The Japan Film Program is organized by the Baltimore-Kawasaki Sister City Committee (BKSCC) in partnership with Towson University College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) Dean’s Office , along with the Asian Arts & Culture Center at Towson University and its Director, Joanna Pecore. Films are hosted by and from the private collection of Reed Hessler, longtime host on WBJC.

Unless otherwise noted, all film screenings are at 1pm ET and take place at the Towson University Center for the Arts, Art Lecture Hall, Room 2032, 7700 Osler Drive, Towson, MD 21204
.

Screenings are free but registration is required. To register, find the film on the Baltimore-Kawasaki Committee’s film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.

Spring Semester program

Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 1pm

Spring Dreams
春の夢 Haru no Yume

This 1960 satirical comedy explores class, greed, love and selfishness. A sweet potato vendor has a stroke in the home of the wealthy and dysfunctional Okudaira family. While he recuperates there, “well-wishers” from his tenement house drop in to visit with ulterior motives. (color) Directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. 126 minutes.

To register, go to the film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.

Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 1pm

The Ceremony
儀式 Gishiki

Funerals without bodies. Burials without funerals. Marriages without brides. This 1971 epic drama revolves around twenty-five years of weddings, funerals, and incest of the Sakurada clan and their intergenerational conflicts which mirror Japan’s post-war fall from grace. (color) Directed by Nagisa Oshima. 123 minutes.

To register, go to the film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.

Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 1pm

Humanity and Paper Balloons
人情紙風船 Ninjo Kami Fusen

This bold, 1937 historical anti-military melodrama is a gem of Japanese cinema.  While following Edo-era slum residents—debilitated samurai, peasants, and petty merchants—and their struggles to survive, it exposes the hypocrisy and cruelty of high society. (black and white) Directed by Sadao Yamanaka.  82 minutes.

To register, go to the film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.

Saturday, July 18, 2026 at 1pm

Like Father Like Son
そして父になる Soshite Chichi ni Naru

A ten-minute standing ovation followed the premiere of Like Father Like Son at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Two couples—from different classes and with contrasting parenting styles—discover that their six-year-old sons were switched at birth and embark on journeys of soul-searching, impossible decisions, and coming to terms with the meaning of family. (color) Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. 120 minutes.

To register, go to the film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.

The Japan Film Program is organized by the Baltimore-Kawasaki Sister City Committee (BKSCC) in partnership with Towson University College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) Dean’s Office , along with the Asian Arts & Culture Center at Towson University and its Director, Joanna Pecore. Films are hosted by and from the private collection of Reed Hessler, longtime host on WBJC.

Unless otherwise noted, all film screenings are at 1pm ET and take place at the Towson University Center for the Arts, Art Lecture Hall, Room 2032, 7700 Osler Drive, Towson, MD 21204
.

Screenings are free but registration is required. To register, find the film on Asian Arts & Culture Center’s event page or on the Baltimore-Kawasaki Committee’s events page and click the registration link next to the film.

Japan Film Program – Fall Semester

September 27, 2025

The Funeral (お葬式) 1984, dir. by Juzo Itami

Tradition collides with chaos as a family gathers to honor the dead. With quiet humor and sharp insight, Itami’s debut turns ceremony into something far more revealing.

October 25, 2025

Tampopo (タンポポ) 1985, dir. by Juzo Itami

A roadside ramen shop becomes the stage for an unforgettable quest. Playful, sensual, and slyly subversive — Itami stirs a cinematic feast that defies categories.

November 15, 2025

A Story from Chikamatsu (近松物語) 1954, dir. by Kenji Mizoguchi

In this 1954 historical drama, the rigid world of Edo-era Kyoto, desire crosses dangerous lines. Mizoguchi crafts a haunting vision of love and fate, where every choice carries the weight of ruin.

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Japan Film Program – Spring Semester

February 15, 2025

Our Neighbor Miss Yae
隣の八重ちゃん Tonari no Yae-chan

This 1934 classic comedy-drama—which film historian, Alexander Jacoby, called a “subtle, charming, funny and bittersweet story of family life”—depicts the intertwining lives of suburban neighbors.  Warm your heart with the flirtations of young love, while empathizing with the tensions and uncertainty of a complicated marriage. (black and white) Directed by Yasujiro Shimazu. 76 minutes.

April 19, 2025

The Hidden Fortress
隠し砦の三悪人 Kakushi Toride no San Akunin

Join us in marveling at this beautiful, imaginative, funny, tender, and sophisticated Kurosawa jewel. Critic, Armond White, called this 1958 period adventure film an “epic of self-discovery and heroic action.” (black and white) Directed by Akira Kurosawa. 126 minutes.

June 21, 2025

The End of Summer
小早川家の秋

Directed by Yasujiro Ozu. 103 minutes.

July 19, 2025

Flowing
流れる Nagareru

This 1956 classic drama depicts women in postwar Japan through the lens of a geisha house that is struggling financially. Based on a novel by Aya Koda, the film illuminates how a “family” of women navigates tensions between tradition and modernity. (black and white) Directed by Mikio Naruse. 117 minutes.

The Japan Film Program is organized by the Baltimore-Kawasaki Sister City Committee (BKSCC) in partnership with Towson University College of Fine Arts and Communication Dean’s Office (COFAC), along with the Asian Arts & Culture Center at Towson University and its Director, Joanna Pecore. Films are hosted by and from the private collection of Reed Hessler, longtime host on WBJC.

Unless otherwise noted, all film screenings are at 1pm ET and take place at the Towson University Center for the Arts, Art Lecture Hall, Room 2032, 7700 Osler Drive, Towson, MD 21204
.

Screenings are free but registration is required. To register, find the film on Asian Arts & Culture Center events page and click the registration link next to the film.

Japan Film Program – Fall Semester

September 21, 2024

Gate of Hell
地獄門 Jigokumon

Enjoy this rare screening of a 1953 period film about a samurai’s tragic obsession with a married woman. Gate of Hell was Daiei Film’s first color film and the first Japanese color film to be released outside Japan. Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. Winner of the Best Costume Design and the Best Foreign Language Film Awards at the 27th Academy Awards and the Grand Prize at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. 89 minutes.

October 12, 2024

Tampopo
タンポポ Dandelion

Uplift your spirits with this 1986 comedy film about transforming a mediocre ramen shop into the epitome of perfection. Hailed by Eater magazine as “a love letter to ramen” and “one of the best food movies of all time.” (color) Directed by Juzo Itami. The first thirty registered attendees will be served a bowl of ramen. 114 minutes.

November 2, 2024

The Burmese Harp
ビルマの竪琴, Biruma no Tategoto

In this 1956 drama, a young Japanese officer learns and plays the Burmese harp to lift the spirits of his battalion. Silently and independently, he confronts and protests war in his own way at the close of the Pacific War in Burma. Directed by Kon Ichikawa. 117 minutes.

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Japan Film Program – Spring Semester

January 13, 2024

Sound of the Mountain
山の音 Yama no Oto

Observe and meditate on the experiences of an elderly businessman caught in a web of family relations, including the complicated and struggling marriages of his adult children. This 1954 Japanese drama is based on the novel by Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata. (color) Directed by Mikio Naruse. 

March 16, 2024

Where Chimneys Are Seen
煙突の見える場所 Entotsu no mieru basho

Delight in the drama swirling around a mysterious baby who is left at the home of Hiroko and Ryukichi Ogata. This 1953 classic comic drama is based on the novel, Mujaki no Hitobito, by Rinzo Shiina and is representative of the shoshimin-eiga film drama focusing on the lives of ordinary middle-class people. Directed by Heinosuke Gosho.

May 10, 2024

Early Summer
麦秋 Bakushū

Date/time: Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 1pm ET

Location: Towson University Center for the Arts, Art Lecture Hall, Room 2032, 7700 Osler Drive, Towson, MD 21204

Admission: Free.
Advance registration required
.
More info & to register: Registration form

This 1951 classic drama explores post-World War II social transformation—especially intergenerational conflict, a family’s involvement in a young woman’s (Noriko) decision about marriage, and her will for independence. Directed by Yasujiro Ozu.

July 20, 2024

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
残菊物語 Zangiku monogatari

Date/time: Saturday, July 20, 2024 at 1pm ET

Location: Towson University Center for the Arts, Art Lecture Hall, Room 2032, 7700 Osler Drive, Towson, MD 21204

Admission: Free.
Advance registration required
.
More info & to register: Registration form

This 1939 classic comic drama, based on a short story by Shofu Muramatsu, it follows the struggles and transformation of Kiku, the adopted son of a kabuki master.  Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. 

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Japan Film Program – 2023

September 16, 2023

Carmen Comes Home
カルメン故郷に帰る Karumen kokyō ni kaeru

Enjoy this rare screening of a 1951 classic comedy—Japan’s first color film—from Reed Hessler’s private collection. Follow the encounters of Lily Carmen and her lovesick friend Maya when they leave Tokyo to visit Carmen’s small rural hometown in Nagano. (color) Directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. 

November 11, 2023

Mr. Thank You
有りがたうさん Arigatō-san

Enjoy this rare screening of a 1936 classic comic drama from Reed Hessler’s private collection. Based on a short story by Nobel Prize-winning novelist Yasunari Kawabata and noted for its location shooting, this film portrays the lives of various bus passengers and their diverse reasons for travel from Izu to Tokyo during depression-era Japan. Directed by Hiroshi Shimizu.