Trailer: 'The Forest of Sunekosuri'

‘The Forest of Sunekosuri’ (脛擦りの森) is a 2026 Japanese drama written and directed by Kazutaka Watanabe.

The film portrays a wounded young man drawn into an isolated life in the forest, where a seemingly peaceful existence begins to take on an unsettling quality. The cast includes Issey Takahashi, Nijiko Aoto, and Kodai Kurosaki.

Synopsis: Deep within a remote forest far from human settlement, a young man with an injured leg is led by the sweet sound of a woman’s singing to an old shrine, where a mysterious man lives in seclusion with his beautiful young wife, Sayuri. Taken in and cared for, the young man recovers and finds himself drawn into a quiet, dreamlike existence, as if time itself has come to a standstill. Days pass in a gentle, repeating rhythm that seems as though it could last forever. Yet beneath the calm, something begins to feel off, as the quiet routine starts to take on a more unsettling edge. [© Far East Films]

‘The Forest of Sunekosuri’ is scheduled for release in Japan on April 10, 2026.