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The Vancouver Japanese Film Festival presents a diverse range of films that explore the depths of Japanese filmmaking, from heartfelt dramas and captivating comedies to gripping thrillers and thought-provoking documentaries!

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) will launch the inaugural Vancouver Japanese Film Festival, bringing an acclaimed selection of contemporary Japanese films from the Toronto Japanese Film Festival to British Columbia.

The festival builds than 15 years of programming excellence established by the by the JCCC’s annual festival, recognized as one of North America’s leading showcases for Japanese cinema. VancouverJFF will present award-winning and critically acclaimed films that reflect the breadth and diversity of contemporary filmmaking in Japan while strengthening cultural connections between Japan and Canada.

The festival showcases films recognized by Japanese audiences and critics, honoured by the Japanese Academy and celebrated at international film festivals. Programming spans a wide range of genres, including historical dramas, samurai films, contemporary dramas, comedy, action, literary adaptations, documentaries, and family-friendly fare. The festival will take place at the VIFF Centre from September 11 -13. All films are Vancouver premieres.

The festival opens with Yoji Yamada’s award-winning TOKYO TAXI [TOKYO タクシー], a heartwarming celebration of life’s enduring joys and sorrows in the ever-evolving metropolis of Tokyo. Adapted from the Belgian-French film, Driving Madeleine, it is the 91st film from 93-year-old director Yamada who has long been a meticulous observer of the essence of life in Japan. A love letter to Tokyo, it is the director’s finest of the decade and stars Chieko Baisho (who won the Japanese Academy Prize for Best Actress) and Takuya Kimura.

The screening is preceded by an opening reception featuring sushi and other Japanese light refreshments.

Other titles include the festival’s Grand Prize Jury Award for Best Film, HOW DARE YOU? [ふつうの子ども] in which director Mipo O provides a witty examination of politics and environmental issues based in a classroom on 10-year-olds. It is an observant and bittersweet cautionary tale for audiences of all ages.

BLUE BOY TRIAL [ブルーボーイ事件] won the jury’s Special Mention Award and dramatizes a true LGBTQ+ rights incident and trial. Transgender filmmaker Kasho Iizuka’s powerful drama revisits 1960s Japan, where Olympic-era national pride collided with a harsh crackdown on “public morals.” When police arrest a doctor performing sex reassignment surgeries, three transgender women are drawn into the sensational “Blue Boy Trial.” Featuring trans actors in the central roles, the film vividly recreates smoky Tokyo nightclubs and courtroom tensions while revealing a buried history that still resonates today.

A festival highlight will be a special screening of ARUKU – I WALK [あるく] followed by a question-and-answer session with director Shiho Kataoka, giving Vancouver audiences the opportunity to engage directly with one of Japan’s emerging filmmaking voices. The film captures the stories of four contemporary pilgrims on the centuries-old Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage each burdened, in different ways, by exhaustion, solitude, or quiet disillusionment. A meditative documentary in which walking itself becomes a form of listening: to others, to the self, and to the possibility of living more fully. Director Kataoka will join the festival to introduce her film.

In Yuya Ishii’s ONE LAST LOVE LETTER [人はなぜラブレターを書くのか] it is 2024 and Nazuna writes a letter to Shinsuke, a boy she once loved from afar. Twenty-four years earlier Shinsuke was killed in the tragic Naka-Meguro train disaster. When her letter reaches his family, his father Ryuji begins writing back… Haruka Ayase leads an all-star cast in this tender reflection on memory, loss, and the enduring power of words. Based on a true story.

Kazuaki Seki’s KAKU KAKU SHIKAJIKA formerly known as BLANK CANVAS: MY SO-CALLED ARTIST’S JOURNEY [かくかくしかじか ] is adapted from Akiko Higashimura’s autobiographical manga and is a funny and sharply observed coming-of-age story about mentorship, friendship, and creative awakening. Layered performances and a witty script help balance a reverence for fine art traditions with the exuberance of manga culture as young Akiko goes head-to-head with an eccentric, bamboo-sword-wielding art instructor devoted to classical painting. Starring Mei Nagano, Yo Oizumi, Ai Mikami

The festival closes with SAMURAI VENGEANCE [木挽町のあだ討ち] , A richly layered period mystery adapted from the award-winning novel by Sayako Nagai. The film unfolds in the aftermath of a young kabuki actor’s celebrated revenge. A year and a half after the public vendetta, a provincial samurai arrives at the Moritaza theatre to uncover the truth. As witnesses share conflicting accounts, the heroic legend begins to fracture, exposing hidden motives and buried secrets. A fast paced and gorgeously mounted jidaigeki detective tale blends theatricality, suspense, and emotional depth. Starring Tasuku Emoto, Ken Watanabe, Kento Nagao, Kazuki Kitamura, Yasushi Seto, Kenichi Takito

About the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre

Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre has become a nationally recognized cultural institution dedicated to promoting Japanese culture and Japanese Canadian heritage. Imagined and built by Japanese Canadians displaced from the West Coast following the war, the Centre is guided by its motto, Friendship Through Culture. For 63 years the JCCC has fostered cultural understanding, inclusion and cross-cultural exchange through exhibitions, performances, educational programming and film.

Since its founding in 2012, the Toronto Japanese Film Festival has introduced Canadian audiences to outstanding Japanese cinema, presenting films by established and emerging directors while highlighting works that have received critical acclaim and major industry recognition in Japan.

Additional details see: www.jccc.on.ca

Ticket sales commence on Tuesday August 4 at 10am PST at: www.viff.org