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As the start of 2024 came to pass, it was hard to believe that four years previously, we had been entering a year that seemed like any other, but soon became unlike any other. With the horror of the pandemic starting to almost feel like a bad dream, 2024 seemed like it could be the first “normal” year for many people, and maybe also the Japanese Film Festival Ireland.

But what did this new “normal” mean – while in 2023 the Japanese Film Festival Ireland had returned to 8 locations – 7 locations where we had visited pre-pandemic, plus one new location in the form of Wexford – audience attendances were still some way off from what we had seen before 2020.

Irish cinemas were noting that, in general, people were only coming to see films that either had a high profile, or that they had already heard about – audiences wanted a certain degree of reassurance when watching a film and did not want to have to take any risks. We were also hearing similar feedback from the main film festivals in Ireland.

So as a specialised film festival with a much smaller budget than these events, this information had prompted numerous serious discussions about what that could mean for the 2024 Japanese Film Festival Ireland and debates about whether we should change our curatorial approach in the face of these challenges.

But Japanese Film Festival Ireland had always prided itself on not being the same as other festivals – the support from our ever-loyal Festival audiences and partner cinemas, as well as those supporters. including EU-Japan Fest　Japan Committee, who believed in the Festival, had always allowed us to be able to take risks. Even in the recent dark times, when film festivals all over the world had resorted to going online, we had been able to adapt and safely hold in-person editions of the Festival in 2020, 2021 and 2022, which although smaller, had been warmly and appreciatively welcomed.

We therefore decided to stay true to our own beliefs and approach for the Festival, which had always balanced the work of better known Japanese auteurs, with that of new exciting voices of emerging Japanese talent. These instincts were also helped by Lady Luck with how Irish audiences responded to the inclusion of two particular films in the 2024 programme!

Masayuki Suzuki’s Yudo: The Way of the Bath had been on our radar since its success in 2023 at Udine Far East Film Festival. Combining special insight into the culture and traditions surrounding Japanese community baths or onsen, with a gently humourous and warm story (written by Kundo Koyama, who also provided the 2009 Oscar winning Departures), we had known from the off, that this was a film we desperately wanted to share with Irish audiences.

Perfect Days, a film we had first seen in Cannes 2023, where actor Koji Yakusho deservedly won the Best Actor Award, had also been high on our wish-list for 2024. Whilst director Wim Wenders was German, everything else about this film – it follows middle-aged Hirayama leading a modest existence, balancing his work as a Tokyo public toilet caretaker with his love of music, reading and photography – was distinctly Japanese. The film had been acquired for distribution for the UK and Ireland, and when its release date aligned perfectly with our Festival dates, we knew that we had luck on our side again.

Whether it was the themes in these two films, around the simple pleasures of life and the focus on what is important, that connected with Irish audiences, or something else, but both proved to be instant hits with audiences in every location where we screened them. Audiences emerging from screenings at both films were filled with appreciative emotion and positive comments. Yudo: The Way of the Bath also went on to scoop the Japanese Film Festival Ireland 2024 Audience Award.

Ultimately, we also saw a bounce in attendances at other films in the 2024 Festival programme as a result of these two particular films. People who had a positive experience at Yudo: The Way of the Bath or Perfect Days were shown to return to try other films in the programme – a sign of trust in our curation. The overall result was something we had not anticipated, with total audience attendance for 2024 exceeding that of 2019. Thanks to onsen, toilets and the trust of our audiences, Japanese Film Festival 2024 was a happy success.

And while we did revel in that success for just a moment, we knew that the journey was starting all over again. As we prepare for our 2025 edition, we are working to ensure that we keep building on these previous successes and maintain the trust with our audiences that we have built thus far.