© Taiyō Matsumoto
SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2026
1:00–3:00 PM
Moderator: Roland Kelts, contributing editor of MONKEY New Writing from Japan
Host: Peter Tatara, Director, Film, Culture and Community, Japan Society New York
Location: Japan Society New York, 333 E 47th St, New York, NY 10017
Hideo Furukawa and Tomoka Shibasaki are two of Japan’s most highly acclaimed authors, and their books have been adapted into successful films shown worldwide. Shibasaki’s Asleep or Awake was turned into the live-action film Asako I & II by Oscar-winning director Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car). Furukawa’s Tale of the Heike: The Inu-Oh Chapters was adapted into the epic animated feature Inu-Oh by Masaaki Yuasa (Devilman Crybaby).
In conversation with Japanamerica author Roland Kelts, Furukawa and Shibasaki address the sometimes jarring experience of having their original words transformed into immutable images, when works of the imagination leap from one medium to another. Were the adaptations consistent with their imagination and visions, or wildly divergent? How involved did they want to be and did they actually become in the transformative process? Is live-action preferable to animation for literary adaptations–or vice versa? And what specific scenes, images, and moments did they either admire or abhor? (Yes, the authors will show us a few choice clips!)