Kayo Matsuo

Former soldier, Suehiro Katsuji, fights violent gangs and powerful Chinese merchants during the post-war period in Japan.

A Shogun who grew paranoid as he became senile sent his ninjas to kill his samurai. They failed but did kill the samurai’s wife. The samurai swore to avenge the death of his wife and roams the countryside with his toddler son in search of vengeance.

In the shady black markets and bombed-out hovels of post–World War II Tokyo, a tough band of prostitutes eke out a dog-eat-dog existence, maintaining tenuous friendships and a semblance of order in a world of chaos. But when a renegade ex-soldier stumbles into their midst, lusts and loyalties clash, with tragic results. With Gate of Flesh, visionary director Seijun Suzuki delivers a whirlwind of social critique and pulp drama, shot through with brilliant colors and raw emotions.

Volunteering as a "comfort woman" on the Manchurian front, where she is expected to service hundreds of soldiers, Harumi is commandeered by the brutal Lieutenant Narita but falls for the sensitive Mikami, Narita's direct subordinate. Seijun Suzuki's Story of a Prostitute is a tragic love story as well as a rule-bending take on a popular Taijiro Tamura novel, challenging military and fraternal codes of honor, as seen through Harumi's eyes.

Depicts the bloody siege of the fortress of Port Arthur, one of the most strongly fortified positions in the world, during the Russo-Japanese War of (1904 - 1905). In the story dominated the character Lt Takeshi Kogyo (Teruhiko Aoi), teachers, and a reserve officer who became commander of the platoon and later company. At the same time monitors the conduct of the army commander general Nogi (Tatsuya Nakadai), which was commissioned of the emperor Matsuhito (Toshirô Mifune) to the conquest of the fort.

Ogami Itto battles a group of female ninja in the employ of the Yagyu clan and must eliminate a traitor who plans to sell his clan's secrets to the Shogunate.

Just when you think Kyoshiro's life can't get any stranger, someone starts running around raping and murdering, and leaving notes proudly proclaiming that he did it. Tracking down the real culprit will take him along a twisted trail that involves the Shogun's harem, hidden Christians, and positively pregnant politics!

Depicting the friendship of three boys in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.

A young yakuza hitman named Goro does a job and needs to hideout away from Tokyo for a while. He hangs out with loose women and hard men and always manages to stay one step ahead of the law. In his exile, he comes under suspicion for a murder and meets the girlfriend of the murdered man. They develop a strange bond while unbeknown to Goro, another hitman is after him for the job he did in Tokyo.

A large earthquake hits Tokyo, which was predicted by a seismologist but was ignored.

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 young man goes missing after visiting his girlfriend's isolated country home. His sister and her boyfriend trace him to a creepy mansion, but their search becomes perilous when they uncover a gruesome family history.

A lavish retelling of the true story of the final voyage and ultimate destruction and sinking of the battleship Yamato, Japan's greatest flagship during the Second World War.

Yataro Tanigawa, a one-eyed hired assassin, impresses yakuza boss Gomyo Kiyoemon with his skill. Gomyo hires Tanigawa as his bodyguard, or yojimbo, to protect him during an inter-clan conflict. Tanigawa quickly rises in stature in the clan, but finds his boss's enemies almost overwhelming.

No description available.

A boy born in a poor village in Tokushima spends his days idly until a chance meeting sets him on the road to becoming boss of Japan's largest gang. This epic film is the first part of greatest true-life series based on autobiography of the Yamaguchi-gumi's third leader, Taoka Kazuo.

Set in post-war Japan, a group of five, four men and one woman, gathers in the basement of a butcher shop to dig up a cache of morphine buried during the war. A grimly humorous tale of twisted relationships as one by one each of the group is eliminated.

Based on Kazuo Taoka's autobiography, this film follows a Kobe gangster as he builds the small Yamaguchi-gumi into Japan's largest criminal clan.

Goro wants to put his dark past behind. He heads to Hirosaki City to offer his condolences to Yumeko and to reunite with Yukiko, but finds that Yumeko is fatally ill. Although Yukiko was taking care of her, she is pressed for money. Goro wants to help and knows that there is only one way to come up with fast money.

After his own gang sets him up to kill a rival mobster, a hit man is forced to flee with his younger brother.

A story of friendship between a lone wolf judo expert and a youth.

A Japanese teenager travels to New Caledonia in search of the fabled "island closest to heaven" that her late father had told her about.

Today is a new day with hopes. A youth hymn that depicts a young truck driver growing up in love with a dream while being supported by his friends who are always close to him. A movie adaptation of a hit song by Kazuo Funaki.

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.

The film tells the story of four orphans living in an impoverished mining town. An adaptation of a best-selling book based on the diary of a ten-year-old zainichi (ethnic Korean Japanese) girl, it was one of the first films to deal with the subject of zainichi identity and struggles in Japan.

In late 1940 the Japanese were anxious to conclude peace in China and to that end sent Colonel Hidaka to inaugurate negotiations. He was mysteriously assassinated, however, when his car was blown up. The General Staff Headquarters in Japan, sends Lieutenant Shiina, a graduate of the famed Nakano School of Spies inaugurated by Colonel Kusanagi, to investigate the matter. Arriving in Shanghai, he disguises himself as a Chinese coolie and sets out to watch for developments, the only clue being a silver dollar found beside what was left of the victim.

Like a girl runaway, Tsuyu moves to Osaka to work as a bar hostess. She meets the owner of a model school, Yoko, and seriously thinks about becoming a fashion model. Yoko tells her that she can move in to Yoko’s house to take lessons, while making a living at the same time.

Political fixer Homei Yamaoka's misdeeds come to light, throwing Japanese politics into deadly confusion. But he's not going down without a fight.

Seeking revenge after a brutal attack that left him disfigured, a former assassin gets drawn into a high-stakes conflict over a valuable treasure.

No description available.

Goro had grown up in the yakuza world. As an active member of the Mizuhara family crime syndicate, he expressed his loyalty by always putting himself in the forefront of every battle. Violence never bothered him. However, after being sentenced to three years in prison for stabbing a rival gang’s hit man, he becomes disenchanted with the Yakuza life style. Goro is determined to start anew, but karma catches up. His two closest friends are murdered by his ex-boss. He is left with two options: to kill or be killed.

Part one.

Approached by a friend about a matchmaking arrangement, Su-san goes to Hama-chan's home seeking help. Hama-chan is away on a business trip, but Michiko entertains Su-san late into the night. When he gets drunk and ends up spending the night, Hama-chan, begins to question his boss's relationship with Michiko.

Kiroku boards with a Roman Catholic family and falls for the daughter Michiko. He ignores his feelings, joins a gang, gets in fights and, eventually, becomes involved with the radical Kita Ikki group.

A touching story of a girl who sails away from her love to keep her family together.

Hideyuki Mitamura, a student at a private school near Osaka, is kidnapped on his way home from school.

The Domain: Severed Relations

The tragic tale of Kiyono, a young woman from the mountain who fell in love with Takuji, a fisherman's son, and her devotion to him during a time of war.

Two Kyushu based yakuza groups are desperate for domaination of the area. When more powerful yakuza groups get involved in their power struggle, a group of childhood friends, belonging to different yakuza families, are caught in the middle. Lies, deceit, and backstabbing are in play resulting in a bloodbath and a quest for revenge...

Two lone wolf yakuza (Hideki Takahashi and Kunie Tanaka) rob a gambling den, then split up when pursued by the angry gang. They eventually meet again at Tanaka's mother's rural farmhouse. By then, one-eyed Kobayashi has wrangled his way into the scenario, intending to get a split of the proceeds (since he had helped them get away). Although there is some dissension amongst the three, they eventually close ranks to fend off their stubborn, relentless pursuers. Unhappily, Tanaka’s mother (Chieko Naniwa) is killed in the process. There are also love interests (Yoshiko Machida and Kayo Matsuo) and some humor along the way. An admirably different approach to the formulaic ninkyo yakuza programmer, filmed largely in sweltering summer countryside locations.

Hanjiro, a one eyed vagrant arrives in Okinoshima to save the town from a violent Yakuza group with the help of six handicapped guys.

When 150 guns are stolen from Iwakuni base and two police officers are shot dead, a detective criminal tries to find out the truth.

The Domain: White Blade

Hama-chan and his wife are ecstatic about their long-awaited pregnancy. Meanwhile, Su-san's nephew joins Hama-chan's department at the company.

It’s cross and double-cross in these further adventures of Ryuzen, the wayward priest played by Katsu Shintaro as he tries to help a woman who may be the heir to a fortune get what is rightfully hers. Matsuo Kayo, who first rose to international stardom as ‘the supreme ninja’ in “Shogun Assassin” gives an outstanding performance in this clever and exciting caper tale set in the samurai era. Ryuzen agrees to help her, but is he just in it for himself, and is she really who she claims to be? When they come up against Boss Tobei it’s a virtual free-for-all as everyone struggles to walk away with a fortune in gold!

Can a sinful man change and find peace? It's unlikely in gang-plagued Japan. Jokichi of Mikogami, a drifter (and hired sword), goes straight after protecting a woman in distress: they marry, have a son, and Jokichi pursues his father's craft. After three years, the gangs he embarrassed when he saved his wife find the family and leave Jokichi in grief, vowing revenge. To parry his terrible swift sword, rival gangs join forces, hiring a prostitute to pose as a woman needing help and breaking the code of honor to double cross the drifter. He finds unlikely allies: a thief who aids him for fun and a one-eyed swordsman who may be Jokichi's equal in skill and honor.

Three men vs. gangsters in a fight involving smuggled gold.

Two high school girls get mixed up in murder while investigating the disappearance of a classmate.

Mine, the only daughter of Kiyagen, is faced with running the family's timber business when her father falls ill. Under a great deal of pressure to continue the five generation long run of the business, Mine is put to the ultimate test when a former gangster sets his sights on closing her down.

1962 Japanese movie

The second part of the Gamblers series.

A high-school vigilante protects his community from the extortions of mobsters from a neighbouring city.

Two brothers seek revenge on the yakuza responsible for the death of their father.

Tajima Yumi, in grade school, is overjoyed when her father says they are moving to an apartment in a big city. But the beautiful home she had imagined is in a slum area called Samurai Village, a little settlement, where people live from hand to mouth. To make things worse, a group of vagrants descends on the already crowded ragpickers' village. The sight depresses and saddens little Yumi, but when her father gives up drinking, it makes up for everything in her eyes, and when he runs past liquor shops to avoid temptation, Yumi's laughter rings out merrily again. A unique social drama depicting the growth of a new generation that confronts the world of adults full of vanity in the image of a girl living in poverty.

In the middle of the era, Taisho, a big boss in Asakusa Iizuka, was severely questioned by the police about the source of funds for the Daido Federation, to which he belonged. The creditor, Izo, visited the local police station daily, worried about the safety of his boss, and himself came to the attention of the police. Izo embarks on a journey to escape, but in the meantime, the new rising yakuza Dojima plans to kill Iizuka...

An assassin is mistaken for a doctor and threatened by a band of masterless warriors, but they realize their mistake and retreat into the darkness. Days later, he is asked to kill the doctor's brother. What secrets are these men hiding?

No description available.

On his return from school, young Ichiro finds his father in bed with his adopted sister, Namie. Enraged, he decides to outdo his father in terms of immoral behaviour.

Yagyu Jubei, the finest swordsman in the land, is called upon to bare his blade to help Iemitsu keep his post. Meanwhile a fishmonger named Isshin Tasuke who bears an amazing resemblance to Shogun Iemitsu may be called upon to put his life on the line by acting as the Shogun's double. At the same time, the tragic story of Banzuiin Chobei and Mizuno Jurozaemon is unfolding.

No description available.

The 18th "Ekimae" feature.

Japanese film based on the life of Zen Master Tetsugen Doko.

A kidnapping occurred over a seven-million-dollar diamond that was sewn into his stomach. Takuya Nikaido, the hero of Kamideki, challenges the underground organization of fear. The final work of Asahi Kobayashi's "Ginza Whirlpool Child (Mitsugai)" series.

5th entry in the Bakuchi-uchi series.

A woman's life is irrevocably altered when a young murderer stumbles into her home.

The Ginza Whirlwind (Akira Kobayashi) attempts to solve a murder.

After an elderly man is discharged from a hospital following a misunderstood, life-affirming impulse toward a fellow patient, he finds himself caught between his wife’s empathy and his children’s judgmental scorn. As his health wavers, he and his wife attempt to reclaim their intimacy and vitality during a seaside getaway, even as their son becomes entangled with the same young woman from the clinic.

Yutaro Kodan, born under a cloud because his aristocrat father died opposing the shogunate, stumbles onto a treasure map. Lusting after the treasure, Lord Sumi Tadamasa convinces trusting Princess Tsu that the gold will help to avenge her lost clan.

Nineteen-year-old Fukiko Kuwano lives with her father, who is nearing retirement, her mother, and her younger brother. After colliding with a stranger while speeding on her bicycle, she is surprised to discover that their new lodger is that very stranger.

Following the well-received previous film “Confrontation”, Asahi returns as the wandering drifter Manshū Tsuné, who joins forces with the righteous man Hideki.

1962 Japanese movie

A boy who dreams of being a yakuza leader is reformed by a girl's pure love for him.

A Yakuza film directed by Kôsaku Yamashita

Japanese comedy film.

Based on the novel of the same name by Shoji Yuki

No description available.

Little dark-eyed boy Kazuo. Yes, he dreamed of the sea. However, like everyone here in the village. Kazuo only wanted to study first, to finish school... But he failed. Mother died. The woman who replaced her brought with her affection, comfort, and warmth of mother's hands. It seemed that joy settled in their house again. But one day a storm caught the fishermen at sea. Father did not return... Father's friends, fishermen, tried to help the widow, who was left with two children. But the money was still not enough. And then Kazuo decided to become a fisherman. After all, he was now the eldest in the family...

Final installment of THE WANDERING GUITARIST series.

This unconventional comedy is set in the world of Osaka's popular cabarets and tells the story of a man who has dedicated his life to the nightlife industry.

No description available.

1962 Japanese movie

A pure love story that depicts the joy of loving and the bitterness of being loved in a burst of youth.

A movie-loving nanny lives and works in the home of a university professor and eventually becomes the family's support system, leading a bright and joyful life.

Tsuiseki is a 1961 crime film.

Two young lovers stake their lives on passion. Yet a cruel and capricious fate cruelly extinguishes the blazing flame of their love.