The Japan Foundation Reveal Their 2025 Touring Programme

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme has announced it’s 2025 line up. The UK’s biggest festival of Japanese cinema, have created a packed programme on the theme of ‘Justice, Justification and Judgement in Japanese Cinema’.

The programme will be a mix of new and retrospective highlights. showcasing 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.  UK audiences are invited to the festival in questioning the very concepts of justice, justification and judgement against today’s backdrop of ever-changing values and perspectives.

The Moon (2023, 144 min, UK Premiere), Yuya Ishii  is a chilling adaptation which asks scathing questions on the state of the Japanese care system and the meaning of life itself.  All unearthed by  a once popular writer who, after losing her desire to write  and a seemingly empathetic young carer. Bunji Sotoyama’s (Soiree) Tea Friends (2022, 134 min, UK Premiere) tackles loneliness among Japan’s growing elderly population and the taboo topic of sexuality within this group through the story of Mana (Rei Okamoto), who start a  call girl service that sends elderly “tea girls” to its lonely old callers, ostensibly for company.. A Girl Named Ann (2024, 113 min, UK Premiere) , Yu Irie’s film follows a young woman who, having endured a traumatic childhood, finds her life beginning to improve through the intervention of detective Tatara (Jiro Sato). The film  questions the idea of forcing upon individuals the responsibility for broader societal problems within inadequate structures.

Chaotic black comedy Qualia (2023, 96 min, UK Premiere), marks the directorial debut of actor Ryo Ushimaru ( Lowlife Love). The film follows a woman’s search for a new live‐in employee that leads her to Saki, her husband’s mistress.  In emotional mystery Stay Mum (Dir. Kosai Sekine, 2024, 128 min, UK Premiere), an estranged daughter encounters a boy who has lost his memory.  spotting signs of child abuse on his body  leading to a shocking climax.. Day and Night (Dir. Michihito Fujii, 2019, 134 min, UK Premiere) follows a  father, a whistle‐blower, takes his own life. Under pressure from his father’s debtors, Koji begins work at an orphanage run by Kenichi (Masanobu Ando),  eventually dragged into Kenichi’s criminal activities by night, the line between good and evil begins to blur. (Ab)normal Desire (2023, 134 min, UK Premiere) looks at the lives and desires of a seemingly disconnected group of people including Yaeko, who have certain fears and fetishes  for spurting water. Powerful drama Hope (2020, 108 min, UK Premiere) finds a family living a successful and peaceful life that is torn apart when their teenage son goes missing and is reported to be involved in a murder case.  An ordinary family torn to shreds by youth crime, the ruthless media machine that preys on them.

 Masaharu Take’s  We Make Antiques! (2018, 105 min, UK Premiere) is a breakout hit set in the world of Japanese antiques dealership and tea ceremonies, which kickstarted a beloved franchise. Shady antiques dealer  and talented‐but‐impoverished potter  team up to con respectable connoisseurs out of their money. Comic light shines on  economic issues around retirement in What Happened to Our Nest Egg!? (2021, 115 min, UK Premiere). Let’s Go Karaoke! (Dir. Nobuhiro Yamashita, 2024, 107 min, UK Premiere) is a yakuza film with a difference. An heartfelt and hilarious comedy which sees junior high school choir leader’s ordinary teenage life turned upside down when yakuza lieutenant  desperately asks him to provide singing lessons in the leadup to his gang’s high‐stakes annual karaoke contest.

Period drama Bushido (2024, 129 min, UK Premiere) finds respected samurai and skilled ‘Go’ player  falsely accused of a crime, which destroys his family and his status, leaving him living the life of a ronin. A journey to restore their honour through revenge, but their journey comes at a cost. Viciously emotional conflicts of honour and revenge collide in  Kazuya Shiraishi’s  unmissable new twist on the samurai genre in Broken Commandment (Dir. Kazuo Maeda, 2022, 119 min, UK Premiere) adapted from literary master Toson Shimazaki’s 1906 classic novel.

Women take centre stage in the unnerving and suspenseful, Rude to Love (Dir. Yukihiro Morigaki, 2024, 105 min, UK Premiere) follows hard‐working, well‐dressed and caring housewife  as she grows frustrated by her mother‐in‐law’s intrusions, her untidy neighbours, and her husband’s indifference. 99% Cloudy… Always (2023, 110 min, UK Premiere) is an uncompromising drama exploring the conventional standards enforced on women on the autism spectrum, as seen via 45‐year‐old Kazuha who, despite a happy life with her husband, is deeply affected. Similarly tackling an issue not generally represented on screen, All the Long Nights (2024, 119 min, UK Premiere) is a thoughtful character study looking with empathy and kindness at one woman’s struggles with PMS. In the film, a woman with debilitating PMS, and a man with a severe panic disorder, initially clash when they meet at work, but soon come to share a mutual understanding of their struggles. In Ryosuke Hashiguchi’s  loving contribution to the Japanese “home drama” genre, To Mom, With Love (2024, 106 min, UK Premiere), three very different sisters gather at a hot spring resort to celebrate their mother’s birthday. When one of the sisters reveals a big surprise, their happy gathering descends into chaos and sibling rivalry in this lightning‐fast dysfunctional family comedy. The Scoop (Dir. Keiichi Kobayashi, 2024, 98 min, UK Premiere) centres on bookworm  unique entry requirement for her school’s literature club: she must find out the true identity of an elusive but famous student writer. Infiltrates the newspaper club to investigate, but quickly discovers darker secrets that will shake her school to its very core.

Two films from this year’s programme offer original time travel twists with Penalty Loop (Dir. Shinji Araki, 2023, 99 min), proving a darker entry than previous offerings, when a young man  seeks revenge for his girlfriend’s death. After killing the man who murdered his lover he wakes to find himself trapped in a time loop of the same day, exacting his revenge over and over again… Then, in A Samurai in Time (2024, 131 min), a  swordsman  draws his blade against his rival on the streets of Kyoto – only for lightning to strike, sending him forward through time onto the set of a twenty-first century period drama! This crowd-pleasing comedy drama offers a heartfelt tribute to the once mighty ‘jidaigeki’.

In the Wake (Dir. Takahisa Zeze, 2021, 134 min, UK Premiere), sees a sinister serial murder case unfold in Sendai nine years after the city was ravaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.  Police PR employee  best friend is murdered in the midst of a major police misconduct scandal in the suspenseful Sakura (Dir. Hiroto Hara, 2024, 119 min, UK Premiere).  police force’s secrets run deep, and  search for justice uncovers far more than they bargained for. In the arresting thriller Ichiko (Dir. Akihiro Toda, 2023, 126 min, UK Premiere)  a young woman who vanishes after her boyfriend’s marriage proposal. Bewildered, he sets out to find her, and discovers a shocking truth: there is no record of her ever existing. Who is she, and where has she gone?

This year’s animated entry is Ghost Cat Anzu (2024, 97 min), a visually stunning joy that brings the world of Japan’s yokai (ghosts) to vibrant, charming life. Eleven‐year‐old girl isn’t happy finds herself dumped at her grandfather when her good‐for‐nothing father  runs away from the loan sharks. It’s when she excited when she meets Anzu , her grandfather’s 37‐year‐old, six foot tall, bipedal, talking cat! The pair band  together, set off on an extraordinary, magical journey, which eventually leads them on a path down to the underworld itself…

For the complete line up and when cinemas that will be part of the programme, head over to the foundation’s official website.

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2025 takes place in cinemas around the UK from 7th February – 31st March 2025.