In its 23rd year, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme is launching its biggest Manchester line-up to date. The festival’s programmer, Junko Takekawa, talked me through the festival’s history and the decisions behind this year’s programme.

Spend a perfect day in the cinema with this new Wim Wenders classic on the beauty of the everyday

The Mancunion film team explore how Japanese film has captured audiences’ imagination and examines Japan as a titan of global cinema

Florrie Evans reviews a Ryusuke Hamaguchi adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short story Drive My Car

Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a radical film that is profoundly shocking in both style and content, fostering a powerful sense of unease in the viewer. Almost 30 years after its release, it still has the capacity to disturb, writes Ashwin Tharoor

Catch an ’80s array of cult Japanese sci-fi, horror and action at HOME this October