One rainy day, a temple's chief priest finds a kitten crying inside a cardboard box. He names the cat Anzu and raises it with care, but strangely enough, it does not die, even after 20 years. By the time 30 years have passed, it turns into a creature that speaks human language and lives like a human.

One rainy day, a temple's chief priest finds a kitten crying inside a cardboard box. He names the cat Anzu and raises it with care, but strangely enough, it does not die, even after 20 years. By the time 30 years have passed, it turns into a creature that speaks human language and lives like a human.

One day, the head priest's widower son, returns to the temple with his 11-year-old daughter Karin. Karin, already exasperated by her father’s absence and pining for her departed mother, isn’t all that impressed with the oafish, oversized ginger cat. Together, they make a day trip to Tokyo to visit the grave of Karin’s mother, but things get entirely out of control when a detour to hell, by way of an out-of-service toilet, invokes the wrath of a legion of infernal demons...

Directed in live action by Nobuhiro Yamashita then rotoscoped under the direction of Yoko Kuno,  Ghost Cat Anzu is a charming French-Japanese co-production that blends reality with fantasy and deadpan wit with tenderness. My Neighbour Totoro meets the humour and hard reality of everyday life.

Japanese with English subtitles

Screening as part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2025

Please note: films without BBFC certification may only be screened to over 18s. This does not necessarily mean that the films contain adult content.