Makiko Watanabe
Tamio Akanishi works at a public office in Yokohama. He is going through one of the worst periods of his life, having been left by his fiancée. One day, his boss tells him to take care of a big, white dog, abandoned by its previous owner. Tamio begins to live with the dog, who doesn't bark and only makes a sound that sounds like "haw", and thus he names it Haw. While living together, the connection between the two deepens.
Based on a true story - a true love story of a man and his wife who are at the mercy of fate, but wish to be reunited for 11 years. With thoughts of his wife and his fellows, Yamamoto Hatao never gave up hoping that he'd return home despite hopeless circumstances.
The super unconventional lawyer is back! Our new friends are comic book girls! And the biggest enemy of all! The strongest lawyer who manipulates the prosecution behind the scenes sets out to prove the devil... Take on a case that is 100% impossible to prove!
Masashi (Kazunari Ninomiya) is a photographer. He has his parents and an older brother Yukihiro (Satoshi Tsumabuki). Through the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Masashi begins to take staged photos of his family.
In her search for answers, 17-year-old Haru sets out on a long journey across the country to the town where, in 2011, the devastating tsunami swept away her brother and parents. This road trip takes the young woman, who is still haunted by her loss, from Hiroshima to Tokyo and Fukushima and all the way to Ōtsuchi, where her family home once stood. On the way she encounters other people, other stories, other lives and other losses. Landscapes and faces. The journey ends in the middle of a garden in full bloom among the scarred surroundings of her coastal hometown.. In it stands a telephone box which, even though it is no longer connected, is used to speak to those who cannot be reached any other way.
Hinako comes across the novel “Tamaran Hill” and immediately starts reading it with delight, as “tamaran” (intolerable) happens to be her father’s favorite swear word. She soon imagines herself inside the book’s story, which also deals with someone intrigued with that particular word, and even meets the real-life author Senji KUROI there.
Momi’s House is a facility to support self-reliance of young people with problems. The facility is run by Yasutoshi (Naoto Ogata) and his wife Megumi (Misato Tanaka). Ayaka (Sara Minami) is a 16-year-old girl. She has refused to go to school for about half a year. Her mother decides to send her to Momi’s House. While staying there, Ayaka begins to change.
In 37 Seconds, 23-year-old comic book artist Yuma, physically disabled due to profound cerebral palsy and emotionally stunted by her well-meaning but overly protective mother, forges her own unusual path to sexual awakening and independence while at the same time discovering love and forgiveness.
Noda Ryusuke is a popular scriptwriter specialising in stories about the perfect married couple but is shocked when his wife of 23 years suddenly wants to get a divorce.
Atomu (Shuhei Nomura) was raised by his mother in a poor environment. He is now a young adult, but he stutters and has timid personality. To support himself, Atomu works part-time for a used junk collecting company. Atomu finds inspiration in rap music and his life changes.
A young female founder runs in to societal barriers during her drive to create startup projects, in a Japanese society that hasn't traditionally accepted entrepreneurs . She finds herself, and maturity along the way.
Harumi Morishita (Eiko Koike) lives with her husband Kyohei Amaya, but they have not officially registered their marriage. One day, she receives a phone call from that police that her husband has died. She goes to the hospital where her husband Kyohei Amaya was sent to. There, Harumi Morishita meets Kanako Ogura (Ryo) and Akane Fujimiya (Rei Okamoto), who both insist that Kyohei Amaya is their husband. Both Kanako Ogura and Akane Fujimiya have not registered their marriage like Harumi Morishita. A will was left behind by Kyohei Amaya. His will leads Harumi Morishita, Kanako Ogura and Akane Fujimiya to a single mother share house and states that he will leave 300 million yen to the only wife that he loved.
Three girls - Miwa, an introvert who's best friend is her turtle, Saori, a rich girl from a celebrity family, and Koyuzu, a member of a revenge agency - wind up in a complex rivalry with one another.
An ex-journalist Masuda whose article caused a scandalous fatality now works at a small factory. He learns that his colleague Suzuki is a former convict who killed some children back in middle school. Trying to get back his old job, Masuda secretly starts to write a piece on Suzuki while befriending him. The more he learns about his colleague, however, the more Masuda remembers his younger self, a boy who triggered his classmate's suicide.
Wakana is a 17-year-old high school student who loves to cook. She enjoys peaceful days with her family and friends, but sometimes she senses delicate changes among people around her. Wakana meets office worker Mizuho through social media where she can talk about her worries, but Mizuho turns out to be a person Wakana never expected to be.
Hisashi Tanaka (Haruma Miura) is a medical student in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. He does volunteer work and gets to know Yasuaki Kano (Yo Oizumi) at the hospital. Yasuaki Kano has suffered from muscular dystrophy since he was 12-years-old. Yasuaki Kano has his eccentric ways like running out of the hospital and saying that he wants to eat a banana late at night. Hisashi Tanaka thinks Yasuaki Kano is a lovely person. Yasuaki Kano develops a crush on rookie volunteer Misaki Ando (Mitsuki Takahata). He asks Hisashi Tanaka to write a love letter for him, but Misaki Ando is Hisashi Tanaka’s girlfriend. --asianwiki
The triangular relationship between three 21-year-olds - the unnamed narrator, his male roommate Shizuo, and a woman named Sachiko who works at the same bookstore as the narrator.
Based on a 2016 novel by Mana Sakura, “The Lowlife” shows the stories of three women who work in Japan’s adult video industry .
Troubled 17-year-old Yu (Nishijima Takahiro) is the son of a widowed priest (Watabe Atsuro) who's in an illicit relationship with a parishioner (Watanabe Makiko). Beleaguered by his father's hypocritical religious zeal, Yu takes his own sin - taking upskirt panty shots of schoolgirls - very seriously, so much so it becomes a job. Yu is saving his first time for the ideal girl, and he finally meets her in the form of Yoko (Mitsushima Hikari), a sassy man-hating schoolgirl who beats up guys for the heck of it. Yu falls hard for Yoko, but courting her is no easy matter, especially when fanatical cult recruiter Aya (Ando Sakura) also has her eyes on Yoko.
In the closing days of World War II, Japanese-American Hiromi, a girl age 16, encounters an American deserter, Bob, and a Japanese soldier, Iwabuchi, living together in a cave on a small island in Okinawa. The two men are deserters from their armies; yet both vow never to harm another human being again. Hiromi looks after the deserters until another soldier appears and the peace of the cave is shattered. It leads to the death of three of them and a fascinating mystery that isn't solved until the present day.
Schoolteacher Yohei is married to Miyoko. For the first time in 25 years they begin to live by themselves when their son marries and moves out. Then Yohei discovers that all’s not well in his marriage.
Kenji and Aya spend their summer days in a Hotel. While she is doing her own thing, he tries to work on his novel. But then a few strange hotel guest arouse the curiosity of the couple...
Hikari will perform household chores to perfection for the sake of her husband, Kubota Masazumi. Her own life is only to support him. Kubota, a newscaster, takes pride in his popularity because of his outspoken remarks despite the conventions of sponsors and the television network. His behaviour mobilises public opinion and he wishes that he can change society with his words. Kubota owes his position as main newscaster on the news programme to the support of his wife of six years too. But why does Hikari devote herself completely to him? The certain characteristic that Kubota’s wife possesses is an enigma, and a shocking development awaits him.
This mystery special consists of three thrilling stories by three notable writers.
A failed director is trying to get his next movie off the ground, while dealing with his cranky brother and his estranged wife.
In the summer of 1963, flats of modern construction begin to be built in the slums where vagrants and women of the night gather. The city hall's plan is to house the slum dwellers in cultural housing, complete with gas and running water. Kenji, a construction worker, and Yumiko, a waitress at a late-night rest house, meet in the slum, but only at dusk. One day, a Korean worker falls from scaffolding at an apartment building site and dies. The site supervisor and city hall workers bury the corpse in the concrete foundations of the apartment building...
3 years on from hospitalité, Kiki Sugino and Koji Fukada are back again with this socially-conscious film about a 18-year-old girl in-between adolescence and adulthood who spends a summer in a valley and enjoys romance. Sakuko, a 18-year-old girl studying for her university entrance exams, decides to accompany her aunt Mikie on a trip to a seaside town. There she befriends Takashi, a refugee from Fukushima who has dropped out of high school and works at a motel run by Ukichi, a friend of Mikie. In-between childhood and adulthood, Sakuko starts to understand the difficulties of becoming an adult.
Nana is 19 and lives in a corner of Tokyo. Her birth mother and Marin, a girl the same age who she loves, were the only people she could trust. Nana confronts them in her yearning for love, but the world does not give it to her. With her whole life ahead of her, Nana struggles, suffers, and begins a search for the true meaning of love.
The intertwined love story of four young people on Christmas night.
Taking place during the full-moon night of traditional dances in August and set on the Japanese island of Amami-Oshima, the drama centers on a 14-year-old boy who finds a dead body floating in the sea. The young man enlists the help of his girlfriend to solve the mystery. The pair will learn to become adults by experiencing the interwoven cycles of life, death and love.
Koharu Higashimura (Nanoka Matsubara) is a 17-year-old high school student, living in a rural town. Koharu lives with her older sister Hazuki (Elisa Yanagi) and mother Sawa (Makiko Watanabe). 14 years ago, Koharu's father abandoned their family after meeting a new woman. One evening at dinner time, Sawa tells her daughters that their father has terminal cancer and they should go see him before it's too late. Sawa gives her daughters a camera and asks if they can take a picture of him, because she would like to see. Koharu and Hazuki then leave for the hospital where their father is hospitalized. While riding the train to the hospital, Koharu, who has doesn't have any memories of their father, asks Hazuki about their dad.
"Daijobu 3 Kumi" depicts the interactions between new teacher Shinnosuke Akao, who was born without arms and legs, and the 28 students in his 5th grade class, told from the vantage point of school board member Yusaku Shiraishi
Professional killer Ken (Hirofumi Arai) is trying to break away from the yakuza. Taking up work at a local motorcycle shop, he forges a new life under the motherly eye of Yoko (Jun Fubuki), an older woman who owns the shop. However, Ken's dark past isn't letting him go that easily. Akira (Jun Murakami), Ken's ruthless mentor and himself an assassin, has been coming around and pressuring Ken to return to the family. Together with orphaned teenager Tsuyoshi (Niinobu Ryomei), Ken decides to take to the road and settle matters in the only way he knows - by the trigger of his gun. Featuring music by Snake on the Beach, a solo project of legendary singer and guitarist Yusuke Chiba, A Road Stained Crimson takes viewers down the high-octane expressway of bikes, guns and rock 'n' roll.
This metafictional 'remix' of our world under surveillance is the first film in seven years from director Tsuchiya Yutaka, who has constantly addressed the plight of Japanese society. A girl who attempts to poison her mother with thallium is portrayed as an innocent observer who reconstructs and transcends our modern-day malaise. Idol Kuramochi Yuka stars, while actors Watanabe Makiko and Furutachi Kanji provide able support and actual body modification artists, biologists, and plastic surgeons also appear Incidentally, a “GFP Bunny” is a rabbit that glows green due to genetic manipulation.
Chiaki Yoshino is a TV producer. She is 45-years-old and single. Chiaki Yoshino worries about her health and her later years rather than dating. She hopes to buy an old house and live there with a friend when she gets older. Chiaki then goes to Kamakura, Japan to look for a house. There, she meets a 50-year-old single man Wahei Nagakura. Wahei's first wife died and he has one child. Their love story begins ...
Saeko and Yukako live together in a small apartment complex in Tokyo. After the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, both live in a state of unease. Saeko, who is in a divorce, is worried that her daughter is exposed to radiation. Yukako is also afraid of radiation and tries to convince her husband to move. The two become friends after Yukako tries to save Saeko after a suicide attempt.
Kyohei Nagashima (Masaki Okada) has shut away the world. During his high school days he was the target of bullying and experienced horrifying moments. Now as a young adult Kyohei takes a new job. He works for a company that specializes in cleaning out the homes of recently deceased individuals. With his new job Kyohei meets co-worker Yuki (Nana Eikura). Yuki has also experienced a traumatizing event as a teen and has also shut herself away from the world. These two young people form a bond as they go through the homes of the recently departed people. They gradually open up to each other and in the process to the world. Yet, their fragile psyches may or may not be ready for such changes ...
Set after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, all 14-year-old Sumida Yuichi wants to become is a regular boy and live a decent life. His environment though repeatedly drags him into the mud. He runs his parent's rental boat business, which is located next to a nondescript lake. His mother frequently comes home with different men and soon she leaves him entirely. His father only comes around looking for money. Chazawa Keiko is a classmate of Sumida Yuichi. She harbors a severe crush on Yuichi. Keiko's home life isn't much better than Yuichi's. Her mother builds a gallows with a noose in place for Keiko to take her own life. Her mother believes her life would be better off without Keiko. Under these circumstances, Keiko pays a visit to Yuichi's home. A group of people are lingering nearby who live in makeshift tents on the property. Keiko tries to befriend Yuichi, but she is berated and even physically assaulted. She doesn't get deterred though and sticks around.
Following the 2011 tsunami, three women reunite in the family home only to rekindle tense, ruinous relationships.
A senseless double murder resonates eight years later in four intertwined stories.
War photjournalist Yasuyuki Tsukahara married popular manga artist Yuki Sonoda and had children. Because of Yasayuki's drinking problems the couple divorced. Yasuyuki is now coughing up blood, hospitalized, and violent. Even with all of these problems Yasuyuki can't give up drinking alcohol. His family gets tired. Yasuyuki is then hospitalized in an alcoholic ward. There he finds comfort living with other patients and having conversations with doctors. With the help of his family, Yasuyuki recovers mentally and physically, but his body has already paid a heavy toll.
A seemingly "normal" office worker Hiroko has a secret. At home she lives with a prosthetic torso - no head, arms or feet, just body and penis. Hiroko bathes with the torso and she also makes love with the torso at night. Hiroko's secret life is interrupted when her outgoing sister Mina rings her doorbell. Mina is running away from her abusive boyfriend and wants to stay at Hiroko's home
A timid young woman who lives with her domineering mother accepts an Adult Video scout's offer to "become somebody else" by performing in porn videos. As she rises in popularity, the boundaries between her two lives begin to disintegrate.
The story of a teenage boy named Yu, who falls for Yoko, a girl he runs into while working as an "up-skirt" photographer in an offshoot of the porn industry. His attempts to woo her are complicated by a spot of cross-dressing - which convinces Yoko that she is lesbian - dalliances with kung-fu and crime, and a constant struggle with the guilt that's a legacy of his Catholic upbringing.
Fate brings a man and woman together in Lyon, France. They fall in love, but time is set to run out on them ...
Yuto Kobayashi stars as a down-on-his-luck 16-year-old named Ryo Kawai. Ryo grew up fatherless, and has been trying to make a living by working at a local convenience store ever since his mother was hospitalized with a prolonged illness. Unable to support himself on his meager earnings, he has to resort to sneaking money from the cash register and stealing rice balls to get by-a habit which eventually gets him fired. Just when it seems things can't get any worse, his mother dies and he's stuck with a hefty bill for the hospital and funeral expenses. Obviously unable to pay, but determined to send his mother off himself, Ryo steals her corpse and places it in a small rowboat. After the makeshift funeral ceremony, Ryo heads off to Tokyo on a journey to meet his absentee father.
Kohei and Akira are a couple running away together without a destination. They meet a geology researcher namend Shiraki on the way and the three visit a log cabin of a famous geologist Kanbe. With fortune teller Eiko, ex-girlfriend of Kanbe, joining the party, five people of diverse ages, sexes, statutes, and professions happen to spend a night together in the log cabin deep in the mountains. As the strangers get to know each other and grow closer, each one of their hidden pasts is brought to light. Meanwhile, following a thunderstorm and an earthquake, something even worse is approaching them...
Sanae is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her mother and six-year-old sister. She has not recently been able to be open with her fisherman grandfather. Sanae is awoken by the sound of hard rain one night. As she dozes, the rain changes into the flow of the river and she finds herself lying in a fishing boat when she opens her eyes. She hears, from far away, the strains of a harmonica which her grandpa loves... Next morning Sanae is informed that her grandfather has passed away. Frictions are revealed between Sanae and those around her. In her confused state, she runs out of the house leaving for the river where her grandpa's boat is moored...
Coincidence and the aftermath of violence. A man's middle-school daughter has been murdered. His wife is already deceased. He tells a counselor he wants to live in anonymity, working with his hands. He moves away and gets a job in a factory. The woman who is the mother of the killer wants to apologize to the father, although she knows it would change nothing. He refuses to meet. She moves back to her hometown. She works in the kitchen at an inn where the man now lives. No one speaks. He eats alone. He reads in his apartment. She walks to her home and has a sandwich. She keeps her eyes lowered. He drives to work. Does either want to connect? What bond can they establish? Written by
A caregiver at a small retirement home takes one of her patients for a drive to the country, but the two wind up stranded in a forest where they embark on an exhausting and enlightening two-day journey.
Director Kazuo Hara tells the tale of the eponymous Chika and four different relationships she has during the turbulent political climate of the 1970s. Four different actresses play the role of Chika in order to emphasise the different ways she is perceived by her husband, a teacher, a student and an aging gangster.
Asaka Ai is a budding starlet waiting for her big break to make it into the limelight. Under the dedicated tutelage of her manager Bando she shuffles from one photo shoot to the next, most often resulting in her image being used on various advertising posters. With the help of a catchy tune, Ai and Bando anticipate she will finally break out of merely poster appearances and into television commercials and from there, real stardom. The song is entitled "If this is a Dream Wake Me" (Yume Nara Samete) and was written by Ai's friend Hiromi just prior to Hiromi jumping headlong off a tall building. Butas things started to go well, a stalker shows up knowing anything and everything about Ai...
This small scale character drama follows two young women (Kumiko Aso & Tsugumi) and a sex date (Masatoshi Nagase) who turns out to be an alright guy. What follows is a classic love triangle, however so skillfully played that most of it comes out rather fresh.
When a woman, able to read the thoughts of others, comes to help survivors of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, she encounters a girl with Multiple Personality Disorder whose dangerous 13th personality, Isola, must be stopped
Tetsuro is living with his young girlfriend Aki in a pleasant house in Tokyo. They both spend a lot of time at their jobs. However their routine is upset when Tetsuro brings his 8 year old son Shun to live with them, while his ex-wife recovers from a car accident. Aki is annoyed because she was not asked, and she knows that she will have to do the bulk of the work in caring for him. This forces Aki to reevaluate her relationship, and decide whether she is to remain a modern working woman, or become a mother.
This Japanese thriller finds a beautiful policewoman becoming entangled in Japan's S&M underground while investigating a gruesome murder. Soon, her investigation has led her to a seductive sadist and his equally appealing masochist victim. Falling prey to her suspects' powerful allure, she struggles to extricate herself from an increasingly torrid affair to solve the mystery she set out to investigate.
