Filmart 2026: 12 buzz titles from Japan

All Of A Sudden

Dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
The latest from Hamaguchi, the director of 2022 Academy Award winner Drive My Car, marks his first film shot outside Japan. Based on a collection of letters, Virginie Efira (Benedetta) stars as a woman who runs a nursing home beset with staff shortages, while Tao Okamoto (The Wolverine) plays a stage director with terminal cancer. Produced by Cinefrance, Office Shirous, Bitters End, Heimatfilm and Tarantula, the film is set for release in Japan this year.
Contact Cinefrance International (world); Bitters End (Asia)

All The Lovers In The Night

Dir. Yukiko Sode
Based on a 2011 novel by Mieko Kawakami, this film is about a freelance proofreader living in solitude whose life begins to change after meeting a high-school physics teacher. It stars Yukino Kishii, who won best actress at the 2023 Japan Academy Awards for Small, Slow But Steady, and Tadanobu Asano, who won the Golden Globe in 2025 for best supporting actor for series Shogun. Director Sode is known for her film Aristocrats, which played at Rotterdam in 2021. All The Lovers In The Night is in post-production with a local release set for later this year.
Contact Bitters End

Cherry And Virgin

Dir. Masanao Kawajiri
This feature — animated using rotoscope — follows a man and a woman who have trouble connecting with the opposite sex but slowly form a connection. Director Kawajiri previously helmed 2018 short A Japanese Boy Who Draws, which won an excellence award from the Japan Media Arts Festival and the Gemstone award at Pia Film Festival. His debut feature is in post-production.
Contact Toei 

The Invisibles

Dir. Ryo Takebayashi
The director of 2022 time-loop comedy Mondays: See You ‘This’ Week! returns with another high-concept feature, exploring the prospect of giving birth to an invisible child. It stars Katsuya Maiguma, known for features A Bad Summer and From The End Of The World, as well as Netflix series Alice In Borderland. The Invisibles is set for a local release in August. Takebayashi’s last film was 2024 documentary A Big Home, about children living apart from their parents in a shared children’s home in Tokyo.
Contact Nikkatsu

Matched: True Love

Dir. Eiji Uchida
The sequel to Uchida’s 2024 suspense thriller Matched reunites cast members Tao Tsuchiya (Alice In Borderland) and Daisuke Sakuma of popular boy band Snow Man. They play participants in a dating tour on a remote island that gradually descends into a deathmatch. Joining the cast is rising Korean talent Kwak Dong-yeon (Queen Of Tears) in his first Japanese film. The first Matched made nearly $6.3m (¥1bn) at the local box office. The prolific Uchida is also known for transgender drama Midnight Swan, which won best picture at the Japan Academy Awards in 2021.
Contact Etsuko Furutsuki, Kadokawa

The Ozu Diaries

Dir. Daniel Raim
This documentary traces the life of legendary Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu through his own private journals, letters, photographs and drawings. It also features interviews with actress Kyoko Kagawa and acclaimed filmmakers Wim Wenders, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Tsai Ming-liang and Luc Dardenne. Director Raim is known for his documentaries on film history, including Harold And Lillian: A Holly­wood Love Story, which played at Cannes in 2015.
Contact Shochiku

Part-Time Death Angel

Dir. Mai Sakai
Daigo Nishihata (Doctor X: The Movie) stars as a down-on-his-luck university student who lands a part-time job as a ‘death angel’, helping souls of the departed resolve their lingering regrets and move peacefully into the afterlife. Nishihata co-stars with Riko Fukumoto, whose credits include 2022’s Even If This Love Disappears From This World Tonight. Director Sakai helmed the My Beautiful Man series and film, while screenwriter Kaho Fukuda wrote the 2025 hit 366 Days. Part-Time Death Angel is based on Maru Fuji’s manga The Wage Of Angel Of Death Is 300 Yen Per Hour, and is lined up for a local release this autumn.
Contact Gaga

Rhapsody, Rhapsody

Dir. Go Riju
This screwball romance stars Issey Takahashi (Wife Of A Spy, Shin Godzilla) as a man shocked to find out he has been married for six months without knowing it, and the eccentric young woman who is officially his spouse. Director Riju is a prolific actor in Japan, and here he directs his first feature since 2013’s Good-bye Debussy. Riju’s 2001 drama Chloe played in competition at the Berlinale, where he previously won the Netpac award in 1994 with Elephant Song. Rhapsody, Rhapsody is due to open locally on May 1.
Contact Bitters End 

Samurai Vengeance

Dir. Takashi Minamoto
Featuring Tasuku Emoto (Shin Kamen Rider) and Ken Watanabe (Kokuho), this period film explores the mystery that unfolds when a samurai seeks revenge against the man who killed his father. It is based on a hit novel by Sayako Nagai, which won the coveted Naoki Prize in 2023. Director Minamoto is known for 2005 box-office hit Tokyo Tower. Samurai Vengeance opened locally on February 27.
Contact Toei

Three Millimeters To You

Dir. Chun Jinrung
This Japan-South Korea co-production stars Soya Kurokawa (Kokuho) as a listless high-school student who meets a Korean exchange student and eventually travels to Busan to reunite with her. The romance, which offers insight into the sensitive relationship between the two nations, also stars Kim Ji-an of 2024 horror hit Exhuma. Director Chun is known for the Japan-Korea co-produced short Route 7. Three Millimetres To You is in post-production ahead of a local release this autumn.
Contact Toei 

Unchained

Dir. Keisuke Yoshida
Written by Yoshida and based on his real-life upbringing, Unchained revolves around the struggles of troubled delinquents in Japan and the adults who strive to help them. Starring Wataru Ichinose (Netflix sumo series Sanctuary) and Kaho (Worlds Apart), it is set for release in Japan on June 26. Yoshida is known for Intolerance (2021) and Missing (2024), and was Tokyo International Film Festival’s director in focus in 2021.
Contact Nikkatsu

Wasted Chef

Dir. Takayuki Hirao
This animation revolves around a man from Tokyo who finds himself in a mysterious city and helps its residents rediscover their love of food through his cooking. It marks the latest feature from director Hirao and animation studio Clap, whose 2021 film Pompo: The Cinephile played at Fantasia and landed US distribution through GKids. Character designs are by Shingo Adachi, known for the popular Sword Art Online series. It is set for a local release in 2027.
Contact Etsuko Furutsuki, Kadokawa (world); Shochiku (Asia) 

• Filmart 2026: The buzz titles from Hong Kong and China