A red carpet covered the street in front of Bunkamura on the first day and many fans gathered to watch their favorite guests make their way to the festival.
The event was officially opened by four Qurio robots developed by Sony. For the opening ceremonies, synthesizer artist Isao Tomita and puppet master and dancer Hiroshi Hori collaborated on a performance of the "THE TALE OF GENJI," thus creating a demonstration of two facets of Japanese culture, one modern, one traditional. The entire sequence of the guests arriving as well as the opening and closing ceremonies were shown at screens set up in the recently opened Roppongi Hills complex as well as on the Forum Vision screen in the Shibuya Station plaza.
Beginning this festival, programming directors were chosen for the Competition, Special Screenings, and Winds of Asia programs, a setup that would be extended to the Japanese Eyes feature beginning next year.

1. Director Yoshimitsu Morita and his five lead actresses from Like Asura: from left, Kaoru Yachigusa, Shinobu Otake, Hitomi Kuroki, Eri Fukatsu, and Kyoko Fukada. 2. Cast and crew from Asian Film Award winner Memories of Murder: score composer Taro Iwashiro, producer Kim Moo-ryung, director Bong Joon-ho, and actors Park Hae-il, Kim Sang-kyung, and Song Kang-ho. 3. Actress Kyoko Kagawa and film critic Yukichi Shinada put on a talk show at the Nippon Cinema Classics retrospective “Graceful Maidens – the springtime of golden actresses.” 4. Competition jury chairman Irvin Kershner presents a trophy to director Bakhtiyar Khudoinazarov and actor Ivan Kokorin for The Suit, which won the Special Jury Prize and the Award for Best Artistic Contribution. 5. The late folk singer Wataru Takada performs at the screening venue of Takada Wataru: A Japanese Original. 6. Cast members Koyuki (right) and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi from Kwaidan: Eternal Love greet fans on the red carpet.