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Japan Society Film

@js_film_nyc • 28,220 subscribers

The leading presenter of Japanese cinema for more than 50 years | Classics & premieres @japansociety in NYC. Organizers of #JAPANCUTS since 2007.

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Maybe it’s not common knowledge, but there hasn’t been a commercially produced 35mm projector in ~15 years. Most theaters run decades-old Simplex, Kinoton, or Century models. No new parts, no new projectors—just a passionate ecosystem that sustains it and keeps it alive.

Maybe it’s not common knowledge, but there hasn’t been a commercially produced 35mm projector in ~15 years. Most theaters run decades-old Simplex, Kinoton, or Century models. No new parts, no new projectors—just a passionate ecosystem that sustains it and keeps it alive.

93,421 views

Hiroko Yakushimaru—80s idol and the embodiment of Kadokawa's media mix strategy—was #botd in 1964. Some of her most well-known films include SAILOR SUIT AND MACHINE GUN, MAIN THEME, DETECTIVE STORY and SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS.

Hiroko Yakushimaru—80s idol and the embodiment of Kadokawa's media mix strategy—was #botd in 1964. Some of her most well-known films include SAILOR SUIT AND MACHINE GUN, MAIN THEME, DETECTIVE STORY and SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS.

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Akihiro Miwa speaking on Yukio Mishima, 1985. Lovers at the time, Miwa touched a nerve by commenting on Mishima's weak physical frame, a remark that inadvertently triggered Mishima's obsession with bodybuilding.
1:16
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Akihiro Miwa speaking on Yukio Mishima, 1985. Lovers at the time, Miwa touched a nerve by commenting on Mishima's weak physical frame, a remark that inadvertently triggered Mishima's obsession with bodybuilding.

Japan Society Film

709,230 views • 1 month ago

The classic clip of Akihiro Miwa perfecting Moro's laugh in the studio with Hayao Miyazaki for PRINCESS MONONOKE (1997).
1:26
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The classic clip of Akihiro Miwa perfecting Moro's laugh in the studio with Hayao Miyazaki for PRINCESS MONONOKE (1997).

Japan Society Film

635,637 views • 1 month ago

Rarely seen outside Japan and a cult item abroad, REX: A DINOSAUR'S STORY remains one of the most expensive Japanese films of all time; a dinosaur picture released a month after JURASSIC PARK directed by industry disruptor Haruki Kadokawa just before his public fall from grace.
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Rarely seen outside Japan and a cult item abroad, REX: A DINOSAUR'S STORY remains one of the most expensive Japanese films of all time; a dinosaur picture released a month after JURASSIC PARK directed by industry disruptor Haruki Kadokawa just before his public fall from grace.

Japan Society Film

399,149 views • 1 month ago

Nobuhiko Obayashi's HIS MOTORBIKE, HER ISLAND (1985), a delightful love story of thrill-seeking Kawasaki enthusiasts, screens tomorrow and Friday—likely for the first time in North America!
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Nobuhiko Obayashi's HIS MOTORBIKE, HER ISLAND (1985), a delightful love story of thrill-seeking Kawasaki enthusiasts, screens tomorrow and Friday—likely for the first time in North America!

Japan Society Film

2,805,375 views • 1 year ago

With Seijun Suzuki's madman bravura, YUMEJI portrays the famed artist-poet Yumeji Takehisa as a Taisho-era Casanova, swept up in dreams of his own mortality while pursuing an unattainable beauty. YUMEJI premieres in a new 4K restoration—not yet screened outside of Japan—on 2/13.
0:42
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With Seijun Suzuki's madman bravura, YUMEJI portrays the famed artist-poet Yumeji Takehisa as a Taisho-era Casanova, swept up in dreams of his own mortality while pursuing an unattainable beauty. YUMEJI premieres in a new 4K restoration—not yet screened outside of Japan—on 2/13.

Japan Society Film

529,827 views • 6 months ago

Rarely seen outside of Japan since it was pulled from theaters at the height of its success, Haruki Kadokawa's REX: A DINOSAUR'S STORY—a cult work of family entertainment—screens as part of #JAPANCUTS Classics, possibly for the first time in North America.
2:07
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Rarely seen outside of Japan since it was pulled from theaters at the height of its success, Haruki Kadokawa's REX: A DINOSAUR'S STORY—a cult work of family entertainment—screens as part of #JAPANCUTS Classics, possibly for the first time in North America.

Japan Society Film

71,814 views • 1 month ago

A self-reflexive adaptation of the titular Kadokawa novel, the virtuosic W’S TRAGEDY reframes its source material as a play within the film—one that starts to mirror the blurred reality of Hiroko Yakushimaru’s aspiring starlet. Int premiere of 4K restoration tomorrow.
0:27
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A self-reflexive adaptation of the titular Kadokawa novel, the virtuosic W’S TRAGEDY reframes its source material as a play within the film—one that starts to mirror the blurred reality of Hiroko Yakushimaru’s aspiring starlet. Int premiere of 4K restoration tomorrow.

Japan Society Film

33,365 views • 29 days ago

Revisit David Lynch’s wonderfully strange four-part Japanese TWIN PEAKS commercial series for Georgia Coffee, released during the height of Twin Peaks mania in Japan.
2:14
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Revisit David Lynch’s wonderfully strange four-part Japanese TWIN PEAKS commercial series for Georgia Coffee, released during the height of Twin Peaks mania in Japan.

Japan Society Film

345,063 views • 1 year ago

Hideaki Anno and Shiro Sagisu used the YAMASHITA motif from Takayuki Inoue's score for THE MAN WHO STOLE THE SUN in EVANGELION 2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE (2009)
1:20
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Hideaki Anno and Shiro Sagisu used the YAMASHITA motif from Takayuki Inoue's score for THE MAN WHO STOLE THE SUN in EVANGELION 2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE (2009)

Japan Society Film

71,006 views • 4 months ago

Reworking the plot of LATE SPRING, Yasujiro Ozu’s masterpiece LATE AUTUMN stars Setsuko Hara—no longer the ebullient ingénue—as serene and composed widow Akiko whose daughter Ayako becomes the unwitting subject of an orchestrated matchmaking. Screens next Fri 3/6 on 35mm.
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Reworking the plot of LATE SPRING, Yasujiro Ozu’s masterpiece LATE AUTUMN stars Setsuko Hara—no longer the ebullient ingénue—as serene and composed widow Akiko whose daughter Ayako becomes the unwitting subject of an orchestrated matchmaking. Screens next Fri 3/6 on 35mm.

Japan Society Film

65,188 views • 5 months ago

Dick Cavett was a huge proponent of Japanese cinema. Akira Kurosawa's first-ever TV appearance which came as a result of our '81 Kurosawa series—then noted as his 1st complete Eng-subbed retro—was on Cavett's show during his visit to Japan Society.
0:48
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Dick Cavett was a huge proponent of Japanese cinema. Akira Kurosawa's first-ever TV appearance which came as a result of our '81 Kurosawa series—then noted as his 1st complete Eng-subbed retro—was on Cavett's show during his visit to Japan Society.

Japan Society Film

134,097 views • 1 year ago

THE YOUTH KILLER co-stars Mieko Harada, best known as the viperous Lady Kaede in Kurosawa’s RAN, as Yutaka Mizutani’s ebullient, strong-willed girlfriend—a role that, along with her performance in Masumura’s LULLABY OF THE EARTH, would earn her Kinema Junpo’s Best Actress award.
0:54
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THE YOUTH KILLER co-stars Mieko Harada, best known as the viperous Lady Kaede in Kurosawa’s RAN, as Yutaka Mizutani’s ebullient, strong-willed girlfriend—a role that, along with her performance in Masumura’s LULLABY OF THE EARTH, would earn her Kinema Junpo’s Best Actress award.

Japan Society Film

42,118 views • 3 months ago

Kihachi Okamoto in an Elnica 35 CM, 1973.
0:28
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Kihachi Okamoto in an Elnica 35 CM, 1973.

Japan Society Film

60,159 views • 5 months ago

We're excited to share an message from director Ryusuke Hamaguchi in advance of our series “Shiguéhiko Hasumi: Another History of the Movie in America and Japan”—opening next Thurs 10/9. Watch Hamaguchi's full intro to Hasumi and his series recs here:
1:08
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We're excited to share an message from director Ryusuke Hamaguchi in advance of our series “Shiguéhiko Hasumi: Another History of the Movie in America and Japan”—opening next Thurs 10/9. Watch Hamaguchi's full intro to Hasumi and his series recs here:

Japan Society Film

83,377 views • 10 months ago

Nobuhiko Obayashi was #botd in 1938.
1:01
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Nobuhiko Obayashi was #botd in 1938.

Japan Society Film

44,369 views • 7 months ago

We're thrilled to unveil our official 2026 #JAPANCUTS Powered by Canon trailer! Featuring 30+ premieres, revivals and more, plus special guest appearances by legendary director Hirokazu Koreeda and actress Suzu Hirose, #JAPANCUTS launches next week!
1:04
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We're thrilled to unveil our official 2026 #JAPANCUTS Powered by Canon trailer! Featuring 30+ premieres, revivals and more, plus special guest appearances by legendary director Hirokazu Koreeda and actress Suzu Hirose, #JAPANCUTS launches next week!

Japan Society Film

11,800 views • 1 month ago

David Lynch's message to Japanese TWIN PEAKS viewers, 2017.
0:29
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David Lynch's message to Japanese TWIN PEAKS viewers, 2017.

Japan Society Film

91,054 views • 1 year ago

W'S TRAGEDY's theme was written by Yuming under pen name Karuho Kureta (a parody of Greta Garbo). Dir. Sawai didn't want to include it, but when the film played with the song in a preview, the audience burst into tears—prompting him to reconsider.
2:14
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W'S TRAGEDY's theme was written by Yuming under pen name Karuho Kureta (a parody of Greta Garbo). Dir. Sawai didn't want to include it, but when the film played with the song in a preview, the audience burst into tears—prompting him to reconsider.

Japan Society Film

12,103 views • 1 month ago

Shiguéhiko Hasumi discussing the parallels between TOKYO DRIFTER and SONATINE with Takeshi Kitano at the Tokyo International Film Festival, 1996. Other panelists included Sadao Yamane, Hou Hsiao-hsien (who also maintained close ties with Hasumi), Tony Rayns and Thierry Jousse.
0:43
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Shiguéhiko Hasumi discussing the parallels between TOKYO DRIFTER and SONATINE with Takeshi Kitano at the Tokyo International Film Festival, 1996. Other panelists included Sadao Yamane, Hou Hsiao-hsien (who also maintained close ties with Hasumi), Tony Rayns and Thierry Jousse.

Japan Society Film

56,159 views • 10 months ago

Ryusuke Hamaguchi's personal pick from our ongoing Shiguéhiko Hasumi series is Mikio Naruse's TSURUHACHI AND TSURUJIRO—screening this Friday on imported 35mm with an introduction by Sho Miyake.
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Ryusuke Hamaguchi's personal pick from our ongoing Shiguéhiko Hasumi series is Mikio Naruse's TSURUHACHI AND TSURUJIRO—screening this Friday on imported 35mm with an introduction by Sho Miyake.

Japan Society Film

42,399 views • 10 months ago