I have a new bit of writing up on the BFI website, tying into their upcoming No Strings Attached: Puppets on Film season! Fun to explore the use of hand and marionette puppetry in five of Ishiro Honda's kaiju films: www.bfi.org.uk/features/all...

All-out puppet attack! The monster puppetry in Ishiro Honda’s kaiju classics

From Godzilla to Ghidorah, the giant monster movies of Ishiro Honda made creative use of puppetry to depict the killer creatures and their colossal campaigns against mankind. Here, Steven Sloss, autho...

bfi.org.uk

RIP Nansun Shi, one of the greatest producers in film history deadline.com/2026/07/nans...

Nansun Shi Dies: Film Workshop Founder & ‘Infernal Affairs’ Producer Was 75

Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi, whose credits include A Better Tomorrow, Infernal Affairs and multiple films with Tsui Hark, has died aged 75.

deadline.com

"The National Film Archive of Japan has launched a crowdfunding campaign to protect film heritage, with a target of 100 million yen" this is the result of a series of cuts and "restructurings" proposed by the government...

映画ナタリー@eiga.natalie.mu · last mo.

国立映画アーカイブが映画遺産を守るためクラウドファンディング開始、目標金額は1億円 ▼詳細・記者会見レポートはこちら https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/677670?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social #国立映画アーカイブ

Some photos from my recent participation in the Reciprocal programme at the Asian Film Archive in Singapore. Many thanks to AFA and the Fukuoka City Public Library Film Archive for hosting me.

It gives me great pleasure to share the release of my decade-in-the-writing critical biography of filmmaker/activist Adachi Masao. Pink Auteur, Red Outlaw: Adachi Masao and Japan’s Cinema of Revolution is out September 1 via Awai Books. awaimedia.com/WilliamAndre...

This year's Japan Cuts in New York are premiering new 4K restorations of Gakuryu/Sogo Ishii's short films Shuffle (1981) and Master of Shiatsu (1989). Screening on 11 July. japansociety.org/events/shuff...

Shuffle & The Master of Shiatsu

World 4K Premiere. Two essential short and mid-length works from Gakuryu (Formerly Sogo) Ishii: Shuffle, a Katsuhiro Otomo-adapted, mile-a-minute monochrome sprint, and Master of Shiatsu, the inaugura...

japansociety.org

Nakamura Yuko's excellent documentary A Room of Her Own: Rei Naito and Light あえかなる部屋 内藤礼と、光たち (2015) is free on YT until the end of the month: youtu.be/lHJ_6xh-yg4?...

あえかなる部屋 内藤礼と、光たち

YouTube video by YouTube Movies

youtu.be

Very excited to announce that I will be taking part in Reciprocal 2026, taking place at the Asian Film Archive in Singapore next month. Initial programme info: asianfilmarchive.org/event-calend...

Reciprocal 2026 - Asian Film Archive (AFA) x Fukuoka City Public Library Film Archive (FCPLA) | Asian Film Archive

In the 2026 edition of RECIPROCAL, Asian Film Archive and the Fukuoka City Public Library Film Archive (FCPLFA) come together to showcase selections from their archives.

asianfilmarchive.org

Sad to hear of the passing of Koji Suzuki, aged 68. Ring, Spiral, Dark Water… his fiction helped birth J-horror, and rewired how the whole world thinks about dread. A huge loss. Unlike Sadako, rest in peace. ❤️

So excited to see this monolithic title finally getting an HD release - disc extras include a conversation between me and Joe O'Rourke, and a wonderful introduction from @dengerow.bsky.social - all filmed and edited by @sarahappleton.bsky.social

Daniel B.@inmate37927.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Darauf warte ich seit 25 Jahren. 🥲

Some very say news just in, but Shozin Fukui, director of Pinocchio 964 and Rubbers Lover, passed away on 2 April. As some might know, in the midst of a resurgence of interest in his work that culminated with a 2025 retrospective at K's Cinema in Shinjuku, he was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.

It was announced that one of the greatest manga artists of all time, Tsuge Yoshiharu, died on March 3, at the age of 88. His unique world inspired many, including many filmmakers. RIP. sp.m.jiji.com/english/show...

Japanese Manga Artist Yoshiharu Tsuge Dies at 88

Prominent Japanese manga artist Yoshiharu Tsuge, best known for "Nejishiki," which was published in 1968, died of aspiration pneumonia at a hospital in Tokyo on March 3. He was 88. Born in Tokyo's Ka...

sp.m.jiji.com

"Oakland-based Yanasa is proud to announce the launch of 3 Dragons Ltd. in partnership with Tokyo-based Cogitoworks Ltd. This new venture is dedicated to preserving, presenting, and expanding the work of pioneering Japanese filmmaker Gakuryu Ishii." www.einnews.com/pr_news/8987...

One of the most fascinating Japanese films of the 1970s.

@secondrun.bsky.social · 5mo ago

NEW RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT!! Kazuo Hara's legendary EXTREME PRIVATE EROS: LOVE SONG 1974 on Blu-ray 20 April. From the director of The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On, this intensely personal film explodes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking. tinyurl.com/3bunajby Amazon UK: tinyurl.com/mrx8ajju

Many thanks to those who came to yesterday's packed screening of TETSUO at The Garden Cinema in London. Thank you to The Garden for letting me say a few words about this head-banger of a film.

Less than three weeks to The Garden Cinema screening of Tetsuo: The Iron Man, with an introduction by me. www.thegardencinema.co.uk/film/tetsuo-...

Tetsuo: The Iron Man / The Garden Cinema

Our screening on Thursday 26 February will be introduced by Mark Player, author of Japanese Cinema and Punk, and will be followed by a post film discussion group in the Atrium Bar.    A strange man kn...

thegardencinema.co.uk

Join us for a follow-up conference to Cultural Politics of the Computational Image, this time online. Friday, January 23, day/night. Register for the zooms at: globalmediations.mit.edu/cpci-workshop/

The full line-up for the V-Cinema focus program I curated for the International Film Festival Rotterdam is up now: iffr.com/en/iffr/2026... Miike, Kurosawa, Aoyama, Takashi Ishii and lots of films that have never been shown in a theater before. Plus the full Crime Hunter trilogy!

The Garden Cinema in London will be hosting a season of Japanese 80s films, with a few Third Window titles included: Typhoon Club, Crazy Family, Tetsuo and His Motorbike Her Island. Put it in your calendars!

1980s: The Lost Decade of Japanese Cinema / The Garden Cinema

The 1980s were the zenith of Japan’s bubble economy, an era which saw the accumulation of vast wealth, alongside rapid technological and commercial growth. City centres sprouted neon-emblazoned…

thegardencinema.co.uk

There's a great season of 1980s Japanese cinema coming up at The Garden Cinema in the new year, including a couple of films that I wrote about in Japanese Cinema and Punk. I'll be introducing Tetsuo: The Iron Man on Thurs 26th Feb. Season and booking info: www.thegardencinema.co.uk/season/1980s...

1980s: The Lost Decade of Japanese Cinema

YouTube video by The Garden Cinema

youtu.be

First teaser for Street Kingdom: Make Your Own Sound (2026), based on Yuichi Jibiki's book about the punk-inspired Tokyo Rockers scene of the late 1970s. Reunites the Iden & Tity (2003) writer/director partnership of Kankuro Kudo and Tomorowo Taguchi. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGJa...

映画『ストリート・キングダム 自分の音を鳴らせ。』特報映像

YouTube video by リアルサウンド映画部（サブチャンネル）

youtube.com

The Japanese film director Harada Masato (原田真人) died on December 8 at the age of 76. He made hit films like Climber's High as well as art films like Kamikaze Taxi. He appears as an actor in The Last Samurai. www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainmen...

原田真人さん死去　76歳　映画監督　「クライマーズ・ハイ」「燃えよ剣」「ヘルドッグス」 - スポニチ Sponichi Annex 芸能

「クライマーズ・ハイ」など社会派の作品で知られる映画監督の原田真人（はらだ・まさと）さんが8日死去した。76歳。静岡県出身。葬儀は近親者で行う。後日、お別れ…

sponichi.co.jp

Masao Adachi’s Escape is screening at the ICA from 16th January

ICA | UK PREMIERE Escape + online Q&A

The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is London’s leading space for contemporary culture. We commission, produce and present new work in film, music, performance and the visual arts by today’s most...

ica.art

"The Documentary Cinema of Haneda Sumiko Japan in Transition through Gender, Arts, Nature and Society" is finally out next March. I've contributed with a chapter on Ode to Mt. Hayachine (a.k.a. The Poem of Hayachine Valley, 1982) www.routledge.com/The-Document...

Cinema Skhole Opened by Koji Wakamatsu in 1983, just a couple of minutes walk from Nagoya train station. So many of Japan's longtime mini theatres have disappeared in recent years. It's great to see this one still open.

A massive thank you to those who came to Japanese Cinema and Punk - Live in Nagoya yesterday. Thanks again to Nagoya University for hosting me. Sorry for overrunning.

Japan mutuals: I'm doing a talk based on my book Japanese Cinema and Punk at Nagoya University next week (9 December) Attendance is free Talk is in English with Japanese visual materials Includes screening of rare Nagoya punk short film: Crazy Dolls (1984) info below👇

Japan mutuals: I'm doing a talk based on my book Japanese Cinema and Punk at Nagoya University next week (9 December) Attendance is free Talk is in English with Japanese visual materials Includes screening of rare Nagoya punk short film: Crazy Dolls (1984) info below👇

Finally visited Video Market in Shinjuku, which stocks cult Blu-ray/DVD imports. It's pleasantly strange seeing releases I've worked on in a Japanese shop, like 88 Films' recent blu of Zebraman (I wrote the essay). Also decided to treat myself to the new New Wave Video release of Rubber's Lover.

Tokyo Tower at night🗼