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Japan Touring Film Programme in February and March Includes The Last Blossom
posted on by Andrew Osmond
There will be a touring programme of 26 Japanese films from February 6 to March 31 2026. The films in the annual Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme will include Baku Kinoshita's The Last Blossom.
The Annecy Film Festival describes the story of The Last Blossom:
"Autumn 2023. Akutsu, an elderly inmate serving life in prison, is on the verge of a lonely death in his single cell. A talking Housenka flower says to him, "What a rotten life you had." Akutsu starts reflecting on his past. Summer 1986. Akutsu is living with Nana and her son Kensuke in a shabby apartment with a garden full of Housenkas. It is the tale of a one-night victorious comeback by a dying yakuza, and his family's story told by a flower that blooms in prison."
Kaoru Kobayashi and Junki Tozuka both play protagonist Minoru Akutsu at both his past and present, respectively. Hikari Mitsushima and Yoshiko Miyazaki similarly voice Akutsu's partner Nana Nagata at different points in her life. Pierre Taki voices the talking Housenka flower."
Kinoshita directed the film, with Konomoto credited for the script and the original concept. CLAP (Pompo: The Cinéphile, The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes) was in charge of animation production, and Michinoku-Toge is credited for concept art. The band cero composed the film's music. cero performs the film's theme song "Moving Still Life."
Kinoshita and Konomoto previously collaborated on the ODDTAXI anime from 2021.
As of writing, there are screenings scheduled at the ICA in London (February 15 at 4.10 p.m.), Storyhouse in Chester (February 21 at 3.30 p.m.),Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle (March 1 at 3 p.m.), Warwick Arts Centre (March 5 at 8 p.m.), HOME cinema in Manchester (March 7 at 3.15 p.m.), Chichester Cinema (March 9 at 6 p.m.), The Dukes in Lancaster (March 15 at 2.15 p.m.), Exeter Phoenix (March 21 at 4 p.m.), Dundee Contemporary Arts (March 22 at 5 p.m.), Brewery Arts Cinema in Kendal (March 28 at 5 p.m.), QUAD in Derby (March 29 at 7.45 p.m.), Broadway in Nottingham (TBC), Watershed in Bristol (TBC), Queen's Film Theatre in Belfast (TBC).
The manga centers on the daily life of college dorm roommates Yumi Irusu and Ruka Kujirai. Ruka, the older of the two, is constantly penniless despite her being active in a band. Irusu works part-time at a second-hand bookstore.
Ishiguro launched the manga in Tokuma Shoten's Monthly Comic Ryū magazine in September 2006, and ended it in January 2008. Tokuma Shoten published one compiled book volume for the manga.
Ishiguro's And Yet the Town Moves and Heavenly Delusion manga have both inspired anime, the former's anime premiering in 2010, and the latter in April 2023. JManga once carried And Yet the Town Moves, but Crunchyroll later began simultaneously publishing the manga digitally in English, before later removing all manga from its service. Manga Planet added the manga in 2020. Denpa is releasing Heavenly Delusion in English. Ishiguro's Present for Me and Skygrazer have also received English releases.
As of writing, there are screenings scheduled at the Phoenix Leicester (February 9 at 8.15 p.m.), Storyhouse in Chester (February 11 at 6 p.m.), the ICA in London (February 11 at 8.40 p.m.), Brewery Arts Cinema in Kendal (March 19 at 5 p.m.) and QUAD in Derby (March 29 at 5.30 p.m.).
The programme will also include screenings of Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality, a new version of the epic 19th-century Japanese novel by epic novel by Kyokutei Bakin. The novel was also the basis of the 1990s OAV series The Legend of the Dog Warriors: The Hakkenden. It was later reworked as Hakkenden: Tōhō Hakken Ibun, a manga by Miyuki Abe which was subsequently adapted as a TV anime, Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East, from 2013. The director of the new film is Fumihiko Sori, whose previous films include the CGI animation Vexille - 2077 Isolation of Japan and the 2017 live-action version of Fullmetal Alchemist.
