JOURNEY THROUGH JAPANESE AND KOREAN CINEMAS

As part of the Japan–Korea cinema exchange program Journey Through Japanese & Korean Cinemas, co-presented by Korea’s Indie Space and Tokyo’s Eurospace and Stranger, a special showcase of works by directors Sho Miyake and Neo Sora is in the spotlight at Eurospace and Stranger, all with English subtitles.

The program runs alongside screenings introducing Korean independent cinema, creating a rare cross-cultural platform between the arthouse theater communities in the two countries. Notably, all Japanese films in this lineup will screen with English subtitles, making the program especially accessible to international audiences in Tokyo.

A major highlight is Sho Miyake’s Playback, which will be presented on a rare 35mm print — a special opportunity to experience the film in its original theatrical format.

Screening Schedule

March 1 (Sun) @ Eurospace
All the Long Nights / 夜明けのすべて, dir: Sho Miyake
2024, 119 min
Miyake adapts the popular novel of the same name by Maiko Seo into a quiet film about two characters, Misa Fujisawa (Mone Kamishiraishi), who suffers from personality-altering PMS (premenstrual syndrome), and Takatoshi Yamazoe (Hokuto Matsumura), who struggles with panic disorder and social withdrawal. After an initial run-in at work, they begin spending more time together and develop an unexpected empathy. Their relationship is neither romantic nor a solid friendship, but they learn to listen to each other and understand one another. For many, this small story of salvation is both relatable and utterly unforgettable.

March 3 (Tue), March 5 (Thu) @ Eurospace
Playback, dir: Sho Miyake
2012, 113 min / 35mm
Japan has an unshakable love affair with time-travel stories, and this is no different. Except that it is, and Sho Miyake's directorial feature debut was given a world premiere at the 2012 Locarno International Film Festival. The film focuses on Haji (Jun Murakami), an actor nearing 40, who finds himself staring down a midlife crisis. Invited by an old friend, he takes a long-delayed trip back to his hometown. But he dozes off en route, only to be transported back to his high school days—still in his middle-age body. In this world where present and past collide (and repeat), does Haji have a chance to reclaim his life?

From February 27 (Fri) to March 5 (Thu) @ Stranger
Happyend, dir: Neo Sora
Although we don’t see it happening, we know from the opening frames of Neo Sora’s narrative feature debut, Happyend, that the world may be ending. Set against the impending implosion of the environment and the increasing political oppression of the Japanese population, the  film-festival favorite explores the stories of five high school pals as graduation — and the apocalypse? — approach.

With Kobe standing in for Tokyo, the film’s protagonists go about their school lives as youth have always done — studying, worrying, partying, playing music and playing pranks. Until one prank brings the wrath of the administration, and a draconian surveillance system is installed in the school.

Kou (Yukito Hidaki) and Yuta (Hayao Kurihara), best friends since childhood, respond differently to the punishment, testing their relationship. But Kou is a Zainichi Korean, and his response is underscored by his long-suffering mom’s admonition that he toe the line until he graduates. Instead, he gets directly involved with political protest through a girl whose commitment is hardcore (she even reads books on paper!).

Not surprisingly, since Sora is the son of the late Ryuichi Sakamoto (and director of acclaimed documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus), music is an enormously important force in the film, both as creative outlet and anxiety dispeller. Yuta and Kou are aspiring DJs and the gang has formed a Music Research Club in a schoolroom, which has always been their safe haven.

But their acts of rebellion soon lead to repercussions they can’t control, and gradually, their fears for the future comingle with the growing unrest on the streets.

From March 6 (Thu) to March 12 (Thu) @ Stranger
The Chicken / 鶏・The Chicken + Amegarasu / アメガラス, dir: Neo Sora
The Chicken: 2020, 14 min
Neo Sora shot this short in New York, and it had an extremely successful festival run. An adaptation of Naoya Shiga’s short story “The Afternoon of November 3rd,” the film overlays contemporary questions onto a story from a century ago. If follows Hiro, who was preparing to butcher a chicken for dinner, but becomes unable to kill it after inadvertently mishandling a medical crisis in the street. As Sora’s website puts it, “The Chicken expands on the ways that structural violence insidiously permeate daily life. Police presence, access to healthcare, gentrification by the well-meaning liberal middle class—the film translates [Shiga’s] story into present-day New York through the lens of being Japanese in America.”

Amegarasu: 2022, 20 min
This proof-of-concept short for Neo Sora’s feature debut Happyend (see above) is set in Japan in the near future. Mischievous high schoolers Yuta and Kou plan to scare everyone by beating each other with a sugar-glass beer bottle (the amegarasu of the title). They’re joined by an older friend, and the three spend a raucous evening smashing bottles. But then a police robot dog shows up, photographing them and ruining their fun. The film leans into themes of community collapse, surveillance society, and gentrification issues from a youth perspective.