Yokoso ¼
Yokoso! Welcome!
25 years ago, the first Nippon Connection film festival took place at the Bockenheim campus of Goethe University Frankfurt. The festival, originally organized by students, is now the world’s largest platform for Japanese film. From May 27 to June 1, 2025, we celebrate Japanese (film) culture for the 25th time with around 100 short and feature length films and over 70 supporting events, at the Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, the Produktionshaus NAXOS, and eight other venues. In our former main venue, the Pupille cinema, three films from the first festival will be shown again.
This year’s NIPPON RISING STAR AWARD goes to Kosuke HAYASHI, who has already contributed to many animes as a background artist and art director. For the first time, the award is presented by KYOCERA Document Solutions. The festival’s thematic focus, OBSESSIONS – FROM PASSION TO MADNESS, supported by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, confronts facets of obsession. The retrospective celebrates Japanese cinema of the 1990s that inspired the founding of the festival.
We would like to thank Timon Gremmels, Hessian State Minister of Science and Research, Arts and Culture; Mike Josef, Mayor of the City of Frankfurt am Main; and the Consulate General of Japan in Frankfurt am Main, for their patronage, as well as all our partners, supporters and sponsors!
We are looking forward to seeing you and hope you have a great experience at this anniversary festival!
Here you can download the PDF version (29.4 MB) of our printed festival catalog.