侍タイムスリッパー (Samurai taimusurippaa)

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2025

Dir. YASUDA Junichi
2024 | 131 mins | Japan
Japanese with English Subtitles
YAMAGUCHI Makiya, FUKE Norimasa, SAKURA Yuno

A real samurai (Japanese period drama) production…

As the Edo period (1603-1868) draws to its dramatic close, two swordsmen clash with a political foe. They are interrupted by a flash of lightning, heralding a bizarre paranormal event, and KOSAKA Shinzaemon (YAMAGUCHI Makiya) awakens to find himself… in a quiet lane in Kyoto. His confusion turns to alarm when he sees people wearing unfamiliar attire and folks behaving oddly – it turns out he’s travelled several centuries forward in time, crash-landing in the middle of a jidaigeki (a Japanese period drama)!

As the reality of his situation dawns on him, Shinzaemon is devastated, but his authentic skills as a swordsman are much appreciated by the jidaigeki’s production team, and he soon begins to adapt to this new, futuristic world.

A Samurai in Time, from award-winning director YASUDA Junichi delivers a fresh take on the time-travel genre with a distinctly Japanese homage to the waning genre of samurai cinema.

A Samurai in Time – ©MIRAIEIGASHA

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2025
Am I Right?
Justice, Justification and Judgement in Japanese Cinema

The UK’s biggest festival of Japanese cinema, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme (JFTFP), is back for its latest and greatest instalment!

In a world where injustice runs rampant, cinematic expressions of justice seem inexhaustible: time and time again, heroic protagonists fend off malicious antagonists or enact their revenge, the constant injustices they face mirroring audiences’ own. Japan is no exception to this, and the JFTFP25 promises to showcase how Japanese filmmakers use the language of cinema to explore the concepts of criminal, social, and moral justice, along with the ways people respond to external judgement. Featuring everything from thought-provoking hidden gems to laugh-a-minute entertainment, UK audiences are invited to join us in questioning the very concepts of justice, justification, and judgement against today’s backdrop of ever-changing values and perspectives

In collaboration with:

Major supporter: Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation

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Sponsors in Kind: Athletia, Calbee, Clearspring, Pentel and SUQQU

VENUE: EXETER PHOENIX, STUDIO 74

*Subject to a £1.50 ticketing system charge. We don’t charge this to make a profit. Find out more >>