Programme Cardiff 2021

Summary Kotatsu Festival Cardiff 2021


Sat 25th Sept


11:00

Josse, the Tiger and the Fish (PG)


11:00

Yukata Workshop


13:40

Ride Your Wave (PG)


14:30

Yukata Workshop


16:00

The Deer King (TBC)


19:30

Hello World (TBC)


Sun 26th Sept


11:00

In Full Bloom (U)

Earwig and the Witch (English Dub) (PG)


14:00

Lupin III The First (12A)


16:30

17:30

Raffle

The Mark of Emi (PG 12)

On-Gaku (15)


Unless otherwise stated, all films are in Japanese with English subtitles.
For ticket information please contact
Chapter Box Office on +44(0)29 2030 4400


Saturday 25th September 2021


11am Josse, the Tiger and the Fish

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
©2020 Seiko Tanabe / KADOKAWA / Josee Project

Tsuneo is a university student and Josee is a young girl who has rarely gone out of the house by herself due to her being unable to walk. The two meet when Tsuneo finds Josee’s grandmother taking her out for a morning walk.

Kotaro Tamura
98m / 2020 / PG / F-Rated / Trailer


11:00-13:00 Yukata Workshop at Canton Library

Photo of Yukiko Jones
Yukiko Jones

Yumiko Jones from Bristol Japanese Cultural Society, with an introduction to Japanese traditional and modern culture, with a demonstration of kimono and yukata dressing technique. Alongside a mannequin display, the attendees will actually be professionally dressed in a summer yukata.

Host: Yumiko Jones

Free admission

Place: Canton Library Library St, Cardiff CF5 1QD

Booking Required

For booking please visit

Eventbrite at cardifflibrariesevents.eventbrite.co.uk or email libraryevents@cardiff.gov.uk.


13:40pm Ride Your Wave

Ride Your Wave
©Ride Your Wave Film Partners

Hinako is a surf-loving college student who has just moved to a small seaside town. When a sudden fire breaks out at her apartment building, she is rescued by Minato, a handsome firefighter, and the two soon fall in love. Just as they become inseparable, Minato loses his life in an accident at sea.

Masaaki Yuasa
96m / 2019 / PG / Trailer


14:30-16:30 Yukata Workshop

Photo of Yukiko Jones
Yukiko Jones

Yumiko Jones from Bristol Japanese Cultural Society, with an introduction to Japanese traditional and modern culture, with a demonstration of kimono and yukata dressing technique. Alongside a mannequin display, the attendees will actually be professionally dressed in a summer yukata.

Host: Yumiko Jones

Free admission

Place: Canton Library Library St, Cardiff CF5 1QD

Booking Required

For booking please visit

Eventbrite at cardifflibrariesevents.eventbrite.co.uk or email libraryevents@cardiff.gov.uk.


4pm The Deer King

The Deer King
©2021 “The Deer King” Production Committee

In the land of the Empire of Zol, wild dogs once carried the deadly Black Wolf Fever. Enslaved ex-soldier Van and a young girl named Yuna, both bitten, were the sole survivors of a fierce attack and escaped. As the deadly disease runs rampant, they ally with Hohsalle, a gifted physician, searching for a cure for the disease that is spreading among the Zolian settlers.

Masashi Ando, Masayuki Miyaji
120m / 2021 / TBC / Trailer


7:30pm Hello World

Hello World
©2019 “HELLO WORLD” Film Partners

A man travels in time from the year 2027 to relive his school years and to correct a bad decision.

Tomohiko Itô
97m / 2019 / TBC / Trailer


Sunday 26th September 2021


11am Earwig and the Witch (with additional short film)

In Full Bloom

In Full Bloom

Short film will be shown before the main feature.

The animation frames recombine all pictures from innumerable parts which I cut out from my late grandmother’s oil paintings, separating into every colour and touch, and designed by interweaving analogue and digital work.

The relationship between the cat kept inside the house and the wild bird gives a universal realization to the cat. While the cat doesn’t understand where the bird disappeared to, it brings ‘a death’ to the room.

‘The outside’ which the room welcomed, entangles the cat’s thoughts towards the bird, then lets a bird flap its wings in another world.

Miho Takahashi

Miho Takahashi
4m 30s / 2021 / U / F-Rated

Earwig and the Witch
© 2020 NHK, NEP, Studio Ghibli

Earwig and the Witch

An orphan girl, Earwig, is adopted by a witch and comes home to a spooky house filled with mystery and magic.

Gorō Miyazaki
82m / 2020 / PG / Trailer


2pm Lupin III The First

Lupin III The First
© Monkey Punch / 2019 LUPIN THE 3rd Film Partners

Lupin III goes on a grand adventure to uncover the secrets of the Bresson Diary, which is tied to the legacy of his famous grandfather.

Takashi Yamazaki
93m / 2019 / 12A / Trailer


4:30 Raffle


5:30pm Ongaku (with additional short film)

The Mark Of Emi

The Mark Of Emi

My friend Emi came out in a dream. I was so surprised that I couldn’t look her in the eyes.

Introduced by video message from the Director

Momoka Furukawahara
2020 / 4m5s / PG 12 / F-Rated


On-Gaku
© Hiroyuki Ohashi / Rock’n Roll Mountain / Tip Top

On-Gaku

A trio of delinquent schoolkids form a music band.

Introduced by video message from the Director

Kenji Iwaisawa
71m / 2019 / 15 / Trailer


Introducing the Kotatsu Film Critic’s Award

This year our films will be judged by our new panel of critics from around the world. So we’d like to take this opportunity to introduce them, with a bit of background info.

Andrew Osmond

Andrew Osmond

British journalist and author specialising in anime and fantasy media. He writes for publications including NEO magazine, the AllTheAnime blog, SFX and Sight & Sound. He has also written books including 100 Animated Feature Films, Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist and BFI Film Classics: Spirited Away.

Ryota Fujitsu

Ryota Fujitsu

Born in 1968. After working as an anime critic, newspaper journalist, weekly magazine editor, he became a free-lance writer. Writes a lot for websites and anime magazines. He wrote books Anime and War (NIPPON HYORON SHA CO.,LTD.), 13 Professionals Talk My Voice Actor Way (Kawade Shobo Shinsha), The Reason Why We Watch Anime (film art company).

Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

Works as film critic and journalist who covers stories about culture and sustainability. With a degree in Political Sciences, a Master’s in Screenwriting & Film Production, and studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Chiara has been working in the press since 2003. Italian by blood, British by upbringing, fond of Japanese culture since the age of 7, once a New Yorker always a New Yorker, and an avid traveller, Chiara collaborates with international magazines and radio-television networks. She is also a visual artist, whose eco-works connect to her use of language, and is a Professor of Phenomenology of Contemporary Arts at Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan.


Also available


Kotatsu Festival Stand

A selection of anime related goods. All money raised on this stand will be used to help fund future Kotatsu Festival events.


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