Toru Emori
A mysterious international crime organization makes a demand of 900 million yen from the Japanese government for the release of hostages. The group then targets a victory parade of a world sports game to commit indiscriminate terror.
National Audit Bureau member Hajime Matsudaira (Shinichi Tsutsumi), Tadako Torii (Haruka Ayase) & Asahi Gainsbourg (Masaki Okada) travel from their homebase of Tokyo to the city of Osaka. Their mission is to discover any financial irregularities & to ensure the correct use of federal money in the Osaka city government. Their initial audits go smoothly, but things turn more interesting once they enter the Karahori shopping district - the area with a long history reaching back to the Meiji era.
The lakeside at Lake Yamanaka is covered with snow. In the vacation house in such a quiet area owned by the chairman of Watsuji Seiyaku, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Japan, the tragedy suddenly breaks out. ”I have killed my granduncle!!” says Mako, who is loved by everybody in the Watsuji family. She has stabbed her granduncle, Yohei, to death. Soon after the domestic homicide, the entire family joining together in an attempt to make it look like a crime committed by somebody outside the family, begins to engage in imitative deception...
Three men are possessed by the spirits of ancient samurai determined to build their master's castle, even if they must use cardboard.
Kohei Miyazaki (Naoto Takenaka), a former railroad worker, has become obsessed with discovering the ancient country of Yamataikoku. His obsession sprouted from a day when he discovered ancient ceramics while repairing railroad tracks. Now completely blind, Kohei relies on his wife (Sayuri Yoshinaga) to guide him through the country and read the maps in their pursuit of Yamataikoku.
When photographer Ishida first sees Sada, the wife of a new acquaintance, his photo shoot with Sada turns quickly into a steamy affair of mind-blowing proportions
Tomoki Sakai (Kento Hayashi) is your average junior-high student. Fascinated by the diving skills of Yoichi Fujitani (Sosuke Ikemaytsu), an elite athlete born into a family of former Olympic divers, Tomoki joins the Mizuki Diving Club (MDC) where Yoichi trains. However, the club is in the red, and its very survival is under question. Beautiful Kayoko Asaki (Asaka Seto) has just returned from the US and joins the club as a new coach, with the mission to save MDC. Her goal is for the club to produce an athlete capable of competing in the Olympics. She brings in Shibuki Okitsu (Junpei Mizobata), a skillful diver with a wild streak from Tsugaru. Meanwhile, Kayoko discovers that Tomoki possesses a unique ability called “diamond eyes” and inspires him to begin serious training. Tomoki, Yoichi and Shibuki have to overcome personal problems, and struggle through conflicts and setbacks in the sport to achieve their dreams.
In 1943, as Japan's WWII effort falters, a vice-admiral proposes training squadrons of "volunteer" flyers to crash their armed planes into Allied warships. Yarn follows the lives of kamikaze pilots, as remembered by an aging Kyushu restaurateur who cherishes their memory. Honoring the dead and multiple military anthems may stir the soul of some Japanese, but elsewhere auds will make a one-way trip for exits. Battle scenes are well-executed and script delivers some memorable scenes, but overall competent helming and thesping are powerless over writer-cum-Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishiara's repetitive storytelling. A post-war postscript adds considerable length to an already over-extended narrative. Tech credits are good quality.
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.
Kosuke is 31, and tired of his hometown where nothing happens. On a whim, he departs for New York with dreams of making it big. 6 months later, he straggles home... defeated, and saddled with debt. Awaiting him are his old friends, a caring sister, a disgruntled father ...and a bowl of noodles. Namely, "udon" noodles. The town is built around udon, sustained by udon, nationally famous for udon.
During a Christmas Eve in Tokyo, three homeless people, middle-aged alcoholic Gin, former drag queen Hana, and dependent runaway girl Miyuki, discover an abandoned newborn while looking through the garbage. With only a handful of clues to the baby's identity, the three misfits search the city to find its parents.
Interviews with Satoshi Kon, voice actors and others about the 2003 the acclaimed Japanese animated film.
Hosted by veteran comedian Tamori, "Bizarre Tales 2002 Spring Special" presents five tales. 1. Mushi Game (Ignore the Game) - starring Uchiyama Rina 2. Okashina Machi (Funny Town) - starring Yanagiba Toshiro 3. Tokage no Shippo (Lizard's Tail) - starring Kashiwabara Takashi 4. Yogisha no Otoko (Man's Night Train) - starring Osugi Ren 5. Manhole - starring Kagawa Teruyuki
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.
Kikuchi-jo Monogatari: Sakimori-tachi no Uta is a 2001 Japanese historical drama directed by Takashi Miike. It is one of three historical films included in the 2002 DVD compilation, Kumamoto Monogatari. The other two are Zuiketsu Genso: Tonkararin Yume Densetsu and Onna Kunishuu Ikki, both also directed by Miike.
The psychiatric evaluation of a young actor arrested for a brutal double murder concludes he may be unfit for trial. Further investigation, however, reveals the crime was a well-planned statement against the section of Japan's criminal code granting diminished responsibility to the mentally impaired.
The search for documentation about the sea for a school work will make the magic door of Doraemon open and take Nobita to Shizuka, Gian and Sueno in the deep ocean. This time our friends embark on a huge and unique boat in order to learn about the mysteries of the sea and look for treasures. What nobody imagines is that a distortion in the line of space-time will lead them to the seventeenth century amid a great storm that will make them wreck and where Doraemon loses its magic pocket. No time to lose, our friends must find a way out. Will they succeed?
In this made-in-Japan drama/comedy/gangster movie from director Juzo Itami a star actress, Biwako (played by Nobuko Miyamoto), is the sole witness to a grizzly murder. The cops persuade Biwako to play the bait to catch the killers. Two veteran detectives are assigned to protect her at all times, and as the film progresses the guardians have no choice but to deal with the overly dramatic, hilarious, and sometimes harrowing ups-and-downs of Biwako's life. Beautifully shot and dynamically structured in a way that only the Japanese are capable of, Marutai reminds us that sometimes the most loyal friendships are formed under the darkest circumstances.
A young woman tries to reconcile with her mother, who left their family for another man.
The series tells The story of the 1609 invasion of Ryûkyû by forces from the Japanese domain of Satsuma, an event which changed the course of Ryukyuan history dramatically.
Sumptuous filming of the journey of a shipwrecked Japanese expedition from the Pacific Ocean across Siberia to the court of Catherine the Great of Russia. A Russo-Japanese co-production of a unique event in history which was the hit of Cannes and other film festivals but did not receive wide distribution despite its huge scope, high production values, and very human story of culture clash.
This is the story about the a very powerful Lady Kasuga who established Ooku the inner palace.
A fierce succession battle ignites at a newspaper company when the president passes away.
From the depths of space he is coming... Ancient beyond understanding, his power is immeasurable. He has destroyed half the universe and is on his way here. He is… Genma. Only two people are aware of the imminent catastrophe: Princess Luna, a modern day prophetess and Vega, a cybernetic crusader from a world long since ravaged by Genma. Determined to spare the Earth from a similar fate, Luna and Vega must try to mobilize the most potent psychics in the world. Together, this army of fledging psychic warriors must succeed where billions have tried... and failed. But will they be able to gather their champions in time? Genma’s agents are already on Earth to ensure that their master meets with no opposition!
Toru Emori leads the cast as Hirate Musashi while a Hiroshi Fujioka competes with him as Okamoto Musashi. They must not only contend with the Yoshioka and Yagyu fencing schools, but have to take on Chiyonosuke Azuma as Sasaki Kojiro, and deal with the women who pursue them for love. Unlike the Yoshikawa Eiji novel which is not historically accurate, this film offers a new view of Japan’s greatest hero! The film is based on the novel by Kosuke Gomi!
Two years after the events of Galaxy Express 999, Earth has become a battlefield, and Tetsuro is summoned to board the Three-Nine once more. In this, the shattering, full-length theatrical conclusion to Leiji Matsumoto's epic story, all questions will be answered and all mysteries will be revealed as Tetsuro embarks on a journey which will reveal a secret so awful, even Maetel herself can hardly bear to speak of it.
This extraordinarily complex film is not only a send-up of every samurai film ever made, it is also an extrapolation of the value of life. The Yamatai, represented by Prince Susano-O and elderly advisor Sumuke, hire Yumihiko of Matsuro to hunt the phoenix so that Queen Himiko, sister of Susano-O can have eteranal life.
Set loose in a postwar world with no rules, an ex-juvenile delinquent begins building the most powerful gang in Tokyo's glittering Shibuya ward.
By going to the Philippines, Imamura comes to meet people living in an extreme poverty. He discovers very quickly that some communities are under the control of cruel & armed pirates. Imamura will come to meet those men in order to understand their position.
Drama is afoot at Shirobara Middle School when the bold Henmi Ryoko transfers into Class A, 9th Grade. She immediately picks a fight with, Masuda, the head of the preparation committee. The girls' battle for control of the gang soon grows out of control as it sweeps up the entire school. Brawls. Seduction. Yazuka. And more!
"Young People" is a story about the lives of four brothers and a sister, Sato. After the death of his parents, the older brother, Taro, who works in construction, decides to replace them. The second brother, Jiro, is a truck driver. The third, Saburo, is a student, dreams of a better future for the whole family are connected with him, with his career. Brothers and sisters are fighting to give him a higher education. And, finally, the youngest of the brothers, Suekichi, is also going to enter the university after graduation. The life of the Sato family is complicated. Taro is kind, but limited, not always able to find a common language with his brothers and sister Orie. The girl cannot stand the despotism of her brother, leaves her home and goes to work at the factory. With her departure, everything in the house goes upside down. Suekichi fails her university entrance exams, Orie is forced to return to her family.
Suzuko, a woman in her twenties who has a brother with political problems (due to communist reprisals), lives for over five years in a love affair with Tate, who plays a young lieutenant in the Army as a right-wing fundamentalist revolutionary. She marries another man in an arranged marriage, but the bond that unites her with Tate is too strong.
As a young woman, Oriko condemned her widowed mother for openly pursuing relationships with younger men. After her mother passes away, she finds herself in an unhappy, loveless marriage and begins to understand her mother’s actions.
The Story is about three daughters of a "Hatamoto" during the end of the Edo period and the Meiji Restoration.
A corrupt businessman blackmails the lovelorn reprobate Atsushi into watching over his suitcase full of embezzled cash while he serves a jail sentence. Rather than wait for the man to retrieve his money, however, Atsushi decides to spend it all in one libidinous rush—fully expecting to be tracked down and killed.
