Project 1

Short Film "Mom's Celestial Robe of Feathers"

Project 2

Discover Beauty

Project 3

Creation of stories all around Japan

Project 4

Calling out for short story submissions from throughout Japan

Project 5

Experiencing the beauty of Japanese countryside

About the Special Events sponsored and co-sponsored by Japan Cultural Expo and Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia

Academy Awards® accredited, Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, now in its 24th year, announcing a project sponsored and co-sponsored by the 2022 Japan Cultural Expo to explore "The Beauty of Japan" together with filmmakers, directors, and artists from Japan and overseas.

  • Project 1

    Short Film "Mom's Celestial Robe of Feathers"

    In 2020, the Japan Cultural Expo project drew on the essence of culture and stories laying dormant in various areas of Japan and made them into three short stories.
    Among them, a short story "Old Woman Skin" (written by Ao Omae), based on a folktale from Fukushima Prefecture that was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake 10 ago. The story was made into a short film by director Hiroki Inoue. The short film will be released online in late June.

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  • Project 2

    Discover Beauty

    With “Discover Beauty,” as the theme, we will host a symposium focusing on the Ainu culture as part of “beauty” in Japan as well as screening short films that focus on the beauty of other cultures depicting "indigenous people" and "local festivals" around the world.

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  • Project 3

    Creation of stories all around Japan

    This is a project for young writers to write short stories based on ancient Japanese stories and folktales. For the current project, we will focus on Iwate Prefecture, Shizuoka Prefecture, and Fukuoka Prefecture. The SSFF & ASIA 2022 Autumn Film Festival, scheduled to be held in October 2022, will host panel discussions with writers who have written for this project. We will also be going into production of short films based on these stories.

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  • Project 4

    Calling out for short story submissions from throughout Japan

    The festival project, “Book Shorts” calls out for submissions of short stories from all over Japan. This year’s theme is to take another look at Japan’s old stories, fairy tales, folktales, & novels. Through this competition, we aim to rediscover the virtues and wisdom that have been passed down from ancient times and also the essence of Japanese beauty, in the stories from the past. The call for submissions will be open from August to December and the best story will be announced in March, 2023. The best story will be translated into English and introduced online worldwide.

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  • Project 5

    Experiencing the beauty of Japanese countryside

    "SSFF & ASIA 2022 in ACHI" will be held in Achi Village, Nagano Prefecture, which has been certified by the Ministry of the Environment as the "Japan's Best Starry Sky."
    In addition to screening short films that focus on the beauty of other cultures depicting "indigenous people" and "local festivals" around the world.

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