The Japan Society Review

Directed by Hara Keiichi Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a brilliant animated adaptation of Tsujimura’s Mizuki’s popular novel of the same name title. Review by Eleanor Garrett

Directed by Hayakawa Chie Plan 75 focuses on the issues related to the ageing population, and the policies brought in to remedy it. What is most harrowing about the film is its feeling of imminent reality. Review by Chris Corker

Directed by Yamazaki Takashi Closing in on the 70th anniversary of the franchise, this film is not only a return to a Godzilla with the presence to incite terror and to a landscape ravaged by war, but also a return to the true cautionary warning that Godzilla embodies: the pitfalls of unshackled progress. Review by Chris Corker

Directed by Hamaguchi Ryusuke Based on a Murakami Haruki’s story, Oscar winning film Drive My Car explores issues related to individual, national and international trauma through a curated film style and aesthetics. Review by Michael Tsang

Directed by Graham Kolbeins Queer Japan, directed by Graham Kolbeins in 2019, is a documentary which explores the LGBTQ+ community in Japan offering an illustrative view of the queer culture in the country. Review by Jenni Schofield

Written and directed by Hikari 37 Seconds explores the coming-of-age story of Yuma, a woman with cerebral palsy, and her quest to become more independent from her overbearing mother. Review by Jenni Schofield

Directed by Stephen Scott for Netflix A six-part Netflix historical documentary series, Age of Samurai retells the final decades of the Sengoku Jidai, a 150-year period of near continuous civil war, examining the reunification of Japan through the rise of three figures: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Review by Riyoko Shibe

Written and directed by Fukunaga Takeshi Ainu Mosir is a sensitively filmed slice of contemporary Ainu life, as well as a rites-of-passage story set in Lake Akan Ainu Village in Kushiro City, Hokkaido. Review by Susan Meehan

Directed by Matsuyama Hiroaki If you haven’t already heard of Netflix’s latest obsession, Japanese drama Switched, you will probably not be prepared for the exhilarating, beautiful and horrifying ride you are about to embark, thanks to [...] Review by Severah Noureen Akhtar

Directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu Kore-eda Hirokazu’s latest outstanding film Shoplifters confirms the unbelievable talent with which the director depicts the beauty and tenderness of the broken ways in which family unite functions with [...] Review by Morgane Chinal-Dargent