The kids of Third Year Class-B Shiroiwa Junior High School are back, in a 4K restoration of the classic cult shocker adapted from the controversial novel by Koushun Takami.

Presenting an alternate dystopian vision of turn-of-the-millennium Japan, Battle Royale follows the 42 junior high school students selected to take part in the government’s annual Battle Royale programme, established as an extreme method of addressing concerns about juvenile delinquency. Dispatched to a remote island, they are each given individual weapons (ranging from Uzis and machetes to pan lids and binoculars), food and water, and the order to go out and kill each other. Every player is fitted with an explosive collar around their neck, imposing a strict three-day time limit on the deadly games in which there can only be one survivor. Overseeing the carnage is ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano (Sonatine, Hana-bi, Zatoichi) as the teacher pushed to the edge by his unruly charges.

Playing like a turbo-charged hybrid of Lord of the Flies and The Most Dangerous Game, the final completed work by veteran yakuza-film director Kinji Fukasaku (Battles without Honor and Humanity, Graveyard of Honor) helped launch a new wave of appreciation for Asian cinema in the 21st century.

About Japanese Film Club

I’m Will, and Japanese Film Club started as a fun idea to get some friends together regularly to watch films in the cinema. I lived in Japan for 8 years and own www.madegood.com, a distribution company that specialises in screening documentary films in cinemas and online to Japanese audiences.

This summer (2025) I decided it would be fun to show some Japanese films in London, thinking my love for Japanese cinema was pretty niche and it would be a cool little side project. But I have been blown away by the response so far. We opened to a full house with Tampopo at The Rio Cinema in Dalston in June, and followed that up with another sold out screening of Gaea Girls last week – a documentary film about 90’s Japanese female pro-wrestling.

I don’t claim to be an ‘expert’ in Japanese cinema, but I’ve watched a lot of it and I know what I like! I’m going to continue to pick films that I like, invite guests I think are interesting, and hopefully give you a reason to get out of the house for a few hours and watch some films with me. If you have something you’d like to see on the big screen, please send me a message or come and have a chat with me at the next screening. I’d love to hear from all of you, so don’t be shy! There are no real rules to what we can show, and everyone is welcome.

Remember to sign up to the newsletter and follow us on Instagram and Twitter for the latest news. Hopefully see you at the next one!

Will – August 2025