Knowing Me, Knowing You: The True Self in Japanese Cinema

Watanabe Gisuke (Nagatsuka Kyozo) is a retired French literature professor. Since his wife’s death, he has lived quietly alone in a traditional Japanese house. He leads a regular life and enjoys occasional company from former students, particularly Takatsukasa Yasuko (Takiuchi Kumi), all the while considering ending his life before he runs out of money for his funeral.

One day, he receives a chilling message on his PC: “An enemy is coming from the north.” Despite his immediate dismissal of it as a hoax, an ominous feeling begins to grow within him. Soon, he starts experiencing haunting dreams that seem to expose his deepest sins…Is it all in his imagination?

Tsutsui Yasutaka, the original novelist, once called this “a novel that I thought was impossible to film.” However, seasoned director Yoshida Daihachi (Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction, JFTFP22; The Scythian Lamb, JFTFP19) successfully translates the book’s deep, unconscious karma and the self that cannot let go — even in later life — into this striking black-and-white contemporary film.

We are excited to welcome director Yoshida Daihachi to QUAD for an audience Q+A following this screening.

Screening as part of The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026. Passes are available allowing entry to multiple films in this programme at a significant discount. Visit this page to purchase a pass.