Two Japanese films, Usagi Drop and Tomorrow's Joe, have entered the competition section of the Shanghai International Film Festival this year, meaning even more Japanese films can be seen at the Japanese Film Week which opened in Shanghai on Sunday.

Eleven films, including thrillers, romances and family movies, were headed by Villain, which won the Best Actress Award at the Montreal World Film Festival last year, and Yoji Yamada's award-winning Our Mother and Tomorrow's Joe, showcased during the week.

"I wished more different films can be seen by Chinese viewers," Japanese director Masahiro Kobayashi, whose Haru's Journey is also screening, told the Global Times.

The opening film, Villain is about a killer (Satoshi Tsumabuki) on the run from police with a lonely girl in tow. The film has swept the 2011 (34th) Japan Academy Prize including Best Actor and Best Actress. Director Lee Sang-il and leading actor Satoshi Tsumabuki attended the screening and Q&A section Sunday.

"I have erased everything Tsumabuki is, and only showed the killer character in the film," Tsumabuki said. He also told the media that he would be starring with Shu Qi on director Hou Hsiao-hsien's new wuxia film The Lady From Tang this October.

Japanese Film Week will run till Saturday, and Japanese films can be seen every other Thursday evening at the Cultural Centre of the Embassy of Japan in Beijing.

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