『天使のたまご』 
Tenshi no Tamago
Sunday, September 10, 2023
6:00 pm
​Japan Society, NYC

​Special event with Yoshitaka Amano in-person. Screening followed by Q&A with Yoshitaka Amano and reception. A groundbreaking collaboration between two anime legends that intertwines Mamoru Oshii’s personal reflections on theology, existentialism and evolution with Yoshitaka Amano’s fantastical ink art style, Angel’s Egg remains a rarely screened and hard-to-find cult classic. Taking place in a seemingly quiescent time, two nameless strangers—a girl bearing a mystical egg and a man with a cruciate cane—journey across a primordial realm of decadent ruins, primitive fish and fossilized relics. An allegorical fantasy enriched by symbolism and biblical allusion, Oshii’s beautifully melancholic OVA ruminates on the tragic underpinnings of existence in a world untouched by God.
This event is presented in partnership with LOMEX Gallery (86 Walker Street), who will be presenting the exhibition Yoshitaka Amano – The Birth of Myth opening on September 9 from 6 to 8 pm. For more information, visit lomex.gallery.

Sunday July 30, 2023
​5:30pm
Japan Society, NYC

レジェンド＆バタフライ
Rejendo ando Batafurai
Introduced by and followed by a Q&A with director Keishi Otomo. Learn More
North American Theatrical Premiere. A sweeping historical romance created to celebrate Toei’s 70th anniversary, The Legend & Butterfly casts megastars Takuya Kimura as Oda Nobunaga and Haruka Ayase as his wife, Nohime. While Oda Nobunaga is one of Japan’s most well-documented historical figures, virtually no information about Nohime remains, and The Legend & Butterfly fills this mystery with a turbulent, thoroughly modern romance. A Sengoku era take on the expression “behind every great man lies a great woman,” The Legend & Butterfly sees over 30 years of defining moments in Japanese history driven by powerful, private moments between Nobunaga and Nohime.
Dir. Keishi Otomo, 2023, 168 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Takuya Kimura, Haruka Ayase.

Tokyo melody: un film sur Ryuichi Sakamoto

Opening comments by Akiko Yano; Screening followed by a Q&A with Director Elizabeth Lennard.
Saturday, July 29th, 2023
7pm

Imported 16mm Print. Filmmaker and photographer Elizabeth Lennard secures unprecedented access to Ryuichi Sakamoto during the recording of his 1984 albumOngaku Zukan in this brief-yet-insightful Franco-Japanese television co-production. A sampling of studio sessions and performances (including a piano duet with then-wife Akiko Yano), archival footage and talking head interviews, Tokyo Melody finds the eccentric artist at his creative peak, pushing the envelope to new sonic frontiers as he reflects on modern life, shifting technologies and his own creative processes. Lennard captures an awe-inspiring portrait of the extraordinary musician—one that taps into the very nature of the artist’s raison d’être and remains a testament to Sakamoto’s profound brilliance.
Dir. Elizabeth Lennard, 1985, 62 min., 16mm, color; in Japanese, English and French with English subtitles. With Ryuichi Sakamoto, Akiko Yano.

At Japan Society

JAPAN SOCIETY FILM
Mori, The Artist’s Habitat モリのいる場所 (Mori no Iru Basho)
North American Premiere

Intro and Q&A with star Kirin Kiki, with CUT ABOVE Award ceremony

Thursday, March 17, 2016
​7:00 pm
Japan Society 

Friday, November 20, 2015
7:00 pm
Japan Society, NYC

​Master photographer Eikoh Hosoe gave a lecture at Japan Society.  He told episodes and process of working with other artists such as an author Yukio Mishima, and butoh dance founder Tatsumi Hijikata. Mr. Hosoe was fluent in English, and audience enjoyed mingling with him at the reception.

Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, a hundred-year old doctor gave a lecture at Japan Society.

Here are some of his quotes, which spoke to me.

"History repeats."
"Have a courage to go against the flow."
"Give a life to your time, your time will be alive."
"Don't eat too much if you want to live longer."

I admit, it is quite convincing when you hear them from a sharp-minded hundred-years old man.
To him, my life has just been warmed up.

A photo shoot for the launch party of "Four Stories", a short film competition, hosted by Intel, W Hotels, Vice, and director Roman Coppola, at W Hotel downtown, New York. 

Starting Aug.14th through Aug. 30, filmmakers can visit intel.com/fourstories to upload their original screenplays – inspired by the highly mobile, 24/7 nature of travel – for the chance to see their idea come to life on the big screen.Three winning screenplays will be selected from a global pool of submissions by an exclusive panel of industry leaders, including Roman Coppola (The Directors Bureau), Michaelangelo L’Acqua (W Hotels global music director), Deborah Conrad (chief marketing officer at Intel), Eddy Moretti (executive producer and creative director at VICE), Michael Pitt (actor), Jeff Baena (screenwriter), Chloe Sevigny (actress), PJ Ransone (actor) and Blake Whitman (vice president of creative development at Vimeo) and Danny Gabai (agent, motion pictures for William Morris Endeavor).