Acting
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102 movies sorted by popularity
Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.
The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.
From 1928 to 1946, the lives of 12 young people and their school teacher in a poor Japanese village are profoundly affected by historical events and personal circumstances.
Two boys beg their parents for a television set, nagging them until all patience is lost. The parents order the boys to be quiet and the boys do exactly that--refusing to utter a word. The boys' silence ultimately puts the whole neighborhood into turmoil.
Widower Shuhei Hirayama's caretaker is his 24-year-old daughter, Michiko. Gradually, he comes to realize that Michiko should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.
Wataru's outwardly liberal views on marriage are severely tested when his daughter declares her love for a coworker and is adamant to live her own way, instead of agreeing to an arranged marriage. Outwitted by his female relatives, Hirayama stubbornly refuses to admit defeat.
A woman and her daughter are each forced to contend with an increasing pressure to marry, particularly from three men who knew her late husband.
In postwar Tokyo, Noriko lives with her extended family. Although she enjoys her career and her social life, her more traditional family worries about her single marital status at the advanced age of 28. 40-year-old business associate Takako proposes, Noriko's family press her into accepting, but when her widowed childhood friend Kenkichi returns to the neighborhood, she finds her heart leading in another direction.
No description available.
A theater troupe master's visit with his old flame unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences.
Shinko Terasawa was always considered to be the odd ball of the bunch. At a time when romance was against school regulations, Shinko was the first to take a bite out of the forbidden fruit. Expelled from her former school, she finds herself in an all-girls school in Jokamachi, where rumors fly. One day, Shinko delivers an anonymous love letter addressed to her English teacher, Ms. Shimazaki. Convinced that the students are playing a prank, Ms. Shimazaki is adamant about getting to the bottom of this "problem”.
A successful textile industrialist from the provinces, who is beloved by his employees for his kindness, cannot find a wife because of a disfiguring birthmark on his face. Even the courtesans in Yoshiwara refuse to entertain him, until an indentured peasant prostitute, Tamarazu, takes the unsavoury assignment and treats him with brash tenderness.
The film consists of three short stories. Tomiko, the heroine of the first story, "The Flower Girl" (dir. Kozaburo Yoshimura), is a little girl who bears the unbearable burden of caring for her family. Tomiko's father has been unable to find work for a long time, and her older sister is terminally ill—it is unlikely that she will ever recover. To feed her family, Tomiko runs around the city from morning until late at night selling flowers... The second novella (dir. Tadashi Imai) also depicts the lives of the poor. An unfamiliar girl brings young Kavano a letter from his mother. It turns out that the girl's name is Kuniko, she is very hardworking, but her family is dying of hunger. Therefore, her mother decided to send Kuniko to her son so that he would marry her. The short story is called "The Unexpected Bride." The third short story, which gave the film its title, is particularly interesting: "When You Love" (dir. Satsuo Yamamoto). It shows the family of a young peace activist.
A conscript from a poor background writes the Emperor asking if he can stay in the army when his service is up.
Part 3 in a long running (8+1 films) action/comedy/melodrama series about a pair of short tempered, amoral, but not evil chinpira (Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi) thinking too big of themselves.
An investigation into a drug smuggler who is assassinated in front of an insurance building sets two detectives, Sumikawa and Akine, into a sprawling investigation through Tokyo's underworld.
Misawa Ihei (Nagato) is traveling with his wife Tae (Iwashita Shima) who abhors the practice of sword fighting for prize money. Tae is the daughter of the clan's chief counselor who married the low-ranking Ihei to avoid becoming the clan lord's mistress. Into the mix comes Oba Gunjuro (Tetsurō Tamba), a mysterious ronin who will do anything for money. This leads to a fitting climax as the forces of hate and love converge while the couple attempt to break through the border!
A love triangle develops between a benevolent student, his innocent girlfriend, and a cruel petty criminal, all as a point of diagnosis of a social disease that had Japan slowly succumbing to lawlessness during the post-War era.
Asakichi beats a ganster, Sada, in a physical fight, leading to recognition by Sada's clan boss. When Kotoito, the geisha Asakichi is in love with, is kidnapped by a rival clan and sold to a a house of pleasure, Asakichi and Sada set out to rescue her.
After serving his sentence, Yakuza family member Toshin-gumi Umebayashi is released from prison. Toshin-gumi was already headed by the boss in the second generation of Shotaro, but Shotaro fell into a trap, he is manipulated by his sworn enemy Kanzaki-gumi. Kanzaki-gumi captures the Toshin-gumi oil fields mined by the first boss. Umebayashi explodes in anger and attacks Kanzaki-gumi, but...
Just after WW2, a romance between an innkeeper and a man with tuberculosis unravels near a thermal spring.
On a small island, inhabited by only fourteen hundred people, a young fisherman's son, Shinji falls in love with Hatsue, the daughter of the richest and most difficult man on the island. Despite their differences in class, they begin to meet and rumors spread of them having an illicit affair. Soon after, Shinji jumps into a stormy sea to help a ship in distress. The vessel turns out to be owned by Hatsue's arrogant father, who now becomes an understanding and sympathetic parent and allows the two lovers to marry.
In the late 1890s, coal is a precious new natural resource. During an era of rapid economic growth, dreams are instilled into the lives of many across Japan. A vigorous young man with a look of fearless determination, sets foot on the northern part of Kyushu, an area where Yakuza thrived. His name is Kingoro Tamai (Yujiro Ishihara). With plans to travel the world, Kingoro worked diligently at a coal mine. His loyalty and hard work earned the respect of his peers, his courage won the heart of the beautiful Mon (Ruriko Asaoka), and his success evoked jealousy in his enemies.
A young Japanese-American comes from California looking for a bride, going on blind dates with three candidates from Osaka, Hiroshima and Nagoya.
After his company goes bankrupt, Katsuji Watanabe resorts to pickpocketing again with his old swindler buddies. However, one by one, his friends start getting caught. Katsuji decides to play a high stakes game of robbing the proceeds of a department store.
Ninth installment in the "Gokudo" series. Depicts the activities of Shimamura Seikichi and his henchmen.
Based on Muneta Hiroshi's military novel. The main character, Yamaguchi Zensuke, is a military dog soldier. He joins the army and winds up sent overseas to China as a part of the military dog unit. He's ridiculed by others due to his inability to advance.
A young woman begins murdering all those responsible for her ailing father's condition. Because the girl is so outwardly sweet and innocent, the detective looking into the deaths does not suspect her.
Japanese comedy film.
Manao Horiuchi movie
A young prosecutor named Takao falls in love with Yoriko, only to discover that her husband is the target of his investigation into a major corruption scandal. Torn between professional duty and their forbidden affair, the couple finds themselves trapped by societal expectations and legal consequences.
Part 2 of the 'Onna bangaichi' series
An ethical, young tax collector new to his area encounters increasingly absurd individuals and groups coping with their post-war woes.
A road trip comedy set against the backdrop of the famous historical sites of Tohoku and Hokkaido.
A traveling troupe arrives in a lively southern port town during the Tanabata festival, led by the mysterious swordsman Daigorō, whose incredible skill quickly makes him a local sensation. Beneath his fierce persona, however, he hides a tragic past: he is actually Hikōichi, a fisherman who lost his beloved Oyū to a cruel feudal lord years earlier. Reunited during the festival under the stars of Tanabata, the two lovers attempt to reclaim their happiness, but the lord’s jealousy and deception lead them toward a heartbreaking fate.
Frustrated with the bad behavior of his lord, Inaba Yajuro (Otomo) declares that he is leaving the clan and sets off on a journey that leads him into a small town besieged by a violent group of brigands. In a kind of homage to Kurosawa's 7 Samurai, the townspeople have been unable to defend themselves and Inaba sets out to teach them how to stand up for themselves. Meanwhile the vile Lord Yasumasa has sent the 4 finest swordsmen in the clan out to hunt Inaba down and kill him. Led by the magnificent Ichibei (Konoe), a master of weaponry in his own right, everything points to an ultimate showdown between the former friends in a battle to the death.
War film by Kon Ichikawa
Drama which shows the struggle of Fumiko, a female teacher, at work and at home.
Former boxer Daishiro lost his wife, and his only son, Kaoru, went missing, it was a heavy blow for Daishiro. One day, Daishiro got a call from his relative Morihiko. He said he forgot the winning lottery ticket of 2 million yen at the hotel, so he wants Daishiro to go and pick it up. Morihiko used the hotel for secret meetings, so he said he couldn't go there himself because he was afraid it would become public. When Daishiro entered the hotel, the Yakuza, who learned about the lottery from the newspaper, threaten the hotel maid Noriko, and want to rob her. Daishiro helps Noriko and safely picks up the lottery, but a message arrives from his relative Seikichi from Osaka. His missing son Kaoru is said to be a boxer in Osaka. "My son... He has the blood of a boxer in him..." Daishiro is heading to Osaka in a hurry...
On the outskirts of Tokyo, a family of Mitsu Nakahara lives in one of the small huts surrounded by barracks and tin pens. Mitsu's husband died in the war, and she was left alone with four children and works as a day laborer. The eldest daughter Haruko, who is already nineteen years old, works in a clothing store, the second daughter Natsuko works in a restaurant, a schoolboy Akio is studying carpentry, and even the youngest Fuyuko helps her mother by working as a nanny in a neighboring house. Nearby lives a widowed electrician Tokuji Yamada with two boys - Norio and Tatsuo. He has a widowed daughter, Sakiko, who, along with a small child, ran away from home, as she is going through hard times. At Haruko's suggestion, Mitsu and Tokuji get married, and it would seem that happiness smiles on their new family, but it turned out to be short-lived…
The fourth part in the series "Code Between Brothers". The story takes place in Fukagawa, Tokyo, at the beginning of the Showa era, where five players following the harsh path of a knight defeat a despicable Yakuza gang.
One week into newlywed Teiko Uhara's marriage, her husband, Kenichi, leaves on a short business trip and never returns. Teiko travels across Japan to search for him, and along the way discovers some surprising facts about her husband's past. With only a pair of old photographs among his belongings to go off of, Teiko tries to figure out what has happened to him.
1962 Japanese movie
The story of Yoshinaka during the tumultuous period of warring related to us in the Heike Monogatari. Close in setting to Kinugasa’s famous Gate of Hell (1953).
"Pure White Nights" - A romantic tale that depicts love between married people and the psychology of their marriage with elegant and a controversial touch. Love, art and suffering until the tragic and absurd ending.
An upstanding young man’s racy adventure filled with conspiracies and love.
Adaptation of Fumiko Hayashi's novel.
Shochiku's popular series of gang films, this one has the hero returning from prison bent on revenge. He runs into Chinese hoodlums, blackmailers and gold-smugglers. But he also aids and abets young lovers yet, despite his help, their love ends in tragedy and he tracks down his prey in Kobe.
Story of a romance between a middle-aged journalist and a young woman.
The day to day life in an establishment for delinquent teenage girls.
The story of the role played by Japanese-American soldiers from Hawaii in the Korean War of the 1950s.
Life of a bachelor gynecologist in a hospital for women.
A young woman tries to keep her family together after her father disowns her sister.
1963 Japanese movie
1961 Japanese movie
After moving in to their dream home, newlyweds decide to rent out their second floor to save money. They soon discover the woe of being landlords.
A Japanese war widow recalls her love affair with her deceased husband.
The obstinate black market trader Okyo lives together with her son Seitaro, who works as a mechanic for a bus company. She also looks after her son's colleague, the bus driver Fujita. When he causes an accident one day, Seitaro testifies against him due to his moral scruples, thus getting his company into trouble.
Tane, the lady proprietor of an inn for amorous couples, lives there with her three children. When her eldest daughter loses her fiancé due to the fact her mother is a mistress, her despair drives her to become a cabaret hostess.
A tragic drama - a dismembered torso of a woman rises up on the banks of the Arakawa River. The body is only the torso. Her legs were discovered on the opposite bank. The only clue, a man was trying to throw something in from a car with a license plate number three days ago at Shin-Arakawa Ohashi Bridge...
Asako works in a hostel for troubled young women. When a beautiful young girl is brought in one day after committing theft, Asako finds out from the older widow she works with that the new girl is undoubtedly her half-sister. When the younger sister suddenly flees on account of a misunderstanding, Asako makes up her mind to find the mother who deserted them both.
A nanny, played by Sayuri Yoshinaga, who lives and works in a Tokyo family, causes all kinds of waves with her outspoken personality and behavior in this charming coming-of-age blockbuster.
Goto Tamiko starred in TV commercials and her father, Keisuke, was a powerful financier who is now fallen on hard times. Tamiko wants to marry her boyfriend Sanpei, an aspiring composer, but her father wants her to marry a young company president.
As a bid to win contacts, ship building companies wine and dine political leaders, inviting the geisha Hidekoma and Hidechiyo to entertain the politicians.
Based on the serialized story "東京一代女" which appeared in Tokyo Shinbun. A geisha known for her dancing begins training with the Onnagata Kikugoro VI as a dancer. She leaves her geisha life to pursue this new path, but falls in love with a naval officer who is the younger brother of Kikugoro and who saves her from a stalker monk. Kikugoro hears of this and becomes enraged. The naval officer dies in the Second Sino-Japanese War, causing the lead to go back home to her mother where she meets, and falls in love with, a poet who resembles her now-deceased fiancé. This poet leaves her in order to force her to dedicate her entire life to dancing, which he sees as her true pursuit.
Yasugoro, goes to live in a quiet town where he falls in love with the priest's daughter-in-law. His does not declare his love because she is married, but he goes on a mission to please her, and is blinded. Then her husband dies and she remarries before Yasugoro can confess his love.
The long-awaited haymaking season has arrived on the island of Honshu. Work is in full swing in the fields, with young and old alike toiling away. For the young woman Moyoko and the young man Tokizo, it is more fun than work. Both are young, cheerful, excited by the shared anticipation of the harvest festival, and not yet aware that they are beginning to fall in love with each other. That is why the first timid hint of confession causes such turmoil in their souls and almost leads to a serious quarrel. Their quarrelsome aunts did the lovers a disservice...
A laid-back man tries to become a member of the yakuza.
This is a film adaptation of a popular NHK drama that depicts a strong-willed woman, Hana, who lives a lively life while being swept up in the waves of the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras.
Isshin Tasuke, a friend of Ōkubo Hikozōemon, the esteemed public arbitrator of the realm, saved the maid Onatsu from punishment after she accidentally broke a plate gifted by Lord Ieyasu. Tired of the strict samurai service, Tasuke moved to the Genbei tenements and opened a fish shop. This tenement housed various characters, including the landlord's daughter Osen who had a crush on Tasuke, the midwife Okan, the blind masseur Oyone and her husband, the carpenter-loving couple Yoshigorō and Ohama, the rōnin Takeuchi Yogoemon, and the siblings Ochika and Shin'nosuke who cared for their sick mother.
Kinta (Nabe Osami) is Japanese by birth, but raised by a Chinese man. He stowsaway to Japan to see his girlfriend Yukiko but gets picked up for vagrancy in Shinjuku and thrown in jail. Helped by a yakuza and a prostitute, he goes on a search for Yukiko but winds up on a journey of sexual discovery.
A delinquent young man (Kobayashi Akira) from a wealthy family decides to get in on a blackmailing scheme targeting his young stepmother (Watanabe Misako). However, he doesn't realize that his fellow blackmailers have their eyes on his girlfriend next.
The film features the first scene with kissing in a Japanese film. Kiss scenes were encouraged by the American occupiers of Japan following World War II as it encouraged westernization and contrasted with the traditional bow prevalent in that country.
Representing a destitute mother in an infanticide trial, a female lawyer attempts to convince a conservative prosecutor of the benefits of Japan's democratized post-war legal system.
An educational film depicting the rehabilitation of a delinquent boy.
1958 Japanese movie
Taiji (Kawazu Yusuke), who works at Noble Cosmetics, wants to marry his girlfriend Tomie (Kuwano Miyuki), but is having a hard time saving up the money. On a night train, he casually takes a photo of a middle-aged man and a young woman sleeping close together in seats diagonally opposite each other. In reality, the man is Aizawa (Sano Shuji), the section chief at the government agency where Tomie works. Tomie tells Taiji that she is pregnant and wants them to get married soon, so Taiji sends Aizawa the same photo. This is to ask him to buy it...
Otami and daughter Yuri run the Matsuoka, a 150-year-old Japanese-style inn in Tokyo which they plan to renovate into a modern hotel before the ‘64 Tokyo Olympics. Maki, the son of the owner of the Benten Hotel, likes Yuri and wants to get closer to her. So, he asks Milton, an American exchange student, to stay at her inn so he can get closer to her. But Yuri is in love with Shin, a cook at her inn. And although Shin likes her too, the two are constantly bickering. Complicating matters more, is that every other available girl also likes Shin including Chikako, who lives at his boarding house, and Chikoma, who is a geisha. One day when Yuri gets a phone call, she suspects that her mother might be having an affair. But it turns out that Otami reunited with her old flame Tomo, who also used to work as a chef at the inn but left because he feared that their class backgrounds were too different. When Shin learns that Yuri is going to marry...will history repeat itself?
Based on the Nobu Koito story
The Nagasaki flagship store of a long-established castella bakery versus its Tokyo branch. Amid a sudden clash between the old and the new, a young chorus group finds itself caught up in the twists and turns of romance… Set against the exotic backdrop of Nagasaki, Yoshiaki Bansho skilfully weaves together the lively romantic adventures of these young people.
1968 Japanese movie
Sakura (nicknamed Sally), a 12 year old biracial girl, ran away from her adoptive family in America to find her real mother in Japan.
1954 Japanese movie
1964 Japanese movie
