Hiroyuki Nagato
Misaki Kanon is a young woman who comes to the big city with dreams of becoming a singer. At first everything goes well, she falls in love and works towards her dream. But then her boyfriend betrays her and Kanon loses her faith in people and sight of her dream. Once upon a time, as a small child in a remote mountain village where the Daimajin rests, she sang the song of prayer. Now she has to regain her song to find herself and maybe save the world too. A mysterious man from the village is searching for her so that she may help him and his comrades when the time comes.
"FLOWERS" covers the lives of six woman whose lives span a period of three generations (from the Show period all the way through to the present day). Starting in the 1930's, Rin (Yu Aoi) is worried about her arranged marriage that her parents setup. Eventually Rin has three daughters: Kaoru (Yuko Takeuchi) - who tragically loses her husband in a car accident, Midori (Rena Tanaka) - a career woman who becomes shaken by a marriage proposal, and youngest child Sato (Yukie Nakama). In the 1960's Sato gives birth to Kanna (Kyoka Suzuki) and Kei (Ryoko Hirosue). In the present day, Kanna is now worried about becoming a single mother. The lives of these woman are portrayed with beauty and grace.
Steelhead is a Chinese laborer who comes to Japan hoping for a better life. Unable to find honest work and bullied into the shadows with his fellow Chinese illegal immigrants, he soon finds himself ascending as the boss of a black market mob. After providing a deadly service to a powerful Yakuza crime boss, Steelhead’s rise to mafia power spirals rapidly out of control as he’s given reign over the dangerous and lucrative Shinjuku district.
Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido, is the northernmost zoo in Japan. The unpopular zoo welcomes a new zoo keeper, young Yoshida (Yasuhi Nakamura), who has more affection for insects than people after years of being bullied at school when he was young. Yoshida soon realizes that Asahiyama Zoo is facing a financial crisis and the zoo director Takizawa (Toshiyuki Nishida) has been doing everything in his power to save the zoo from closing down. Moved by Takizawa's passion, Yoshida and other zoo keepers came to share the zoo director's belief that one's dreams can come true, and together they tackle this seemingly impossible task of revitalizing Asahiyama. A breakthrough arrives in the form of “Behavioral Exhibition,†a method that is pioneered by Ashiyama's zoo keepers and which eventually makes the zoo renowned throughout the world.
Recently appointed dean at a film school, Kimuro Hajime develops a special concern for one of his students, Daisuke. The brash, headstrong young man is fixated on with the Second World War. He feels a sense of frustration at the irrational sacrifice of young people's lives during the war six decades earlier. Daisuke finds that he can vent his frustrations to Kimuro, who experienced the war firsthand. Kimuro's wife, Emiko, is also troubled by memories of the war. She lost a loved one in the war and has never gotten over it. And Kimuro himself also has something from the past that he has yet to face. He believes that the burden of his unresolved past will eventually be the death of him. When Daisuke's neurosis causes him to quit school, life changes for all three of them.
Takashi Miike directs a stage version of Zatoichi, the tale of the blind swordsman.
The classic tale retold. This is one of Japan’s most popular stories in a brand new version starring the great Matsukata Hiroki following in the footsteps of Yorozuya Kinnosuke as Yagyu Tajima, the grandmaster swordsman whose plot to maintain the succession of Iemitsu as shogun encounters obstacles on all sides. Loaded with action and featuring many of Japan’s new up and coming sword stars this exciting movie brings back the feelings of the golden age of motion pictures. Stunning cinematography brings 17th Century Japan to life in this exciting tale of loyalty and betrayal, leading up to an ending that won’t be found in any history book.
Edo town thief called "Acrobatics boy" has been rampant in town, just that time, spy, Goro of Otaki will see a woman who had been an inside contact of the Yataro by chance. Also, Heizo is worried about the child of Inoue Tatsuizumi, who decided to ask for help for Gen'an.
After his parent's divorce, Kazuo Saito moves with his mother from Onomichi and must leave his girlfriend behind. At his new school, Kazuo is surprised to reunite with his childhood friend Kazumi. "Remember I kissed you, saying I'll marry you when we're grown ups?" He feels embarrassed around Kazumi, who talks about their early childhood stories without any reserve. Kazuo is annoyed with Hiroshi's attitude, but with Kazumi, they naturally start to get comfortable with each other again just like old times. Kazumi's family runs a long-standing soba noodle restaurant. One day, Kazumi invites Kazuo to her house. After talking about old times, they walk to a place from their childhood called the "Lonely Watering Place". "Kazuo, the water here is very good. That's why our soba noodles also taste so good." Kazuni tries to scoop up some water with a dipper and the two accidentally fall into the water. They quickly crawl out, but suddenly realize that they have switched bodies!
It is the second work of the Oita trilogy of Obayashi . Following " Nigori Snow ", Ise Masazo draws a song written by composers and songwriter "Farewell of 22 years old " as a motif and draws a story of love that spans two generations of mother and daughter.
Heizo "The Demon" investigates the shop of Toshimaya the swordsmith, where 280 ryo was stolen and twelve people murdered. This particular group of theives are most dangerous because of the willingness to kill for money, but what about this mysterious unibrow, who is he? What is he up to?
Recruited by a clandestine police organization, "K" must stop a plot by student radicals to create anarchy in Japan. Armed with a hi-tech steel yo-yo, and a new name (Asamiya Saki), she must infiltrate an elite high school to find the terrorists but finds an even more sinister plan is about to unfold.
A celebration of the ancient art of Japanese rakugo, roughly translated as “comic storytelling”. The film is interspersed with numerous funerals and wakes, songs, dances, and often disgustingly crude jokes.
Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.
A rowdy, young yakuza takes revenge against a gang of thousands for the death of his boss.
After his father figure like mafia boss is murdered, Azusa Moribe (Masaya Sato) goes on a one man killing spree to exact revenge.
Minami mistakenly kills a gangster associate of his named Brother. Almost as soon as the murder takes place, the body of the deceased man is gone, prompting Minami to conduct a search. While looking, he finds a mysterious isolated hotel where he decides to take a rest. Not only are the front desk clerks a bit strange, but even the ambiance feels unusual. Minami soon realizes he may have gotten more than he bargained for.
Nami, the young madam of a well-established hot spring hotel in Kotohira, is reunited with her childhood friend Kana who has come to participate in an art auction. However, when people with links to the auction start getting killed one after another, Nami sets out to find the criminal with her detective husband Ryohei.
Kiwa is Iwago’s devoted wife. A former wrestling champion, he has become a ‘zegen’: He buys young girls from poor families and sells them to geisha houses. He is quite successful but Kiwa, although she accepts his money, loathes his work. One day Iwago comes back with a young girl he’s bought from a man who wanted to sell her in China. They adopt her and Kiwa raises her, as a respectable girl, with her two sons. But Iwago wants to manage the career of a singer who becomes his mistress and the situation becomes very tense for the couple.
Kiwa is Iwago’s devoted wife. A former wrestling champion, he has become a ‘zegen’: He buys young girls from poor families and sells them to geisha houses. He is quite successful but Kiwa, although she accepts his money, loathes his work. One day Iwago comes back with a young girl he’s bought from a man who wanted to sell her in China. They adopt her and Kiwa raises her, as a respectable girl, with her two sons. But Iwago wants to manage the career of a singer who becomes his mistress and the situation becomes very tense for the couple.
When the famous SL "Lady of Childbirth" traveling on the Yamaguchi Line approached Tsuwano, a passenger saw a man crashing into the tracks from the top of the Usui Tunnel. When the conductor rushed to report it, the man was already dead. Shortly after, the witness passenger had disappeared for some reason! Detective Sato (Takuma), who rushes to the scene, learns that the dead man is Odagiri (Odagiri), a taxi driver whom he met earlier.
The live of the daimyo Date Masamune
About an establishment where old men pay to sleep besides young girls that had been narcotized and happen to be naked, the sleeping beauties. The old men are expected to take sleeping pills and share the bed for a whole night with a girl without attempting anything of bad taste like putting a finger inside their mouths.
Famed onnagata (a man who plays women's parts in Kabuki) Tamasaburo Bando follows up on the success of his directorial debut, Gekashitsu, with this soft-focused romance about love and obligation, based on a novel by Kafu Nagai. Set during the Meiji period (1868-1912), Kaede (Sayuri Yoshinaga) is the former mistress of a wealthy merchant. When he dies, she is forced out on the street and forced to give up her young daughter to the merchant's family. The film opens with her working in a high-class brothel abutting Tokyo Bay. Though she has passionate affection for a drug wholesaler, whom she loves as well, Kaede is swamped with not only debts to the bordello and family obligations -- she is expected to support her parents and her sister -- but also guilt over losing her child. This pain is only increased when Kaede learns that her daughter is being abused. She does the only thing she can: She buys back her child by signing on at the brothel for a longer stint.
One day poison is discovered in the shogun's food. The brilliant swordsman Mondo sets out to save Japan's leader from certain death.
The indolent son of an oil vendor becomes a regular customer of a prostitute, racks up a mountain of debt, and is disowned by his parents.
In the middle of the Edo period, when the finances of the shogunate were in a desperate situation, the shogunate sent its shadow spies to each clan, who secretly planned the abolition of the clans and the seizure of their territories. The Inami clan has mastered the essence of making weapons, thus breaking the law. To protect the clan, its elders hire three "Shadow Hunters"... TV movie based on the popular manga by Takao Saito.
Faraway Sunset tells the story of the famed bacteriologist who is known to have discovered the agent that cause syphilis, and for his relentless search for a cure to yellow fever. As a toddler, his mother's neglect had caused an accident to his left hand, fusing together all the fingers in a bizarre twist of fate. Naturally extremely remorseful for being the cause of her son's handicap, she does everything she could to ensure that he gets to lead a normal life, despite having to fend off bullies and unfair prejudices.
The rise to power of the famed Lady Kasuga no Tsubone, who established the 'Ooku' (the women's quarters at Edo castle) and acted as nursemaid to Tokugawa Iemitsu, the future 3rd Shogun is chronicled in this historical drama. Intrigue and suspicion abound as the two brothers Iemitsu and Tadanaga vie for the post of Shogun, while behind the scenes the remnants of the defeated Toyotomi faction, lead by Lord Ishida Mitsunari attempt to discredit the Tokugawa Shogunate and regain their former position as rulers of the nation. The hidden battles between Shogun Hidetada's wife and mistresses of the 'Ooku' come to light as they force the two brothers into a life or death struggle.
A violent action film depicting the success of a female investigator in the fight against drug syndicates.
Based on actual events that occurred in Hokkaido, Japan, 1915. Rimeinzu: Utsukushiki yuusha-tachi tells the story of a group of bear hunters that are tracking a 900 pound brown bear nicknamed Red Spots that is terrorising the area. It attacks and kills men, but it feasts only on women.
Sawako, working in a bank, tired of the usual everyday life, once she met the chef of French cuisine Yukio Goto and spent the night with him. Sawako pretends to be the daughter of an upscale hotel owner and has an affair with Yukio.
An opportune salaryman moves his family into a model mansion for 12 months; unfortunately, they must allow prospective buyers to trek through their home during business hours.
Based on the "2.26 Incident", an attempted coup d'état in Japan 1936, launched by radical ultra-nationalist parts of the military. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly held by the insurgents before the coup was suppressed.
Iemitsu, Tokugawa Shogun III, hates his eldest son Takechiyo; all his love is given to his younger son Tokumatsu. One day, he orders Takechiyo to an initiation rite in Yedo (today's Tokio). Takechiyo lives far away under the surveillance of Hotta Masamori, head of the Skura clan, where he was also raised. Hotta does suspect some kind of treachery, but he can not ignore the direct command of the Shogun. Therefore, he starts on his travel with Takechiyo and seven accompanying samurais. A large army under the command of Iba Shoemon, a vassal of the Shogun, attacks their night camp in the vicinity of a copper mine. Hotta dies in this first battle, but Takechiyo and the samurai manage to escape. They are chased by the army, and several skirmishes between the small force and the larger army follow.
On August 9, 1945, the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. This film, based on a story by Mitsukaru Inoue, describes the daily life of people in Nagasaki the day before that fateful event. It presents the human drama of people's lives, and their feelings of joy and sadness. These include a newlywed couple, an expectant mother, and lovers who must say farewell because the boy is called to serve in the army. Each of these people, like others in the city, hoped to live with their dreams for ‘tomorrow’. But tomorrow never comes for them, as their lives are brought to an abrupt and unexpected end. Knowing how the story ends, in this case, doesn't detract from it at all; rather, it enhances the emotional impact, which is further heightened by the poignant musical score from Teizo Matsumura. 'Ashita' is the first film in Kazuo Kuroki's 'War Requiem Trilogy,' which also includes 'Utsukushii Natsu Kirishima' (2002) and 'Chichi to Kuraseba' (2004).
After the events of the previous film, the 17 years-old Sukeban Deka III, Yui Kazama, works for the Juvenile Security Bureau along with her older sisters Yuka and Yuma. This organization is led by politician Kuraudo Sekin, who fights juvenile crime in heavy-handed manners, to the extent to equip his student agents with triple-bladed yo-yo weapons. However, when Sekin's methods become too zealous, Yui quits the bureau and refuses to undertake undercover missions for them. It is soon discovered that Sekin's actual goal is to overthrow the Japanese government, and the Kazama sisters, along with a gang of young outcasts, have to stop him.
After the events of the TV series, the 18 year old Yoko Godai has abandoned her special agent Saki Asamiya name to return to her normal life, and is now studying for college entrance exams. However, she accidentally bumps into a young man named Kazuo Hagiwara trying to escape from a group of hitmen, and learns that he comes from Sanko Academy, a private school located in a remote island known as Hell's Castle. The school is ruled by a former revolutionary thought to be dead named Hattori who is trying to brainwash students into terrorists to help him stage a fascist coup d'etat in Japan.
Tetsu gets into an argument with some Okinawa yakuza and is murdered by them. His brother Ryo comes to Okinawa shortly thereafter and teams up with Tetsu's girlfriend and Max an ex US soldier to extract revenge.
Kazama Yui, a country girl from Kyushu who was recruited by the Dark Director and given the role of the third Saki Asamiya. In the story, Yui was sent to Tokyo to meet up with her long lost sisters, Yuka and Yuma, and they inherited the family's ninja art in order to solve the menace of a psychic terrorist known as the Emperor. Now turned into a trio of kunoichi, they would battle the villain and his army, helped by their mentor Kazuya Yoda and the agents Reia Kido and Obiwan Osho. Yui herself rarely used the Saki Asamiya moniker and showed a very different personality compared to Saki and Yoko, and the series was more focused in fantasy than serious urban crime drama. NOTE: although it has 3 in the title and is loosely related to the other two Sukeban Deka shows this should not be treated as a direct continuation but rather as a standalone show.
Deep in the mountains of Japan a dam is scheduled to be built, thus forcing a relocation of the farmers. One of them is 78-year-old Denzo, whose son and his wife consider him senile. Left alone, he befriends a young boy, Sentaro, who has heard that the old man was once a great angler. The unlikely pair spend lots of happy time together, until Denzo has a heart attack and dies far upstream. The dam is completed and the entire area is inundated. Everyone will move away, except Denzo.
Fictionalized account of 20-year-old Noriko Tsuji, a real-life victim of a severe birth defect which afflicted 8,000 Japanese, children whose mothers took the sedative thalidomide during pregnancy. Tsuji has stunted flipper-like arms amputated at the behest of a father who deserted her soon after her birth. Nonetheless, the resourceful Noriko uses her feet to accomplish most of the tasks others would do with their hands.
A lavish retelling of the true story of the final voyage and ultimate destruction and sinking of the battleship Yamato, Japan's greatest flagship during the Second World War.
Researcher Mutsugoro takes his family to a remote and uninhabited island near Hokkaido, to study the local population of wild bears. Nearby poachers make his life difficult, and he "inherits" an orphaned bear cub, whom the family call Donbe and raise as one of their own.
The 26th NHK Asadora. Shimazaki Kayo is a woman from Hagi, Yamaguchi, who joins the Takarazuka Revue, a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyougo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shoujo manga and Japanese folktales.
Based on an autobiographical novel by Toshiko Takagi, set close to the end of World War II
Kendo, friendship, family. A coming-of-age movie based on the same-name novel by Takahashi Michizuna, who won the Sasakawa Prize.
Kumokiri Nizaemon, a former samurai warrior, has abandoned his class to become the leader of a gang of thieves. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan.
Tadao decides to comes back from Tokyo to live in his home town, in the countryside. He stays at his parents place and finds a job, repairing transistor and television. He catches up with his friend Tetsuji, the only that haven’t left yet. But one night, Tetsuji decides to leave for Tokyo with a bar hostess.
When an American is murdered in a Japanese inn, Tokyo police detective Munesue follows the trail of the killer to New York. There he is joined by a New York City detective named Shuftan and together they sort out the crime.
Komori Tiaki is a budding tennis student, however one day in training her coach hits the ball into her eye accidentally. She is taken to hospital but it advised that she will never regain the sight in her eye. Her coach knows of a mysterious doctor 'Blackjack' who lives in a secluded house, who might be able to help. 'Blackjack' agrees to do the operation, but for a 'substantial reward'! Her sight is regained, but now she starts to see a mysterious man that is invisible to those around her....
It is the first Toei yakuza film directed by Akinori Matsuo, who was active in Nikkatsu action movies. It is a local yakuza movie made following Okinawa Yakuza War (1976) and Hokuriku Proxy War (1977). The film depicts the war between a storied yakuza killer (Hiroki Matsukata) and the largest organized crime group in the Kansai region, which plans to advance into the Kanto region.
A man who survived the war carries the will of his comrades in arms, walking across the country visiting the bereaved families.
A professional lone-wolf hitman comes to his blood brother's aid when his boss is brutally murdered by an unknown yakuza faction.
The Ni Family is the most well know and respected group of firefighters in the Kanto region. When their leader dies and the successor disappears, Tsuruji, a beautiful yet tough geisha, becomes the boss. But will she be able to confront a yakuza gang trying to take over the area?
President of the territorial yakuza organization is being manipulated by a crooked leader in the military and some capitalists Ishikiri. The plan is to get multiple family of the organized crime groups based in Osaka to war it out and order the Shima to the Onishi group of the branch to expand the territory. Now members of the same yakuza gang are forced to fight each other over territory and honor.
Kagari (Akira Kobayashi), a scout and overseer of Ginza bar hostesses, receives an urgent phone call from Sawako, a hostess at the bar Rie, and rushes to Tokyo International Airport to meet her. When he arrives she is gone. At the bar he learns that Tabuchi, a steady customer, had been quite friendly with Sawako and may know something. Tabuchi claims he knows nothing and Kagari lets the matter drop. Over time Kagari learns from Takijima, a businessman, that Sawako is in a hospital in Yokohama. Takijima explains that he found her in Singapore working as a street girl and brought her back to Japan. Sawako had lost her memory after being subjected to narcotics. Kagari swears to find the person responsible.
The industrual revolution comes to Japan with the introduction of the railroad system. This led to clashes between boatmen, who livihoods are threatened, and the railroad construction workers. Oryu the Red Peony returns to her home in Kumamoto to accept her position as second generation leader of the Yano Family. But the ceremony is interrupted by fighting between local boatmen and railroad works. And it seems a rival family is pulling the strings behind the clashes.
Former soldier, Suehiro Katsuji, fights violent gangs and powerful Chinese merchants during the post-war period in Japan.
Rainbow Over the Pacific is a tale of romance that moves from the streets of Tokyo to the islands of Hawaii as it weaves the story of two star-crossed lovers--Hideo (Yukio Hashi), an aspiring photographer from Japan, and Reiko (Jun Mayuzumi), a beautiful Sansei Cherry Blossom contestant from Hawaii--who are drawn together by destiny, yet appear to be fated to be apart. Will the sun set on their young love, or will it be the dawn of a new relationship?
Ryosuke Kotaki's life motto was his grandfather's will, "Study, make money, drink alcohol, and win the first prize". So, first of all, he went to Osaka to win the first prize with favorite shogi. In the car, he hit it off with a woman named Okichi and decided to live in the Shogi Kaisho, which is run by Okichi's father, Yoichi. Ryosuke's skill was strong, and he was happy to make a lot of money in gambling shogi. However, he lost to a middle-aged man by dropping four cards. This man was actually Heihachi Kudo, who is said to be the best of both worlds in the Kansai chess world at the time...
A song drama based on the autobiographical song "The sun is laughing" by composer Endo Minoru. It tells the story of a young man who moves to Tokyo with a big dream of becoming a composer, and despite the unfamiliar city life, sticks to his original intentions with the gentle encouragement of his young wife, and takes the music world by storm.
Following the journey of a caterpillar along the Japanese islands from Nagasaki to Hokkaido, this allegorical and oblique first feature film by Kuroki depicts in exquisite images a series of encounters and life's turning points.
Framed by his enemies, Manbe finds himself imprisoned for a murder he didn’t commit. His only hope lies with his daughter Yuki who takes it upon herself to clear his name.
Tokizо, the boss of the Tenmaru-gumi group, assists Kikujiro, a traveler on the run. At this time, a tender is being held to conclude a contract for the construction of the railway. Tokizo, who made the highest bid, was bought by the head of the Wakatsuki section of the Kansai Railroad, who was thinking about the country, and won by suppressing Takebe-gumi, who used bribes. However, not everything went as smoothly as planned...
Because of trickery, the Jinya Group has only seven days to complete a mountain road project or it will forfeit a major dam construction job to the scheming Ojika Group.
One day a company executive learns that his younger brother, whom he recommended, embezzled company funds. To save the situation he withdraws his life savings and gives money to his younger brother. He then suddenly disappears…
Second film of Makino's Nihon Kyokakuden series set in Osaka's harbor. The series also known as "The Domain" Each a stand alone film in it's own, none are connected other than starring the famous Ken Takakura as the main Character. This story begins with Ken Takakura's character coming to Osaka after his brother's death. Another exciting yakuza story with superb yakuza action!!
Third part of Nihon Kyokakuden series is set in Kanto in 1924. Ken Takakura playing a ship's mate befriending fish shop owners harassed by yakuza.
Naomasa, the former lord of Okayama Castle and the head of the Iseda family, takes a strange boy, Kirihito, under his wing. However, Naomasa is sent to Europe for his rather too liberal lifestyle…
The feud between two rival delivery companies, Kibamasa and Okiyama, heats up as the head of Kibamasa falls ill.
A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.
Gambler Hantaro risks his life and reputation to save young Onaka from a shady lifestyle.
This Japanese action-adventure is set in the 17th century when all forms of swordplay were banned. One fighter, an excellent swordsman believes the law is unfair. His brother keeps his opinions about the law to himself. The swordsman vents his frustration by cutting off the thumbs of an enemy. The fighter is then banished. To live, he becomes a thief. To restore the family's lost honor, the other brother is forced to challenge the fighter to a duel.
This suspense drama set in the mid 1700's depicts the plan of the Tokugawa rulers to send a number of homeless men to a remote island Sado to perform forced labor. Living conditions on the island are terrible and the men soon become rebellious. Based on a short story by Seichō Matsumoto.
In this Japanese drama, a dry goods merchant's daughter is surprised to discover that she has a twin sister. In rural Japan it was thought that twins bring bad luck, so the sister was abandoned at birth. Later her parents tell her that her sister was kidnapped. The woman doesn't believe this and when she eventually meets her twin, both women are involved in love affairs. The merchant's daughter is seeing an educated fellow. Trouble ensues when she begins suspecting that he may be more interested in her sister.
Upon his release from the prison, Hishakaku joins the Kikkyo family who is struggling to regain their turf from their rival, Domoto family. To reciprocate the kindness of the Kikkyos, Hishakaku heads to meet the leader of Domoto, Osumi, and finds himself emotionally involved with her.
A celebrity, dissatisfied with his personal and professional lives, impulsively leaves fast-paced Tokyo to deliver a much-needed jeep to a remote village. When his controlling manager, the woman he loves, follows, the two must reconcile while dodging reporters.
A detective sets out on a manhunt to catch a murderer before the crime's statue of limitations runs out.
Ushimatsu's father told him never to reveal his lower-caste heritage; years later, he now contemplates confiding in an activist fighting against such discrimination.
A life insurance agent has a drinking problem causing him to lose his company a fortune. He heads to another town to sell insurance, but to his surprise, the elderly are all healthy thanks to a special local sake. Along the way, he meets an eye-patch-wearing killer, which only confounds his misadventures.
The action takes place in a city where you can live on only 100 yen a day. The "General", who indulged in gambling with his henchmen all day, he was running his business and hitting him with a taxi turned out to be a trifle for him. A unique work, filled with tears and laughter, praising the beautiful human love that blooms at the bottom of life, focused on the genius “General” who lives in the troubled city of Kamagasaki.
Yoshida’s first big-budget production and colour film is a haunting tale of unrequited love and postwar disillusion. The story of the fatal attraction between a spineless intellectual and a strong woman is conventional, but its enactment is radically new.
Joe, Okita, and Serizawa hear of the armed robbery of a truck carrying one billion eighty million yen's worth of Mint paper. Knowing that the thugs will now need a counterfeiter to make the bogus bills, they each decide to cash in on it by selling them the idea that they need Sakamoto, the best counterfeiter in Japan. A seesaw game unfolds between the three men as each tries to outdo the other two in handing over Sakamoto for one million yen to Hijikata, the big boss, who intends to make counterfeit money with the stolen paper. A little belatedly, they realize it needs their combined forces to outwit Hijikata and they raid his place together. Outnumbered, however, they are thrown into a basement room and the gas is turned on. Certain death stares them in the face, but the three men are not ones to take things lying down....
In the city of Yokosuka, Kinta and his lover Haruko, both involved with yakuza, brave the post-occupation period with a goal to be together.
Katiri is a reporter so ambitiously amoral that he’ll sell out anyone—including his partner and the drug dealer he’s sleeping with—to get a scoop. But what happens when an even more ruthless female gang boss kidnaps his sister?
A juvenile delinquent gets out of the pen and immediately embarks on a rampage of untethered anger, most of it directed at the girlfriend of the journalist who helped send him up.
When a middle aged salaryman is unknowingly used by drug traffickers he is dishonored and fires back at the Yakuza bosses, with destructive consequences.
Senko Tamagawa is a third-year junior high school student, and she is the captain of the badminton club. Her father, Kinzo, remodeled her barn and lent it to her only Mikayo. Senko was somehow envious of her flashy life... In a tragedy with a girl living in the base as the main character, Katsumi Miki of "Life like a weed" adapted the original story of Muraji Uchiki and directed by Eisuke Takizawa of "Ajisai no Uta".
An action masterpiece depicting the brotherhood of a younger brother (a student yakuza who breaks the gang rules and the law), and an older brother who prays for his brother's happiness while becoming a gangster to the old yakuza.
Yoshikawa and Kaji are alumni - Yoshikawa leads a life loyal to his company Toho Corporation, whilst Kaji works in the underground world for Aoyama, a fixer trying to buy Toho out. One day, Yoshikawa is ordered to take a look into the information leakage which had resulted in a serious fall of the company stock price. Following his order, Yoshikawa reunites with Kaji but their relationship gets complicated through the presence of Akiko, the daughter of Kubo, chairman of Toho Corporation. There is an obvious financial conspiracy and several men are killed - Who is the true mastermind behind all the plots?
Set in an old merchant house in Kyoto, the film traces the passing of an era through the story of a parent and child.
Minami Yasuo, a college student, lives with Yuriko who has become the mistress of a foreigner named Wilson. Whenever Wilson comes, Yasuo spends his time in the tea-shop "La Gana." Yasuo is asked by his brother Shigeru to teach French to Akiko, a young girl who is studying French songs. Yasuo then learns that he is the winner of an essay contest and will be offered a scholarship to study in France. Akiko, is now pregnant and Yasuo promises to break with Yuriko.
The film tells the story of four orphans living in an impoverished mining town. An adaptation of a best-selling book based on the diary of a ten-year-old zainichi (ethnic Korean Japanese) girl, it was one of the first films to deal with the subject of zainichi identity and struggles in Japan.
An action drama similar to Wyler's "The Desperate Hours", adapted by Seiji Hoshikawa of "Tasogare no Tokyo Tower" based on Shinji Fujiwara's original work. Jiro, who had been unable to rehabilitate because of the stigma of having criminal record, stopped by at his favorite bar. There, Shimamoto was waiting for him, and Jiro was offered a job to carry certain things. Jiro was attracted by the large amount of reward and finally accepted the task. The car driven by Jiro was investigated by a police officer on the way, but Shimamoto shooted the police officer and orders to help Jiro escape at full speed...
A rumbunctious and ribald tale of a troupe of travelling actors who alternate highlights of kabuki theatre with strip shows.
Set in post-war Japan, a group of five, four men and one woman, gathers in the basement of a butcher shop to dig up a cache of morphine buried during the war. A grimly humorous tale of twisted relationships as one by one each of the group is eliminated.
In a warehouse area at night, a drunk chief engineer is stabbed to death by someone who whistles. After the break of dawn, two seamen join the crew of a rusty cargo ship Kaiyo Maru. One is a troublemaker with bad attitudes, Senkichi Nomura, who pursues an enemy in order to take revenge for his father's death. The other is Keizo Sasaki, a buff, eagle-eyed man on board for a certain mission.
The action of this historical drama takes place against the background of poverty and hunger in the city of Edo and depicts young people rebelling against the contradictions of feudal society.
With the background of the Battle of Okinawa, he draws a semi-documentary image of each individual person under an unusual psychological state of war. Furukawa Takumi of “Backlight” is adapted and directed by Daiichi Ishino. Filmed by Yoshio Mamiya, “Smuggling of the body”. The main performers are Sachiko Sakai since the “Zoi Family”, Hiroyuki Nagato of the “Next door bride”, Shoji Yasui of the “Sentimental wife”, Takatoko of “Crying, the last Japanese fighter”, “Blue angry” Noriko Katsura, Shinzo three of "actress (1956)", Masao Oda, Nobuo Kaneko, Toru Abe, Hiroshi Nihonyanagi, Misako Tsubouchi.
The film tells the story of a group of high school boxing team members who spend their days drinking, sailing and chasing girls, and who more often than not spend their nights getting into brawls. In particular, it focuses upon Tatsuya, a sullen young man, who falls in love with Eiko, a proud upper-class girl.
In the first group of Yoshitake Ichi and Taketatsu Sada Preparatory Training, the team leader was Sou Adachi, a veteran warrior with strict training. Yoshitake's father was called, and his mother lived in the house where he used to work, but Midori, a female student at that house, secretly loved Yoshitake.
A legendary gangster raises himself out of a small town and gathers followers on his rise to power.
A wandering Jirocho stumbles upon his wife's possible murder and has other adventures while on the run.
Though less well known than Susumu Hani’s celebrated 1963 remake, Hiroshi Inagaki’s Children Hand in Hand is nonetheless a heartbreaking portrait of childhood kindness and cruelty—and, by implication, conflicted ideals of masculinity—centering on a small-town boy with a learning disability who attempts to fit in with his classmates.
Matsugoro is a poor rickshaw driver whose animated spirit and optimistic demeanor make him a favorite of the town. Matsu helps an injured boy, Toshio, and is hired by the boy's parents.
