Thirty-year-old Sobata Kasumi (Miura Toko) works at a call centre and lives at home with her family in I Am What I Am.

Frustrated in her dream of becoming a classic musician and constantly pestered by her worrisome mother, who is desperate to see her married, Kasumi feels adrift.

Unable to express how she truly feels, she even reluctantly attends an omiai — an arranged marriage interview — to satisfy her mother’s desire to find her a suitor.

The reality is, however, that Kasumi cannot harbour romantic feelings, and she would much rather pursue her other passions than conform to the expected path of marriage.

She changes careers to become a nursery teacher and, surrounded by unconventional friends like Yonaga Maho (Maeda Atsuko) and a homosexual colleague (Maehara Ko), Kasumi embarks on a quest to confront what she truly wants, challenging traditional ideals of love and womanhood.

Against a context where romance holds a supreme position in Japan, I Am What I Am questions the need for love and marriage, celebrating simply being oneself.

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026

Knowing Me, Knowing You: The True Self in Japanese Cinema.

The UK’s largest festival of Japanese cinema, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme (JFTFP),is back again. This is the place where cinema comes alive!

Knowing others—let alone ourselves—is not easy, as we behave differently depending on the relationship, environment, or even intention. In an age of advanced digital technology, where imagery can be readily manipulated, it is even harder to define who we, or others, truly are.

With these questions in mind, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026 showcases some of the most unmissable Japanese films nationwide across the UK.

From powerful social crime dramas and laugh-out-loud comedies to gender-defining films, fantasy, and horror, the programme offers something for everyone.

See all our JFTFP 2026 screenings!

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