Japan is having a major moment at the Cannes Film Festival this year — for the first time in 25 years, three Japanese directors are in competition for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize. Here’s what to know about each film.

Other highlights from the web:

The extraordinary story of Shuetsu Sato, the 72-year-old security guard whose handmade duct-tape signs turned him into an unlikely graphic design icon — and whose work now appears on Nike’s new flagship store in Shinjuku.
In more somber news: Miyajima Island’s revered Reikado Hall — known for its sacred Kiezu-no-hi (Eternal Flame), said to have burned continuously for nearly 1,200 years — was destroyed in a blaze on Wednesday morning.
Our essential guide to traveling in Tokyo with kids, updated for 2026.

— Callie Beusman, Editorial Director

The Japanese Films Taking Cannes by Storm

This year at Cannes, something historic is happening: For the first time in 25 years, three Japanese directors — Hirokazu Koreeda, Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Koji Fukada — are simultaneously in competition for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize.

Koreeda’s Sheep in the Box is a quietly unsettling family drama, while Hamaguchi — who won an Oscar for Drive My Car — takes a sharp turn with the French co-production All of a Sudden. Meanwhile, Fukada’s Nagi Notes follows a sculptor living in a rural town whose carefully ordered routine is disrupted by a visit from her former sister-in-law.

If you know someone who’d enjoy this newsletter, please share it!
If it was forwarded to you, you can sign up here.