2nd Japanese Movie Night – a format with a future
2026-03-09
Following its successful launch last year, the International Center's Japanese Movie Night entered its second round in January – and one thing is certain: the format is here to stay! In future, Japanese Movie Night will take place every January, bringing together students and anyone else interested in Japanese film, culture, and intercultural exchange.
Semester finale with an international perspective
After the student group chose the well-known anime film "Princess Mononoke" last winter semester, this year the drama Shoplifters – Family Ties concluded the seminar "Perception and Reception of Japanese Art and Culture in Germany" in the complementary studies program. SCALA showed the film in the Japanese original with German subtitles (OmU) – a special cinema experience for many.
Ambivalent family images in contemporary Japan. What does family mean beyond biological kinship?
Sawa, Mizuki, and Masaaki from Hosei University introduced the film in German and presented director Hirokazu Koreeda. In his work, he sensitively recounts social inequality in Japan – and at the same time asks what family actually means.
The focus is on an unusual chosen family: Osamu and Shota get by with petty theft until they take in the neglected Yuri. Despite difficult living conditions, closeness, care, and solidarity develop – even without biological kinship. It was precisely this ambivalence that sparked many conversations in the cinema after the credits rolled.
Intercultural cooperation in practice
But the evening was more than just a film screening. The planning brought Japanese and Leuphana students into intensive conversation – about cultural differences, social issues, and very practical challenges, because screening rights or subtitles were not available for every film.
The result was not only a successful movie night, but also a strong joint project – and a special end to the semester before the program students returned to Tokyo.