Japanese cinema has rarely carried more weight abroad. Ryusuke Hamaguchi‘s Drive My Car won the Oscar for best international feature, Godzilla Minus One took a historic visual effects Oscar, anime is booming worldwide and Japan was the country of honor at the Cannes Marché du Film. Its largest film festival, however, has been courting that attention on a budget that no longer stretches as far. Takeo Hisamatsu, back as director of the Tokyo International Film Festival, wants to fix that with more money, more studio muscle and, in his own words, more parties.

His return was not planned. A former Shochiku and Warner Bros. executive, Hisamatsu had run the festival once before diplomat Hiroyasu Ando took charge with a mandate to overhaul it. Ando moved the event to Tokyo’s Ginza and Hibiya districts, reshuffled the programming staff, added filmmaker talks and revived the Kurosawa Akira Award, then stepped down abruptly. Hisamatsu won’t discuss what led to his exit and return, but told The Hollywood Reporter’s Patrick Brzeski that the call “was a surprise” and that he sees “considerable tailwind behind Japanese cinema.”

That tailwind is measurable. Japan’s box office hit a record ¥274.5 billion ($1.8 billion) in 2025, topping its 2019 high, and more than 30 Japanese films screened at the Busan International Film Festival this month. Global streamers are investing heavily, and the government has named content a priority growth sector. Hisamatsu wants Tokyo to launch Japanese filmmakers abroad, not only show world cinema at home. This year the festival added competitive prizes to Nippon Cinema Now, its showcase of contemporary Japanese film, and launched TIFF Work-in-Progress to pair Japanese projects with international programmers.

The blunt part is the budget. “We need more money,” he said. “Given the recent depreciation of the yen and the rise in inflation, our former budget — for flying in and hosting filmmakers and talent — it just doesn’t go as far. And we want to be expanding the festival, not cutting down.” He hopes the government will raise its support before next year’s 40th edition, but the festival is courting sponsors rather than counting on it.

He also wants Japan’s major studios to treat Tokyo the way Korean studios treat Busan. “We need to create a more festive vibe around the festival, and to do that we need more parties,” he said, citing Cannes, where parties help professionals build business relationships. Toho, Japan’s leading legacy studio, is hosting its first invitation-only “Toho Izakaya Night” this year. Other majors couldn’t organize events in time. “Hopefully by the 40th edition, they will be ready to make a bigger splash,” Hisamatsu said.

Even the expected rivalry comes with an olive branch. Tokyo is “perceived as competing with Busan,” Hisamatsu said, yet with Asia accounting for about 40 percent of the global box office, he sees “no reason we can’t work together as two major events showcasing Asian cinema for the world.” First, though, Tokyo has to be able to pay for the guests.

Tags: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, film festivals, Busan International Film Festival, Toho, Tokyo International Film Festival, Hiroyasu Ando