New York is hardly lacking for decent programming of Japanese cinema. Even by such standards, the city’s preeminent destination is without question. Now in its 19th edition, Japan Society’s Japan Cuts has announced a 2026 lineup characteristically blending national totems with upstart filmmakers, a few restorations of known and lesser-known repertory titles creating a vivid image of a national cinema. The former is represented by opening and closing nights, respectively featuring Tokyo Taxi by Yoji Yamada (94 years of age and 91 films deep) and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Sheep in a Box.
On the latter front, their Next Generation programming boasts four titles, including festival favorites Leave the Cat Alone and White Flowers and Fruits, while the New Directions in Japanese Cinema series “provides new and emerging directors in Japan with nonprofit funding to create short films.” For animation, the main slate offers the stop-motion Junk World; Odd Taxi director Baku Kinoshita’s The Last Blossom; and Cocoon, a project from Sasayuri, a studio founded by Ghibli alum. Hitomi Tateno. But I suspect their sleeper hit will be SAI: Disaster, a feature-length edit of the already-cult horror series by the directing duo Gogatsu.
Japan Cuts’ Classics section is oriented around Kadokawa Pictures’ 50th anniversary. Likely the biggest item is Kore-eda’s Our Little Sister, introduced by lead actress Suzu Hirose, who will also present the main slate’s centerpiece picture A Pale View of Hills. But my eye immediately travels to the vastly underseen W’s Tragedy, which is one well-timed domestic release from becoming certified canon, and two early shorts by Gakuryu Ishii, The Master of Shiatsu and Shuffle. Meanwhile, the cult children’s film Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story also plays.
See the full lineup and get tickets for Japan Cuts here.