adachi, Masako Imai (Screenplay),
Starring: Kiichi Nakai, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Tomochika, Aoi Morikawa, Tomoya Maeno, Keiko Horiuchi, Shohei Uno, Jakujaku Katsura,
Shin Adachi and Masaharu Take, the writer and director of 100 Yen Love, teamed up again to make this comedy about counterfeit art. One of the actors involved is Tomoya Maeno who was fantastic in Emi-Abi. The other is Kiichi Nakai, a comedy stalwart for Koki Mitani and also one of the anchors of the sublime coming-of-age drama Moving.
Synopsis:Norio Koike (Kiichi Nakai) works as an antique dealer in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, close to a sacred place linked to the tea ceremony which produced Sen no Ryo. He wants to make a lot of money but business is hard so when he encounters a skilled ceramic artist named Sasuke Noda (Kuranosuke Sasaki) is a potter they decide to cheat an art appraiser by creating a new batch of Sen no Rikyu’s chaki (tea utensils).
護られなかった者たちへ 「Mamorarenakatta Monotachi e」
Release Date: October 01st, 2021
Duration: 134 mins.
Director: Takahisa Zeze
Writer: Tamio Hayashi (Script), Shichiri Nakayama (Original Novel),
Starring: Takeru Satoh, Hiroshi Abe, Kaya Kiyohara, Mitsuko Baisho, Kento Hayashi, Eita, Ryo Iwamatsu, Kaoru Okunuki,
Synopsis: Nine years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, a series of murders occur in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The details are grim: men who were said to be decent guys are tied up and left to starve to death. Detective Seiichiro Tomashino suspects that a recently released prisoner, Yasuhisa Tone, is the culprit of these grisly crimes. He has no proof but when another incident occurs, a chase ensues.
正欲 「Seiyoku」
Release Date: November 10th, 2023
Duration: 134 mins.
Director: Yoshiyuki Kishi
Writer: Takehiko Minato (Screenplay), Ryo Asai (Original Novel),
Starring: Goro Inagaki, Yui Aragaki, Hayato Isomura, Shohei Uno, Maho Yamada,
This is the latest film from Yoshiyuki Kishi, director of Double Life (2016) and he is adapting a novel from Ryo Asai, the person responsible for the story behind The Kirishima Thing (2012).
Synopsis: Hiroki Terai is a public prosecutor living and working in Yokohama. He and his wife aren’t getting along because his son has started skipping school. As Hiroki worries about this, all the way down in the south of Japan, Hiroshima, to be precise, there is a contract worker named Natsuki Kiryu who would like to stop working at a shopping mall and would prefer to spend her time alone. They are two of a number of people who find that they have secret character traits and passions that they hide from the world and some of these characters become connected to each other.
月 「Tsuki」
Release Date: October 13th, 2023
Duration: 144 mins.
Director: Yuya Ishii
Writer: Yuya Ishii (Screenplay), Yo Henmi (Original Novel)
Starring: Rie Miyazawa, Hayato Isomura, Eri Nagai, Hirota Otsuka, Hideyuki Kasahara, Yuka Itaya, Joe Odagiri, Fumi Nikaido,
Yuya Ishii, director of The Great Passage, The Tokyo Night Sky is Always the Densest Shade of Blue and Sawako Decides, adapted a novel of the same title and that novel was inspired by a real-life murder case. The film stars Rie Miyazawa (Twilight Samurai) Joe Odagiri (Mushishi), Hayato Isomura (Offbeat Cops), and Fumi Nikaido (Himizu).
Synopsis: Yoko was once famous for being a writer but she settled down with her husband and is now a non-celebrity. Taking on care work for severely disabled people at a facility deep in the woods, she meets fellow staff members including Yoko, an aspiring writer, and Sato-kun, an artist. She also meets patients, including Ki-chan, who lies motionless in bed in a room with no light. Yoko gets closer to various people but then she witnesses patients being abused and Satoru begins to reveal a much darker side to his nature…
ロマンチック金銭感覚 「Ai ni Ranbou」
Release Date: August 30th, 2024
Duration: 105 mins.
Director: Yukihiro Morigaki
Writer: Yukihiro Morigaki, Sahoko Yamazaki (Screenplay), Shuichi Yoshida (Original Novel),
Starring: Noriko Eguchi, Kotaro Koizumi, Jun Fubuki, Fumika Baba, Ryo Iwase,
Website Twitter: @ainiranbou JFDB IMDB
Noriko Eguchi is another screen presence to keep an eye on after a year where she appeared in multiple films. This one is based on a novel by Shuichi Yoshida. writer of the books the films Parade (2010), Villain (2010), A Story of Yonosuke (2013), Rage (2016) were based on.
Synopsis: Momoko’s life is a placid one spent teaching soap classes, dressing with taste, and preparing elaborate menus and living with her indifferent husband Mamoru in a detached house in the grounds of his parents’ home while ignoring the stress from her mother-in-law Teruko. Momoko’s routines begin to fall apart with a series of strange occurrences like suspicious fires at a nearby dump, the disappearance of her cat, and her Mamoru’s possible infidelity…
犬神家の一族 「Inugami-ke no ichizoku」
Release Date: October 16th, 1976
Duration: 146 mins.
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Writer: Norio Nagata, Shinya Hidaka, Kon Ichikawa (Screenplay), Seishi Yokomizo (Original Novel)
Starring: Koji Ishizaka, Mieko Takamine, Miki Sanjo, Mitsuko Kusabue,
Synopsis from the website: Shortly after World War II draws to a close, the patriarch of the affluent INUGAMI family passes away. Eager to know how his fortune will be distributed, the families of his three direct descendants gather for the reading of the will, but their anticipation turns to despair when a shocking revelation is made: in order to inherit his vast estate, one of his grandsons must marry Tamayo (SHIMADA Yoko), an outsider who lived with him and to whom the inheritance has been left.
With only one of his grandsons able to receive the inheritance, the sizeable INUGAMI family is plunged into a desperate scramble to lay claim to the patriarch’s assets, one which quickly turns deadly when a series of gruesome murders tear its members even further apart. Detective KINDAICHI (ISHIZAKA Koji) is called in to pursue the culprit, but his investigation uncovers more than they bargained for…
The first of various film and TV drama adaptations of crime and mystery novelist YOKOMIZO Seishi’s best-selling novel, The Inugami Family is a thrilling ensemble mystery by ICHIKAWA Kon (Ten Dark Women, JFTFP20). Setting a new standard for the Japanese noir with his brilliant use of colour, ICHIKAWA weaves a compelling tale of human greed and family strife in an old-fashioned Japanese village, with YOKOMIZO himself even making a cameo appearance.
カルメン故郷に帰る 「Carmen kokyo ni kaeru」
Release Date: March 21st, 1951
Duration: 86 mins.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita
Writer: Keisuke Kinoshita (Screenplay),
Starring: Hideko Takamine, Toshiko Kobayashi, Shuji Sano, Ryu Chishu,
Synopsis from the website: Just after the Second World War, the arrival of a city girl (TAKAMINE Hideko) and her friend (KOBAYASHI Toshiko) attracts curiosity from the residents of a rural mountain village. The girl’s name is Okin, and although she once called this very village home, she now claims to have become an artistic dancer in Tokyo under the stage name of Carmen.
The principal of the village school (RYU Chishu), a self-professed champion of the arts, is overjoyed to learn that his tiny village has produced such an esteemed artist, but when he witnesses Carmen and her friend’s dress sense and behaviour, he and the other villagers are confused and even upset. One day, determined to decorate her hometown with the brocade she prides herself on, Carmen agrees to showcase her dancing skills for the villagers…
An iconic light-hearted comedy, Carmen Comes Home remains one of master filmmaker KINOSHITA Keisuke’s (The Snow Flurry, JFTFP24) most beloved films, exploring the shifts and disparities in post-war Japanese moral standards. It also bears great historic significance as the first ever Japanese feature film produced in full colour.
Broken Commandment 
破戒 「Hakai」
Release Date: July 08th, 2022
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Kazuo Maeda
Writer: Masato Kato, Norio Kida (Script), Toson Shimazaki (Original Story)
Starring: Shotaro Mamiya, Anna Ishii, Yuma Yamoto, Naoto Takenaka, Ayako Kobayashi, Yoji Tanaka, Renji Ishibashi,
This is based on Toson Shimazaki’s work and has been adapted into film already, first by Keisuke Kinoshita in 1948 and then by Kon Ichikawa in 1962. I reviewed it for the 2022 edition of the New York Asian Film Festival.
Synopsis: Ushimatsu Segawa is a popular teacher and has a budding romance with a woman from a samurai family but one thing jeopardises it all: he is burakumin. This is a class considered as “untouchables” due to low jobs they had to do. This secret is a source of anxiety but meeting the free-thinking writer and poet Rentaro Inoko helps Segawa open up and consider fighting for equal rights, especially after tragedy strikes…
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