JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film, July 10-21, 2024-- Information and Schedule

Photo courtesy of Japan Society. Ⓒ Japan Society

Source: Japan Society press release
Official Site: https://japansociety.org/film/japancuts/
Special Thanks to Sylvia Savadjian

JAPAN SOCIETY PRESENTS THE 17TH ANNUAL

JAPAN CUTS: FESTIVAL OF NEW JAPANESE FILM

July 10–21, 2024 · Japan Society · New York, NY

North America’s largest Japanese film festival presents two weeks of contemporary premieres, including new films from Kei Chika-ura, Takeshi Kitano, Gakuryu Ishii, Shunji Iwai, Sho Miyake and Shinya Tsukamoto

31 films including 5 International Premieres, 10 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, 2 East Coast Premieres and 7 New York Premieres

Includes the International Premiere of SHIN GODZILLA: ORTHOchromatic

Japan Society presents the full lineup of the 17th annual JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film, the largest festival of its kind in North America. Set for July 10–August 21 in New York City, this year’s edition will present over 30 films spanning 12 days across Feature Slate, Next Generation, Classics and Short Film sections. Among the festival’s lineup are five International Premieres, 10 North American Premieres, four

U.S. Premieres, two East Coast Premieres and seven New York Premieres. Additionally, JAPAN CUTS will welcome over eight actors and directors as special guests and host three parties.

“We couldn't be more amazed by this year’s festival,” says Peter Tatara, Director of Film at Japan Society, who organized this year’s festival with Japan Society Film Programmer Alexander Fee. “This year’s JAPAN CUTS presents an abundance of powerful, engaging and unexpected films together with rare appearances from some of their most imaginative creators. JAPAN CUTS is a reflection of the breadth of Japan’s contemporary film industry, and this year absolutely celebrates the scope and storytelling of what Japanese cinema brings to the world.”

Starting off this year’s festival, JAPAN CUTS is honored to present the North American Premiere of Between the White Key and the Black Key as its Opening Film. Starring Sosuke Ikematsu and with director Masanori Tominaga appearing as a special guest, JAPAN CUTS will begin with a jazzy ode to 1980s Ginza as free flowing and ingenious as jazz itself.

Leading this year’s guests, JAPAN CUTS will present acclaimed actor Mirai Moriyama with this year’s CUT ABOVE Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film and acting legend Tatsuya Fuji with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Moriyama will receive the CUT ABOVE Award for his role in this year’s Centerpiece Film, Shadow of Fire from director Shinya Tsukamoto. Both Moriyama and Tsukamoto will make special appearances at the film’s premiere. Moriyama is a multi-hyphenate screen actor, stage actor and dancer known for a remarkably broad body of work despite his young age, and Shinya Tsukamoto’s Shadow of Fire pushes him to his limit in a brutal story about a war orphan in the ruins of World War II.

Fuji will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award following the New York Premiere of Kei Chika-ura’s Great Absence, with both Fuji and Chika-ura attending in person. Fuji is Japanese acting royalty with a career spanning 60 years, including Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses. Great Absence brings one of Japan’s greatest actors together with one of its rising directors for a powerful look at memory, family and loss. The film further co-stars CUT ABOVE winner Mirai Moriyama.

Further special guests include iconoclastic director Gakuryu Ishii, appearing for the East Coast Premiere of The Box Man as well as a retrospective screening of August in the Water; director Noriko Yuasa will appear at the International Premiere of Performing KAORU’s Funeral, winner of the JAPAN CUTS Award at the 2024 Osaka Asian Film Festival; and actress Tomoko Tabata will appear at a restoration premiere of Shinji Somai’s undisputed masterpiece Moving.

Additional highlights of this year’s festival:

● Next Generation competition with a hand-picked selection of independent narrative features directed by emerging directors. The festival’s only juried section, Japan Society awards the Obayashi Prize to its most accomplished film as determined by a jury of

industry professionals. This year’s distinguished jurors are Edo Choi, programmer at the Museum of the Moving Image; Matt Schley, film journalist and critic; and Ariel Esteban Cayer, writer, programmer and distributor (Kani Releasing).

● SHORT CUTS which explores experimental, narrative and animated short-length films, including Nezumikozo Jirokichi, celebrating silent era director Sadao Yamanaka and created by a team of anime legends including Rintaro and Katsuhiro Otomo, and Bottle George, a stop-motion short from the mind of Akihiro Nishino.
● Classics with three canonical works of ’80s and ’90s independent cinema. Following Japan Society’s recent retrospective on revered filmmaker Shinji Somai and his first-ever North American focus, Japan Society presents the East Coast premiere of the 4K restoration of Somai’s masterpiece Moving with lead actress Tomoko Tabata in attendance. Gakuryu Ishii (formerly Sogo Ishii), another singular independent auteur of the 1980s, will present an incredibly rare imported 35mm presentation of his 1995 cult sci-fi fantasy August in the Water —considered long out of circulation and distribution. Lastly, Toshiharu Ikeda’s elemental Mermaid Legend, an ecological vengeance thriller, screens for its 40th Anniversary.
● Pop culture hits including the International Premiere of SHIN GODZILLA: ORTHOchromatic, a black-and-white rendition of Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi's Godzilla masterpiece; KUBI from Takeshi Kitano, an irreverent historical bloodbath from one of Japan’s most notorious creators; and two secret anime screenings to be announced closer to the festival.

Described by The New York Times as “meticulously curated” and “an annual highlight of New York’s film calendar,” JAPAN CUTS brings the best and hardest-to-find contemporary films from Japan to New York City. From blockbusters, independent productions and anime, to documentaries, avant-garde works and short films, JAPAN CUTS offers an impressive look at the past 12 months of Japanese cinema. Japan Society is a 117-year-old nonprofit organization focused on connecting the U.S. and Japan, and its JAPAN CUTS is one of the organization’s largest and most popular programs.

All films will be screened at Japan Society (333 East 47th St., New York, NY 10017) and presented in Japanese with English subtitles unless otherwise noted.

JAPAN CUTS 2024 OPENING, CENTERPIECE & LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT FILMS

Opening Film

Between the White Key and the Black Key (North American Premiere)
『白鍵と黒鍵の間に』(Hakken to Kokken no Aida ni) Wednesday, July 10 at 6:30 PM - With Director Q&A and Reception
Dir. Masanori Tominaga, 2023, 94 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Sosuke Ikematsu, Riisa Naka, Go Morita, Crystal Kay.

Opening Night Film with Director Masanori Tominaga Q&A and Reception. Music sweeps through 1980s Ginza, a glamorous and dangerous neighborhood where well heeled Tokyoites, artists and thugs all sway together under the power of jazz. Sosuke Ikematsu stars in this spiraling, splintering, intersecting Mobius strip of a film based on the memoirs of jazz pianist Hiroshi Minami and a single night and a forbidden song that changes destiny. Also featuring Japanese pop star Crystal Kay.

Centerpiece Film

Shadow of Fire (U.S. Premiere)
『ほかげ』(Hokage)
Wednesday, July 17 at 6:30 PM - With Award Presentation, Q&A, and Reception
Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto, 2023, 95 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Shuri, Mirai Moriyama, Oga Tsukao, Hiroki Kono.

The sickness of postwar Japan runs at a fever pitch in Shinya Tsukamoto’s (Tetsuo the Iron Man, Bullet Ballet) latest entry to his war trilogy, following his acclaimed wartime dramas Fires on the Plain and Killing (JC 2019). A chamber drama that evolves beyond its initial setup, Shadow of Fire opens with the chance rendezvous of two survivors—an orphan child who steals food from the black market (Oga Tsukao) and a woman forced to sell her body (Shuri) in the ruins of a burnt-out tavern. The introduction of a young soldier still tormented by the war and a mysterious stranger (played by 2024 CUT ABOVE Award recipient Mirai Moriyama) bring new complications to the pair’s impermanent way of life. An unflinching examination of the immediate postwar chaos, Tsukamoto’s masterful direction once again offers a brutally searing critique of war as Shadow of Fire portrays a populace fashioned into specters, unable to reckon with the trauma of the past. Followed by Mirai Moriyama CUT ABOVE Award presentation, Q&A with Shinya Tsukamoto and Mirai Moriyama, and Reception.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Great Absence (New York Premiere)
『大いなる不在』 (Oinaru Fuzai)
Thursday, July 18 at 6:30 PM - With Award Presentation, Q&A, and Reception
Dir. Kei Chika-ura, 2023, 133 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tatsuya Fuji, Mirai Moriyama, Yoko Maki, Hideko Hara.

Tokyo-based actor Takashi (Mirai Moriyama) reluctantly travels to northern Kyushu with his wife (Yoko Maki) after local police inform him of a distress call made by his estranged father Yohji (Tatsuya Fuji), a retired professor who shows signs of rapidly progressive dementia. Once there, Takashi becomes involved in a mystery concerning the disappearance of Naomi (Hideko Hara), the woman for whom Yohji abandoned his family 20 years ago. Did she really commit suicide as Yohji claims? A deeply moving and artfully multi-layered sophomore feature about reconciliation, love and mortality by director Kei Chika-ura (Complicity) featuring stellar cinematography by frequent Hirokazu Kore-eda collaborator Yutaka Yamazaki. Followed by Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation for Tatsuya Fuji, Q&A with Kei Chika-ura and Tatsuya Fuji, and Reception.

FEATURE SLATE

In Alphabetical Order

Visit the JAPAN CUTS website for full descriptions of all films.

Photo courtesy of Japan Society. © Maiko Seo / 2024 All the Long Nights Film Partners

All the Long Nights (U.S. Premiere)
『夜明けのすべて』(Yoake no Subete)
Tuesday, July 16 at 6:30 PM
Dir. Sho Miyake, 2024, 119 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Mone Kamishiraishi, Hokuto Matsumura, Ken Mitsuishi.

Auteur Sho Miyake’s (And Your Bird Can Sing, JC 2019) tender followup to acclaimed boxing drama Small Slow but Steady focuses on the interpersonal lives of two coworkers afflicted with debilitating conditions—a beautifully compassionate drama shot on 16mm.

Between the White Key and the Black Key (North American Premiere)
『白鍵と黒鍵の間に』(Hakken to Kokken no Aida ni)
Wednesday, July 10 at 6:30 PM - With Director Q&A and Reception
Dir. Masanori Tominaga, 2023, 94 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Sosuke Ikematsu, Riisa Naka, Go Morita, Crystal Kay.

Opening Night Film with Director Masanori Tominaga Q&A and Reception. Sosuke Ikematsu stars in this spiraling Mobius strip of a film based on the memoirs of jazz pianist Hiroshi Minami and a single night and a forbidden song that changes destiny.

Blue Period (International Premiere)
『ブルーピリオド』 (Buru Piriodo)
Saturday, July 13 at 3:00 PM
Dir. Kentaro Hagiwara, 2024, 115 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Gordon Maeda, Fumiya Takahashi, Rihito Itagaki, Hiyori Sakurada.

Tsubasa Yamaguchi’s Blue Period manga is an acclaimed story about the power of passion, dedication and art—now brought to life by director Kentaro Hagiwara. The story follows a high school student whose life changes when completing an art project, he’s consumed by a deep new feeling inside himself, and he challenges himself to get into one of the most difficult art universities in Japan.

The Box Man (East Coast Premiere)
『箱男』(Hako Otoko)
Saturday, July 13 at 5:30 PM
Dir. Gakuryu Ishii, 2024, 120 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Masatoshi Nagase, Tadanobu Asano, Ayana Shiramoto, Koichi Sato.

Featuring Director Gakuryu Ishii In-Person. Absurdist, self-aware and characteristically bizarre, Gakuryu Ishii’s rendition of Kobo Abe’s experimental nouveau roman is fashioned with the punk ethos of Ishii’s early work as it follows a photographer who obsesses over a “box man”—a purposeful outcast who renounces everything to live inside a cardboard box.

Cha-Cha (North American Premiere)
『チャチャ』(Cha-Cha)
Friday, July 19 at 9:30 PM
Dir. Mai Sakai, 2024, 108 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Marika Ito.

Cha-Cha is the love story between a free-spirited artist and a boy with increasingly questionable tastes. The film is painted with the whimsical colors of a romantic comedy at its surface that belie much, much, much darker hues to be found in its deranged depths.

Following the Sound (North American Premiere)
『彼方のうた』(Kanata no Uta)
Sunday, July 21 at 1:30 PM
Dir. Kyoshi Sugita, 2023, 84 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With An Ogawa, Yuko Nakamura, Hidekazu Mashima.

A film of stillness and quotidian beauty, Following the Sound features all the hallmarks of director Kyoshi Sugita’s lyrical stylings.

Tatsuya Fuji stars as a retired professor who shows signs of rapidly progressive dementia. A deeply moving and artfully multi-layered feature about reconciliation, love and mortality by director Kei Chika-ura.

ICE CREAM FEVER (North American Premiere)
『アイスクリームフィーバー』(Aisukurimu Fiba)
Saturday, July 20 at 12:30 PM
Dir. Tetsuya Chihara, 2023, 104 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Riho Yoshioka, Serena Motola, Utaha (Wednesday Campanella), Marika Matsumoto.

Adapted from a short story by award-winning author Mieko Kawakami, this colorful debut by Tetsuya Chihara follows four young women who intersect one summer at a Shibuya ice cream shop where they each find sweet inspiration.

KUBI (New York Premiere)
『首』 (Kubi)
Tuesday, July 16 at 9:00 PM
Dir. Takeshi Kitano, 2023, 131 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Takeshi Kitano, Ryo Kase, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Shido Nakamura.

77-year-old icon of Japanese film and television Takeshi Kitano returns to the big screen in epic fashion with his 19th feature—a bloody and comically subversive retelling of the death of samurai warlord Oda Nobunaga. Heads will roll!

Kyrie (North American Premiere)
『キリエのうた』(Kyrie no Uta)
Thursday, July 11 at 6:30 PM
Dir. Shunji Iwai, 2023, 178 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With AiNA THE END, Hokuto Matsumura, Haru Kuroki, Suzu Hirose.

Starring singer AiNA THE END in her first leading role, Kyrie tells the story of a street musician who cannot speak and can only communicate through song. From Shunj Iwai, masterful director of Swallowtail Butterfly and All About Lily Chou-Chou.

Look Back (East Coast Premiere)
『ルックバック』 (Rukku Bakku) Sunday, July 14 at 1:30 PM
Dir. Kiyotaka Oshiyama, 2024, 56 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Yuumi Kawai, Mizuki Yoshida.

Based on an award-winning manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, creator of the popular Chainsaw Man, Look Back is the tale of two school children united by the power of comics. The film follows their friendships, rivalries, passions and regrets, all revolving around their desire to draw. Looking back, they ask if they would make the same decisions again—even if painful—to become who they are.

Shadow of Fire (U.S. Premiere)
『ほかげ』(Hokage)
Wednesday, July 17 at 6:30 PM - With Award Presentation, Q&A, and Reception
Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto, 2023, 95 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Shuri, Mirai Moriyama, Oga Tsukao, Hiroki Kono.

Centerpiece Film. An unflinching examination of the immediate postwar chaos, Shinya Tsukamoto’s Shadow of Fire is a brutally searing critique of war, examining the destroyed lives of those who survived its horrors. Followed by Mirai Moriyama CUT ABOVE Award presentation, Q&A with Shinya Tsukamoto and Mirai Moriyama, and Reception.

SHIN GODZILLA: ORTHOchromatic (International Premiere) 『シン・ゴジラ:オルソ』(Shin Gojira Oruso)
Sunday, July 14 at 9:00 PM
Sunday, July 21 at 8:30 PM

Dir. Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, 2023, 119 min., DCP, black and white, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara.

Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s 21st century masterpiece is reborn with this stunning black-and-white version. ORTHOchromatic adds new dimensions to the film’s visual impact by rendering it in orthochromatic (“ortho” for short) black-and-white, a type of monochrome characterized by starker contrasts and more pronounced blacks. The results are awe-inspiring and presents Shin Godzilla as never seen before.

Six Singing Women (U.S. Premiere)
『唄う六人の女』 (Utau Rokunin no Onna)
Friday, July 12 at 6:30 PM
Dir. Yoshimasa Ishibashi, 2023, 113 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Yutaka Takenouchi, Takayuki Yamada, Naoto Takenaka.

A car accident finds two men imprisoned by a group of enigmatic, animalistic women who seem spiritually connected to the land. A bold and decadent mystery-laden ecological fable, Six Singing Women is the first feature film in over a decade from artist and JAPAN CUTS alum Yoshimasa Ishibashi.

Whale Bones (North American Premiere)
『鯨の骨』(Kujira no Hone)
Sunday, July 14 at 3:00 PM
Dir. Takamasa Oe, 2023, 88 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Motoki Ochiai, Ano, Mayuu Yokota.

Written and directed by Takamasa Oe—who co-wrote the Oscar winner Drive My Car with Ryusuke Hamaguchi—Whale Bones is an ethereal noir-tinged mystery that investigates the loneliness and desperation of our internet-mediated modern life.

NEXT GENERATION

In Alphabetical Order

This sole competitive section of the festival features a hand-picked selection of independently produced narrative feature films by emerging directors who offer a glimpse into the future of Japanese cinema. One film within the section—determined as the most accomplished by a jury of film industry professionals—will receive the “Obayashi Prize” in honor of the late filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi (1938-2020).

Blue Imagine (North American Premiere)
『ブルーイマジン』 (Buru Imajin)
Saturday, July 20 at 3:00 PM
Dir. Urara Matsubayashi, 2024, 93 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Mayu Yamaguchi, Asuka Kawatoko, Yui Kitamura, Iana Bernardez.

In the aftermath of being assaulted by a well-known director, young actress Noel finds refuge in a communal living space for abused women. Blue Imagine complexly explores the physical, mental, and emotional scars of abuse, transformative power of friendship, and difficult questions of revenge, recovery and self-realization.

Motion Picture: Choke (New York Premiere)
『映画 (窒息)』(Eiga Chissoku)
Friday, July 12 at 9:00 PM
Dir. Gen Nagao, 2023, 108 min., DCP, black and white, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Misa Wadam, Daiki Hiba, Takashi Nishina, Minori Terada.

In an imagined post-apocalyptic future, humanity reverts to prehistoric conditions and spoken language is lost. A highly original, dialogue-free indie drama shot in black-and-white.

Photo courtesy of Japan Society. © PKFP PARTNERS. LLC / Production Year 2023.

Performing KAORU’s Funeral (New York Premiere)
『カオルの葬式』(KAORU no Soushiki)
Saturday, July 20 at 5:30 PM - With Director Q&A
Dir. Noriko Yuasa, 2023, 100 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With With Koji Seki, Kano Ichiki, Chise Niitsu.

Featuring Director Noriko Yuasa In-Person. Failed actor Jun receives a phone call that informs him that his elusive ex-wife Kaoru has chosen him to be the chief mourner at her funeral in her last will and testament. With an ensemble of off-kilter performances, accompanied by a percussive soundtrack and propulsive editing, director Noriko Yuasa delivers a dark comedy that etches an entertaining yet poignant portrait of familial dysfunction. Winner of the JAPAN CUTS Award at the 2024 Osaka Asian Film Festival.

Rei (North American Premiere)
『莉の対』(Rei no Tsui)
Monday, July 15 at 6:30 PM
Dir. Toshihiko Tanaka, 2024, 190 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Takara Suzuki, Maeko Oyama, Shogo Moriyama, Toshihiko Tanaka.

Unhappy in the big city, Hikari can’t find meaning in her existence until she meets Masato, a photographer from far off Hokkaido. This connection leads to an adventure, loneliness, dependency and a destructive love affair.

Photo courtesy of Japan Society. Ⓒ

RETAKE (North American Premiere) 『リテイク』(Riteiku)
Sunday, July 21 at 3:30 PM
Dir. Kota Nakano, 2024, 110 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Yuta Muto, Urara, Areina Takano.

RETAKE follows a high school student who decides to make a movie over summer break with her friends and is a celebration of adolescence and the raw joy of cinema.

Photo courtesy of Japan Society. © Ryo Asai/SHUEISHA, 2023 SHOJO WA SOTSUGYO SHINAI Film Partners

Sayonara, Girls. (North American Premiere)
『少女は卒業しない』(Shojo wa Sotsugyo Shinai)
Saturday, July 13 at 12:30 PM
Dir. Shun Nakagawa, 2022, 120 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Yuumi Kawai, Rina Komiyama, Tomo Nakai, Rina Ono.

With graduation around the corner, a group of students at Shimada High School in Yamanashi Prefecture spend their final days processing their time together and the future ahead. Led by an impressive cast of young actresses, Shun Nakagawa’s poignant feature debut deftly captures the bittersweet sensitivity of adolescence.

CLASSICS

In Alphabetical Order

Photo courtesy of Japan Society. © Gakuryu Ishii

August in the Water
『水の中の八月』 (Mizu no Naka no Hachigatsu)
Sunday, July 14 at 5:30 PM - With Director Q&A
Dir. Gakuryu Ishii (as Sogo Ishii), 1995, 117 min., 35mm, color, in Japanese with live English subtitles. With Rena Komine, Shinsuke Aoki, Reiko Matsuo.

Imported 35mm Print - Featuring Director Gakuryu Ishii In-Person. An unlikely coincidence of strange cosmic phenomena unites highschoolers Izumi and Mao in a race against ecological ruin brought on by drought and disease. Ishii’s mid-1990s masterwork is an evocative daydream infused with the enigma of existence—a primordial rite of passage awash in cloudburst and myth.

Mermaid Legend
『人魚伝説』 (Ningyo Densetsu)
Saturday, July 20 at 8:30 PM
Dir. Toshiharu Ikeda, 1984, 110 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Mari Shirato, Jun Eto, Kentaro Shimizu.

40th Anniversary. The first Direkan production, Mermaid Legend is one of the great works of ’80s independent cinema, an elemental eco thriller in which an ama diver enacts near mythical revenge for the murder of her husband.

Photo courtesy of Japan Society. © YTV

Moving (East Coast Premiere of 4K Restoration)
『お引越し』 (Ohikkoshi)
Friday, July 19 at 6:30 PM - With Actress Q&A
Dir. Shinji Somai, 1993, 124 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tomoko Tabata, Junko Sakurada, Kiichi Nakai.

Featuring Tomoko Tabata In-Person. Shinji Somai’s undisputed masterpiece is a heartbreaking elegy to childhood, focusing on Ren (Tomoko Tabata), a resilient young girl grieving the separation of her parents and desperately clawing for some type of control in her life. A sweeping odyssey of self-discovery, Moving finds young Ren having to grow up in the face of it all, culminating in a surreal matsuri drenched in billowing flame and fantasy.

SHORT CUTS

In Chronological Order

SHORT CUTS Program 1 - Saturday, July 13 at 11:00 AM

Hail Mary (International Premiere)
『マリアに幸あれ』( Maria ni Sachiare)
Dir. Mayu Nakamura, 2023, 10 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Stefanie Arianne, Takashi Yuki.

A Filipino woman must protect a mysterious package from the cold and dangers of the Tokyo night. Hail Mary is shot entirely on a Xperia smartphone.

Wife’s Power Outage (U.S. Premiere)
『妻の電池切れ』 (Tsuma no Denchigire)
Dir. Kimi Yawata, 2023, 21 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Asami Usuda, Munetaka Aoki.

Hana and Yusuke have been growing more distant and now sit in a karaoke room contemplating divorce. As they weigh their future, Tokyo suffers a blackout, and at the same time, Hana suddenly collapses.

Bottle George
『ボトルジョージ』(Botoru Jo-Ji)
Dir. Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, 2024, 13 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, Nodoka Kumeda, Hajime Takagi.

From the mind of Akihiro Nishino comes a short film with a big message. Told through disarmingly beautiful stop motion animation, Bottle George is a parable for addiction, what we can lose when trapped by alcohol, and the hope of breaking free.

SHORT CUTS Program 2 - Saturday, July 20 at 11:00 AM

Social Circles
『Social Circles』
Dir. Eri Saito, 2023, 15 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles.

Through this experimental art piece, artist Eri Saito explores the faint boundaries that emerge between individual communications, relationships and our inability to fully connect.

Parking Area (International Premiere)
『Parking Area』
Dir. Toru Masuyama, 2022, 9 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Saemi Okano.

Parking Area sends a weary traveler into a psychedelic kaleidoscope. Stopping at a highway rest area, each step the traveler takes propels them into a realm where nature and concrete merge and sprawl into the sky.

Nezumikozo Jirokichi (U.S. Premiere)
『山中貞雄に捧げる漫画映画「鼠小僧次郎吉」』(Yamanaka Sadao ni Sasageru Manga Eiga “Nezumikozo Jirokichi”)
Dir. Rintaro, 2023, 23 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Mami Koyama.

Legendary anime director Rintaro’s first new work in over a decade depicts pioneering 1930s director Sadao Yamanaka and the production of his Nezumikozo Jirokichi.

DOCUMENTARY

In Alphabetical Order

Kadono Eiko's Colorful Life: Finding the Magic Within (International Premiere) 『カラフルな魔女 ~角野栄子の物語が生まれる暮らし~』 (Karafuru na Majo ~Kadono Eiko no Monogatari ga Umareru Kurashi~) (International Premiere)
Sunday, July 21 at 11 AM
Dir. Marina Miyagawa, 2024, 96 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Eiko Kadono.

A documentary bounding with energy on the renowned children’s book author most known as the writer of Kiki’s Delivery Service.

The Making of a Japanese (North American Premiere) 『小学校~それは小さな社会~』(Shogakko ~Sore wa Chisana Shakai~)
Sunday, July 21 at 6:00 PM - With Director Q&A
Dir. Ema Ryan Yamazaki, 2023, 99 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles.

Featuring Director Ema Ryan Yamazaki In-Person. Concerning itself with the formative qualities and values instilled by the country’s education system, The Making of a Japanese documents the lives of grade schoolers in one of Japan’s largest public elementary schools, intimately capturing what it means to learn and become a member of Japanese society.

Shunga: The Lost Japanese Erotica (North American Premiere)
『春の画 SHUNGA』 (Haru no e SHUNGA)
Saturday, July 13 at 9:00 PM
Dir. Junko Hirata, 2023, 121 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tadanori Yokoo, Makoto Aida, Ryoko Kimura, Mirai Moriyama, Yo Yoshida.

A lush documentary on the past, present and future of sexually explicit art prints known as shunga. Recommended for mature audiences.

TICKETING

Opening, Centerpiece & Lifetime Achievement: $25 Nonmembers / $18 Members / $23 seniors & students
Screenings with Q&As: $24 Nonmembers / $17 Member / $22 seniors & students
All Other Screenings: $20 Nonmembers / $14 Members / $18 seniors & students
Short Films: $12 Nonmembers / $5 Members / $10 seniors & students
All-Access Pass: $315 (Members-Exclusive)

Classics Bundle: Purchase tickets to all three films in our Classics Section (August in the Water, Mermaid Legend, Moving) to save $3 on each ticket.

Prices are inclusive of fees, where applicable. All screenings take place in-person at Japan Society’s theater, located at 333 East 47th Street in New York, NY.

Tickets on sale now for Japan Society members at japansociety.org/japancuts. Tickets on sale to the general public on June 11. For more information, please follow Japan Society Film on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Letterboxd.

About Japan Society

Japan Society is the premier organization connecting Japanese arts, culture, business and society with audiences in New York and around the world. At Japan Society, we are inspired by the Japanese concept of kizuna (絆)–forging deep connections to bind people together. We are committed to telling the story of Japan while strengthening connections within New York City and building new bridges beyond. In over 100 years of work, we’ve inspired generations by establishing ourselves as pioneers in supporting international exchanges in arts and culture, business and policy, as well as education between Japan and the U.S. We strive to convene important conversations on topics that bind our two countries together, champion the next generation of innovative creators, promote mutual understanding and serve as a trusted guide

for people everywhere who seek to more fully appreciate the rich complexities and abundance of Japan. From our New York headquarters, a landmark building designed by architect Junzo Yoshimura that opened to the public in 1971, we look forward to the years ahead, which will be defined by our digital and ideational impact through the kizuna that we build. Our future can only be enhanced by learning from our peers and engaging with our audiences, both near and far.

JAPAN CUTS 2024 is sponsored by Sapporo-Stone Brewing. JAPAN CUTS 2024 is supported by Brooklyn Kura, Glico, Japan Village and Sunrise Mart.

Japan Society programs are made possible by leadership support from Booth Ferris Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Anime NYC and Yen Press. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family and Friends of Film.

Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film. Housing assistance is provided by the Prince Kitano New York, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film.