JFNY NEWSLETTER | Nov. 7th, 2025 🎬 | | |
With Halloween behind us, we're in the homestretch for the end of 2025! Before you start prepping any holiday meals and travel, be sure to read this newsletter. We have plenty of events coming up, including Foreign Exchange — a series of exclusive talks and screenings with the visionary creators behind Cowboy Bebop, Star Wars: Visions, and Yasuke — as well as a Kozaburo Yoshimura film retrospective in partnership with Film at Lincoln Center. Plus, our Anime NYC panel video and our Chicago International Film Festival event reports are now available.
For more about these and more, read below!
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Nov. 20-22
Japan Society (New York, NY)
In partnership with Japan Society, we are very proud to announce our second Foreign Exchange series! Join us for a weekend of screenings and conversations with trailblazing anime visionaries Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo), Justin Leach (Star Wars: Visions), and LeSean Thomas (Yasuke).
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Have a question for the creators? This is a rare opportunity to hear directly from them! They’ll explore behind-the-scenes stories and discuss the future of anime — inspired by your questions. The talks featuring all three creators will be made available on YouTube after the event.
→SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION HERE
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Dec. 5-11
Film at Lincoln Center (New York, NY)
Presented in partnership with Film at Lincoln Center, we invite the public for a rare film retrospective featuring the works of KĹŤzaburĹŤ Yoshimura. One of the most accomplished yet underappreciated figures of the golden age of Japanese cinema, Yoshimura often centered his work on the plight of women throughout Japanese history, but especially in the postwar era.
→LEARN MORE
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Streaming until Feb. 2, 2026 (9pm ET)
New films are now available for FREE streaming on JFF Theater! This selection is divided into two features - All-Out School Days & Meals that Heal and Connect.
🎒Feature: All-Out School Days
Relive the romance, passion, and friendship of youth in these all-out high school stories.
- No Longer Heroine (2015)
- TEIICHI -Battle of Supreme High- (2017)
- MY love STORY!! (2015)
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#HandballStrive (2020)
🍜Feature: Meals that Heal and Connect
From kitchens to hearts, films about meals that heal, connect, and make life warmer.
- Bento Harassment (2019)
- MEGANE glasses (2007)
- Restaurant From The Sky (2019)
- Mottainai Kitchen (2020)
Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we introduce (or re-introduce) each film!
→LEARN MORE
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Archive video now available on YouTube!
This past August, we co-presented with Shueisha a special panel featuring Shonen Jump’s Editor-in-Chief Yu Saito at Anime NYC! The editor-in-chief shared his experiences editing legendary series, thoughts on the heart of Shonen Jump’s storytelling, and what makes a “good” manga.
We would like to again thank Shueisha for their cooperation, Yu Saito for taking the time to share his insights and stories, Deb Aoki for moderating, and Mari Morimoto for translating.
If you couldn't attend the panel, great news: the video is now available on our YouTube channel! Don't wait - watch today!
→WATCH NOW
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Director Yuta Shimotsu visits the Chicago International Film Festival!
Q&A and exclusive interview coming soon to our YouTube Channel
At the 61st Chicago International Film Festival, Director Yuta Shimotsu answered questions after the screening of New Group, his latest film, as part of the festival’s After Dark selection. During the Q&As, Director Shimotsu spoke on the genesis of the project, the meaning of the human pyramid, and more. Thank you, Shimotsu-san, for bringing such a strange yet enormously fun film to life!
The AMC New City Q&A as well as the exclusive interview will be uploaded to our YouTube channel in the near future.
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Director Yuiga Danzuka visits the Chicago International Film Festival!
Q&A and exclusive interview coming soon to our YouTube Channel
Also at Chicago International Film Festival, we welcomed Director Yuiga Danzuka for the screening of Brand New Landscape, selected for the New Directors Competition at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival.This visually appealing film travels through the ever-changing landscapes and buildings of Tokyo as it explores themes such as family and urbanism. Thank you so much, Director Danzuka, for coming to Chicago!
The AMC New City Q&A as well as the exclusive interview with Director Danzuka will also be uploaded to our YouTube channel in the near future. Stay tuned!
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Now Accepting Applications for: Grants for Arts & Cultural Exchange
Applications due Dec. 1, 11pm (EST)
There is officially less than a month left until Grants for Arts & Cultural Exchange applications are due! These grants provide researchers, professionals, and organizations and institutions support for their projects pertaining to Japanese arts and culture. We are accepting applications for the following grant programs for 2026-2027:
- Exhibitions Abroad Support Program
- Ishibashi Foundation / The Japan Foundation Fellowship for Research on Japanese Art
- Support Program for Translation and Publication
- Grant Program for Dispatching Artist and Cultural Specialists
- International Creations in Performing Arts
→LEARN MORE
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Now Accepting Applications for: Grants for Japanese Studies
Applications due Dec. 1, 11pm (EST)
Less than a month until the Grants for Japanese Studies application deadline! The Grants for Japanese Studies is a group of several grant programs and fellowship opportunities supporting institutions, researchers, and students aiming to deepen the understanding in the United States. Accepting applications for the following programs for 2026-2027:
- Japanese Studies Fellowship Programs
- Institutional Project Support (IPS) Program
- Institutional Project Support (IPS) - Small Grant Program
- *NEW THIS YEAR* U.S.-Southeast Asia-Japan Collaboration and Exchange Initiative
→LEARN MORE
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Now Accepting Applications for: Japan – U.S. Global Partnership Grant Program
Applications due Dec. 1, 11:59pm (EST)
There is less than a month until the application deadline for the Japan-U.S. Global Partnership Program. This grant program provides support for Japan-U.S. collaborative projects that will help resolve current global issues of common concern, build partnerships among diverse professions and backgrounds necessary to successfully address those issues, and support the individuals who organize and participate in such projects.
→LEARN MORE
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For Your (Virtual) Shelf: Mysteries by Classic Japanese Authors
Halloween may have come and gone, but it's always a good time to read an intriguing mystery or two during the fall season, especially by very well-known Japanese authors! Below are our picks for this November volume.
đź‘» NOV. VOL. 1 BOOKS:
- The Crater
- By Osamu Tezuka
- This collection of self-contained short stories by the world-renown author invites readers to ominous worlds, ranging from science fiction to horror to mystery
- Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination
- By Edogawa Ranpo, translated by James B. Harris
- Regarded as the Japanese answer to Edgar Allen Poe, this lucid and suspenseful collection presents nine chilling tales written in a style unknown to readers outside of Japan
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Inspector Imanashi Investigates
- By Seicho Matsumoto, translated by Beth Cary
- The master of Japanese mystery writing presents a tale of an investigator who starts, drops, and picks up a murder case again after a series of coincidences
There are plenty more books of all genres available. Visit the JF USA Digital Library today!
→LEARN MORE
You will need a library card to be able to borrow and place holds for the books in the digital library. Visit the Japan Foundation, Los Angeles website below for instructions on how to get your digital library card.
→LEARN MORE
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2023 Salary Assistance Grantee publishes new book!
Our friends at TABLE FOR TWO USA has partnered with Tuttle Publishing to release Japanese Cooking with Kids: 50 Kid-Tested Recipes to Make Together! — a fun, hands-on cookbook featuring recipes and concepts from their flagship food education program, Wa-Sho – Learn. Cook. Eat. Japanese.
It was recently shortlisted for the 2025 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, often called “the Oscars of the cookbook world.”
Perfect for families and young chefs ages 8 to 14, this book makes learning about Japanese food and culture easy and enjoyable. With 50 kid-tested recipes that get “two thumbs up” (and empty plates!) every time, it’s a great way to spark excitement about healthy eating. Adults who are interested in Japanese cooking will also find it approachable and inspiring.
All proceeds from the book sales support bringing TABLE FOR TWO USA’s Wa-Sho program to more children nationwide.

→LEARN MORE
| | For inquiries, please contact: NY_info@jpf.go.jp | | | | |
