A series adaptation of Tawada Yoko’s award-winning novel “The Last Children of Tokyo” is being developed as an international co-production between Japan’s NHK and Taiwan’s Betula Films and Flash Forward Entertainment, with principal photography targeted for spring 2026.
The project, directed by Edmund Yeo, who won best director at the Tokyo International Film Festival for “We, the Dead,” takes place in a dystopian Japan where the elderly have stopped ageing, but children face early mortality. The story follows a 108-year-old man caring for his fragile great-grandson in a society that has isolated itself from the world.
The creative team includes producer Itagaki Maiko from NHK, who previously collaborated with Yeo on his Venice Film Festival-premiered short “Kingyo,” and veteran Taiwan producer Patrick Mao Huang, founder of Flash Forward Entertainment, known for producing Karlovy Vary winner “Pierce” and the Cannes prize-winning “Tiger Stripes.”
The project is at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF), where it is part of the Serial Bridges: TAICCA (Taiwan Creative Content Agency) x Series Mania pitches.
“The book’s ideas are so unsettling and evocative that they stayed with me,” Yeo told Variety. “When the global pandemic happened, the real world felt closer and closer to Tawada’s dystopia.”
The series expands on Tawada’s original work, exploring how Japan reached this state and the implications for its inhabitants. “As audiences follow the journey of a boy and his great-grandfather through dystopian Japan, which can sometimes be absurdly funny, terrifying and heartbreaking, the series gradually reveals itself as a multigenerational family saga,” Yeo explained. “In a crumbling world gone mad, love is still possible, and as long as we cling dearly to our own humanity, there will always be hope. This is the emotion that we would like to capture.”
Producer Ivy Shen Yu-Hua, whose credits include the Golden Horse Award-winning “The Sunny Side of the Street,” confirmed that adaptation rights have been secured from the author and publisher Kodansha. The project is currently in script development, with financing efforts set to begin in 2025.
“Reflecting upon the spirit of this project, which is about people trying to break free and connect with the outside world, this is designed as an international co-production project, capitalizing on the advantages brought forth by international co-productions to expand upon the framework of traditional Japanese TV stations,” Shen said. The producers are seeking additional creative talent and financiers from Taiwan, Japan and internationally at TCCF.
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