Ryō Ikebe
The life and travels of adventurer Naomi Uemura, who disappeared in Alaska in 1984. A member of the first Japanese expedition to reach the summit of Mt Everest in 1970, Uemura also accomplished several "firsts". He was the first man to reach the North Pole solo, climb Denali solo, and float down the Amazon river solo. In the film, Uemura returns to Tokyo after a stint in Siorapaluk in Northern Greenland. In Tokyo, he reconnects with an old friend and, over coffee, shares his life story - from his days as a college dropout to his successful expedition to the top of Everest.
A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima told in four parts. The first three parts relate events in three of his novels: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Runaway Horses. The last part depicts the events of 25th November 1970.
In collaboration with the LDP presidential election of the entire national public, a masterpiece depicting the reverse side of Showa political history released, superimposed cast, a group image of real politicians centered on Shigeru Yoshida and political history after the war.
Eiji, also known as Choji, quits the shipyard to start Izakaya [Snack Bar] Choji with his wife Shigeko on the outskirts of Hakodate. Eiji once had a girlfriend by the name of Sayo, but she is supposed to be happily married to a pasture owner in the countryside. Then, suddenly one day Sayo shows up at Choji before opening. Sayo is still in love with Eiji. The story expressively portrays the lives of random Choji customers and the daily interaction between Eiji and Shigeko, while also focusing on the feelings between Eiji and his past girlfriend Sayo.
Out of the blue, a bourgeois family on the Sea of Japan finds an unconscious woman on the beach and decides to let her board.
Kanno (Ken Takakura) is a Yakuza. He had to kill Matsuoka who betrayed their boss. Kanno knew Matsuoka had a 3-year-old daughter named Youko. Before he gave himself to the police, he asked his trusted man to take care of her. While in prison, Kanno kept sending letters to Youko, disguising as an uncle in Brazil. 15 years later, Kanno is released. He is determined to live legitimately, however... the Yakuza has not forgotten his wicked deed!
Earth is attacked by alien spacecraft from Venus. But a Japanese scientist has constructed a space craft, the Gohten, with which he may save humanity.
When a priceless jewel owned by rich heiress Sabine is stolen, along with her daughter, Professional thief and hired killer Ryuichi Koga and his gang are hired to retrieve both. At a ransom exchange, the team save the girl but lose the money and the jewel. When Sabine decides to deal directly with the thieves and obtains the jewel on her own by paying the ransom, Koga, having been stiffed of his fee by Sabine, steals the jewel. Little does he know, it’s a fake. Now, Koga and the team must break into a high security bank to steal the real jewel.
Vice Admiral Takajiro Ohnishi could see that Japan's defeat in WWII was inevitable. He came to realize that the only way to force a negotiated solution was to convince the Americans that invading Japan would cause massive casualties on both sides. The cold logic of suicide attacks, where one man and one plane could kill hundreds, seemed the only solution. In one of the cruel ironies of fate, Ohnishi actually succeeded; he convinced the Americans that invading Japan would be too costly in lives. But what he could not foresee was that America had another way of ending the war.
The ninth and final film in the Contemporary Tales of Chivalry series.
A story of lone wolf struggling with human compassion and duty.
The Americans are swiftly closing on Okinawa, an island just south of the Japanese mainland. The Imperial command sends top generals and several army divisions to defend it at all costs. The mission quickly degenerates as vital resources and troops are diverted to other islands. After a civilian evacuation ends in tragedy most of non-combatants are forced to remain on the island. Many convert to soldier status. Tokyo sends mixed messages that squander time and resources, as when they order the defenders to build an airstrip for aircraft that never come. The truth soon becomes obvious: the high command decides that the island cannot be held and effectively abandons the Okinawan defenders. When the Americans land many troops are deployed in the wrong places. As the slaughter mounts, a suicidal attitude takes hold. Okinawa becomes a death trap, for civilian volunteers and non-combatants as well.
Terajima, an ex-yakuza and current nightclub owner, is brought back into the world of crime when his former brother attempts a hostile take over.
Young yakuza Shujiro Hanada (Takakura) goes to prison after losing his cool in a rigged gambling game and slashing a few other players. When he's released in 1927, the world has changed. His sister died in the Great Kanto Earthquake and his father is also gone. His brother Jukichi (Ikebe) invites him to stay at his in-laws and works in their family pub. Shujiro is trying to go straight. He lies low, helping his blind mother-in-law and slowly developing a relationship with Ikuye, the hostess who helped him before his arrest. But trouble lurks when the resident gang decides to show its strength. It all leads to a showdown between the two brothers and around 20 sword-wielding gangsters.
A yakuza member embarks on a trail of revenge for his murdered boss. Senzo, the successor of the Mita Family, searches for the man bearing a tattoo of a dragon who is said to be responsible for the death of their former leader.
The fifth in a powerful series about brutality, duty and honor, staring the legendary TAKAKURA Ken. Hidejuro is sent to prison after killing the boss of a rival family. After being released, he discovers that his family has scattered and he is taking in by a company of quarry workers, whose boss has a strict code of non-violence. When the rival family tries to take over the company and kills their boss, Hidejuro must choose between his promise of non-violence and his yakuza code of revenge...
Back after four years, Goro learns his younger brother's been thrown out of the gang and his girlfriend's married another man. It's payback time.
A film about the construction of the Kasumigaseki Building, the first high-rise building in Japan.
Kazuo, a Japanese army intelligence agent, reveals a foreign intelligence network in Japan and then sent to Borneo Island with a special mission.
Story of loyal sailors giving their lives for their country as human torpedoes towards the end of the War.
The film is dedicated to the souls of flight school graduates killed in World War II. Young boys dream about becoming pilots and apply to flight schools. However, they were forced to become suicide bombers and give their lives for their homeland.
Fierce war breaks out when Shujiro’s rival clan attempts to sabotage his lucrative construction business.
Three closely associated gamblers have adventures in Yokohama, Hokkaido, and Macao. Gambling trio endure hardships to rescue Naojiro’s family.
It has been 5 years since Eijiro Kikukawa of the Asakusa Kaminarimon family killed the head of the Suzaki family. Finally he gets out of prison and comes to the city of Odahama, where he had a mistress, Okei, whom he could not forget. He accidentally helped a man named Hanji from the Kurokane family and was received by the family as a guest. And soon Eijiro is involved in a showdown between the yakuza families.
After being bailed out of trouble by a member of the Kaijima Clan, Ryuhei dedicates himself to saving the Kajima’s lucrative lumber business.
Hidejiro is a wandering yakuza with a ‘karashi botan’ (Chinese lion and peony) tattoo. Owing a favor to the Soda Family, he kills the boss of the rival Sakaki Family. When the Soda attacks the Sakaki and double-crosses him, with sword in hand, Hidejiro seeks brutal retribution.
A young yakuza man who respects obligation and humanity must face cruel and heartless turf wars leading to a fight to the death with his own brother.
Yakuza families clash over a lucrative fishery business.
After World War II, their town was a pile of rubble. Gennosuke, the second-generation boss of the Kamizu Group was upholding yakuza chivalry by keeping black-market and illegal items out of their open-air market. Taking advantage of the mess, Iwasa and his gang take hold of goods from the US military, black-market and controlled items in order to become the most powerful group in the Enko area. Iwasa has Gennosuke assassinated but before he dies, he names Shinji Terajima as his successor and makes him swear to carry on the family business and not seek revenge or use violence. Shinji tries to make his family’s marketplace a success, but with constant interruption and attacks from Iwasa’s gang, he can no longer keep his word to his former boss…
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…
Muraki, a hardboiled Yakuza gangster, has just been released from prison after serving a sentence for murder. Revisiting his old gambling haunts, he meets Saeko, a striking young upper-class woman who is out seeking thrills, and whose presence adds spice to the staid masculine underworld rituals. Muraki becomes her mentor while simultaneously coping with the shifts of power that have affected the gangs while he was interred. When he notices a rogue, drug-addicted young punk hanging around the gambling dens, he realizes that Saeko's insatiable lust for intense pleasures may be leading her to self-destruction.
The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming ronin) after their daimyo (feudal lord) was forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka, whose title was Kōzuke no suke. The ronin avenged their master's honor after patiently waiting and planning for over a year to kill Kira. In turn, the ronin were themselves forced to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder.
In 1980, a giant planetoid named Gorath is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth. Even though it is smaller than Earth, its mass is huge enough to crush the Earth and destroy it. A mission sent to observe Gorath is destroyed after all the orbiting ships are drawn into the planetoid. A later mission is sent to observe and the crew barely leaves before suffering the same fate. However Astronaut Tatsuo Kanai is left in a catatonic state due to his near death experience. The Earth's scientists then come up with a desperate plan to build giant rockets at the South Pole to move Earth out of Gorath's path before it is too late.
Drama about two college friends, now working for the same banking firm, torn apart by jealousy over their inequitable positions and love lives.
Kikumori runs a cabaret on the docks, while his friend Kaji operates transport boats. When a gang of drug dealers tries to force the pair to cooperate in a smuggling scheme, conflict arises between the two friends. Falsely blamed for murder, Kikumori is blackmailed into an attempt to sabotage Kaji's boats and kill him. But the friendship between the two men proves an obstacle to the gangleader's plans.
Lt. Koji Kitami is a navigator-bombardier in Japan's Naval Air Force. He participates in the Japanese raid on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 and is welcomed with pride in his hometown on his return. As Japan racks up victory after victory in the Pacific War, Kitami is caught up in the emotion of the time and fights courageously for the standard of Japanese honor. But his assuredness of his government's righteousness is shaken after the Japanese navy is defeated in the debacle of Midway.
In 1965, the space station JSS-3 is attacked by a fleet of UFOs. After the station is destroyed, the saucers make their way to Earth. They then begin a global siege on the planet, using absolute zero rays to manipulate gravity. In response, a global council meeting is held to determine the source of the attacks. There, a representative becomes suddenly stricken with head pain. It is later revealed that he has become mind controlled by the invaders. Revealing themselves to be the Natarl, the aliens declare war on humanity. In response, Earth prepares the SPIP rocket ships. Their plan is to take the war to the aliens, by having a battle in outer space...
In World War II, the commanding officer of a sub, against his will takes on board two Western diplomats, to take them to the Canaries and arrange an armistice. When they get there, peace has been declared, but the sub's crew don't know as their radio has failed. They send their passengers ashore and go out to face a final battle...
Adapted by Yasumi Toshio and directed by Toyoda Shiro, this is a literary work based on a full-length novel of the same name published by Shiga Naoya of the Shirakaba School.
Two residents of Edo city Yaji and Kita make a journey to the temple of Ise, as part of a religious pilgrimage, but actually to get away from their wives for a little while. As they travel, they are constantly beset by complications involving women, mistaken identity, and misunderstood events. Another film adaptation of the famous novel Ikku Jippensha Footing It Along the Tokaido (Tokaidochu Hizakurige)
It's a man's world. Shimamura, an artist, comes to this snowbound town to rejuvenate himself. He connects with Komako, a geisha he met on a previous trip, and it seems like love. She's the foster daughter of a local family, almost engaged to the family's son Yukio, now dying of consumption. He's tended by his sister Yuko who's angry at Komako for abandoning her brother. Shimamura returns to Tokyo but promises he will be back soon. In anticipation of his return, Komako breaks with her patron and her family loses their home. Complications arise when Shimamura doesn't come back as promised. Then Komako discovers that he and Yuko knew each other in Tokyo. Can Komako escape destiny?
A girl rebels against her mother, who runs a brothel in Yokohama, and attempts to find freedom on her own.
Lavish Japanese-Chinese coproduction based on an ancient Chinese legend about a man who falls in love with a snake goddess in human form.
A young salary man and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he has an extramarital affair.
The story of a professional nude model stalked by a bizarre, unknown man wearing a hideous mask.
Forced on the road by yakuza obligations, a man sets out on a reckless journey to Tsumagoi. Movie posters for local cinemas were often displayed at sento (public baths) too. The handwritten text on the bottom here announces the film will play at Hassen for 3 days.
Set at the end of World War II and after Japan's defeat, it is a melodrama about a man and a woman at the mercy of war. Wataru is entrusted by his best friend who has gone off to war with his sister Reiko to marry her, but he is not ready to abandon his love for Kumiko, a nurse at his mother's hospital.
This is a film about a Naval Air Corps Director who hates the war. Director Honda uses this film to ask the question "What is war?", showing the human bonds between Japan and America, Japanese military tactics which had little regard for life, and the attitude of Japanese military personnel who treated their actions as if they were just doing a job. This film contains few battle scenes, concentrating instead on the love stories of young officers and female members of the community in this lonely air base.
A human billboard and a shoeshine girl met a kid of five who got separated from her mother at a street of Ginza. They try to find a mother in a crowded town...
Atsuko is an office secretary who is also her family's primary source of income and caretaker in postwar Japan.
A screwball tale of a suspected “lady thief” and the detective who is on her trail, following her from Osaka to her home village, where she is going to hold a memorial service for her father. Of course, the detective falls in love with his prey.
A section chief at the Bureau of Construction is in a shady relationship with a construction company. Then a new, young and honest subordinate is assigned to work under the section chief. Once he learns about the shady relationship, however, the new subordinate skillfully conceals the corruption and joins the corrupt, shady relationship.
Kanae, who broke up with her husband and moved to her uncle's house, met two men when her father, a university professor, collapsed. Michihara, a wealthy man and Miyashita, a youth scholar. Kanae is attracted to Miyashita, but ...
MAZAKI Shintaro is a teacher at a mission school, in a relationship with the English teacher Sumi HASHIMOTO. Young, single and handsome MAZAKI is popular among the women, One day, after reading somethiing unusual in the essay of a third...v
"My mother is Japanese, a drifting diva of Tokyo" After the death of her father Reika goes to Japan to visit her mother, but can't find her, so she starts performing at a cabaret in Yokohama. Her mother, already settled, found about Reika's whereabouts, but won't acknowledge her daughter for fear of loosing her current status.
Though recognized worldwide almost exclusively for his colorful kaiju fare, director Ishirō Honda (Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra) was a natural humanist with a particular understanding of the relationship between people and their social environs. His debut fiction feature, The Blue Pearl (Aoi Shinju) – virtually unseen in the west until now – depicts the melodramatic, but keenly-observed interplay between a young man from Tokyo and two ama (pearl divers; literally “women of the sea”) in a superstitious coastal town. Though raised within the same tradition-bound crucible, the two women – Noe and Riu – are portrayed as diametric opposites; the former meek but affectionate, the latter strong-willed but jaded by a tryst with metropolitan life. Nonetheless, Honda provides equal weight to their desires and their ambitions to break free from the social mold imposed upon them from birth.
A Japanese adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's short story Boule de Suif, directed by Kimura Keigo
A young man, convicted of a crime and imprisoned in the penitentiary, comes to believe that his wife is being unfaithful to him. He contrives his escape from the prison in order to seek her out and learn the truth, but the police give chase and he must flee into the mountains.
Ikeuchi was captain of the K - University ice hockey team. The daughter Shikotsuko of Ginza 's western restaurant "Piccolo" was also a female student at K University and was a figure player. They had a dream of being dispatched to Oslo in the Olympic Games and were struggling in each way. Mizuno who runs a sports equipment store in Ginza, showed the geisha by guiding the junior's Ikeuchi and others to the shop of Shimbashi one day.
Mikami, a Japanese soldier, is captured by Chinese forces. Although able to escape, he is treated with contempt by his peers. After falling in love with a prostitute named Harumi, she convinces him to desert the army and live with her. Directed by Senkichi Taniguchi with a screenplay by Taniguchi and Akira Kurosawa and assistant direction by Ishiro Honda. Kurosawa's final credit as a screenwriter was removed from initial release due to various rewrites.
This little seen early work by Ichikawa was produced during the director's Shintoho period (1947-51). Written by Kaneto Shindô and featuring Ryô Ikebe as a young policeman it is part crime drama, part social study. Definitely not an undiscovered masterpiece, but still a must for Ichikawa buffs.
Adaptation of a novel by Yojiro Ishizaka, originally released in two parts.
An attempt is made to suppress a journalist's investigation of collusion between a rural police chief and the local gangster bosses.
Aoi sanmyaku (青い山脈), literally: The Blue Mountains, is a 1949 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Tadashi Imai. Its theme was sung by Ichiro Fujiyama and Mitsue Nara. It is an adaptation of 1949 novel Blue Mountain Range (青い山脈 Aoi sanmyaku) by Yōjirō Ishizaka.
Continuation of The Blue Mountains: Part I. Released a week later.
Omnibus of love stories from 1947 directed by famous directors, featuring big stars.
What is marriage? Young couple in match-making wanted to know before they decide. They visited married couples of sisters and brothers. Love comedy in 1942.
Set in Qingdao, China, a Japanese company locates an office there and begins work and cooperation with a local Chinese company for business. Many Japanese engineers also move to China, with their families, for the company in order to construct a canal. There are young Chinese resisting the Japanese in this area.
