Showtime at Japan Expert Insights

Our next guest is Taro Kawasaki. Born in Yamagata and a graduate of the Tohoku University of Art & Design, Taro Kawasaki represents the next generation of Japanese directorial talent. He sharpened his skills working as an assistant director under celebrated filmmakers such as Yuji Nakae, Shinobu Yaguchi, and Natsuki Seta. Taro’s thesis film, DOUGHNUT HOLE (2021), was featured at the Kyoto Inte...

This week's guest is Mariko Anno, a Japanese American scholar and performer bridging the worlds of academia and traditional Japanese music. An associate professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo, Mariko brings a unique perspective as both an ethnomusicologist and a professional flutist. She is the author of the award-winning book Piercing the Structure of Tradition, the first English monogra...

This week, our guest is Roland Kelts, an award-winning journalist and the author of “Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture has Invaded the US” and “The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus.” He writes for publications in the US, Japan and Europe, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Guardian, New Statesman, The Times Literary Supplement, Nikkei Asia...

Our guest today is a filmmaker whose work fearlessly explores the fringes of Japanese society with both grit and a profound sense of empathy. We are diving deep into the life and career of Eiji Uchida, the visionary director behind Midnight Swan and Lowlife Love. In this episode, we talk about how he chooses the stories to tell, lessons from working in the industry, and the future of Japanese cine...

This week on Showtime at Japan Expert Insights, Maya Matsuoka and Michael Foster are taking a deep dive into the 2025 film Rental Family. Directed by the visionary Hikari, this poignant dramedy follows an American actor in Tokyo who joins a daiko agency to play various roles for hire. We will explore how Hikari utilizes the real world industry of Japanese rental services to examine the concept of...

Welcome back to week two of Asian Pop-up Cinema. Today, our special guest is the visionary director Mipo O. A graduate of Osaka University of Arts and a former protégé of Nobuhiko Obayashi, Oh has established herself as a master of intimate, empathetic storytelling. She gained international acclaim with The Light Shines Only There, which served as Japan’s official Oscar submission in 2014. We are...

We are back at the 2026 edition of Asian Pop-Up Cinema here in Chicago. For today’s podcast episode, we are sitting down for an in-person interview with director Satoko Yokohama to discuss her latest feature film, Seaside Serendipity. The film follows a group of teenagers in a small seaside town that has become a magnet for artists from across the country. Over the course of one summer, these youn...

Welcome to the 2026 edition of Asian Pop-Up Cinema here in Chicago. For today’s podcast episode, we are sitting down for an in-person interview with director Yukihiro Morigaki to discuss his latest feature film, The Imaginary Dog and the Lying Cat. The story centers on eight-year-old Yamabuki, a young boy caught in the crossfire of his dysfunctional family. To cope with their constant antics, he b...

Our next guest is a powerhouse in the international film community. Yuki Sakamoto Solomon is a Chicago-based producer, festival director, and the founder of Coyote Sun Productions. With a career spanning Japanese public broadcasting and serving as a juror at the Chicago International Film Festival, Yuki has dedicated her work to connecting Japanese filmmakers with American audiences. She is a co-f...

Our next guest is Sophia Wong Boccio. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Sophia’s deep roots in the film industry began with her parents’ careers as a prominent editor and actress. She launched her professional journey in the 1990s by creating the Sophia’s Choice movie series in Beijing and later curating film festivals in Sydney. After relocating to Chicago in 2000, she served in leadership roles for...

Maya Tanaka Allwardt is an actor and musician originally from the Bay Area. She is a recent Jeff Award nominee for her role as Little Sally in Theo Ubique’s Urinetown. You can also see her on screen as Amy Keening on season 11 of Chicago Med. Maya is active in the improv/comedy world and was a recipient of Second City’s inaugural Victor Wong Fellowship in 2023, along with being an ensemble member...

This week’s guest is Harry Wright, the founder of All Things Japan and the visionary behind a developing historical project titled The Black Ships: A Sea of Change. Drawing on his deep cultural fluency and a career as a retired U.S. Navy officer living in Japan, Harry is currently crafting a narrative that explores the 1853 arrival of Commodore Perry. This project aims to spotlight overlooked pers...

There is a secret hidden at the summit of a Japanese volcano... and it isn't a myth. It’s canon. Did you know that within the official Harry Potter canon, there is a premier Wizarding School located in Japan? Situated at the summit of the volcanic island of Minami Iwo Jima, the school of Mahoutokoro stands as a fascinating bridge between ancient tradition and magical education. In this episode...

On this episode of Showtime @ Japan Expert Insights, Maya Matsuoka and Michael Foster are kicking off the year by sharing their favorite Japanese movies and TV shows. They'll be diving into the latest hits and trends shaping the entertainment landscape.

Organized by the Chicago Japan Film Collective, this special in-person conversation with Ed Godziszewski and Steve Ryfle, writers of Ishiro Honda: Memoirs of a Film Director, talks about the life and career of Japanese director Ishiro Honda, focusing on his films, war experiences, and friendship with Akira Kurosawa. Over a span of 46 feature films, Honda became a pioneer of the modern disaster gen...

This week's guest is Ron Reid Jr., a Toronto native who originally traveled to Japan with just $400 in his pocket and has since established himself as a prominent filmmaker and actor in Tokyo. His award-winning documentary work includes 614, which chronicles a pastor's vision to aid communities by living amongst them, as well as Love Letter to Kumamoto, a project born from his earthquake relief ef...

Our next guest is Aki Takabatake, the founder and CEO of Momo Films Inc., a Toronto-based boutique film distribution company specializing in Japanese cinema. A University of British Columbia graduate, she began her career as a film buyer in Tokyo and has since held diverse roles in Toronto, including with the Toronto International Film Festival and on productions like Netflix's Age of Samurai and...

In this episode, we meet Megumi Nishikura, a US-based documentary filmmaker whose work explores identity, belonging, and the cultural intersections between Japan and the world. Her feature documentary film “Hafu – the mixed race experience” screened theatrically throughout Japan and aired on PBS and NipponTV. She produced “Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight: The Japanese War Brides,” which aired globa...

Tokyo-based Japanese film producer Kanako Fujita is the founder of Felis Pictures Ltd. and a graduate of King’s College London, where she earned her degree in Film Studies. A participant of Rotterdam Lab 2025 and the Busan Producer Hub 2024, she specializes in Asian–European co-productions that bridge cultures and explore the moral and emotional complexities of modern society. Her first feature as...

This week’s guest is Takashi Horie, a New York-based independent filmmaker. Born in Sendai, Miyagi, he graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1996.Since then, Horie has built a versatile career as a director, cinematographer, and editor, creating numerous award-winning music and promotional videos in the U.S. His short film, Ordinary Days, was nominated and screened at various film fes...

This week, we once again welcome  Kanako Horii . Born in Chicago, Kanako spent most of her life in Tokyo before returning to the U.S. decades later to make it her home once more. Her passion for launching creative projects with a social purpose led her to develop the card game  "SHAKE HANDS"  as part of an enablement project with Enable Partners LLC. In this special episode, we'll ta...

This week’s guest is Greg Dale, a Princeton graduate with a decade of experience in New York theater, has been directing and acting in Broadway-level productions and films in Japan. He has written half a dozen screenplays and recently wrote and directed his debut feature, the romantic comedy “Rules of Living”. The film won Best Feature Comedy at the 2024 Sedona International Film Festival and has...

This week's guest is Stefanie Arianne, an accomplished actress with roots in both the Philippines and Japan. After moving to Japan to pursue acting, she quickly rose to prominence, earning a Best Supporting Actress Award at the Malaysia International Film Festival for her role in the critically acclaimed film “Plan 75". The film was also a standout at the 75th Cannes International Film Festival an...

This week, we have Kanako Horii. Born in Chicago, she spent most of her life in Tokyo before returning to the U.S. decades later to make it her home again. Her passion for bringing creative projects into society led her to create the card game "SHAKE HANDS" as part of a social enablement project with Enable Partners LLC.

This week, we have Jason Gray, a veteran of the Japanese film industry with over two decades of experience. Beginning his career as a translator and film business journalist, he is now an accomplished feature film producer. His impressive resume includes producing five theatrical releases, such as Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s "To the Ends of the Earth" and Chie Hayakawa’s "Plan 75", which was Japan’s offici...