BONSAI WARRIOR

In the organizer's words:

BONSAI WARRIOR Bonsai Warrior
Director: UMEZAKI Yô
2014, 58 minutes, Original language, Streaming

A lone warrior makes his way through the world of bonsai, armed only with a strong Japanese spirit, skill and the golden scissors of his deceased master.

Hirao Masashi is the last apprentice of bonsai master Katô Saburô, the first person to introduce the beauty of bonsai to the world. After the death of his master, Hirao feels constrained by the conservative nature of the local bonsai business. He decides to travel abroad to present his fast and stylish bonsai demonstrations.
bonsai demonstrations. BONSAI WARRIOR follows Hirao over four months and eleven countries, giving an insight into his life, who he meets on his journey and the challenges that await him in Japan.

Film series
JFF Theater
Films from the Japanese Film Festival as guests in Cologne

Japanese cinema has long enjoyed great popularity outside Japan and the number of its fans has grown steadily. In Germany, too, numerous historical and current productions from Japan are presented at festivals, retrospectives and special programs.

In response to this development, the Japan Foundation launched the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) in 2016 in addition to its existing film program. This on-site project was intended to promote Japanese films worldwide and was initially aimed at the ten ASEAN countries and Australia under the motto "Japanese Film Anytime, Anywhere" and later also at countries such as Brazil, China and India.

In 2020, the Japan Foundation launched the Japanese Film Festival Online (JFF Online), an online streaming program designed to bring the diversity and quality of Japanese films closer to audiences around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a special edition in 2022/2023 titled JFF+ INDEPENDENT CINEMA, the online program focused on Japanese independent films selected by the directors of Japanese independent cinemas ("Mini Theater").

After the overwhelming success of JFF Online - the films were viewed more than 650,000 times in more than 130 countries - the Japan Foundation finally launched the online streaming platform JFF Theater in August 2024. Under the motto "Moved, Touched & Inspired", a certain number of films and videos are made available with multilingual subtitles. In principle, the films can be accessed free of charge anytime and anywhere, but access restrictions apply to some titles depending on availability and rights.

The range of films on offer extends from famous classics and current feature films to anime and documentaries, supplemented by numerous background stories and interviews. The path to movie enjoyment is simple: after registering for free, you click on the desired film and can go on a journey of discovery.

This spring, a total of nine films will be offered in two seasons:

Streaming period Season 1: 03.02. - 07.05.26
NOBUNAGA CONCERTO / TIME TRAVELLER, The Girl Who Lept Through Time / MONDAYS: See you "this" week! / Every Day a Good Day / The Lines that Define Me

Streaming period season 2: 04.03. - 03.06.26
THERMAE ROMAE / Confetti / Let's Go Karaoke! / BONSAI WARRIOR

In April and May, these nine titles are exceptionally not only available online, but will also be screened on site at the Japanese Cultural Institute. The screening dates and film descriptions can be found below.

To the JFF Theater website

Please note:
The two screenings

Let's Go Karaoke! (28.05.2026) and
BONSAI WARRIOR (30.05.2026)

will take place as part of the 18th Cologne Cinema Nights (May 28 - 31, 2026).

https://www.koelner-kino-naechte.de/