Acting
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68 movies sorted by popularity
Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.
A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.
A squadron of Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers find themselves transported through time to their country's warring states era, when rival samurai clans were battling to become the supreme Shogun.
A ronin desperately seeks a way out of financial straits; he allies with the Tosa clan under the ruthless leader Takechi, who quickly takes advantage.
Vain, middle-aged actress Biwako is placed in witness protection while authorities investigate the brutal murder she witnessed. Under the watch of two dedicated cops, Biwako struggles to maintain her career, her public image, and her personal life as she prepares for her new role on the witness stand.
Otsuta is running the geisha house Tsuta in Tokyo. Her business is heavily in debt. Her daughter Katsuyo doesn't see any future in her mother's trade in the late days of geisha. But Otsuta will not give up. This film portrays the day time life of geisha when not entertaining customers.
Legendary Crocodile, Jake and His Fellows (伝説のワニ ジェイク) is a Japanese surreal fantasy media project. Originally a 2001 TV series and an illustrated book, it was adapted into a feature film in 2001 for DVD and again in 2004 for theaters. It blends live-action interviews with unique short animations. The people who have witnessed Jake come from completely different backgrounds, countries, ages, and circumstances. A young American woman spotted Jake in the opening of a waterway. An elderly Japanese man, confined to his sickbed, saw Jake on his ceiling. A Singaporean woman saw Jake sitting on a swing in a park while waiting to meet her lover... Jake suddenly appears in the midst of their ordinary lives, and each time he takes on a different form and appears in a different place. Yet only certain chosen people are able to see him.
No description available.
A car going at 25 mph plunges into the sea at Shinko Harbour, Toyama prefecture. Inside is the local business magnate Fukutaro Shirakawa, who perishes. Riding alongside him and surviving unhurt is his second wife, Kumako. It soon comes to light that Kumako’s husband was insured for 300 million yen and she is arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband for the insurance money. The newspapers denounce her as an evil woman, while the public is in no doubt about Kumako’s crime. Ritsuko Sahara is chosen as her defence attorney but the pair clash over almost everything...
A drama depicting the conflict between a man that ran to an old lover suffering from advanced leukemia, his wife and child that were left behind, and the friendship that develops between his wife and his former lover.
Tadashi Iki returns to Japan from a Soviet gulag 11 years after being captured during the invasion of Manchuria. He is offered a position in the expansive Kinki Corporation, but rival corporations are competing for a government contract to produce fighter planes.
1962 Japanese movie
The president of the Japanese National Railways is found dead during a period in which train service is plagued by numerous layoffs, strikes and shutdowns. The government says that the president was murdered; the police claim it was a suicide. A quizzical reporter follows the case for years, but the basic question remains unanswered: was the victim killed by members of the burgeoning Communist movement in Japan, or was the death stage-managed by the authorities in hopes of discrediting the Communists?
Inuyama is intrigued by the existence of "Jake," a mysterious crocodile that has been sighted in many countries around the world. He continues to travel around the world, listening to the testimonies of various people of different ages, nationalities, and sighting situations who have seen "Jake".
Obayashi's take on the famous Kosuke Kindaichi series, made popular partly thanks to the numerous movie-adaptions by Kon Ichikawa, the most known being The Inugami Family. Kosuke Kindaichi is the most famous detective in Japan. Kindaichi gets a new case to figure out who has beheaded a valuable statue and made off with its head.
A Japanese woman writes down three stories she has witnessed or heard of in her diary, each about the difficult situation a young woman finds herself in.
The three-film saga comes to a conclusion as three leaders of the underworld battle it out to determine who will become Don of Japan.
The story of Ryoma Sakamoto, considered to be the architect behind the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was considered an outlaw by his own clan, hunted by his government, and was despised by supporters of the Shogun as well as the Loyalists for desiring the opening of Japan to the West in order to learn its technology, in the hopes of one day defeating the West with a modern army and navy.
Famous detective Kindaichi solves a series of mysterious murders in a wealthy family. An excellent blend of intrigue and betrayal, set against the backdrop of wealth, this film is loaded with twists and turns and surprises at every corner.
Coinciding 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.
Story of three people, a barber, a Christian and a graduate of the Tokyo Military Academy during the 2nd World War.
A female scientist and two children are accidentally transported into a future dominated by primates.
A free-spirited girl living in a Japanese province spends her time working in a brothel and running with her dog. When her routine is shattered she gets on a path of hate and self discovery.
Yuko is in love with an old poet who happens to be also a married man. She waits patiently for him and only him, yet she is constantly being lust by others.
Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.
The Iron Cross Army are sabotaging oil-tankers with the help of their monster, the Sea-Devil, a semi-mechanical anthropomorphic swordfish with an ability to shoot torpedoes from its mouth. Spiderman employs the help of the interpol agent Juzo Mamiya to help him stop the Iron Cross Army.
When he was a little boy, Tokitō Kensaku was sent to live with his paternal grandfather and his mistress Oei. Years later, Kensaku realizes he has feelings for Oei.
Gang of robbers quarrel about the loot, but when one of them gets killed, his younger brother seeks them out to ice them one by one.
In 1930, the chance meeting of a novelist and one of his fans opens the door to a series of mysterious events culminating in the death of a wealthy industrialist who may have been leading a double life.
Utamaro was an artist who lived in Edo (which was later to become modern-day Tokyo) in the late 18th century. This film, which has a complex and wide-ranging storyline, recreates the world of that time, as it appeared in Utamaro's paintings.
A rookie golfer must cope with the stress of fame after a marketing executive transforms her into a sports celebrity.
Based on the life and career of novelist Fumiko Hayashi, she bitterly struggles for literary recognition in the first half of the 20th-century – her affairs with feckless men, the jobs she took to survive (peddler, waitress, bar maid), and her arduous, often humiliating attempts to get published in a male-dominated culture.
In the desert of Egypt, Kurata, the CEO of the Japanese corporation Tokokaihatsu, is killed by a sniper. After the news reaches Japan, the CEO's lawyer, Yamamoto, receives a visit from two men that attempt to steal the deceased CEO's will. This is witnessed by two detectives, Tsuzuki and Ōnuki, but they fail to catch the perps. Yamamoto hands the detectives a set of keys before he stops breathing. Tsuzuki and Ōnuki now have to investigate Kurata's murder...
A hospital accidentally gives a man Count Dracula's blood while trying to save his life. A year later, he's back from the dead, trying to right the wrongs of his life while trying to resist the urge to become a vampire.
Based on the comic Gokiburi Deka.
Set in the 1990s, this film uses black humour to cast a sharp, satirical eye at the problems facing modern Japanese families. Hiroshi accidentally hits a young woman with his car and flees in panic. He confesses to his wife, Yoko, who persuades him to keep quiet as his arrest would mean the end for their already troubled family. Their daughter is having an affair with a married man, their son is being bullied and refusing to go to school and their grandfather is becoming more difficult. Yoko urges the family to move the car into the living room in order to destroy the evidence by taking it apart. Hiroshi finally decides to do the honest thing but a series of bizarre incidents then ensues...
Adaptation of the Shôji Yuki novel.
A Choice between Loyalty or Duty of the Samurai! Can the heartlessness of society crush the honor of an individual? In the spring of the 18th year of Kanei, Hosokawa Tadatoshi, feudal lord of the Higo area, died. Although Tadatoshi forbade his vassals to follow him in death before he died, they still committed seppuku one after the other. The new feudal lord, Mitsunao, Tadatoshi's son, also gave the order forbidding seppuku. Abe Yaichiemon obeyed his former lord's last wish but is now being called a coward by his comrades and finally decided to follow Tadatoshi in death in order to save his family's honor. Mitsunao, upset by Yaichiemon actions, punished the Abe family unfairly. Objected to this, the Abe family shut themselves up in their manor as the lords troops moved in. This is the true story of what happened within the Hosokawa clan in early Edo era.
A martial arts master/detective investigates a series of murders and helps a deaf bathhouse attendant, Hisako.
The love story of an architect and a fashion designer in Mexico.
The story of the trials and tribulations of a lighthouse keeper and his wife.
One evening, at the Marine Tower observatory, cosmetics salesman Ichiro Iki is drawn into conversation with an unfamiliar young lady Akiko. She invites Ichiro back to a hotel where they make love but part without even exchanging names. A week later, they have a second chance encounter at the observatory. This time, Ichiro is the one who pursues her. Back at the hotel, Akiko begs Ichiro to give her sister – Kyoko, a bar hostess – absolute hell. Akiko resents her sister for lecturing on chastity, while wantonly indulging in promiscuous activity. Ichiro takes an interest in Kyoko and sets out towards her bar…
Japanese comedy film.
Two high school girls get mixed up in murder while investigating the disappearance of a classmate.
The Taisho era was a time of turbulence in Japan. From new marks of modernity to full-blown riots, a sense of revolution filled the air. The Dam Dam Group is a small anarchist organization lead by Daijiro, a silver tongued "Benshi", a performer who provides narratives for silent films, playing multiple roles. In other words, he was a master at the art of deception, a handy talent when it came to 'doing jobs' for his group. His revolutionary ideals attracted many to his squadron, but among them was a young girl who was oblivious to his group's activities. Her name was Shino.
A story of an orphan boy who wanted the love of parents so badly, another orphan sincerely pitied him to the point he gives his secret birthright as an illegitimate son to a Shogun as a "gift of hope" to the sad boy. As the orphan boy grew up, his loving heart became bitter and he saw the opportunity to take advantage of this birthright with the help of a man who wanted to use this orphan's desire to be loved, for seizing power in the shogunate by using the imposter. Many obstacles to hurdle along the way of deception, however, will they succeed or will he be exposed?
Romantic drama based on the manga published in Young Comic.
A young theatre actress fights for her uncertain career while having to confront the personal sacrifices that will arise from it.
The girl students of rival junior high schools stage duels and show a curious interest in sexual pastimes.
Film distributed by ATG.
After the war-time government orders the disbanding of the Big-Six baseball league, the teams of Waseda and Keio universities play one final game before they are drafted into the armed forces and face the hardships of military service.
Can a woman love two men at the same time? Set against the backdrop of Kyoto's rich history, this story depicts a woman's difficult choice for love. Ayako, played by Yukiyo Toake, is an international conference coordinator. Torn between her childhood sweetheart (played by Kenji Sawada) and her English professor (played by Noboru Nakaya), Ayako will seek answers to love, marriage, and choice.
During the war a university professor meets a girl and marries her. Very soon however, it is apparent that their needs are not matched. He would much rather be translating Shakespeare than attending to her, and she has a secret in her past - one that results in her sleeping with a great number of men.
Toshiko is the madam of a bar in Osaka who tries to keep her private life private and claims not to have a lover. However, she is in fact having a secret affair.
In the past, a woman was raped by her brother-in-law. Keeping this dark secret, she lives a seemingly happy life with her husband and son, but the son, shocked to find out his real father is the brother-in-law, sets out to do something. The downfall of a mother and her child starts there...
Erotic drama
Suspense TV movie based on the novel by Seicho Matsumoto, starring Ikko Furuya.
Based on the comic by Kazuo Koike
The sixth popular suspense series based on the original work by Akimitsu Takagi. Kyosuke Kozu was invited by former actress Shinobu Yuki, who had previously appeared on a magazine, to announce the production of the drama. The producer is Kako's husband, Fujita. When the press conference was about to end, the leading actress Hitomi was shot dead. She is suspected of being abandoned by Hitomi, her nephew Mizukami, but there is no evidence. Subsequent investigation reveals that Hitomi has been dating Urushida for three months. A few days later, Kako showed Kyosuke three threatening letters stating "Your life will be end in 10 days"...
Former policeman Matsushita Hiroshi is a professional marksman shootist. When his keen eye catches his target in the dry urban darkness, the hard, breathless action begins.
The story follows Tomoko, a writer who becomes involved in a strange and distant relationship with Shingo, a married novelist. Though they haven't seen each other in years, an unexpected connection forms. However, tensions rise, especially when Ryota, Tomoko’s ex-boyfriend, reappears in her life. As complications grow, Tomoko realizes she no longer loves Shingo and chooses to break away, despite the loneliness. Eventually, she decides to live independently, also leaving Ryota, and starts anew by the end of summer.
Hiroshi Nanjo is an active and tactful youth devoting more of his energies to his part time job than to studying for a college entrance exam. On the other hand, Bunpei Noro is an awkward fellow who once failed in a college entrance exam and is now studying hard for a second try. ‘Light and Shade of Youth’ depicts the friendship between these two young men of opposite characters, interlacing a cute waitress along the way.
A special edition of the TV series "Gakko no Kaidan (School Ghost Story)" broadcast on Fuji Television Network.
Leaving his wife in Osaka, Honda leads a double life in Tokyo – after spending the day as an elite businessman, he flirts around in the evenings. He even rents a secret apartment where he keeps record of his girl hunts in his diary, the ‘Hunter’s Diary’. One day, he finds an article in the newspaper – a murder of a young woman in his diary. A few days later, another woman from his diary is murdered. He soon finds himself in a labyrinth of fear, as women named in his diary are killed one after another...
1961 Japanese movie
Independent film by Yanagihara Ryouhei, member of the Animation Sannin no Kai pioneer group of independent animation. It tells the story of the Ikedaya raid by the Shinsengumi from the point of view of the neighbors of the Ikedaya.
