Award for Excellence in Film), Shiro Maeda, Fumi Nikaido, Ken Ochiai, Tsuta, and Chihiro Yamamoto. The 2015 edition of JAPAN CUTS broadened its programming to encompass narrative features, documentaries, avant-garde, and restored and rediscovered works, establishing the Feature Slate, Documentary Focus, Experimental Spotlight, and Classics sections. The festival presented 28 features and dozens of shorts, beginning July 9 and concluding July 19. The festival's opening film was the North American premiere of Yu Irie's HIBI ROCK, the centerpiece presentation the North American premieres of Shingo Wakagi's Asleep and Masaharu Take's 100 Yen Love, and closing film the international premiere of Juichiro Yamasaki's Sanchu Uprising: Voices at Dawn. 17 special guests attended, including Sakura Ando (recipient of the CUT ABOVE Award for Outstanding Performance in Film), Haruhiko Arai, Bishop Blay, Donari Braxton, Steve Cossman, Takeshi Fukunaga, Irie, Youki Kudoh, Hirotaka Kuwahara, Akiko Maruyama, Hisako Matsui, Tomonari Nishikawa, Joel Schlemowitz, Yuki Tanada, Masashi Yamamoto, Yamasaki, and Ted Wiggin. In 2016, JAPAN CUTS celebrated its tenth anniversary with its most diverse and expansive program to date across the Feature Slate, Documentary Focus, Experimental Spotlight, and Classics sections, in addition to a Microcinema installed at Japan Society featuring short films by up and coming directors. The festival presented 29 features and 41 shorts, beginning July 14 and concluding July 24. The festival's opening film was the North American Premiere of Shuichi Okita's Mohican Comes Home, the centerpiece presentation was the North American premiere of Yoshifumi Tsubota's The Shell Collector, and closing film the North American Premiere of Satoko Yokohama's The Actor. Over 20 special guests attended (the most in the festival's history), including Denden, Lily Franky (recipient of the CUT ABOVE Award for Outstanding Performance in Film), Takashi Itani, Atsuko Maeda, Mizuki Misumi, Tatsuya Mori, Mipo O, Okita, Hitoshi One, Onohana, Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, Jr., Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tsubota, Adam Torel, Eiji Uchida, Kensaku Watanabe, and Yokohama. Masao Adachi, Emi Meyer, Sion Sono provided video introductions, and Keiko Araki, Kazuhiro Soda, and Alexander Zahlten participated in a special industry panel. Highlighting “the strength and diversity of the festival's programming” MUBI presented a selection of previous JAPAN CUTS favorites online. JAPAN CUTS’ 2017 edition presented a dynamic program of titles across the Feature Slate, Documentary Focus, Experimental Spotlight, and Classics sections, in addition to a newly established Shorts Showcase with narrative works. This eleventh edition of the festival presented 28 features and 6 short films, beginning July