Almost half a century ago, during the second golden period of Japanese cinema, directors such as Yasujiro Ozu, Hiroshi Shimizu and Mikio Naruse created dramas about the lives of the ordinary working people of Japan, their everyday struggles and moral conflicts after the war.

Fifty years on and Japanese cinema has undergone countless evolutions in style, approach and content, but the trials and tribulations of the ordinary people, often women, have remained a constant source of inspiration to Japanese directors. Middle-aged spinsters coming to terms with their lot, teenagers suffering from claustrophobia in rural areas and young workers in the age of freedom, lost in the reality of their position, all struggle to come to terms with their own identity.

The six films in this season aim to present a more complex picture of contemporary Japan and its people – which international viewers may not usually be exposed to – through a diversity of forms, prompting the question: who exactly is the ordinary Japanese person?

A Japan Foundation touring programme: Produced and organised by the Japan Foundation with advice from Jasper Sharp.