13 and concluding July 23. The festival's opening film was the U.S. Premiere of MUMON: The Land of Stealth, the centerpiece presentation the East Coast Premiere of Over the Fence, and closing film the East Coast Premiere of In This Corner of the World. Special guests included Konrad Aderer (Resistance at Tule Lake), Sora Hokimoto (Haruneko), Hanae Kan (Yamato (California), West North West), Taro Maki (In This Corner of the World), Shingo Matsumura (Love and Goodbye and Hawaii), Kyoko Miyake (Tokyo Idols), Daisuke Miyazaki (Yamato (California)), Yoshihiro Nakamura (MUMON: The Land of Stealth), Joe Odagiri (Over the Fence, FOUJITA, recipient of the CUT ABOVE Award for Outstanding Performance in Film), Sahel Rosa (West North West), and Megumi Sasaki (A Whale of a Tale). The 2018 edition of JAPAN CUTS includes titles across the Feature Slate, Documentary Focus, Experimental Spotlight, and Classics sections, in addition to a variety of pre-feature short films. The twelfth edition of the festival presents 28 features and 9 short films, beginning July 19 and concluding July 29. The festival's opening film is the North American Premiere of Ramen Shop, the centerpiece presentation the North American Premiere of Mori, The Artist’s Habitat, and closing film the U.S. Premiere of Hanagatami. Special guests include Akio Fujimoto (Passage of Life), Kazuo Hara (Sennan Asbestos Disaster), Moët Hayami (KUSHINA, what will you be), Tomona Hirota (KUSHINA, what will you be, YEAH), Eric Khoo (Ramen Shop), Kirin Kiki (Mori, The Artist's Habitat, Still Walking, recipient of the CUT ABOVE Award for Outstanding Performance in Film), Kazuyuki Kitaki (Dream of Illumination), Sachiko Kobayashi (Sennan Asbestos Disaster), Shunsuke Kubozuka (Hanagatami), Kaori Oda (Toward a Common Tenderness), Takumi Saitoh (blank 13, Ramen Shop), Shinsuke Sato (BLEACH), Thunder Sawada (Dream of Illumination), Yohei Suzuki (YEAH), Yuya Takagawa (Dream of Illumination), Hikaru Toda (Of Love & Law), Yoko Yamanaka (Amiko), Elisa Yanagi (YEAH), Keisuke Yoshida (Thicker Than Water), and Nao Yoshigai (Across the Water, Breathing House, Stories floating on the wind). Staff JAPAN CUTS was founded in 2007 by Japan Society's Artistic Director Yoko Shioya with Film Program Officer Ryo Nagasawa, and programmed by Nagasawa through 2009. From 2010 to 2013, it was programmed by Samuel Jamier, Senior Film Program Officer, organized with Fumiko Miyamoto, Program Officer, Policy Projects & Film Program. From 2013, Aiko Masubuchi serves as Senior Film Programmer, with Kazu Watanabe as Film Programmer, and Joel Neville Anderson as JAPAN CUTS Programmer. See