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A new generation of filmmakers is finally resuscitating the Japanese cinematic art. These include Iwai Shunji, Aoyama Shinji, Isaka Satoshi, Shinozaki Makoto, Koreeda Hirozaku, Suwa Nobuhiro and Kawase Naomi. Unlike aspiring directors of the past, who had to labor for years before getting some attention, these fresh talents took different avenues to establish their presence. Many of them came from the fields of television commercial, music videos and film schools. Although their entry does not yet herald the new Golden Age of Japanese filmmaking, they have nevertheless reversed the downfall of cinema in Japan.

Director Suo Masayuki's film 'Shall We Dance?' joyfully portrays the world of social dancing in Japan and elucidates on the social consequences of dancing. Like his earlier films, this work depicts a person who undergoes training in a new endeavor, in this case ballroom dancing, eventually loving it and achieving success and maturity. Masayuki says his aim in directing the film was to communicate with the audience without tricking them and make them progressively personally attached to the characters as the movie proceeds.

Young directors who work on low-budgets and are financed by establishments such as department stores and publishing houses, swamp the Japanese film industry. Pornographic videos, and low-budget films for screening in department stores are produced in large numbers. This trend has brought the question of censorship to the fore and resulted in the decline of culture-based films.