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Blue Island

Although the Chinese government promised that Hong Kong would retain separate status until 2047, in recent years the Chinese state has consolidated its power over the metropolis. Large-scale protests by the populace have been brutally suppressed. This mix of documentary, fiction, and visions of the future reveals the current state of desolate depression among the people of Hong Kong. “A desperate attempt to capture the final moments of a sinking island”, as maker Chan Tze-woon himself puts it.

Blue Island

6.7 2022
Naniwa Danshi First Arena Tour 2021 #NaniwaDanshishikakatan

On July 28, 2021, the long-awaited CD debut of Naniwa Danshi was announced at Yokohama Arena during the #Naniwa Danshi Shika Katan tour, the group's first and last arena tour as Kansai Johnny's Jrs. Relive the happy, teary moment when the members were surprised with the news of their debut, not to mention their energetic performances, in this live release. "Naniwa Danshi National Championship #Oreshika Katsutan" digest is included as bonus video.

Naniwa Danshi First Arena Tour 2021 #NaniwaDanshishikakatan

7.0 2022
Sato Hinata Koizumi Moeka no Batotte Dinosaur in Fukui

Hinata Sato, Moka Koizumi, Manatsu Murakami, Toruka Moriya, and Aina Aiba on location in Fukui! The long-awaited Fukui location for "Hinata Sato, Moeka Koizumi's Battle Dinosaur☆" will be released on Blu-ray! The show features battles and dinosaurs at sightseeing spots such as Tojinbo and the Dinosaur Museum, and the audience enjoys Fukui Prefecture to the fullest. Manatsu Murakami and Toruka Moriya of DIALOGUE+, who have appeared on the show before, and semi-regular(?) Aina Aiba, who is good friends with the two of them, also make guest appearances.

Sato Hinata Koizumi Moeka no Batotte Dinosaur in Fukui

NR 2022
JAKUCHO: An Extraordinary Life of a Japanese Nun

Documentary about the Buddhist nun Setouchi Jakucho, who continued writing until her death in November 2021 at the age of 99. Features words of wisdom and personal revelations in never-seen-before footage captured by Nakamura Yu over a 17-year period. Setouchi Jakucho achieved undisputed acclaim as a feminist author with numerous semi-autobiographical novels based on personal experiences, including affairs and elopement. The film shows her attitude of fully embracing life even after becoming a Buddhist nun at age 51, which earned her wide-spread popularity in Japan.

JAKUCHO: An Extraordinary Life of a Japanese Nun

NR 2022
Skate Dreams

Skate Dreams, the first feature documentary about the rise of women’s skateboarding, profiles a group of women whose pursuit of self-expression, equality, and freedom have created an international movement on and off their skateboards. From their boycott of the X-Games, to their defiance of traditional skateboarding gatekeepers, through grueling worldwide skate competitions in the run up to the Olympics, Skate Dreams showcases the charismatic personalities, indomitable spirits and amazing talent of these trailblazing pioneers.

Skate Dreams

5.5 2022
Odoriko

Odoriko performances are intense, sometimes acrobatic choreographies, performed in sumptuous costumes—at least, until the costumes come off, because these dancers practice the Japanese form of striptease theater. The art was once popular, but is now seen only in a few clubs in the country. Filming on mini-DV tape, as if he is not actually in the room, director Yoichiro Okutani observes the unusual, traditional profession of the odoriko and the contrast with the modern, everyday questions the women struggle with.

Odoriko

7.0 2022
Zombie Land Saga LIVE “3D Virtual Franchouchou Live & Illusion!!”

Zombie Land Saga LIVE ~3D Virtual Franchouchou Live & Illusion!!~ is a two-part event that took place in late October 2022 at Makuhari Messe. The first part consisted of a Franchouchou concert, with the seven zombie idols appearing as newly designed 3D virtual characters. The concert was carried out by several segments where most of the series' songs were sung and intermissions showed some magic tricks on the screen where the event was projected. As in the promotional image, they wore their idol costumes from the final episode of the show's second season, ZOMBIE LAND SAGA REVENGE. The second half of the event was a talk show with live appearances by Kaede Hondo (No.1/Sakura), Asami Tano (No.2/Saki), Risa Taneda (No.3/Ai), Maki Kawase (No.4/Junko), Rika Kinugawa (No.5/Yugiri), and Minami Tanaka (No.6/Lily). Where numerous questions were asked to the voice actresses about curiosities of the series.

Zombie Land Saga LIVE “3D Virtual Franchouchou Live & Illusion!!”

NR 2022
Sasamori Miyu Kaori "Densetsu no Ikimono - Chosa Roke in Hakodate"

Yuu Shinohara, Toruka Moriya, Miyu Tomita, Kaori Maeda, on location in Hakodate, Hokkaido! Internet radio station Onsen's popular original program "Yu and Kyoka's 'Atsumare! Sasamori! and "Mimyu Tomita and Kaori Maeda are waiting for your request for investigation! The collaboration location projects will be released on Blu-ray. The first project investigates legendary creatures in Hakodate, Hokkaido! What kind of creatures did they find? In addition, there are many enjoyable elements such as secret guests and narration by the popular hamster "Chuchumaru"!

Sasamori Miyu Kaori "Densetsu no Ikimono - Chosa Roke in Hakodate"

NR 2022
Yoyogi

A witty and sensitive observation of people visiting Central Park of Tokyo – YoyoGi. We all live in a world of online communication and rush, but there are places where one can still come to him/herself in offline. Following Japanese tradition of contemplation and harmony, an Estonian director explores Eastern way of finding the balance through nature and solitude. Hauki poetry, written especially by a well-known Japan-researcher from Tallinn Rein Raud add a new angle to the whole picture, turning the film into an endless meditation flow.

Yoyogi

5.0 2022
Oasis

Mai, an artist, and Rintaro, a bicycle builder. The two weave through their city on bicycles. A river under an overpass, the ivy in a ditch, the demolition of state housing . . . . The film follows the couple as they move about, taking pictures of whatever catches their eye. Mai believes that even these small stories from everyday encounters constitute the culture of a city and the film documents Mai’s process of incorporating these stories into her work. The film was produced as part of the “Cultural Narrative of a City” project, which strives to present the city Minato in all its delicate yet vibrant cultural diversity.

Oasis

NR 2022
Retrodreaming

RETRODREAMING examines the common phenomenon of ghostly, abandoned schools due to demographic change in the countryside of Japan. Empty schools in deserted villages tell their own story: May it be during the pandemic, after a nuclear catastrophe, or just due to depopulation. The film references the Japanese tradition of telling "Kaidan "(ghost stories/scary stories) and the multiple school-themed "Kaidan "(Gakkō no Kaidan, Japanese for "Scary School Story") in Japanese mainstream culture, which encompass the idea of entities and memories remaining in these architectures. The film focuses on the visual quality of the Showa-era architecture of the abandoned Sawada School in Nakanojo. A voice from a tape recorder recalls the reality of a secret experiment during a pandemic that resulted in further mysterious events. The audiovisual experience draws the viewer into a strange, suspenseful atmosphere somewhere between an unlived retro-future, a sci-fi dream, and an unfinished mystery tale.

Retrodreaming

NR 2022
Watashi no hanashi buraku no hanashi

"Buraku" or "Buraku-min" are the terms used for ethnic Japanese people who are believed to descend from the pre-Meiji castes. Today, neither "Buraku" nor "Burakumin" exist anymore in terms of laws and social systems. However, many Japanese people still have a deep-rooted sense of discrimination towards people who descend from those families. Why does something that should not exist continue to exist? How did this discrimination begin in the first place? This film takes a variety of approaches to unravel the history of accumulated discrimination and its intricately intertwined context, from its origins and evolution, vividly depicting the structure of discrimination that often remains hidden from the public eye.

Watashi no hanashi buraku no hanashi

NR 2022
'Se'-back

Gōzō Yoshimasu is one of Japan’s leading poets, still prolific into his ninth decade. This film documents his 2019 performance of Se (‘back’), a live poetry reading set against accompaniment from avant-garde rock group Kukan Gendai. Blindfolded and wearing a facemask, Yoshimasu plays audio recordings, growls and rasps his way through a rendition of a poem, and channels every ounce of his energy into drawing, using a pane of glass as his canvas. Kukan Gendai sculpt shapes of sound in response: an entire universe thrown into sharp relief by an uncompromising contest between voice and music.

'Se'-back

NR 2022
Taro Okamoto's Okinawa

Taro Okamoto (1911-1996), one of Japan's most famous artists, traveled to Okinawa in 1959 and 1966. The reason for these trips was his journey to rediscover Japan, in search of his identity as a Japanese person. More than 60 years ago, Okamoto captured the "poignant tenderness of life" of the people, and concluded: "It is in Okinawa that we can find the lost. In Okinawa, I rediscovered myself for the first time." This documentary goes on a journey through Okinawa led by Okamoto himself, 50 years after Okinawa's reversion to Japan.

Taro Okamoto's Okinawa

NR 2022
Kids Konference

Hilarious but profound documentary, filmed at a nursery school where children enjoy "conferences" throughout a year. "Why were you born?" "How can we avoid fighting?" "Who made the universe?" "The booger tastes like kinako." The strange ideas and straightforward words that the children unfold make us laugh and sometimes surprise. Their discussion may give us full of hints for thinking about "how we live in the world without answers." Now, the world's weirdest and most important "Kids konference" by little wise men is about to begin.

Kids Konference

NR 2022
Finding their Niche: Unheard Stories of Migrant Women

This film documents the lives of two Indian women migrants who moved to Japan more than a decade ago, as a case study of the ‘trailing spouses’ concept in migration. Jyoti, 41 and Mandeep, 39, grew up in the state of Punjab, northern India, in middle-class households. They received a good education and had promising careers in India. Then, in their early 20s, they each agreed to marry men living in Japan by arrangement. The women were excited to move to a foreign country and to be with their husbands but they had no prior knowledge of Japan. Having witnessed at a distance the lives of their relatives settled in the US, UK and Canada, they had similar expectations for their own future lives in Japan. But the reality was to prove different from the expectation.

Finding their Niche: Unheard Stories of Migrant Women

NR 2022
One Hundred Years and Hope

In a country ruled by the Liberal Democratic Party, running on austerity and neoliberal ambitions, for most of its postwar years, gender and economic inequalities have become increasingly acute in Japan. Takashi Nishihara, a filmmaker who has been following the youth protests in Japan notices that there is one party that seems to be raising issues of gender and economic in the political sphere, the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), a party about to enter its hundredth year and consistently burdened by its historical connotations. Though an outsider of the party, Nishihara gained unprecedented access to the JCP and driven by his interest in the younger party members who find hope in the JCP, the resulting documentary goes beyond party politics and observes the current grassroots leftist movements in Japan. It also becomes witness to the larger and deep-seated patriarchal system that continues to quell momentums of hope.

One Hundred Years and Hope

NR 2022
Whereabouts of Sound

As they play carefree music, their musicianship is met with surprise, wonder, and sometimes even laughter. Captivating all who watch, Otoasobi Project’s rich variety of expression reshapes the concept of improvised music. Formed in 2005 in Kobe, Japan, Otoasobi Project has some 50 members, including people with intellectual disabilities, musicians, and music therapists, who pursue music and well-being through improvised performances. After many years of numerous workshops, concerts, and other activities, they even held their first tour in the UK in September 2013. The movie “Whereabouts of Sound” depicts the appeal of the improvised music Otoasobi creates, and the beauty of its natural, honest expression.

Whereabouts of Sound

NR 2022