Japan's Young Activists Bridge Past and Present to Build a Better Future
Sneak Preview Screening: "Now and Then" followed by a Q&A with
director Takashi Nishihara and producer Aiko Masubuchi
Monday, August 17 at 6:00 pm
In Multiple languages with Japanese and English subtitles Japan 2026 72 minutes
Directed by: Takashi Nishihara
Produced by: Aiko Masubuchi, Takashi Nishihara
With: Yohana Miyajina, Makito Miyajima, Oh Choong Kong,
Chung Woohi, Harumi Uchiyama, Sachi Takaya
Film courtesy of ML9
For the past decade, Takashi Nishihara has been documenting youth-led activism and human-rights movements in contemporary Japan. With his new film, "Now and Then," he follows young people confronting discrimination while exploring the historical forces that continue to shape the present. As with his previous features, Nishihara's work reminds us that today's next-generation leaders, far from being lost and politically disengaged, are quietly building a future for themselves.
As public debate intensifies over Japan's increasing population of foreign residents, changes in immigration policy and the incarceration of asylum seekers in deadly detention centers, the film focuses on grassroots activists seeking reform, as well as following citizens working to preserve the memory of the 1923 massacre of Koreans and Chinese in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake - an event that remains officially contested more than a century later.
Rather than presenting these stories separately, Nishihara explores how they intersect through historical memory, colonialism, and the persistence of racial persecution. Moving between present-day demonstrations, witness testimonies, archival footage and the streets of Tokyo, "Now and Then" expands to examine how past injustices continue to shape public life - addressing what Nishihara calls "the unfinished business of the nation’s reckoning with its colonial history."
Asks the director, "What can a film do in today's society, where discrimination and xenophobia are on the rise? We who live in Japan are already living alongside foreigners. I hope this film will serve as a catalyst for as many conversations as possible."
Please join us for this screening and Q&A session before the Japan release of "Now and Then" on August 29.
For more (in Japanese): https://ml9films.com/works/now-and-then
Director TAKASHI NISHIHARA earned a graduate degree at Waseda University before embarking on a series of films that focus on youth activism, democracy and human rights in contemporary Japan. His debut feature, "Starting Over" (2014), premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival. His first nonfiction feature, "About My Liberty" (2016), premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, while "One Hundred Years and Hope" (2022) screened at the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival and the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Producer, film curator and translator AIKO MASUBUCHI has programmed film series at the Museum of Modern Art, Film Forum, Anthology Film Archives and Japan Society in New York. A graduate of New York University, she has produced Neo Sora's films "The Chicken" (2020), which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, "Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus" (2023) and "Happyend" (2024), both of which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. She produced Takashi Nishihara's "One Hundred Years and Hope" in 2022, making "Now and Then" her second collaboration with the director.
Please make your reservations at the FCCJ Reception Desk 03 3211-3161 or register online.
All film screenings are private, noncommercial events primarily for FCCJ members and their guests.
- Karen Severns, Film Committee