Screening Japanese cinema from classics to contemporary premieres in NYC. Organizers of JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film since 2007. Films streaming at film.japansociety.org
Monthly Classics | 2023
Stories

JAPAN CUTS 2023 Festival Trailer
The 16th edition of JAPAN CUTS: FESTIVAL OF NEW JAPANESE FILM kicks off on July 26th! The largest festival of its kind in North America, take a quick peek at what's in store with our official JAPAN CUTS 2023 trailer below!

Announcing JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film 2023
We’re beyond thrilled to announce the full lineup for this year’s highly anticipated JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film—returning fully in-person for the first time since 2019!

Announcing the North American Premiere of Hideaki Anno's 'Shin Kamen Rider'
We're excited to announce the North American Premiere of Hideaki Anno’s Shin Kamen Rider—screening one night only at Japan Society on May 23. Written and directed by Neon Genesis Evangelion's Hideaki Anno, Shin Kamen Rider reimagines the original 1971 iteration of the masked rider for a whole new generation—commemorating the 50th anniversary of the legendary tokusatsu series. Presented in celebration of the upcoming nationwide release by TOEI Company, Ltd. and Fathom Events on May 31. Limited ticket availability, all North…

Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai The Brooklyn Rail
Lists
Monthly Anime | 2023 6 films
Offering an eclectic range of classic, underseen, and contemporary visions from Japanese animation, Monthly Anime explores the widely influential legacy…
JAPAN CUTS | 2023 29 films
July 26—August 6, 2023 Japan Society is proud to present the 16th annual JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film,…
JAPAN CUTS | 2021 39 films
August 20—September 2, 2021 North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema returns for its 15th edition as an online…
Shinji Somai's Favorite Films 4 films
Critic Toshio Takasaki recalled that one night while at a jazz bar called Cine Smile, the club’s owner Tomoe Kano…
Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai 7 films
Widely lauded in his native Japan, director Shinji Somai (1948-2001) remains largely unrecognized in the West. A pioneering filmmaker during…
Seijun Suzuki Centennial | 2023 6 films
Celebrating 100 years of iconoclast director Seijun Suzuki (1923-2017), a singular force in Japanese cinema whose radical stylistic vision and…
Liked lists
36th #TIFFJP Japanese Classics section
Korean Cinema's Golden Decade: The 1960s

Film at Lincoln Center 23 films
Kinuyo Tanaka Retrospective

Film at Lincoln Center 12 films
Aaron Gerow Recommends | Office Hours

Yale Film Archive 20 films
Janus J-Horror

Janus Films 28 films
Asian Women Directors: The Official Top 100 Narrative Feature Films

Letterboxd 100 films
Recent reviews
Commemorating 10 years since Nagisa Oshima’s Passing—35mm Presentation. Set in the chilly autumnal air of a rural mountain village, Oshima’s follow-up to his taboo-breaking In the Realm of the Senses summons a morbid tale of passion and guilt at the turn of the 20th century. The illicit coupling of young war veteran Toyoji (Tatsuya Fuji) and Seki, the wife of a rickshaw driver, drives the adulterous pair to murder as they succumb to their own carnal desires and ecstasy—an act…
Drawing influence from the works of Herman Hesse, Riyoko Ikeda (The Rose of Versailles) and Shuji Terayama, Kunihiko Ikuhuhara’s Adolescence of Utena re-envisions the 1997 series, offering an intertextual synthesis of the original anime that expands upon its themes and motifs. Entering Ohtori Academy, an expressionist edifice of towering spires and oblique rose-tinted corridors, Utena Tenjou encounters a spate of sparring duelists and a secretive student council—all vying for an enigmatic bride. Continuing the anime’s avant garde compositions and baroque…
55th Anniversary Screening. Japan Society and Escape From Tribeca, the Tribeca Festival’s official psychotronic sidebar, are pleased to present a special 55th anniversary screening of the 1968 Toho tokusatsu classic Destroy All Monsters. One of the Showa era’s biggest Godzilla spectacles, director Ishiro Honda, special effects supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya (Ultraman), and composer Akira Ifukube send kaiju across the earth for innovative action and destruction spanning Tokyo, Paris, Beijing, Moscow and New York. Featuring an all-star cast including Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra,…
A camcorder confessional focusing on the private lives of six queer Los Angelenos, Gregg Araki’s seminal exploration of alienated youth—and the first of his Teen Apocalypse Trilogy (followed by The Doom Generation, Nowhere)—presents their fragmented desires and nihilistic musings in Godardian fashion. Terminally bored and unmoored in the media-saturated wasteland of '90s America, the group navigates the urban malaise of adolescent life, reconciling with the meaning of it all as they face homophobia, failed romance and existential dread. Featuring Araki’s…
Liked reviews
Absolutely stunning
the Q&A: Amano walks onstage wearing a damn fine hat, says “I haven’t seen the movie in 10 years idk” and leaves. brilliant
cannot believe i not only caught a screening of this but also that Yoshitaka Amano was in the building. feeling very blessed!
For my screening, Amano gave a “talk” where he stood on stage and said “I haven’t seen the movie in 10 years” and left. Absolute legend
Year-round screenings of beloved classics, hidden gems and recent discoveries of Japanese cinema, presented in-theater at Japan Society.
Tickets: $16 / $8 members