[Musashino University] Student-Produced Film 'Toy Piano' Wins Excellence Award in Medium-Length Film Category at Shibuya Independent Film Festival 2026

A film titled 'Toy Piano', produced by eight students (three third-year, five fourth-year)* from Musashino University (Corporation: Koto-ku, Tokyo; President: Seiko Konishi) in the Advanced FS 'Video Production Expression Program (Applied)' (Instructor: Visiting Professor Tadakazu Kotani), has won the Excellence Award in the Medium-Length Film category at the 'Shibuya Independent Film Festival 2026 (SIFF2026)'. *Student years are as of the time of production (2025 academic year). The screening and stage greeting held on April 29th. 'Toy Piano' (2025 / 43 min 15 sec) is a work that depicts the subtle regeneration brought by music to people living with an insurmountable past and pain. The performances of the cast, led by lead actress Karen Kurashima (Toho Entertainment Co., Ltd.), and the delicate ideas were highly evaluated, leading to this award. The Advanced FS 'Video Production Expression Program,' an interdisciplinary course running since 2017, allows students to learn the fundamentals and practice of video production throughout the year under the guidance of film director and visiting professor Tadakazu Kotani. The 'Applied' program is for students who have completed the 'Basic' program the previous year, making this their second time tackling film production. In the past, this program has produced 'Mannnen Fantasia', which won the Audience Award at the 34th Tokyo Student Film Festival (2022), and 'Kirin Listens to the Radio', which won the Excellence Award at the Koenji International Student Film Festival (2025). This time, eight students (seven from the Department of Japanese Literature and Culture, one from the Department of Global Communication) worked on the production in an interdisciplinary manner, completing the film by taking on roles such as planning, cinematography, lighting, and sound recording. This festival is held to discover young talent and promote the appeal of independent cinema. For its third iteration, a total of 270 films were submitted across five categories: Short, Medium-Length, Feature-Length, Animation, and U22, from which 16 were selected as excellent works. [Work Overview] Title: 'Toy Piano'. Directors: Ryosei Horiguchi, Momoyo Fukasawa. Production Year: 2025. Running Time: 43 min 15 sec. Language: Japanese. Production: Musashino University. Supervisor: Tadakazu Kotani. [Synopsis] Natsu Fujito, an office worker who has closed her heart after losing her daughter, meets Ayako Takahashi, who joins the company as a part-time worker. Their distance shortens after Ayako, struggling with her unfamiliar job, asks for the location of the pantry. At that time, Natsu finds an old toy piano on the street. It was something she cherished as a child. This is a subtle story of how music leads Natsu and Ayako, who live with the pain of an insurmountable past, towards regeneration. [Comments] ■ Visiting Professor Tadakazu Kotani: There are people who cannot help but create something. Such people gather in this class. I think that people who cannot help but create are 'people who cannot be indifferent' to someone nearby, or to the sorrow and joy of this world. Our university does not have a film department, but I hope that cinematic thinking will be of some use to their future. ■ Momoyo Fukasawa, 4th-year student, Faculty of Letters, Department of Japanese Literature and Culture (Director): Production of this work began based on my feelings during the COVID-19 pandemic. That is, music is always by our side and can lighten anxious feelings. Through filming, we were able to give shape to this thought together, and it evolved into a work of greater depth. It has become an invaluable experience for me, and I am very happy to have received an award at such a wonderful film festival. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved in this work. [About Musashino University] Musashino University was founded in 1924 as Musashino Women's Gakuin, with the ideal of character education based on Buddhist principles. Formerly Musashino Women's University, it was renamed Musashino University in 2003. Since becoming co-educational in 2004, the university has promoted reforms and developed into a comprehensive university with over 13,000 students in 13 faculties, 21 departments, and 14 graduate schools, as well as a correspondence division. In 2019, it established the first Faculty of Data Science at a private university in Japan. In 2021, it established the first Faculty of Entrepreneurship in Japan and started the 'Musashino INITIAL' common core curriculum with 'AI Utilization' and 'SDGs' as compulsory subjects. In 2023, it established the first Department of Sustainability in Japan. In 2024, it celebrated its 100th anniversary and established the world's first Faculty of Well-Being. The university is advancing reforms to cultivate creative human resources for the future in 2050.