Naoto Ogata

Miyabe Arata, owner of the Roppongi Nidaime Miyabe bar, fights against those who have absolute power. His goal is to take revenge on Nagaya Holdings, a giant in the Japanese food industry. The owner of the holding companies, as well as his son, had a destructive influence on Miyabe Arata's life in the past.

6.5/10

Kaname Azuma is sick of her marriage life with her husband and she decides to divorce him. She leaves Japan and travels to South Korea. There, she visits her brother Teruo's villa. Teruo is surprised by Kaname's sudden visit, but after he hears of her marriage life, he lets her to stay with him. Somehow, Teruo and Kaname happen to enter The Cursed Sanctuary X.

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.

Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan risk their lives and stay at the nuclear power plant to prevent total destruction after the region is devastated by an earthquake an tsunami in 2011.

6.4/10

Manga creator Tsukasa Hojo's debut live-action film. 'Angel Sign' is Hojo's debut as a director, which is made by editing a number of short films into one movie. Hojo directs the "Prologue" and "Epilogue" stories, while a different director will handle each of the other stories, which were selected in Silent Manga Audition. All the stories will have no spoken lines, and will only have video and music.

5.9/10

After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them.

8/10
9.9%

During the Edo period, a gifted swordsman was exiled from his clan when he questioned the misconduct of his leader. Years after, his dying wife wish was for him to go back to his clan.

6.5/10

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.

In Tokyo, 1974, a young African American is found dead in a lift. A knife is stuck deep into his chest and a streak of tear is running down his cheek. A policeman, Munesue starts to investigate the case. On the same day, there is a grand reception party held on the top floor by Kyoko, a popular beautician adored by everyone as an ideal wife and mother. The investigation reveals the victim was raised in a ghetto in NY, was able to speak a little Japanese, and his dying words was “su to u ha.” Startling connection between him and Kyoko is to be revealed…

A mystery adapted from a novel by Minato Kanae which depicts the stories of a pair of parents and their children. In the director's chair is Kikuchi Takeo of Hello, Goodbye. Mutsuko (Kanjiya Shihori) has been living on an island to which her grandmother and mother (Kimura Tae) have restricted her from leaving. To Mutsuko, the symbol of her freedom was Dreamland, an amusement park on the mainland, but she learns it will be closing permanently this year. Meanwhile, Wataru (Daito Shunsuke) returns to the island after nine years due to a job transfer. A pupil of his deceased father (Ogata Naoto) pays him a visit and tells him about a side of his father he did not know about.

7.4/10
9.2%

1989 is the 64 Shouwa year in the Japanese calendar, thus the unsolved girl kidnapping-murder case is called "64(rokuyon)" that got up in this year in Criminal Investigation Department in the Prefectural Police Department. And 14 years were over as the prefecture's police to be unsolved greatest stain, and statute of limitations approached it. In 2002, Yoshinobu Mikami, an ex-detective who was assigned as the investigator of the "Rokuyon" case 14years ago, moves as a Public Relations Officer in the Police Affairs Department against his will. As a newly assigned Public Relations Officer, he was troubled with the relation between the reporters, new case has occurred. And that new case traced "Rokuyon" case exactly.

6.3/10

1989 is the 64 Shouwa year in the Japanese calendar, thus the unsolved girl kidnapping-murder case is called "64(rokuyon)" that got up in this year in Criminal Investigation Department in the Prefectural Police Department. And 14 years were over as the prefecture's police to be unsolved greatest stain, and statute of limitations approached it. In 2002, Yoshinobu Mikami, an ex-detective who was assigned as the investigator of the "Rokuyon" case 14years ago, moves as a Public Relations Officer in the Police Affairs Department against his will. As a newly assigned Public Relations Officer, he was troubled with the relation between the reporters, new case has occurred. And that new case traced "Rokuyon" case exactly.

6.6/10

The hotel Chateau de la Reine is located in Paris, France and it is considered the finest hotel there. The hotel has been in existence for 300 years. Tourists from all around the world want to stay at the Chateau de la Reine. A travel agency, which is teetering on bankruptcy, devises a plan to revive their company. They want to offer suite rooms at the Chateau de la Reine for night and day periods. The plan appears perfect, but the tourists who made reservations have tempers.

5.8/10

Work life for Shunsuke Osaki has been success after success, but at some point his family began to slip by the wayside. As his elderly father begins to show signs of dementia, Shunsuke takes the family on a trip in a desperate attempt to pull them together before it is too late.

6.4/10

In the Edo period of Japan, a samurai’s life belonged to his lord. On the battlefield or in the home, a loyal samurai must always obey his lord’s commands. This is the tragic story of one such loyal samurai, whose love for his family forced him to make the ultimate choice of disobeying the wishes of his lord.

7.2/10

Set within the Kaga Domain in the Edo Period. Oharu is an excellent cook and recognized for her skills. Due to her cooking talents, she marries Yasunobu, who is an heir in the Funaki family. The Funaki family serves as the cook for the Kaga Domain. Nevertheless, Yasunobu himself is a terrible cook. With the help of Oharu's mother-in-law Mitsuru, she begins to teach Yasunobu how to cook.

6.8/10

The Movie depicts 10 days after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. At a morgue house in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, the workers treat the dead with dignity as they hand over the bodies to their families. Retired funeral worker (Toshiyuki Nishida), finds himself volunteering at the morgue house.

6.9/10
10%

Set in the 1950's, a Japanese Antarctic research exploration team and 19 dogs that accompanied the team are stationed at the Showa Base in Antarctica. After a year, the exploration team is ordered to withdraw from the Antarctic station due to severe weather conditions. The dogs have to be left behind. The following year, the next team arrives at the Showa Base station and a miraculous reunion occurs between a dog handler accompanying the new tean and two dogs, Taro and Shiro, that are brothers.

7.7/10

In 2199, five years after the Gamilons began an invasion of Earth, the planet has been ravaged by the aliens' bombs. The remnants of humanity have fled underground to escape the irradiated surface. One day, former pilot Susumu Kodai discovers a capsule sent from the planet Iscandar that tells of a device that can remove the radiation from the Earth's surface. The Earth Defense Force rebuilds the battleship Yamato with a new type of propulsion system to make the 148,000 light year trip to Iscandar in hopes of saving the Earth. Within one year, the radiation will drive the rest of humanity to extinction.

6.1/10

A story about a masked samurai who takes sides with the good and wipes out the evil. In the late Edo period in Kyoto, samurai are killing each other because of the differences of their beliefs in the Tokugawa shogunate, and commoners are struck with terror. Kurama Tengu, a masked samurai, appears on the scene and helps innocent people from trouble.

Shinku is a compelling drama that focuses on the strange relationship that develops between two people who find their lives irrevocably changed as a result of a horrible multiple homicide. The first person traumatized is the lone survivor of the terrible family bloodbath, a girl who grows up to be a pretty college student. The second person affected by this heinous crime is the daughter of the murderer, a young girl who ends up becoming a tattooed bartender. A full decade after the crime, the killer is finally going to be executed, and the surviving member of the massacre decides to reach out and befriend the murderer's daughter. A tentative, odd sort of friendship blossoms between these two people, both of whom seem to have little in common personally, and every reason in the world for not wanting to meet. Yet they do, but not without reservations. And really, is this friendship quite what it seems? Or is it all part of some twisted plan for vengeance?

6.7/10

Fight is a story about fifteen year old Yuu, whose family becomes separated after an incident involving her father's spring factory. With her undying spirit to "fight" off every obstacle arising in life, Yuu maintains her positive attitude and moves forward in hopes of the day when her family will reunite again.

"I thought I might be using a lifetime's happiness in a moment. I was that happy and she was that beautiful." A young boy stands on the red earth of Australia under its blue sky. It is 17-year-old Sakutaro Matsumoto. His time with the girl comes back to him. The colored sand runs through his hands and a tear appears on his cheek. He wakes up. It's 2004 and he is 34 years old and in Japan. He thinks "I have been in a world without her for 17 years." Returning home to see his old high school for the last time before it is demolished, Saku confronts anew the loss of the love of his life, Aki, to leukemia 17 years ago. Now a medical researcher at graduate school, he has been living as if half of him died with her since then.

8.1/10

Boku dake no Madonna, sometimes shortened to BokuMado, is a drama series that aired in Japan on Fuji TV in 2003. In English it is often called You are my only Madonna / ...and I Love Her.

A Japanese film that tells the tale of the birth of VHS. It follows Kagatani Shizuo, an electronics employee who rallies his coworkers to save their jobs by increasing sales. They do this by developing the VHS standard. They battle with Sony and their standard and ultimately prevail.

7.3/10

Naoto Ogata plays Sadajiro, a young farmer fighting out the battle of the riot through to the end. Sadajiro's wife is played by Hiromi Iwasaki, his father is played by Go Kato and Ryuzo Hayashi plays a leader of the Riot. The Riot in Gujo is called one of the biggest three riots in the Edo Period as it took almost 5 years to settle and also involved the Edo government. This movie is a period film about the riot and Gujo farmers fighting for their tenacity of purpose. The farmers had suffered enough from heavy taxes and decided to rise up in riot when the domain lord, Yorikane, issued a new act, which practically forced tax increases. Asking the lord to retract the act, they pour down to the Hachiman Castle. For once they attain the repeal deed signed by the chief retainer. However the promise is broken. Now the farmers decide to make a direct plea to the Edo Residence…This film is full tension and breathless moments.

6.4/10

In 1929 the fossil of a 500,000 year old man is discovered in China. In 1941 the Japanese army confiscates this find, but during the war the remains disappear. Based on these factual events, this movie takes off with a science fiction story involving a space rocket which places a satellite in orbit containing a secret cargo. The satellite crashes on a remote island and footprints are found in the sand leading away from the crash site. A story of how an ancient primitive cave-dwelling family contends with the scientists who want to study them.

4.2/10

This is a drama of forbidden love between a sister and her brother. Complicated by the dark secret of the sister's birth, and the brother's affections for another lover, the story is of the deep search in our times for pure love, a love which is given without hope of return.

“Night Train to the Stars” is a biography of the fascinating life of Kenji Miyazawa, one of Japan's most beloved fantasy novelists. Miyazawa is an idealist pledging with his friend Kanai to work for the improved life of farmers. Troubled by his family’s interest in money making and social status, he leaves home after graduating high school to join a Buddhist sect in Tokyo. After falling out with a friend, and receiving news about his sister re-emerging pneumonia, he decides to return home where starts his own experimental school, teaching new farming methods to young local farmers while also instructing them in music and arts. It was only after his death, through the help of his brother Seiroku, that his writings became widely read.

6.2/10

Living in an old Tokyo district, Kenichi works at a second-hand bookshop to support his sister, Yoko, a high school student. When Yoko graduates, she starts work at a photo shop. By the time, Kenichi's girlfriend has decided to marry someone else as she is tired of waiting for him. When Yoko starts dating Kenichi's best friend, Makoto , he is strangely resentful, but when Makoto is involved in a fatal accident, brother and sister resume their routine life.

6.5/10

Following the lives of three college rugby players drafted to serve in the military during WWII. Though they believe their service will help to benefit their loved ones back home, they are unprepared for the hardships of war. Through their shared trials and sacrifices, they grow closer as friends, and hope to return together to better days. This movie was released in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII.

5.9/10

The 30th NHK Taiga Drama is Nobunaga: King of Zipangu. On March 23, 1585, Japanese Christian envoys visited Pope Gregory XIII at the Papal Court in Rome, Italy. The drama begins 45 years earlier - in 1540 outside Lisbon, Portugal.

8.1/10

Eiji Kawano (Kunie Tanaka) has recently broken from the Japanese company he used to work for. As an immigrant to Tasmania, he has been won over by the island's immense natural beauty, and he is conscience-bound to oppose his former employer's ecologically unsound practices. He is also estranged from his grown son, who still resides in Japan. When his son comes to Tasmania for a visit, he must face the challenge of renewing their relationship.

4.6/10