What's On

As we enter the season of new beginnings, join us for a fresh programme of Japanese films which present their pivotal characters entering new stages (and worlds) in their own lives - from unlikely introductions to fatherhood for the sake of a rogue pup, to the navigation of an inverted universe by a girl ushered into an age of maturity.  

Friday 20 April 2018: Courthouse Cinema, 19-21 Great Marlborough Street, London, W1F 7HL

**Before the screening there will be a short talk by anime expert Helen Mc Carthy, author of Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation : Films, Themes, Artistry (1999), The Anime Encyclopedia (2001), 500 Essential Anime Movies: The Ultimate Guide (2008), along with many other titles.

 Patema Inverted 6.40pm (including 20 minute talk)

(Directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura, 2013, 99 mins, English subtitles, PG) 

Patema has lived her whole life underground. Her community forced into the darkness, she roams the tunnels she calls home by torchlight. Age is a misfit who lives in the world of Aiga, controlled by the tyrant Izamura family for generations. The city at the centre of the kingdom is dominated by a massive control tower with a vast wasteland lurking in the horizon. Together the pair are about to be experience something big enough to turn their worlds upside down.

Saturday 21 April 2018: Screening Room 1, The Soho hotel, 4 Richmond Mews London, W1D 3DH

Mameshiba 2.45pm 

(Directed by Toru Kamei, 2009, 106 mins, English subtitles, U)

A film adaption of the TV series depicting the journey of a middle-aged man with a two-month old puppy in search of his mother.

Thermae Romae 5.00pm 

(Directed by Hideki Takeuchi, 2012, 108 min, English subtitles, PG)

Lucius (Abe), an architect of spa baths for the Roman Empire, inadvertently travels through time and finds himself in a modern Japanese bathhouse. He takes elements of Japanese culture that he learns back to ancient Rome and is commanded by the Emperor to build a giant spa.

Sunday 22 April 2018: Courthouse Cinema, 19-21 Great Marlborough Street, London, W1F 7HL

Twenty-Four Eyes 2.40pm 

(Directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, 1954, 156 min, English subtitles, PG)

The story follows the relationship between bright young teacher Hisaki Oishi (Takamine) and her first class of twelve children, charmingly played by local children and young adults, at different stages in their lives. Although recognised by the school master for her talent, city girl Hisaki is mistrusted by this remote island community. However, soon both adults and children alike fall for her charms only to see the impending war irreversibly change their lives.

Main image credits: Anti-clockwise from top left: Twenty-Four Eyes, © 1954 Eureka Entertainment Ltd; Thermae Romae, © 2012 "THERMAE ROMAE" Film Partners; Patema Inverted, © Yasuhiro YOSHIURA/Sakasama Film Committee 2013; Mameshiba, © 2009 "MAMESHIBA" PRODUCTION COMMITTEE

This event is free to attend but booking is essential. You are able to book a maximum of two tickets for only one screening. If you would like to book for more than one film, please e-mail us at info@jpf.org.uk detailing which film you would like to attend and we will add you to a waitlist.

To book your place via Google Forms, please click here

Ryudai Takano, renowned photographer, is perhaps best known for his depiction of the nude male form. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, when artists increasingly began to openly discuss gender and sexuality in their works, Takano’s early photographs are concerned with different forms of male beauty and tackle the idea of gender as a non-binary concept. His collection, “In My Room”, portraying gender-ambiguous models, won him the 31st Kimura Ihei Commemorative Photography Award in 2006 and subsequently became part of the Japan Foundation’s touring exhibition out of the ordinary / extraordinary: japanese contemporary photography which visited many UK cities, including London. Not content to specialise in just one artistic area, Takano’s other inspirations include urban landscapes, light and shadow, and capturing the everyday. 

For this special talk, taking place during Photo London where Takano is one of the exhibiting artists, he will introduce his works to date, illustrating how one artist can capture both the exceptional and the ordinary routine. Together with Lena Fritsch, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Ashmolean Museum (University of Oxford), he will also discuss gender and bodies in photographic images and what challenges lie in these sensitive and often controversial depictions.

Nihongo Cup 2018 - Finals Day

Come and see the UK's most talented young students of Japanese language at the Finals Day of the Nihongo Cup - the Japanese Speech Contest for Secondary Schools!

Students from all levels of secondary education – Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 – will showcase their amazing talent and hard work in their Japanese language studies while competing for some fantastic prizes – including a trip to Japan!

Entry is free – No booking required.

To download a poster for this event, click here. 

To read our report about last year's finals day, click here.

Rie Nakajima, photograph by Greg Pope

A captivating exhibition in which UK based experimental artist, Rie Nakajima fuses sculpture with sound. Best known for her work with sound art, Nakajima often uses a combination of kinetic devices, musical instruments and found objects in direct response to architectural space, and experiments with different mediums in order to probe and raise questions from her audience about the definition of art.

Taking place at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, the exhibition will consist of entirely new work and includes a number of collaborative performances with other artists. This also includes a series of free performances such as her music project O Yama O, with Keiko Yamamoto which explores music with no genre and various other collaborations consisting of dance, free sculpture and much more.