Japanese cinema is making a strong showing on the Lido this year, with stories from and about Japan appearing across nearly every section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Two of the country’s most celebrated directors landed spots in the main Competition: Hirokazu Koreeda, who adapts Tatsuki Fujimoto’s “Look Back,” a beloved manga about friendship and grief; and Shinya Tsukamoto, who completes his anti-war trilogy with “Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?”, a haunting portrait of a Vietnam veteran.
But the festival extends far past the race for the Golden Lion, and Japan’s presence runs through its many parallel showcases — from documentaries and genre fare screening Out of Competition to emerging voices in the Horizons section.
Highlights include Takashi Miike’s first-ever documentary, which follows a renowned kabuki actor through a historic name-inheritance ceremony; Tokyo-based photographer-director Xavier Tera’s debut coming-of-age drama set in the shadow of Okinawa’s military bases; and a restoration of Shinji Somai’s 1983 windswept classic “The Catch.”
Here are eight Japan-focused films making waves at the Venice Film Festival this year.
Image: IMDB
Look Back by Hirokazu Koreeda
Hirokazu Koreeda’s latest feature made its world premiere on the Lido as a Competition title in the running for the Golden Lion, bringing Tatsuki Fujimoto’s popular manga to life in a live-action adaptation. The story follows Fujino, a fourth grader known at school for her manga drawing skills. When her shy, reclusive classmate Kyomoto suddenly outshines her with superior manga strips, Fujino’s initial jealousy turns into a close friendship. The two team up to draw together through high school, until separate ambitions and an unexpected tragedy pull them apart.
Koreeda discovered the source material during the pandemic, resonating with its portrayal of artists working through grief and burnout. Working with four lead actresses to depict the characters’ journeys from elementary school to young adulthood, the director leans into his signature naturalistic style. The premiere drew praise for its tender lead performances and subtle rhythm, offering a gentle look at childhood, creativity and loss. The film’s Japanese premiere is on September 11.
Watch the trailer here.
Image: La Biennale Di Venezia
Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? by Shinya Tsukamoto
Also in Competition for the Golden Lion is Shinya Tsukamoto’s entry, “Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?”, which brings Allen Nelson’s haunting Vietnam War memoir to the screen. The multinational drama centers on a Black US veteran grappling with severe PTSD and the weight of his past actions. Through a series of intense therapy sessions with his doctor and candid anti-war talks at schools, Nelson wrestles with guilt and seeks redemption as an activist.
The film reflects the cult auteur’s complete creative control; he spearheaded every aspect of the adaptation, serving as writer, director, cinematographer and editor. The director considers the international co-production the culmination of his trilogy of anti-war films, following “Fires on the Plain” and “Shadow of Fire.” Shot across New York, Okinawa, Vietnam and Thailand, the project also marks his second English-language feature. The film’s Japanese premiere is on September 11.
Watch the trailer here.
Image: La Biennale Di Venezia
Arrested Memory by Sabu
Screening in the Venice Open (Out of Competition) section, Japanese genre director Sabu unveiled “Arrested Memory,” a Taiwanese-Japanese co-production marking the 30th anniversary of his theatrical debut.
Starring Taiwanese actor Ethan Juan, the crime comedy-thriller follows a hotshot Taipei detective who develops severe amnesia after a disaster leaves his entire squad dead. When he conceals his diagnosis and takes on a case involving the kidnapped son of an influential Japanese businessman, the detective must rely on sheer instinct and judo skills as his memory steadily fades.
Shot entirely in Taiwan, the feature pairs Juan with Taiwanese actress Moon Lee and Sabu’s frequent collaborator Shinichi Tsutsumi. Following its world premiere on the Lido, the film heads to the Toronto International Film Festival and Brussels International Film Festival before its Japan premiere in 2027.
Watch the trailer here.
Image: La Biennale Di Venezia
Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki by Takashi Miike
Also screening Out of Competition at Venice this year, prolific genre auteur Takashi Miike pivoted to non-fiction with his documentary feature debut, “Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki.” Filmed over more than three years, the project follows star Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo XI during a name-inheritance ceremony in 2022 — a sacred rite where actors formally inherit historic stage titles passed down through generations. Ichikawa took on Kabuki’s most prestigious title — Ichikawa Danjuro XIII — while his son took the name Ichikawa Shinnosuke VIII in the same ceremony.
Narrated by Anne Watanabe, the film captures three years of rehearsals, family history and stage performances after the pandemic delayed the ceremony for two and a half years. Having previously directed Danjuro XIII (then Ebizo XI) in movies like “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai,” Miike blends observational footage with private family archives to record how artistic traditions move from father to son. Following its Lido premiere, where Danjuro walked the red carpet in full stage makeup and costume, the documentary opens in Japanese theaters on September 25.
Watch the trailer here.
Image: IMDB
The Color of the Sun by Xavier Tera
Tokyo-based photographer-director Xavier Tera makes a striking feature debut in the Horizons sidebar with “The Color of the Sun,” a sun-baked Okinawan drama steeped in adolescent melancholy. Set during the summer of 2012, the film follows Kamei, a high school senior processing his father’s recent death while standing at the threshold of adulthood. A tentative bond with Colin, an American military kid, sparks a quiet awakening that prompts Kamei to step out of his shell and decide what kind of life he actually wants.
Created in collaboration with “Call Me by Your Name” cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and produced in part by Jeremy O. Harris, the Canadian-Italian-Japanese co-production uses rich, saturated colors and a dense soundscape to mirror the island’s underlying friction. Grounded in the complex reality of a community living under the shadow of foreign military bases, the film explores themes of grief and coming-of-age. After its Venice debut, the project will continue its festival circuit prior to its theatrical release in Japan in 2027.
Watch the exclusive first look here.
Image: La Biennale Di Venezia
Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing by Erik Shirai
Premiering as the opening film of the festival’s Spotlight section — a sidebar where audiences, rather than a jury, vote on the festival’s spectator award — “Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing” marks the latest documentary feature from Japanese-American filmmaker Erik Shirai (“The Birth of Saké”). Produced by ESPN films alongside Rise Films, it follows a year in the lives of several sumo wrestlers across varying stages of their careers at Tokyo’s Sakaigawa stable, offering an intimate look at the physical strain, discipline and heritage defining the ancient Japanese sport.
Co-shot by Shirai and Hiroshi Hara in monochrome and sepia tones, the feature highlights the personal sacrifices made by the wrestlers — ranging from teenage trainees to 33-year-old Yokozuna Terunofuji Haruo, the sole practicing grand champion at the time of filming. Beyond capturing the immense physical toll of the sport, the film examines sumo as a sacred, living ritual rather than a purely athletic endeavor. The film will make its rounds through Camden International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival before moving to streaming under ESPN in 2027.
Watch the trailer here.
Image: La Biennale Di Venezia
Twist & Shoot Mister Suzuki by Yves Montmayeur
French documentarian Yves Montmayeur (“Citizen Kitano”) turns his lens on one of Japanese film history’s most radical visual anarchists, Seijun Suzuki, in “Twist & Shoot Mister Suzuki.” Screening Out of Competition, the feature explores how the iconoclastic director defied studio mandates to transform low-budget gangster flicks into dazzling avant-garde spectacles. It traces Suzuki’s turbulent career at Nikkatsu Corporation, an industry blacklisting after the controversial “Branded to Kill” (1967) and an eventual comeback with the acclaimed Taisho trilogy: “Zigeunerweisen” (1980), “Kagero-za” (1981) and “Yumeji” (1991).
Combining archival footage of Suzuki with insights from prominent figures like John Woo, Mika Ninagawa and art director Takeo Kimura, Suzuki’s long-time collaborator, the project celebrates a filmmaker who continuously pushed aesthetic boundaries. Its theatrical release dates across Japanese and European cinemas have yet to be confirmed.
Watch the trailer here.
Image: La Biennale Di Venezia
The Catch by Shinji Somai
Few films capture the stark beauty and isolation of sea labor quite like Shinji Somai’s 1983 coastal drama “The Catch.” Newly restored in 4K for the Venice Classics category — which highlights film restorations and cinema history — it follows Fusajiro, a widowed tuna fisherman in northern Japan who can barely keep his boat afloat. When his daughter brings home her boyfriend — a soft-spoken local clerk named Shinichi — the old fisherman refuses to take him seriously. Wanting to prove he has what it takes to be part of the family, Shinichi joins Fusajiro on an ill-fated sea voyage that tears all three of them apart.
Somai builds the film’s suffocating tension through long, uninterrupted takes, forcing the viewer to watch every brutal minute of labor on the boat without relying on quick edits or stunt doubles. The film’s standout moment — an intense sequence where lead actor Ken Ogata wrestles and hauls a thrashing, 300-pound tuna onto the deck himself — remains one of the most remarkable physical performances in Japanese cinema. Ogata earned major domestic acting honors alongside co-star Masako Natsume, who passed away just two years after the film’s release. Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the director’s passing, the film will begin its re-release on November 27 at Shibuya’s Bunkamura Le Cinéma.
Watch the original trailer here.
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Updated On September 11, 2026
