Kayoko Kishimoto
Momochi Nozomu works as a supermarket employee and lives without any dream and courage. He accidentally met his favorite manga writer, Yuizuki Tomoe and they became a couple. One day, a middle-aged man approaches Nozomu and calls himself Tomoe.
He has a unique, impenetrable face. He's also an artist of many different facets. Takeshi Kitano embodies the new Japanese cinema, the archetype of the merciless Yakuza, but he is also a subversive visual artist, an unbridled TV comedian, an instigator of the conservative Japanese society... After dissecting artists like Guy Maddin, Yves Montmayeur creates this portrait of one of the most important auteurs in contemporary filmmaking.
Tomoko Ashimura types on a computer her memory of her late husband Goro, but Tomoko Ashimura succumbs to a disease. On behalf of Tomoko Ashimura, her grandchild Osamu collects Tomoko’s memoirs. He learns about the love between his grandparents for the past 50 years and the difficult life they faced during and after the Pacific War.
Kojiro Himuro is a champion figure skater taking part in an upcoming world competition. Yet, he is suffering from a complicated CTEPH (chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension). Kantaro Kurosu is the director of the Cross Medical Center. He asks Michiko Daimon to perform surgery on Kojiro, but, right before his surgery, she is deprived of “the most important weapon as a surgeon.”
Twenty-four-year-old country bumpkin Aiko is a new teacher who has arrived at a new town and a new primary school. When nervous she blurts out her local dialect. This seals her nickname and reputation. Nonetheless, she is determined and strives to do her best for her students. She is an inspiration soon.
Following the death of his wife professor Kyoichi leads a solitary life by the sea. A stray cat called Mii, who was being fed by his wife, not only continues to drop by, but also seems to be visiting the altar Kyoichi has set up for his deceased wife. While uncomfortable with the cat and its visits, he nonetheless takes up a search when Mii goes missing. The endeavour connects him with the town's folk and reveals that he is not alone.
When Natsuki Aizawa was a child, she was kidnapped which left her traumatized. Natsuki grew up relying on her friend Kentaro Yuki. She now studies physics at a university. One day, she meets newly appointed professor Shuya Tatsumi. Afterwards, mysterious events continually happen around Natsuki Aizawa. Shuya is time traveller who travels between the future and the past.
Chiyo, a 59 year old mother of 4, had lost her husband seven years ago. She will soon lose her home so she is offered by her eldest son, Ryoichi to live with him and his family. But her children are disappointed to hear that Chiyo has decided to become a live-in housekeeper. Then her eldest daughter Setsuko announced that Chiyo has had an offer of marriage. It is from the widower Kurosaki who had been a friend to Chiyo's deceased husband. Kurosaki runs a small company and has no children but has enough life savings. However, second daughter Tomoe, and youngest child, Yoko, are opposed to it. The siblings begin to argue. Meanwhile, Kurosaki tells his sister Namiko that he has decided to remarry. She is furious because he refuses to tell her anything about Chiyo. Thus, she takes it upon herself to find out about Chiyo and soon has a confrontation with her. Around that time, Kurosaki’s company is about to go bankrupt...
Daimon Michiko is a 37-year-old freelance surgeon who is part of a questionable “doctor placement service” that has her wander from hospital to hospital. The harsh environment at the hospitals led many doctors to retire from their positions, forcing hospitals to make use of said program to fill the empty spots at least temporary. However, Michiko doesn’t look like a doctor at all with her flashy clothes and eccentric attitude. In the first episode she raises objections to a certain operation which is planned to be done by the head of a hospital who hasn’t performed an operation for a very long time. This causes Michiko to incur odium at the hospital, however, everyone becomes frozen when Michiko points out the outdated skills of the director. She also holds a scrupulous compliance when it comes to her working hours, never does any unnecessary chores that don’t require a medical license, and couldn’t care less about the power struggles within the hospitals. Nobody knows how she acquired such a top-level skill that allows her to claim exorbitant sums as reward, but her private life is an even greater mystery to everyone around her. Tanaka plays a rookie surgeon, Uchida an anesthetist, Kishibe the head of the placement service, and Ito the head of the surgical department of this institution.
The show is based on the "Jiu" suspense novel series by Honda Tetsuya. Motoko (Kuroki) is a fierce, physically capable investigator with a strong battle instinct, while Misaki (Tabe) is more intellectual, kind-hearted, and naive. The two of them are both working to track down Jiu, the ringleader responsible for a series of brutal crimes.
In this direct continuation of the earlier special, Godai tries to figure out what to do with his life after college while competing with Kyoko's impossibly perfect tennis coach for her affection.
Based on the manga "Daisuki!! Yuzu no Kosodate Nikki (I Love You! Yuzu's Parenting Diary)" by Mizuho Aimoto, this Japanese TV drama focuses on a woman named Yuzu Fukuhara, who, despite her adult age, has a condition that affects her mental age. After her boyfriend dies saving a child from being hit by a vehicle, Yuzu finds out that she is pregnant with his child. Despite her condition, she shows determination to be a mother and eventually has a daughter named Himawari. The show focuses on Yuzu and her family as Yuzu goes against the odds regarding her mental condition so she can be a good mother to Himawari.
Takeshi Kitano plays a version of himself in which he's a struggling director cycling through a number of different genres in an effort to complete his latest project.
Set in an old prestigious ryotei (Japanese-style restaurant) in a small town in the center of Tokyo, a young itamae (cook for Japanese dishes) struggles his life, love and work while the long-lasted ryotei and the beloved old town face the change to survive the time. This heartwarming drama shows the intimate relationship of the community that has been lost nowadays, asks what the most important things in your life is, and tells how difficult it is to make a decision. The story is told in the form of a letter from him to his unknown father with lots of humor and love.
Based on a hit manga by Takahashi Rumiko, this is a romantic comedy about the relationship of Otonashi Kyoko, the beautiful widow and manager of a boarding house and Godai Yusaku, a poor student tenant.
The young daughter of Keizo Tsujiguchi, a respected physician who runs his own hospital, is found murdered. Keizo secretly blames his wife Natsue because he suspects her of having an affair with his colleague Murai, and having been too distracted to keep proper watch over the child. Being a proud man, he does not accuse her directly, but concocts, instead, a twisted revenge against her. Pretending it is to comfort his devastated wife, Keizo arranges for them to adopt a baby girl. What he hasn't told Natsue, is that the baby is the orphaned daughter of the murderer, a tragic day-laborer who has hanged himself while in police custody. He plans to reveal the child's origins after Natsue has given her heart to the child-- when it will cause the greatest possible hurt.
The second feature from female director Shindo Kaze (Love/Juice), Princess in an Iron Helmet (a.k.a. Korogare! Tamako) is a bright and colorful youth film about a quirky young woman's reluctant coming-of-age journey. Tamako (Yamada Maiko) is 20 years old, lives at home with her mother (Kishimoto Kayoko) and teenaged brother, and simply refuses to grow up. Ever since her father (Naoto Takenaka) left the family, she's stopped trusting people, and now lounges around in her own small, claustrophobic world. Wearing an iron helmet whenever she steps outside, she ventures only to her mom's beauty salon, the mechanic shop, and the bakery - the source of her greatest joy in life, sweet buns. Her world is static, insular, and safe, and there's no need to change - that is until her cat runs away, the bakery closes, and her mom falls in love with another man.
Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.
One of a gang of karaoke loving middle aged women is murdered by a young man. Her friends track him down and kill him. His friends track them down and kill the killer ..... and it escalates!
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.
Kantarou Kobayashi is an ordinary businessman who has multiple troubles on hand. He's been having an affair with a woman working in the same company, but she does lots of eccentric things. His wife has no interrest in anything but her plan to build a new apartment where their old house is. His son suffers skin eruptions. His mother appears to have senile dementia.
Tora-san returns to his family's home to attend an elementary school class reunion. After he embarrasses himself by getting drunk and insulting all his ex-classmates, he resumes his travels. In Kyushu he meets an outspoken 18-year-old girl who becomes enamored of Tora-san and follows him around. One of Tora-san's old friends is terminally ill and makes Tora-san promise him to marry his wife once he is gone.
Famous detective Kosuke Kindaichi follows a dying man's words to an enigmatic island, where he meets beautiful twin sisters and tragic events unfold.
