Film
Film
Film
Spurred on by the success of the 1970 Donald Richie-curated MoMA retrospective The Japanese Film: 1896-1969, Japan Society committed to making film one of its key programs in the early seventies—quickly becoming the premier venue for the exhibition of new Japanese cinema as well as career-spanning retrospectives on seminal directors and actors. In 1979, Japan Society established the Japan Film Center, formalizing film as a full-fledged, year-round program aimed at cultivating a deep appreciation and understanding of Japanese film culture among American audiences. Over the years, Japan Society Film has hosted numerous high-profile premieres and programs that include visits from Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune, Hideko Takamine, and Nobuhiko Obayashi. In 2007, Japan Society Film launched JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film, the largest festival of its kind in North America. Follow Japan Society Film on Letterboxd, Twitter and Instagram for Japanese cinema content and news about upcoming screenings.
Ongoing Series
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Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us – Part I
May 9–31, 2025Often cited as the “fourth great master” of Japanese cinema, Mikio Naruse (1905–1969) crafted an austere world across his four-decade career, excavating the lives of women and the milieu of Japan’s working class, accentuated by his profound sense of despair. In collaboration with Metrograph and The Japan Foundation, New York, we are proud to once again commemorate the golden age master on the 120th anniversary of his birth with his first New York retrospective in 20 years.
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John and Miyoko Davey Classics
Year-round screenings of beloved classics, restorations, and rediscoveries of classic Japanese cinema, offering a new cinematic canon from across the scope of Japanese cinema. Presented with the John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund for Classic Japanese Film.
Upcoming Events
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Past Events
Past Series
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Obayashi ’80s: The Onomichi Trilogy & Kadokawa Years
February 7–14, 2025Braiding visually expressive fantasias with striking formal experimentation and pop-art boldness, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s idiosyncratic cinematic language produced some of Japan’s most beloved seishun eiga in the 1980s. This winter, Japan Society is proud to present Obayashi ’80s, a six-film program centered on Obayashi’s 1980s youth films, with a rare focus on his rarely-screened Onomichi trilogy and his years with Kadokawa.
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Foreign Exchange: Anime Inspirations & Visionaries with LeSean Thomas
November 15–17, 2024Through Foreign Exchange, Japan Society presents retrospective screenings which spotlight the works that inspired LeSean Thomas, one of the few Black Americans working in the anime industry in Japan, and celebrate the luminaries across the anime world including Masahiro Ando, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Takeshi Koike, Yutaka Minowa, Kenichi Shima and the late Satoshi Iwataki. Appearing in-person throughout the series, LeSean will discuss his history with anime, his cross-cultural productions with Japanese creators and the artform’s deep impact with diverse audiences, including talks with The Imagination Project Inc. offering guidance for the next generation of creators, directors, producers, artists and animators.
Top Image: © Daphne Youree.
Japan Society’s 120th anniversary initiatives and related programs are generously supported by Champion Sponsor, MUFG Bank, Ltd.; Advocate Sponsor, Mizuho Americas; and Friend Sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).
Japan Society programs are supported by 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, George P. Hirose, David Toberisky, Joseph Rajaratnam and Dharshini Iolanthe Sivakumarann, and other Film supporters.
Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film Program. Housing assistance is provided by the Prince Kitano New York, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film Program.
