The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026: Knowing Me, Knowing You -  The True Self in Japanese Cinema

The UK’s largest festival of Japanese cinema, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme (JFTFP), is back again. This is the place where cinema comes alive!

Knowing others — let alone ourselves — is not easy, as we behave differently depending on the relationship, environment, or even intention. In an age of advanced digital technology, where imagery can be readily manipulated, it is even harder to define who we, or others, truly are. This notion of identifying the self has been repeatedly explored in cinematic narratives in various ways. However, is it really possible to know our true selves? And if so, would such revelations lead to happiness and freedom, or might they instead bring disastrous and harsh consequences? With these questions in mind, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026 showcases some of the most unmissable Japanese films nationwide across the UK. From powerful social crime dramas and laugh-out-loud comedies to gender-defining films, fantasy, and horror, the programme offers something for everyone.

QUAD is screening 21 films from the programme, starting with special Q+A screening on Sunday 15 February and then a further 20 films screening across two weekends later in February and in March. Information on the films can be found further down this page.

Passes are available allowing entry to multiple films in this programme at a significant discount. Visit this page to purchase a pass. You will also need to select your individual seats in each film. You can do this by adding tickets to each film to your basket and logging in with the same email address used to purchase the pass. The film tickets will then drop to £0 during checkout.

What's On

What's On

Angry Squad – The Civil Servant & The Seven Swindlers

TBC

A band of misfits look to outwit a corrupt tycoon in a high-stakes scheme.

20 Feb

More Info
Missing Child Videotape

TBC

Keita, haunted by his brother’s disappearance, sets out to uncover the truth.

20 Feb

Missing Child Videotape

TBC

Keita, haunted by his brother’s disappearance, sets out to uncover the truth.

20 Feb

Conflagration

TBC

In postwar Kyoto, troubled monk Goichi enters the sacred Shukaku Temple to seek solace.

21 Feb

More Info
Teki Cometh + Director Q+A

TBC

A mysterious email forces a retired professor to reckon with his deepest sins.

15 Feb

Teki Cometh + Director Q+A

TBC

A mysterious email forces a retired professor to reckon with his deepest sins.

15 Feb

A Bad Summer

TBC

A welfare caseworker is drawn  into a harrowing web of crime and deception.

21 Feb

Sham

TBC

A devoted teacher faces a life-shattering lawsuit that nearly breaks his core self.

21 Feb

Ghost Killer

TBC

A student discovers she can channel a ghostly assassin’s skills.

21 Feb

Silence Of The Sea

TBC

A renowned artist work is revealed to be a forgery.

22 Feb

Blue Boy Trial

TBC

A transgender woman faces a society unwilling to see her for who she really is.

22 Feb

Love Doesn’t Matter To Me

TBC

Three university students have each been shaped by a difficult upbringing by their mothers.

22 Feb

The Hotel Of My Dream

TBC

Rookie novelist Kayoko plots to sabotage a feared critic.

22 Feb

The Final Piece

TBC

A corpse and a rare shogi piece spark a high-stakes investigation.

27 Mar

The Man Who Failed To Die

TBC

A ghost asks a man to kill his daughter’s stalker.

27 Mar

What Should We Have Done?

TBC

A filmmaker confronts the painful truth his doctor parents refused to face.

28 Mar

She Taught Me Serendipity

TBC

A chance encounter with the free-spirited Hana reveals to Toru the beauty of everyday life.

28 Mar

Strangers In Kyoto

TBC

A Tokyo-raised writer clashes with local sensibilities in Kyoto.

28 Mar

Petals And Memories

TBC

Siblings Toshiki and Fumiko, orphaned young, face turmoil.

28 Mar

I Am What I Am

TBC

Conflicted by the expectations of marriage, Kasumi faces the pressures of traditional ideals.

29 Mar

The Last Blossom

TBC

A former yakuza member and prisoner reflects on his life.

29 Mar

Nemurubaka: Hypnic Jerks

TBC

As Ruka rises to musical stardom, her roommate Yumi is left behind.

29 Mar

Adabana

TBC

The wealthy but terminally ill Shinji meets his clone.

29 Mar

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