Japan Cuts 2026 has unveiled its full lineup for the nineteenth version of North America’s largest Japanese movie pageant, with Ishikawa Kei’s “A Pale View of Hills” – an adaptation of Nobel Prize laureate Kazuo Ishiguro‘s debut novel – serving as centerpiece and Kore-eda Hirokazu‘s “Sheep in the Box” closing the pageant following its world premiere at Cannes.
The pageant runs July 8–18 on the Japan Society, with international expertise firm Canon becoming a member of as title sponsor for the primary time.
Ishikawa’s movie, a Japanese-British-Polish co-production that had its world premiere on the 2025 Cannes Movie Competition, stars Hirose Suzu and Yoshida Yoh as the identical character at totally different closing dates, tracing a girl’s postwar reminiscences throughout 30 years. The pageant will honor Hirose with the 2026 Minimize Above Award for Excellent Achievement in Movie on the July 13 centerpiece screening, which additionally features a Q&A and reception. Hirose can even seem to introduce a revival screening of Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Our Little Sister” – the movie that marked her breakthrough – with the pageant asking attendees to chorus from requesting images or autographs at both occasion.
Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Sheep in the Box,” which had its world premiere at this 12 months’s Cannes Movie Competition, screens July 18 because the closing evening movie, with the director attending in particular person for a Q&A and reception. The science-fiction parable stars Ayase Haruka, Yamamoto Daigo and Kuwaki Rimu as a grieving couple who undertake an AI-powered robotic constructed within the picture of their useless son.
The pageant opens July 8 with the East Coast premiere of “Tokyo Taxi,” veteran director Yamada Yoji’s remake of the French movie “Driving Madeleine.” The movie marks Yamada’s 91st function, reuniting him with longtime collaborator Baisho Chieko alongside Kimura Takuya and Aoi Yu.
Among the many competitors and premiere titles, Uchida Eiji’s “Night Flower” and Nagai Akira’s “Suzuki=Bakudan” each arrive with Japanese Academy Award credentials. Morita Misato earned Finest Supporting Actress for her position in “Night Flower,” wherein she performs a struggling kickboxer who kinds an unlikely bond with a debt-fugitive mom in Tokyo’s felony margins. Sato Jiro took Finest Supporting Actor for “Suzuki=Bakudan,” tailored from a bestselling novel a few mysterious drunk who claims to foretell bomb assaults and performs video games of riddled wits with the police.
The documentary “Diamond Diplomacy,” directed by Yuriko Gamo Romer, traces the historical past of baseball as a cultural conduit between the U.S. and Japan – from the game’s earliest introduction to the nation by means of to the worldwide rise of Shohei Ohtani. The July 15 New York premiere will embody a Q&A with Romer, creator Robert Fitts and MLB legend Masanori “Mashi” Murakami – the primary Japanese participant within the MLB – adopted by an autograph signing with Murakami.
On the animation entrance, “Cocoon” – a 60-minute NHK-commissioned work directed by Ina Yukimitsu and produced by Sasayuri, a studio based by Studio Ghibli alum Tateno Hitomi – makes its North American premiere. Primarily based on Kyo Machiko’s wartime manga, the movie facilities on the Himeyuri college students, younger ladies who had been compelled to help the Japanese military on Okinawa throughout World Warfare II. Additionally screening in animation are Kinoshita Baku’s “The Last Blossom” – from the director of the anime sequence “Odd Taxi” – and Hori Takahide’s stop-motion function “Junk World,” a U.S. premiere prequel to his 2017 “Junk Head.”
Uchiyama Takuya’s “Numb,” starring Kitamura Takumi, Miyazawa Rie and Nagase Masatoshi, screens in North American premiere, as does Joe Odagiri surreal comedy “Gosh!!” – based mostly on Odagiri’s personal TV sequence – and Kimura Satoshi’s deadpan coming-of-age comedy “Yoyogi Johnny.”
Matsui Daigo’s “Rewrite,” a time-loop narrative paying homage to the traditional of Japanese literature “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time,” receives its U.S. premiere, alongside Nagahisa Makoto’s “Burn” and Anshul Chauhan’s “Tiger,” the latter a socially aware drama excavating the pressures positioned on queer existence in Japan.
The pageant’s New Instructions in Japanese Cinema strand, produced in partnership with VIPO, presents 4 quick movies receiving their worldwide premieres: Yashiro Natsuka’s “A Wavy Girl,” Tsujii Shun’s “An Overflow,” Kamobayashi Tomonari’s “The End of What Goes Around” and Nakada Ere’s “The Woman Who Repeats.” All display July 14 as a free ticketed program.
A Subsequent Era part highlights rising Japanese expertise throughout 5 options competing for a $3,000 prize funded by VIPO: Tanaka Miki’s “Ginger Boy,” Shigaya Daisuke’s “Leave the Cat Alone,” Nakazato Fuku’s “Naomi Out of Sync,” Iwakura Ryuichi’s “Brand New Love” and Sakamoto Yukari’s “White Flowers and Fruits.”
The archival part contains world premieres of 4K restorations of two Gakuryu Ishii shorts, “Shuffle” (1981) and “The Master of Shiatsu” (1981), in addition to a global premiere of a 4K restoration of Yakushimaru Hiroko car “W’s Tragedy” (1984) and a brand new 4K restoration of Kadokawa Haruki’s cult movie “Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story” (1993).
“Nearly two decades ago, Japan Cuts began with a simple belief: that Japanese storytellers deserved a bigger stage in America,” stated Joshua W. Walker Ph.D, president and CEO of Japan Society.
“Canon has long been committed to the art of visual storytelling, and Japan Cuts represents the creativity, craftsmanship, and the power of images to connect people across cultures,” stated Sammy Kobayashi, president and CEO of Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Japan Cuts 2026 is programmed by Peter Tatara, director of movie at Japan Society, and Alexander Charge, the group’s movie programmer.
