Friendship (友達, 2013)

In an oft-quoted line from As You Like It , Shakespeare wrote “All the world's a stage, / And all the men and women merely p…

The Connecting Bridge (架け橋, 2013)

Japan has the most advanced early warning system for earthquakes and tsunami in the world, but that did not prevent 15,885 people…

Band of Ninja (忍者武芸帳, 1967)

Thanks to the Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy ( JVTA ), we were treated to a rare screening of the full length version of N…

Anthology with Cranes (鶴下絵和歌巻, 2011)

One of the highlights of Kōji Yamamura ’s Retrospective at Nippon Connection 2014 was the rare opportunity to see his short-shor…

The Portrait Studio (寫眞館, 2013)

It is rare that an animated film moves me to tears, but Takashi Nakamura ’s tender depiction of the passage of time during one of…

Antonym (螺旋銀河, 2014)

On Sunday night, Natsuka Kusano won the Nippon Visions Jury Award at Nippon Connection 2014 for her debut feature  Antonym ( 螺旋…