East Side Stories: Japanese Cinema Depicting the Lives of Youth

A dejected spirit is given a second chance at life when he is placed in the body of 14-year-old boy Makoto, who has been experiencing a difficult time at home and at school. Plus a Q&A with director Keiichi Hara.

A worker in a shipbuilding yard is offered the chance to boost his wages by managing a dormitory inhabited by a pack of 18 adolescent ruffians.

Following 12-year-old Sei’s abrupt and unfortunate introduction into puberty, he discovers the beautiful and elusive Nao, a girl one year his senior.

Facing various doubts and problems, and haunted by her father’s disappearance, Uta forms an unlikely friendship with the older Wao, who is an aspiring musician, but lacks the drive to succeed.

Two social misfits – ‘rock’ manga artist Mon and cosplay-obsessed Koino – collide in this quirky love-drama, set in the vibrant world of Japanese contemporary pop culture.

Two schoolgirls, Emi and Yuka, form a friendship strengthened by their disabilities that their classmates can neither understand nor share. Years on, Emi recalls her unique relationship with Yuka to Nakahara, a photojournalist.

Two young sisters embark on a trip to visit their estranged father who is dying of cancer, setting out to fulfil their mother’s request to capture a photo of him.

Nerdy, diffident and pop culture-loving blogger Yukiyo (Mirai Moriyama) finds himself all of a sudden more popular with girls, in this madcap romantic comedy. Plus a Q&A with director Hitoshi Ohne and actor Mirai Moriyama.

A group of young flatmates sharing a tiny Tokyo apartment find their lives thrown into hazard when a mysterious golden-haired stranger takes residence on their sofa, just when a number of brutal murders have been committed in a nearby park.

19-year-old dropout Kanta (Mirai Moriyama) lives a hopelessly destitute life, fuelled by alcohol and peep-shows, in Japan’s bubble era. Plus a Q&A with actor Mirai Moriyama.

Naive but self-confident, 18-year-old Yonosuke arrives in Tokyo to begin life as a student in 1987 - decades later, his friends’ stories paint a picture of Yonosuke’s life, and his whereabouts today.