Promised Land (2024) Blu-ray

Two young men seek to break through something within themselves by shooting a bear in the mountains of the Matagi, where reverence for nature and coexistence survive after being lost elsewhere. Against magnificent wilderness, they release the feeling of living with complete commitment.

The Matagi tradition is said to reach back to the Heian period. Passed down from Hokkaido through Tohoku, it is more than a hunting culture: it developed alongside respect for gods and Buddhas. What drives these two young men even to violate a hunting ban? Pride as Matagi, a sense of complicity, or friendship? For the Matagi, a bear is more than prey; it is a blessing from the mountain deity. As recreational hunting spreads and beech forests are felled, encroaching on wild animals' territory, the Matagi take pride in honoring inherited practices and protecting the natural order of the mountains. The final bear hunt of two men smoldering in a depopulated, stifling homeland is about to begin.

Nobuyuki helps with his family's work in a mountain town that preserves these traditions, while growing weary of its closed way of life. At a gathering, the hunters' leader announces that the authorities have prohibited this year's bear hunt because bear numbers are declining. Violators will be treated as poachers. Most accept the disappointing news, but Nobuyuki's older companion Reijiro refuses, later revealing a secret plan for the two of them to hunt alone.

The film adapts Kazuichi Iijima's Promised Land, winner of the 40th Shosetsu Gendai New Writers Award. Raiku Sugita and Kanichiro lead the cast, joined by veteran actors Masaki Miura, Fusako Urabe, Kiyohiko Shibukawa and Kaoru Kobayashi. Director Masashi Iijima makes his narrative feature debut after MATAGI, the 2023 documentary following Matagi hunters in Yamagata Prefecture's Shonai region. This is the second YOIHI PROJECT film after Junji Sakamoto's award-winning Okiku and the World, which topped the Kinema Junpo Best Ten for Japanese films.

Bonus footage includes the 76-minute 2023 documentary MATAGI, an 18-minute making-of and director interview, and trailers. The 89-minute main film is presented in 1080p cinemascope with Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1-channel surround audio, with no subtitles. The single Blu-ray is region free, released by FANTASIA and distributed by TC Entertainment.