Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film

North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese film returns for its 18th year this summer at Japan Society! Join us July 10-20 for 30 curated films from across Japan featuring major award-winners, indie darlings, up-and-coming filmmakers, restorations, documentaries, experimental and short films and anime. JAPAN CUTS Powered by GU is a showcase of the latest in Japanese cinema, featuring both today’s most popular actors and directors as well as tomorrow’s pioneering talent. Become part of our passionate filmgoer community for premieres, parties and celebrity guests in the heart of America’s biggest city!

Leading this year’s highlights:

JAPAN CUTS Powered by GU will present legendary director Kiyoshi Kurosawa with the CUT ABOVE Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film, host the premieres of his new film Cloud and recent remake of Serpent’s Path, as well as showcase revivals of License to Live and a new 4K restoration of the original Serpent’s Path.

Schedule

July 12, 2025

Yasuko, Songs of Days Past

3:00 pm

North American Premiere. A resplendent Taisho-set period drama penned by Seijun Suzuki scribe Yozo Tanaka, whose past works made up some of the most decadent evocations of Taisho through the visual triumphs of Suzuki’s independent triumvirate of Zigeunerweisen, Kagero-za and Yumeji, Yasuko is helmed by ’80s auteur Kichitaro Negishi (Distant Thunder, Detective Story). Set in the younger days of ill-fated modernist poet Chuya Nakahara (“Japan’s Rimbaud”), Yasuko captures the prodigy’s early love affair with aspiring actress Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose) and the ensuing entanglements when she falls for literary critic Hideo Kobayashi. Negishi’s lush melodrama, his first film in 15 years, burrows deep into the tumultuous entwinement of their bohemian lives, while endowing Hirose’s Yasuko with a depth that exceeds the tired narrative of literary muses.

Dir. Kichitaro Negishi, 2025, 128 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Suzu Hirose, Taisei Kido, Masaki Okada. Screenplay by Yozo Tanaka.

She Taught Me Serendipity

With Actress Q&A and Reception

6:30 pm

U.S. Premiere-Q&A with Yuumi Kawai and Reception. Director Akiko Ohku (Tremble All You Want, JC 2018) shifts away from her novel engagements with the neurotic interiorities of young working women to explore the life of college student Konishi (Riku Hagiwara), an anxiety-ridden loner who brandishes an umbrella on sunlit days. Through a progression of coincidences, Konishi forms a bond with classmate Hana (Yuumi Kawai), whose equally vulnerable and eclectic state of mind suggests a perfect match, but in his utter infatuation, Konishi’s self-involved disposition places enormous neglect on friends and co-workers. Sensory and sonically attuned, even balletic at times, She Taught Me Serendipity inventively constructs an approximation of Konishi’s psyche, and shines in its open-hearted confessions, soul-baring and poignant in their nature.

Dir. Akiko Ohku, 2025, 127 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Riku Hagiwara, Yuumi Kawai, Aoi Ito, Kodai Kurosaki.

Tickets

$20 Nonmembers

$14 Members

$18 Seniors/Students

$18 Person with Disability

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