Hanabi

Join us for the second annual Hanabi Japanese Film Festival—a two-week series celebrating a wide range of works from Japan, spanning from the 1950s to present day.

Named after the Japanese word for fireworks, hanabi festivals are common throughout Japan in the summer months as a way to invite tourists and locals to celebrate the season, similar to county fairs here in America, with many of the largest displays happening in July and August. (We’re a little late this year with our festival!) Customs include wearing yukata—a lightweight cotton kimono to beat the heat, street food such as yakitori, takoyaki, and shaved ice, and live music, ranging from traditional to modern pop songs.

Another tradition associated with hanabi festivals is the concept of mottainai. This philosophy encourages people to be mindful of their resources and not waste anything unnecessarily. At hanabi festivals, this often means cleaning up after oneself and not leaving any trash behind.

Hanabi festivals also take place during the kawa-biraki period between May and August of the lunar calendar, in centuries past a time when people gathered by the river to escape warm temperatures. Like umi-biraki (the beach) and yama-biraki (the mountain), it’s a declaration to say, “We will start the season of having fun by the river.” Certainly something we can relate to here in Oregon.

Another important festival time is Obon (or just “Bon”), celebrated in mid-August to remember one’s ancestors as all spirits return back to Earth, similar to Mexico’s Day of the Dead and China’s Hungry Ghost Festival. Born from traditional Japanese Buddhist customs, the celebratory period has evolved to include spooky tales, haunted houses, and horror movies as a practice to endure being scared, called kimodameshi (“testing the liver”), much like telling ghost stories around the campfire is a summer pastime here in the United States.

Our film festival seeks to show audiences the broad genre of films from Japan, from animated children’s features and world-renowned classics to the exploitation films of the 1970s and current critical favorites.

The relationship between Portland and Japan runs deep. In 1959, Portland and Sapporo became sister cities, one of the oldest such declarations in America. Japan is Oregon’s 5th-largest export market with $1.8 billion U.S. dollars of goods and services from Oregon sold there each year. There’s even a PDX Taproom in Shibuya, Tokyo operated by owner Miyuki Hiramatsu!

We hope the festival opens Portlanders to new art and encourages people to seek out their own favorite films from Japan.

A limited number of festival passes are available and will provide guaranteed access to all of the films in the series.

Please note that not all films are appropriate for all-ages. Some films may contain scenes that could be viewed as controversial, offensive, or even triggering.

Hanabi Festival Films