Zakka Films

05/12/2022

May 15th, 2022 is the 50th anniversary of the return of Okinawa to Japan, but US military bases are still concentrated in Okinawa. Even many Japanese are not aware of Okinawa’s struggles and pains. So now is an appropriate time to watch some of our Okinawa documentaries by Chie Mikami (Boy Soldiers, The Targeted Island, and We Shall Overcome). Available at Vimeo-on-Demand or Alexander Street. Check our site for DVDs: zakkafilms.com

Boy Soldiers:TheSecret Warin Okinawa
https://www.zakkafilms.com/product/boy-soldiers-the-secret-war-in-okinawa/
The Targeted Island: A Shield Against Storms
https://www.zakkafilms.com/product/the-targeted-island-a-shield-against-storms/
We Shall Overcome
https://www.zakkafilms.com/product/shall-overcome/

A hundred thousand non-combatants—one in four Okinawans—died in the brutal Battle of Okinawa at the end of World War II. Postwar, the U.S. military forcibly constructed military bases throughout Okinawa. Even today, 43 years since Okinawa’s reversion to Japan and 70 years since the war, 74% of...

03/14/2022

Orders placed between March 21 and 27, 2022, will be shipped from March 28. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

If you have any questions, please contact us at
Thank you very much!

03/11/2022

Today is March 11th. It’s been eleven years since the Great East Japan Earthquake happened.
To remember this historic natural disaster, why not look at Fukushima: Memories of the Lost Landscape, which is now available online as follows:
For Institutions: https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/soma-kanka-daiichibu-ubawareta-tochino-kioku-fukushima-memories-of-the-lost-landscape
For individuals: https://vimeo.com/163965488

The following photographs were taken in 2013 & 2014 in the area that was issued the most severe evacuation order after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident…

03/04/2022

Here is a review of “Boy Soldiers: The Secret War in Okinawa” by Professor Kyu Hyun Kim and an Interview with Professor Kristine Ziomek.
"Boy Soldiers," directed Chie Mikami, is now available at Vimeo-on-Demand as well as Alexander Street.

BOY SOLDIERS: THE SECRET WAR IN OKINAWA 沖縄スパイ戦史. Japan, 2018. A Tofoo Films/Documentary Japan Co-Production, with assistant from Ryūkyū ...

02/08/2022

Congratulations, Hamaguchi-kantoku!!!!

The complete list of Academy Award nominees for 2022.

01/21/2022

It's really embarrassing, but I made a video about the YIDFF with my partner--and my cat Hanzo! The series we are talking about has many great examples of Japanese documentary from the last 30 years, so please check them out!

This online talk session is the second of a three-part series.
Ono Seiko and Aaron Gerow first met at their workplace, YIDFF Tokyo Office in 1993. Now married for 25 years, Aaron is Professor of East Asian Film at Yale University and Seiko runs the film distribution company Zakka Films. In their New Haven living room, the couple share their experiences from the early years of the Festival, and talk about YIDFF documentaries and bilingual publications such as Documentary Box, of which they were editors.
Here's the link: https://youtu.be/U7hTsSgXqag

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Made in Japan, YAMAGATA 1989-2021
The online program of Japanese documentaries from the 30-year history of Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival runs on DaFilms.com from Jan 17 to Feb 6, 2022. First week free! https://asia.dafilms.com/spotlight-on/1129-yamagata2021

01/18/2022

01/16/2022

A unique opportunity for those outside Japan to view some of the best Japanese documentaries made in the last 30 years: a selection from the Yamagata Documentary Film Festival, 1989-2021.

The selection includes early films by Naomi Kawase and Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

11/01/2021

Now, three of Chie Mikami’s documentaries, including her most recent film, are available at Vimeo-on-Demand for only $5.00!
Boy Soldiers: The Secret War in Okinawa https://vimeo.com/ondemand/boysoldiers
The Targeted Island: A Shield Against Storms https://vimeo.com/ondemand/targetedisland
We Shall Overcome https://vimeo.com/ondemand/weshallovercome

For educational use, please contact Zakka Films at [email protected]

Boy Soldiers: The Secret War in Okinawa (2018) (with English Subtitles) A documentary by Chie Mikami and Hanayo Oya The greatest taboo of the Battle of Okinawa,…

05/14/2021

It was just announced that Hideko Hirai, who sang the song "Chameko's Day," the anime of which is featured in our The Roots of Japanese Anime, died on February 21 at the age of 104.

　「兎のダンス」「てるてる坊主」などを歌い、日本の童謡歌手の先駆けとして知られた平井英子（ひらい・ひでこ、本名・鈴木英＝すずき・ひで）さんが２月２１日午後５時３０分、老衰のため東京・練馬区の高齢者施設...

02/05/2021

Some amazing opportunities to watch online Japanese films that were made from 2001-2020 including works by Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Kawase Naomi, Sono Shion and more. Get more information at Japan Society. Starting today.

05/14/2020

BFI just released “The Best Japanese Film of Every Year --from 1925 to Now” and one of our tiles, "The Shiranui Sea" which was directed by Noriaki Tsuchimoto, was selected as the best film for 1975. After reading the commentary, it seems the selection was also to honor all of Tsuchimoto’s work. It’s thrilling news!

From Kurosawa to Koreeda, we make some tough choices about the finest film of every year of Japanese film history going back to 1925.