The Japan Foundation, Manila is thrilled to announce the return of the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) to Philippine theaters this September 2025!
From Metro Manila and Baguio, to Cebu, Angeles, and Davao, JFF is back with a curated selection of 12 films–featuring beloved classics alongside critically acclaimed new releases. Admission is free for all screenings.
Since its inception in 1997, JFF has grown into one of the most anticipated film festivals in the country, attracting around 40,000 audiences every year, and has become the largest Japanese film festival in the world. This year’s lineup offers something for everyone; timeless romances, laugh-out-loud comedies, and monumental blockbusters!
The theme for this year's festival is “Bridg(e)ing”. Films that serve as metaphorical bridges connecting the past with the future, humans with technology, body with spirit, and individual stories with community experiences. We hope that this year’s lineup will inspire people to build bridges rather than walls and connect with each other.
Opening the festival is the 4K remaster of Love Letter, Shunji Iwai’s acclaimed directorial debut and a timeless masterpiece of romance. Screened in over 20 countries since its release, Love Letter is celebrated for its breathtaking snowy landscapes and the unforgettable line, Ogenki desu ka? (“How are you?”). Its influence and homage can be clearly felt in 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days, a Taiwan-Japan co-production directed by Michihito Fujii.
Audiences can also look forward to a selection of masterpieces spanning genres and generations, including Akira Kurosawa’s SEVEN SAMURAI, the animated cult classic GHOST IN THE SHELL, Hayao Miyazaki’s SPIRITED AWAY, A SAMURAI IN TIME, the live-action adaptation of Cells at Work!, and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM, among others.
Below are more details of all the films included in the lineup
Love Letter (1995)
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| "LOVE LETTER" Written and Directed by Shunji lwai ©︎ Fuji Television Network,Inc. |
Director: Iwai Shunji
Cast: Nakayama Miho, Toyokawa Etsushi, Sakai Miki, Kashiwabara Takahashi, Han Bunjaku, Shinohara Katsuyuki, Kaga Mariko
A Timeless Masterpiece of Romance Returns in Stunning 4K! Two years after losing her fiancé, Hiroko Watanabe (Miho Nakayama) discovers her fiancé’s old yearbook and sends a letter to his former address in Otaru… only to receive an unexpected reply, from a woman with the same name as her late fiancé. This connection unearths memories and reveals two long buried romances. Set against the snowy beauty of Otaru, Love Letter is a poignant tale of love, loss, and remembrance, with Nakayama delivering a moving dual performance.
18x2 Beyond Youthful Days | 青春18x2 君へと続く道 (2024)
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| © 2024 "18x2 Beyond Youthful Days" Film Partners |
Director: Fujii Michihito
Cast: Hsu Kuang Han, Kiyohara Kaya, Joseph Chang, Michieda Shunsuke
This Japan-Taiwan co-production is a teen romance based on the travelogue essays "Youth 18×2” that made a splash in Taiwan. Script and direction by Fujii Michihito.
Taiwanese high school student Jimmy (Hsu Kuanghan) and Japanese backpacker Ami (Kiyohara Kaya) meet and fall in love. But when Ami has to suddenly return to Japan, she proposes a “certain promise” to the devastated Jimmy. Eighteen years later, Jimmy heads to Japan to fulfill the promise they made that day.
The Boy and the Dog | 少年と犬 (2025)
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| ©2025 “The Boy and the Dog” Film Partners. |
Director: Zeze Takahisa
Cast: Takahashi Fumiya,Nishino Nanase
Kazumasa is desperately struggling to earn a living having lost his job. Months after the Great East Japan Earthquake he is met by Tamon a stray dog and a welcome breath of fresh air for everyone but the dog’s sudden disappearance one night causes everyone to confront their own shortcomings. It sends Kazumasa off in search of Tamon and leads him to Miwa with struggles of her own when the two realize their dog is also trying to make its way home.
Cells at Work! | はたらく細胞 (2024)
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| ©AKANE SHIMIZU/KODANSHA ©SHIGEMITSU HARADA, ISSEY HATSUYOSHIYA, AKANE SHIMIZU/KODANSHA ©2024 “CELLS AT WORK!” FILM PARTNERS |
Director: Takeuchi Hideki
Cast: Nagano Mei, Satoh Takeru
Ever wondered what’s going on with the intricate workings inside your body? This live-action take on the hit manga series Cells at Work! reimagines the human body as a bustling metropolis populated by 37 trillion cells. A rookie red blood cell and a ruthless white blood/Neutrophil cell are just two inhabitants of high schooler Niko’s body, and the duo must fight together to keep their human alive—one immune system emergency and bacterial invasion at a time! Quirky, and over-the-top, this chaotic adventure follows the shenanigans of the microscopic crews inside Niko’s body, as they work tirelessly to keep her going.
Evil Does Not Exist | 悪は存在しない (2023)
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| © 2023 NEOPA, Fictive |
Director: Hamaguchi Ryusuke
Cast: Omika Hitoshi, Nishikawa Ryo, Kosaka Ryuji, Shibutani Ayaka, Kikuchi Hazuki, Miura Hiroyuki
Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. Like generations before them, they live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a glamping site near Takumi’s house; offering city residents a comfortable ‘escape’ to nature. When two company representatives from Tokyo arrive in the village to hold a meeting, it becomes clear that the project will have a negative impact on the local water supply, causing unrest. The agency’s mismatched intentions endanger both the ecological balance of the nature plateau and their way of life, with an aftermath that affects Takumi’s life.
Ghost in the Shell | 攻殻機動隊 (1995)
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| ©1995 Shirow Masamune/ KODANSHA・BANDAI VISUAL・MANGA ENTERTAINMENT. All Rights Reserved. |
Director: Oshii Mamoru
Cast: Tanaka Atsuko, Otsuka Akio, Yamadera Koichi
In 2029, the onset of information technology and rise of sophisticated cybercrime has led to the formation of a team of elite cyborg operatives, a “Shell Squad” officially known as Public Security Section 9. Their leader, Major Motoko Kusanagi, tracks a mysterious hacker known only as the “Puppet Master” who operates in the deepest parts of cyberspace. First released in 1995 from the manga series by SHIROW Masamune, the introspective and action-packed GHOST IN THE SHELL asks what it means to be human.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM | 機動戦士ガンダムSEED FREEDOM (2024)
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| © SOTSU・SUNRISE |
Director: Fukuda Mitsuo
Cast: Hoshi Soichiro, Tanaka Rie
Latest entry in the "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Series." Set in the Cosmic Era (C.E.), the story depicts the battle between humans with genetically enhanced physical and mental abilities from birth (Coordinators) and naturally born humans (Naturals). The year is C.E. 75. COMPASS has been established as a world peace monitoring organization to counter the invasion by Blue Cosmos, which calls for the expulsion of Coordinators. COMPASS member Kira Yamato and others join the fight.
A Samurai in Time | 侍タイムスリッパー (2024)
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| © 2024 MIRAIEIGASHA |
Director: Yasuda Junichi
Cast: Yamaguchi Makiya, Fuke Norimasa, Sakura Yuno
At the end of the Edo period in Kyoto, during a stormy night a samurai prepares to fight against a ronin, when a flash of lighting hits and when he wakes up to find himself in a different time. He has been transported through time to the present day and the location where he was about to duel is now a film set for jidaigeki TV shows and movies. Still in his samurai clothes he is mistaken for an extra and immediately thrust into the world of jidaigeki productions. Due to his very ‘authentic’ look and speech, he starts working on many productions and finds himself playing the role of a “kirareyaku”, a swordsman whose job is to die spectacularly on film
Seven Samurai | 七人の侍 (1954)
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| ©1954 Toho Co., LTD |
Director: Kurosawa Akira
Cast: Mifune Toshiro, Shimura Takahashi
KUROSAWA Akira’s 1954 classic SEVEN SAMURAI tells the tale of feudal class and warfare in ancient Japan. A village under fi re from bandits calls on seven swordsmen wandering the countryside to help rid them of marauders threatening to destroy their village. With the aid of the elder samurai SHIMADA Kanbei and six other fellow mercenaries with no status or income, the village prepares to battle the anonymous threat on horseback while battling the bitterness they keep for their hired swordsmen.
Showtime 7 | ショウタイムセブン (2025)
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| ©2025 SHOWTIME 7 Film Partners. |
Director: Watanabe Kazutaka
Cast: Abe Hiroshi, Ryusei Ryo, Nukumi Meru
Once the face of the prime time news program Showtime 7, Shinnosuke Orimoto was a national news anchor until mysteriously being forced to step down from his position. Now relegated to a late-night radio gig, he receives an ominous call from a stranger warning of an imminent bomb threat, and jumps at the chance to relive his glory days as a newscaster. But when the incident spirals into a high-stakes negotiation, Orimoto must tread carefully—or face explosive consequences. Every second matters in this fast-paced suspense thriller, based on the South Korean box office hit The Terror Live.
Spirited Away | 千と千尋の神隠し (2001)
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| ©2001 Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli, NDDTM |
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Cast: Hiiragi Rumi, Irino Miyu, Natsuki Mari, Naito Tsuyoshi, Sawaguchi Yasuko, Sugawara Bunta
While relocating to their new home in another town, Chihiro and her parents come across a mysterious tunnel. They pass through it to fi nd a vast grassy hill, and beyond, a shopping arcade of sorts. It is a world which humans were not meant to enter. Chihiro’s parents eat food left on a shop counter without permission, and are turned into pigs. Left alone, Chihiro is forced to obey two conditions in order to survive: she must work for the witch Yubaba, and have her name taken away, which severs her from the world of humans. She begins working at a bathhouse under the name Sen, where she is aided by Haku, Lin, Kamaji and others, while gradually regaining the strength to live on.
Teasing Master Takagi-san | 映画 からかい上手の高木さん (2024)
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| ©2024 “Teasing Master Takagi-san” Film Partners ©Soichiro Yamamoto/Shogakukan |
Director: Imaizumi Rikiya
Cast: Nagano Mei, Takahashi Fumiya
Based on the original graphic novel “Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san” created by Soichiro Yamamoto, published by Shogakukan Inc.
Nishikata, a physical education teacher at a middle school on a small island, receives a phone call from an ex school-mate Takagi-san, who moved to Paris 10 years ago. When Nishikata was attending middle school, he was always teased by Takagi-san. One day, the vice principal of the school, appoints Nishikata to be in charge of the teacher trainee. After school, when Nishikata returns to the classroom and opens the door to the cleaning supplies compartment, Takagi-san jumps out from inside. From this moment, the time between the two of them, which had stopped since the summer of their junior high school, begins to move…
JFF 2025 kicks off in Manila at the Shangri-La Red Carpet Cinema starting September 18 and will continue into the regions. The regional run begins September 26 in SM City Baguio, followed by screenings at SM City Cebu, SM City Lanang, and SM City Clark. The festival then returns to Manila for screenings at the UP Film Institute, and concludes at SM City Manila.
This year, JFF is expanding its reach by bringing films directly to university campuses. JFF Special Screenings @ Universities will take place in November at selected institutions across parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.
JFF 2025 is supported by the Film Development Council of the Philippines, JTI Philippines, Theo and Philo Artisan Chocolates and the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines.
For full schedules, ticketing guidelines, and venue details, Please visit the official JFF 2025 website (http://www.japanesefilmfestph.jfmo.org.ph) or follow @jfmanila on Facebook and instagram
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