Mari Hamada
"Lion's House" is the name of a hospice on a beautiful island. People with various personalities who have been sentenced to life expectancy are living the last days of their lives there. The story begins on the day when the main character, Shizuku, comes to the "Lion's House".Shizuku decides to spend the rest of her days at the "Lion's House," and she takes a ferry to the island....
Sugimoto Taeko moves in with her daughter Natsuki and granddaughter Mizuki. They begin a lively life together. In the midst of it all, Taeko sees her former self in Mizuki. The bitter taste of the first pineapple she ever ate, the disastrous score on a math test, the awakening of her acting spirit at a school performance. As Taeko recalls her elementary school days, she unleashes a dream that she had long given up on and sealed away. 'I'm going to be on stage!' Taeko immediately auditions and devotes herself to rehearsing for a Shakespeare play. But just then, the theatre where she was going to perform goes bankrupt, and she is forced to give up on her dream again!
Based on webcomic “Musicophilia” by Akira Saso published in 2011, this is a film about Saku Urushibara, a young man with a special ability to understand sounds in nature. His father is a prominent composer, and his younger half-brother is a genius music composer. Due to the success achieved by his father and half-brother, Saku Urushibara has an inferiority complex. He tries to stay away from music because of this, but he ends up enrolling at the University of Arts in Kyoto where his special ability helps him find his own voice in the world of contemporary classical music.
An Kazutaka is a young, bashful psychiatrist whose jazz piano skills are as good as a pro. Right after they have their first child, the Great Hanshin Earthquake strikes. Although his family is affected by the disaster, he begins to search for what he can do as a psychiatrist. As he listens to the stories of disaster victims, he realises that he can help not by treating them, but restoring their capacity to heal. Later on, he compiles his observations of the disaster-hit area as a psychiatrist into a book, and wins a prize for social sciences.
Sato is 27-year-old single man. He is waiting for a dramatic moment in his life that will lead to love. He works at a market research company. One day, he asks random passersby in front of Sendai Station to fill out a questionnaire. He has a hard time finding willing participants. A woman in a black suit agrees to answer the questionnaire. Sato sees the letter "shampu" on her hand...is this fate? --asianwiki
In Osaka, Sayoko Takeuchi indulges in her evil ways. She targets old wealthy men and marries them for future inheritances. She works with Toru Kashiwagi who runs a marriage agency. Sayoko Takeuchi is married to a wealthy elderly man. One day, Tomomi Nakase hears her father was taken to the hospital. She rushes to the hospital and learns her father is unconscious. She also hears for the first time that her father is married to Sayoko Takeuchi. Tomomi Nakase takes the first steps in stopping Sayoko Takeuchi from gaining her father's fortune. She hires private detective Yoshinori Honda to investigate Sayoko Takeuchi and Toru Kashiwagi.
Nana is a servant of the Kazahaya family, She is from a samurai family. Her father was about to reveal wrongdoings within the domain but had to commit ritual suicide for a crime he hadn't done. Ichinoshin tries to correct the wrongdoings, but end up being a target himself. After finding out her father's enemy is the man behind it all, Nana decides to protect Ichinoshin and his children, as she had promised Sachi, Ichinoshin's late wife.
Kurumi is hired at a high-end hotel, but is instead dispatched to work at fun fair that is connected to the business network. The new work is out in the country and there is not much else to do or places to go. The go-to employee is one Yoshiko. Kurumi wants to be successful and valued and is eager to learn from Yoshiko. All is not as it seems on the surface however.
Akira Tachibana is a 17-year-old high school student. She was once a promising athlete, but an injury has prevented her from taking part in track and field. One day, Akira Tachibana goes to a family restaurant and the manager talks to her in a tender voice. This makes Akira Tachibana begin working part-time at the restaurant. The manager is 45-year-old Masami Kondo and he is divorced with a child. Akira Tachibana falls in love with him. --asianwiki
Hikaru Tsutsui is a high school student. He enjoys animation and video games in the virtual world, but he doesn't enjoy his real life. People at his school don't even know he exists. One day, he cleans up the pool at his school with beautiful Iroha Ikarashi. Iroha approaches Hikaru and confesses that she likes him.
Taking place in the spring of 1992, the story begins with the father of the Makioka company handing his company over. It starts a new era for the lives of the 4 Makioka sisters. Tsuruko continues living with the memory of their family's former glory, though it no longer remains. Yukiko, not dissatisfied with her married life, finds herself worrying over her sisters' behavior. Yukiko, the third born daughter, is seeking to marry but has failed matchmaking many times. The youngest, Taeko, gets caught in a typhoon that hits Kansai...
A middle-aged office worker encounters aliens and is gifted with alien technology and limitless powers.
Miyata Ayaka (Renbutsu Misako), an office worker, sees her world collapse around her when her mother Miyata Harumi (Kikuchi Momoko) collapses due to illness and is left in a coma because of it. She then discovers that her mother kept a secret diary that she writes with her high school friends and that the lies she has told her have become evident, with nothing to lose. Ayaka will travel to Kaga, in Ishikawa Prefecture, her mother's hometown, to try to clarify the truth of the lie in her mother's secret diary.
Tanaka is going through a tough time trying to support his younger sister Mitsuko, recently arrested and hold up in jail. As an investigative reporter, he immerses himself into a story about a shocking murder case gone cold; a family was brutally murdered a year ago and the case remains unsolved.
College student Kahoko is the quintessential overprotected child born out of today's Japanese society. Shielded by her parents, Kahoko grew up completely pampered and became somewhat of a miraculously naive "test tube human." She is 21 years old and about to start working for a company, but she has never slept away from home, had a part time job, chosen her own clothes, or even ridden a train alone. Kahoko has had her picture taken, but she has never taken a picture herself. Now, Kahoko is about to step out of her germ-free isolation pod and into the germ-infested world. It won't be long until she realizes, "I'm different from everybody else!" She has been her mother's best friend all her life and her father can't live without her. As they become emotionally unstable from the changes that Kahoko goes through, their family begins to fall apart. That's when Kahoko herself and the people around her begin to see the strength that hides deep within.
Takuto Hirabayashi now works at a company, Kyohei Hano works at a trading company and Hajime works for an apparel brand. The three of them are friends since high school and live together in a share house. A day when they come back home they find a baby inside the house with the writing "It's your son". No-one of them wants the baby and they keep on blaming each other, but the child falls sick and they are forced to take care of him.
In 1987, frustrated junior high student Takashi hates his uncool father hanging around their suburban home all the time, and is pestered by the area’s wannabe gangsters. But he’s interested in the girl next door, the bounteously-breasted Megumi. One day, Takashi hears a rumor that porn actress Kyoko Yokushimaru is coming to town for an autograph session at the only video store in town where Takashi and his judo friends always hang out. Their ridiculous but serious adventure begins. What will Takashi find after all the surprises and chaos? Recalling youth classics like Stand By Me, this is the debut feature of Shin Adachi, Japan Academy Prize-winning screenwriter of 100 Yen Love.
Hatori Matsuzaki (Mirei Kiritani) is a female high school student. She has a crush on her childhood friend Rita Terasaka (Kento Yamazaki) and believes he will eventually choose her as her heroine, but Rita Terasaka begins dating Miho Adachi. Meanwhile, the most popular male student, Kosuke Hiromitsu (Kentaro Sakaguchi) takes an interest in Hatori Matsuzaki.
Tsugumi Dozono (Nana Eikura) works at a large electronics company in Tokyo. She likes to spend long vacations at her grandmother’s house in the countryside. One day, her grandmother passes away and Tsugumi Dozono decides to live in her grandmother's house while working from home. She finds a strange middle-aged man in the house. The man's name is Jun Kaieda (Etsushi Toyokawa). Jun Kaieda tells Tsugumi that he is her grandmother’s ex-student and her grandmother gave him a key to the annex house. Tsugumi, who does not know the exact relationship between her grandmother and Jun, begins to live with him.
Due to the economic recession, the orchestra is shut down. The members hear later that the orchestra will be reformed. Only some of the members, who have not yet been rehired, gather for the orchestra. For the first time since they disbanded the orchestra plays together, but they sound horrible. At that time, the conductor Tetsusaburo Tendou appears in front of them.
Pegasus Bookstore is going through hard times due to competition from internet bookstores. Kitamura Aki and Nishioka Riko are employees at Pegasus Bookstore. Aki is 23 years old. She has a strong will and freewheeling personality. She places her job and dreams above marriage. Riko is a 40-year-old single woman. She is the vice-manager at the bookstore. She has pride in her work. The two women have completely different personalities.
A young, mentally retarded boy is wrongfully accused of murder, but his family lacks the means to hire an attorney to defend him. The boy’s sister, Kiriko, pleads with an accomplished attorney named Otsuka to defend her brother pro bono. But because of Otsuka’s busy schedule and other priorities, he refuses to take the case. Lacking a proper defense, Kiriko’s brother is eventually convicted of murder, and dies in prison. From that point on, Kiriko is determined to take revenge against Otuska.
Rookie police officer Chinami (Emi Takei) is assigned to work on the investigation team. On her first day, she is designated for assignment. Chinami is teamed up with a handsome detective. They work together to solve difficult cases, while Chinami often gets scolded by the veteran detectives.
New student Kanji transfers to 6th grade 2 class, where Ayami Mutoi works as the homeroom teacher. Students begin to talk among themselves that they have seen new transfer student Kanji in a dream. Yuiko Koto also had a night mare. In her nightmare, a boy that looks transfer student Kanji appeared as a prince. Ayami Mutoi tries to keep that to herself. She actually likes the prince in her dream.
Iwata Koichi and Kagawa Midori are second-year students at Tozaiyama High School. One day, while coming home from school, they discover a shooting star rising up in the sky. The next day, Midori sees a shining figure in school and everyone on the school grounds starts talking about a ghost. At that point, a mysterious transfer student called Yamazawa Norio suddenly arrives at the school and moves in to live next door to Koichi. Strange things begin to happen frequently around Koichi whenever Norio appears. The reason and objective of Norio’s arrival in this world is gradually revealed.
After her ex-boyfriend dies, an editor becomes obsessed with his fiancée, a woman accused of swindling multiple men out of money before killing them.
Junior high school teacher Koyama Akira has the ability to sense ghosts, and his new school has a ghost named Akane who used to be a teacher.
Keisuke Kinoshita sits easily alongside Ozu, Kurosawa and Naruse as one of Japan’s most respected legends of cinema. Made to commemorate the centenary of Kinoshita’s birth, this biographical drama chronicles formative hardships and personal encounters to provide a rare glimpse into the life of one of Japan’s most acclaimed screen directors. Includes archival footage from 49 of the films he produced during his career at Shochiku.
Ryoro Kurojima (Sadao Abe) is the director of a Tokyo apology center. His job is to teach others how to apologize. Ryoro Kurojima solves problems by using his apology techniques on anything from simple arbitration to a national crisis.
Akumu-chan is a 2012 Japanese television drama series. Based on the novel Yume Chigai by Riku Onda, this television series stars actress Keiko Kitagawa and singer Gackt also child actress Manatsu Kimura. A movie was announced for 2014. This television series was broadcast in Japan from October 13, 2012 to December 22, 2012 as part of Nippon Television's Saturday Dramas time slot, which airs every Saturday from 9pm to 9:54pm. In addition it was simulcast on the streaming service Crunchyroll under the title My Little Nightmare in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
Mio Kurasaka was a bright musical star on Broadway, but setbacks forced her to return to her hometown of Yume City in Japan. Back in her hometown, Mio is asked to coach a band of amatuer housewives in the town music hall which is under threat of being torn down. Can Mio return the music hall to it's former glory and stop it's destruction?
To exact revenge, the Liar Game office is revived. The target is only one person - Shinichi Akiyama (Shota Matsuda). Because of new heroine Shinomiya (Mikako Tabe), Shinichi, who kept refusing to take part in the game, finds himself in the game. Along with Akiyama, there's 19 other players competing for the prize of 2 billion yen. Omega (Makiko Esumi), who revived the game, plays the game at the Liar Game office with Alice (Mana Ashida). Alice sets up the game, chooses the players and sets the traps.
Doctor Rie (Miho Kanno) is know as the Joan of Ark of Obstetrics & Gynecology. She works in a challenging environment with clinics shutting down due to lack of doctors and the system itself breaking down. Dr. Rie then helps an infertile woman conceive with a surrogate mother which is prohibited in Japan...
Carnation is a Japanese television drama that aired in the Asadora slot on NHK from 3 October 2011 to 31 March 2012. It is the 85th Asadora. It is based on the life of the fashion designer Ayako Koshino in Kishiwada, Osaka. Ayako was the mother of the internationally famous designers Hiroko Koshino, Junko Koshino, and Michiko Koshino.
Hammer Session is an 11-episode Japanese drama series broadcast in 2010, and based on a 3-volume manga series by Tanahashi Namoshiro, released in 2006.
Two 17 year old teens are hospitalized for different reasons. Ezaki suffers from Hepatitis A, while Akiba is due to a weak heart. The relationship between these two hospital patients soon blossoms into romance.
In Liar game: Final Stage, Players are encouraged to trust each other to win the tournament. However, a mysterious player named X is secretly plotting to sabotage everyone of their chances to win the LGT.
Adapted from a sex-stuffed cult novel, LALAPIPO (a play on the phrase “A Lot of People”) follows divergent seedy strands of sexual and narrative spaghetti through the sticky Tokyo night. There’s a chubby freelance writer who’s so obsessed with masturbating to the sound of his upstairs neighbors going at it that he forgets to deal with his own love life and when he finally does have sex he is immediately filled with self-loathing. The upstairs neighbor’s story then splits off like an amoeba: she’s an office lady seduced by a “talent scout” who is falling down the sex industry ladder, moving from hostess, to massage girl, to private karaoke attendant. The talent scout’s story then splits off and runs in its own direction, revealing the sorry state of this young pimp’s soul. From there, the movie takes more and more time to consider the lives of more and more characters until the entire Japanese sex industry is filled with the wailing of lost souls.
A group of five medical students take on the task of conveying the "voices of the dead." Kaji Daiki fails to get into a popular heart surgery seminar but is somehow accepted into a seminar on forensic pathology. When he approaches professor Sagawa and asks him why he ended up in the seminar, Sagawa challenges him by asking why he wants to study heart surgery. Daiki replies that medicine is meaningless after the heart stops, but Sagawa counters that medicine also applies to the dead. And so, together with fellow students Ryosuke, Kanako, Teppei and Akira, Daiki begins to explore the mysteries of death.
The series consists of four 3-episode chapters, each handled by a different director. The directors were given freedom in their stories, but they all share a common theme: lies. --Tokyograph
Sakiko is a typical teenager in many ways. She hates her divorced father, who chases after every skirt he sees. She does not know, if she will ever be loved by the other sex. When her dad suddenly inherits a lot of money and becomes really lazy, she hates him even more. He finally decides to start his own cafe, where Sakiko, of course has to help. From this moment, strange customers and good-looking waitresses form the center of tension between father and daughter.
Takumi Harada moves to Okayama Prefecture with his family during spring break before his entry to Junior High School. On the baseball field, Takumi has enormous confidence in his ability as pitcher, but socially he is a loner and appears unapproachable to others. Takumi meets a new classmate Goh Nagakura. Goh is captivated by Takumi's pitching and is eager to pair up with him as his catcher. The two join the Nitta East Junior High School baseball team, only to discover that baseball there is under the "complete control" of a dictator-like coach. Unwilling to compromise his beliefs, Takumi defies and clashes with the coach. Takumi and Goh seem to beg doing very well together, until the disparity of their skills start to come between them...
When a devoted detective probes the suspicious death of her father, she uncovers massive corruption and finds herself in grave danger.
While combing through the belongings of his recently deceased aunt, Matsuko, nephew Sho pieces together the crucial events that sank Matsuko's life into a despairing tragedy.
Sakai's Happiness is a humorous and bittersweet portrayal of an ordinary family dealing with the challenges of everyday life.
Live action adaptation of the manga series. Hanada Ichiro is a mischievous boy, who attains the ability to see and talk to the supernatural after an accident to the back of his head. Notes: This original book is the big hit comic in Japan called "Boy Meets Ghost" written by Makoto Isshiki (published by Kodansha). In 2002, the animation of this book was broadcasted by the NTV net, and received the best animation award of Tokyo International Animation Fare in 2003 and the best long animation award of the 8th Asian Television Award.
Kiken na Aneki is a Japanese television drama. It premiered in 2005 and was broadcast by Fuji Television, and ran for 10 episodes into 2006. It boasted the acclaimed actress Misaki Ito as one of the primary roles. The ending theme is the song "Pop Star" by Ken Hirai.
Jam Films S is a Japanese omnibus movie. It was released by Phantom FIlm in Japan on January 15, 2005. The movie follows 2002’s Jam Films and its 2004 sequel Jam Films 2. This time around, the overall theme is “S” which stands for succession, success, and special. There are seven shorts, all produced by Ryuhei Kitamura. Included are the shorts Tuesday by Kenji Sonoda, Heaven Sent by Ryuichi Takatsu, Blouse by Hitoshi Ishikawa, New Horizon by Ryo Teshima, Suberidai by Yuichi Abe, Alpha by Daisaburo Harada, and Suit by Masaki Hamamoto.
Wonderful Life is a Japanese drama series aired in Japan on Fuji TV in 2004. It stars Takashi Sorimachi, Kyoko Hasegawa, Norito Yashima, and Ken Horiuchi. Kirishima, played by Takashi Sorimachi, is the most famous baseball player in Japan. He is forced to retire early due to injuries. His family abandons him and he decides to spend his time coaching at a local young boys baseball team. The team is verging disbandment because they had not won one single game. Takashi plays the popular baseball player who gives kids the hope that "dreams come true", but in reality he is arrogant and a selfish flirt who spends his money pointlessly. Mizuki, played by Kyoko Hasegawa, wants to become a lawyer. Her brother plays on Kirishima's baseball team, but she can't stand Kirishima.
In 1923, the young Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island (South Korea), to Osaka (Japan). Through the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko (processed seafood products) in his poor Korean-Japanese community exploiting his employees. He makes a fortune, abuses and destroys the lives of his wife and family, has many mistresses and children and shows no respect to anyone. Later he closes the factory, lending out the money with high interest and becomes a loan shark. His hateful behavior remains unchanged to his last breath, alone in North Korea. The film is told from the perspective of Masao, his legitimate son by his abused and degraded wife, who knows nothing about his father other than to fear him.
Haru, a schoolgirl bored by her ordinary routine, saves the life of an unusual cat and suddenly her world is transformed beyond anything she ever imagined. The Cat King rewards her good deed with a flurry of presents, including a very shocking proposal of marriage to his son! Haru embarks on an unexpected journey to the Kingdom of Cats where her eyes are opened to a whole other world.
Sakiko, a young bank teller, has an unhealthy obsession with money. Thieves hold up the bank, kidnapping Sakiko in the process, but eventually crash their car, resulting in a suitcase stuffed with cash falling into a nearby river. For the remainder of the film, Sakiko begins a desperate quest to retrieve the money.
After the Rain: Wish in a Pocket, the live-action spin off web mini-series based on the live-action film of Jun Mayuzuki's Koi wa Ameagari no You ni (After the Rain) manga, on Wednesday. The new mini-series focuses on the relationship between the characters Takashi Yoshizawa and Yui Nishida, who are supporting characters in the original story. The series maintains the same cast as the film. Hiroki Kazama is directing the series.
