Fumi Nikaidô

At fifteen, Sumida (Shôta Sometani) is left alone to manage the family's languishing boat-rental business and fend off his drunk and penniless father's bouts of violence. Sumida sees his simple dream for an ordinary future rapidly evapo­rating before his eyes. Sharing similarly humble but fading dreams is his classmate Keiko Chazawa (Fumi Nikaidou), who also happens to have a major crush on him, even though Sumida seems deeply annoyed by her presence. (MUBI)

Yu Irie (8000 MILES 1 & 2) returns with this ambitious flick about the upcoming concert of a reclusive rock group and the managers, obsessed fans, shut-ins, single moms and kindergarten teachers who are affected by it. A true tribute to the healing power of rock 'n' roll. (japansociety.org)

Shunichiro Miki delivers a shot of utter madness. Penis guns! Nipple monsters! A giant girl running a very small shop! This quasi-sequel to THE FUNKY FOREST more than lives up to the weird factor of its predecessor. (Fantastic Fest)

A popular high school teacher concocts an extreme plan to deal with the rise of bullying and bad behavior among the student body. (imdb)

A renegade film crew becomes embroiled with a yakuza clan feud in this wild, perverse and blood-soaked orgy of outrageousness from cult director Sion Sono (Suicide Club). (tiff.net)

In a small town in Japan, a series of seemingly random explosion cases occur...

After losing everything in a tsunami, 10-year-old Hana is taken in by 26-year-old distant relative Jungo Kusarino. They live as father and daughter but share a profound sense of loss. In wintry Hokkaido, Jungo and Hana both desire to fill their empty, love-starved hearts as they set foot into a forbidden world. (imdb)

Erika Shinohara (Fumi Nikaido) is a first year of high school student. While talking to friends, she makes up a story about her "boyfriend." In reality, Erika's friends soon begin to doubt her story. Erika then sees a pretty boy on the street and takes his picture discreetly. She later shows his picture to her friends as her boyfriend. (Asian Wiki)

Documentary about the Japanese director Sion Sono.

Through the mother's recipe for living happily, a family is able to overcome their personal wounds and move on with their lives. Ryohei's wife suddenly passes away, leaving Ryohei without the strength to live. Two weeks after her death, a woman visits Ryohei and gives him a recipe which was left by his late wife. Meanwhile, Ryohei's daughter Yuriko comes to visit him. Yuriko's own marriage is about to end. (imdb)

Noriko (Fumi Nikaido) prepares to take her university entrance exam. Her aunt Kie (Mayu Tsuruta) tells her to stay two weeks at her relative's (Makiko Watanabe) house as they went on a trip. There, Noriko meets Kie's childhood friend Usagikichi (Kanji Furutachi), his daughter Tatsuko (Kiki Sugino) and his nephew Takashi (Taiga). The nephew came from Fukushima. Unlike Kie who is consumed by work, Noriko enjoys her short summer vacation. (Asianwiki)

Shizuoka Miyakonojo is a middle-aged paparazzi photographer. His skills as a cameraman are good, but he gambles and is in debt. When he worked in the editorial department for weekly picture magazine 'Scoop!,' he landed numerous scoops. He now works as a freelance photographer and chases after celebrity scandals. Shizuoka Miyakonojo works with Nobi Namekawa. She is a rookie reporter for 'Scoop!' and they land a scoop. (letterboxd)

Looking for jobs, five young friends regularly meet at one's apartment. Judging and gauging one another by their ability to land job pits the friends as also competitors. When one of the friends finds work the remaining four feel abandoned and the relationships are not the same anymore. (imdb)

Haruna Wakagusa (Fumi Nikaido) is a high school student who lives with her mother. Ichiro Yamada (Ryo Yoshizawa) is gay and Haruna's classmate. He is bullied at school, but Haruna sticks up for Ichiro. They become intimate and Ichiro tells Haruna his secret. He found a dead body along the riverside. A new body is soon found. (AsianWiki)

Inuyashiki Ichirou is down on his luck. While only 58 years old, his geriatric looks often have him written off as a pathetic old man by the world around him and he's constantly ignored and disrespected by his family despite all that he's done to support them. On top of everything else, his doctor has revealed that he has cancer and it appears that he has little time left in this world. (imdb)

In a world where people are discriminated based on their birthplace, a resident of the much-reviled Saitama Prefecture embarks on a revolutionary campaign to improve things for his home. (imdb)

In July 1945, the war condition deteriorates beyond measure. Even civilians who were told that they would not be picked by the military if they joined settlement groups are drafted into the army. Many women as well as children are left in these groups. In a change of course, the Japanese army is made to move its line of defence southward. (myanimelist)

Barbara is an adult-orientated fantasy tale filled with love and the occult from Osamu Tezuka's reimagining of "The Tales of Hoffmann". Its story deals with the erotic and bizarre experiences of a famous novelist called Yosuke Mikura whose life is tossed upside down by a mysterious girl named "Barbara". (imdb)

The Yazawa family consists of the father Takuro – who is always busy day trading, charming wife Erumi, and teenage son Tetsuya – who dreams of becoming an astronaut. The family is also joined by Saburo Akiba, a good-natured teen recently released from a juvenile corrections facility. Then one day Tetsuya falls into a coma from a car accident. A chain of events is set to occur set-off by the father taking a phone call from an unsuspecting girl named Hikari. (Letterboxd)

An ensemble of college students is staying at a hostel called Sorasoi close to a beach. They are not experienced, talented or proficient in dancing, but they are nonetheless practicing a dance routine for an upcoming competition. What they lack in talent and knowledge they are attempting to make up with their effort and dedication. (imdb)

Shuichi Tsujiyama (Takumi Saito) is a broke private investigator. While on a job assignment, he is about to catch a crucial moment by taking a picture, but Naomi Arai (Fumi Nikaido) misunderstands the situation. Shuichi Tsujiyama and Naomi Arai struggle physically. Because of this, Shuichi Tsujiyama misses his crucial photo opportunity. (Avistaz)

Based on novelist Muro Saisei's 1959 book, Bitter Honey narrates the story of a poet who informed by his physician of his impending death finds renewed flights of fantasy. He is visited by a thin and attractive girl in red who becomes a catalyst for romance. The girl has to vie with competition for the artist's attention, however, as other women work in the wings.

Yusuke travels to Balka to recover a $90M overpayment but money has been spread to subcontractors. Betrayed by a taxi driver and stranded in the desert gets caught in a worldwide vortex and the adventure begins. (imdb)

This is the story of females who are labelled “write-offs” and the restaurant they have established in order for them to get out from life's abyss. They battle difficulties and search for ways to change their lives as they experience the joys of work. (imdb)

Dual timelines explore a Japanese widow's memories spanning post-war Nagasaki in 1950s and England during 1980s Cold War era, unraveling secrets that intertwine her past and present experiences across borders. (imdb)