Guest Country Japan
The Guest Country Event 2025 will take place on the 25th of October, from 20:30 to 23:30. Before that, there is a reception with Japanese food and drinks, starting at 19:30.
日本の映画編集者の皆さん、ケルンへようこそ！
Welcome to Cologne, Japanese film editors!
For its 25th anniversary, Edimotion wanted a very special guest country: Japan is the first Asian film nation to be in the spotlight at our Guest Country Evening. We are delighted that the film editors Tomomi Kikuchi and Yukiko Kobori, who are both board members of the „Japan Society of Editors“ (JSE), will be making the long journey to give us insights into their artistic and professional work at the traditional highlight of our international program.
We are screening a feature film edited by Kikuchi: Under the Open Sky (2020, directed by Miwa Nishikawa, co-edited by Ryūji Miyajima). It premiered in Toronto, won four awards at Japan's oldest film competition, the „Mainichi Eiga Concours“, and was nominated for seven Japanese Academy Awards. The main lead is played by Kōji Yakusho, one of Japan's most renowned actors. International film lovers know him from films such as Tampopo, Shall We Dance, and Perfect Days by Wim Wenders. His portrayal of a former yakuza member, who struggles to find his way in everyday life after being released from a long prison sentence, oscillates between quiet thoughtfulness and sudden outbursts. The film also moves between the tones of social realism, slapstick humor, and melodrama.
Edimotion presents the Guest Country Evening in cooperation with the Japan Society of Editors (JSE), and with the support of the Japan Cultural Institution in Cologne (The Japan Foundation). The event will begin with a reception featuring Japanese food and drinks. Yukiko Kobori will give a welcoming speech, and after the screening of Under the Open Sky, there will be a film talk with editor Tomomi Kikuchi.
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Saturday, 25 October 2025 | Filmforum at the Museum Ludwig
19:30 Reception with Japanese food and drinks
20:30 Introduction to the Guest Country Japan by Yukiko Kobori
Screening of Under the Open Sky (JAP 2020, 126 min., Japanese with English subtitles),
followed by a film talk with editor Tomomi Kikuchi, moderated by Dietmar Kraus
Tickets (TEMPO members and/or IFEF participants pay the reduced fee of 8 €)
© Gaga CorporationUnder the Open Sky
Mikami, an ex-yakuza, is released from prison after serving 13 years of a sentence for murder. He struggles to get a job and fit into society. Hoping to find his mother, whom he was separated from as a child, he applies to be the subject of a TV docu-show and begins being filmed by the young director Tsunoda. However, Mikami’s impulsive, hot-tempered nature causes friction with Tsunoda and others who want to help him.
Director Miwa Nishikawa adapted her script from the semi-documentary novel „Mibuncho“ (eng.: „Inmate Files”) by Ryuzo Saki. She also meticulously researched the real-life person Mikami is based on, as well as the lives of other ex-convicts after their release. The original Japanese title is ironic: Subarashiki Sekai translates to „Wonderful World“.
JAP 2020. Original title: Subarashiki Sekai
Editors: Tomomi Kikuchi, Ryūji Miyajima. Director & Writer: Miwa Nishikawa. Director of Photography: Norimichi Kasamatsu. Composer: Masaki Hayashi. Sound: Mitsugu Shiratori. Production: AOI Pro. Cast: Kōji Yakusho, Taiga Nakano, Midoriko Kimura, Yukiya Kitamura, Seiji Rokkaku, Narumi Yasuda. Distributer: Gaga Corporation, Tokyo.
126 min., Japanese with English subtitles
Tickets (TEMPO members and/or IFEF participants pay the reduced fee of 8 €)
© Kohei MiyazakiTomomi Kikuchi
Tomomi Kikuchi was born in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, in 1984. She initially studied pedagogy at the Yokohama National University, focusing on the education of children with disabilities. After graduating in 2006, she enrolled in the Japan Institute of the Moving Image, specializing in film editing from her second year onward. She completed her film studies in 2009 and soon afterwards became the assistant editor of Ryūji Miyajima, a six-time Japanese Academy Award winner for Best Editing. Between 2009 and 2015, she assisted him on over 20 projects.
Since 2015, Kikuchi has forged her own editing career, while still occasionally collaborating with Miyajima as a co-equal editor. This was the case with Under the Open Sky, which was planned from the beginning as a project they would edit together. Notable works that Kikuchi has edited on her own include the award-winning cinema films The Wind in Your Heart (2017), Nomads of the Mountains (2022), and Blue Imagine (2024). She has also worked on numerous TV series and the upcoming Netflix film 10 Dance.
Tomomi Kikuchi is a board member of the Japan Society of Editors (JSE) and mother of two children. She lives in Tokyo.
Filmography (selection)
2025 10 Dance. TV Fiction. Keishi Otomo.
2024 Blue Imagine. Cinema Fiction. Urara Matsubayashi.
2023 Shigatera. TV Series, 6 Episodes.
2023 Fence. TV Series, 2 Episodes.
2022 Watch Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t (Shiko Funjatta!). TV Series, 4 Episodes.
2022 Nomads of the Mountains. Cinema Fiction. Ryohei Sasatani.
2021 L'Aventure (Ura Aka). Cinema Fiction. Takuya Kato.
2020 Under the Open Sky (Subarashiki sekai). Cinema Fiction. Miwa Nishikawa.
2020 Perfect Education étude (Kanzennaru Shiiku). Cinema Fiction. Takuya Kato.
2019 Aiga, Soide, Koi. Cinema Fiction. Keisuke Shibata.
2019 Bon-Uta. Documentary. Yuji Nakae.
2018 Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. TV Series, 10 Episodes.
2018 His Lost Name (Yoake). Cinema Fiction. Nanako Hirose.
2018 Samurai's Promise (Chiri Tsubaki). Cinema Fiction. Daisaku Kimura.
2017 The Wind in Your Heart (Kokoro ni fuku kaza). Cinema Fiction. Yoon Seok-ho.
2015 But Only Love (Batto onrî rabu). Cinema Fiction. Kazuhiro Sano.
© TonakaiYukiko Kobori
Yukiko Kobori was born in Kyoto in 1968. She started out as an apprentice editor at the Shochiku Ofuna Studio and worked as an assistant editor on films by directors such as Yoji Yamada, Yoichi Sai, and Junji Sakamoto. Her debut as an editor was the cinema comedy Boys on the Run (2010), for which she received the „Film Technology Encouragement Award“ from the „Motion Picture and Television Engineering Society of Japan“ (MPTE).
Kobori works on feature films, TV dramas, series, documentaries, and commercials. Her recent credits include Listen to Light (2017), The 47 Rōnin in Debt (2019), and Umbrellas for Miharu (2025). She also edited the anthology Actor's Short Film, including the episode directed by Mansai Nomura, and other projects helmed by prominent actors. She is a board member of the Japan Society of Editors (JSE).
Filmography (selection)
2025 Umbrellas for Miharu. Cinema Fiction. Yu Shibuya.
2024 My Girlfriend's Child (Ano ko no kodomo). TV Series, 12 Episodes.
2022 Ryosangata Riko. TV Series, 8 Episodes.
2019 The 47 Rōnin in Debt (Kessan Chushingura). Cinema Fiction. Yoshihiro Nakamura.
2019 Organ (Ano hi no organ). Cinema Fiction. Emiko Hiramatsu.
2017 Listen to Light (Hikari no uta). Cinema Fiction. Kyoshi Sugita.
2016 The River Flows (Laos Ryu no kiseki). Cinema Fiction. Makoto Kumawaza.
2016 The City of Betrayal (Uragiri no machi). Daisuke Miura.
2016 Zebra (Shimauma). Cinema Fiction. Hajime Hashimoto.
2013 The Last Chance: Diary of Comedians (Boku tachi no koukannikki). Cinema Fiction. Teruyoshi Uchimura.
2013 Strawberry Night: After the Invisible Rain. TV Fiction. Yūichi Satō.
2012 Women's Dream of Amakusa: Revitalizing Geisha Town (Onnatachi no miyako: Oggen waggen). Cinema Fiction. Akira Inori.
2012 Seven Days of Himawari and Her Puppies (Himawari to koinu no 7-kakan). Cinema Fiction. Emiko Hiramatsu.
2010 Boys on the Run (Bôizu on za ran). Cinema Fiction. Daisuke Miura.