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137 movies sorted by popularity
In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.
In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.
A historical drama that tells the story of a simple girl, Chizuru, who entered the imperial palace as a maid and rose to the top because of her love affair.
No description available.
Adaptation of Junichiro Tanizaki's novel whit the same name. It is perversely erotic relationship between a young salaryman and his teenage wife whom he 'adopted' at first as to 'train' her to be his idealistic modern woman.
Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of several petty people.
Three young women who dream of a life of luxury find themselves drawn into a family feud within the Date clan as maids. There, they protect the young lord and play a major role in taking on the villains.
After arriving in the town of Shimonita, Ichi finds that a price has been put on his head by a local yakuza boss. He's drawn into a trap, but after hearing of the slaying of a former love, Ichi furiously fights his way through the entire clan to face the killer, a hired ronin.
A body is found poisoned in a room of a luxury apartment late at night and a beautiful mother turns herself in to protect her rebellious daughter.
A romance between a young koto prodigy and the head of a koto school’s daughter.
A rival diner opens next door, the model student third son fails his college entrance exams, and the good-natured dad finds himself in a whirlwind of trouble as internal and external crises come one after another.
Blind masseur Zatoichi is nursed back to health by a young woman after he is shot by a gang member. Zatoichi, who had come to the village to repay a debt, now feels further indebted. He commits himself to use his amazing sword skills to help the young woman's father, whose river-crossing service is under attack by the same gang responsible for Zatoichi's wounds.
A period drama that depicts the romance between Otomi and Yosaburo.
Mitsuko, a maiko from Gion, met Haruki by chance and had a fun time with him, but is stunned when he discovers her secret. This is a love story that cheerfully portrays the life of a modern maiko.
An Indian prince leaves his world of comfort and riches behind to wander and meditate for six years in search of spiritual enlightenment. Siddartha (Cojoin Hong) turns his back on the old religion when people are starving needlessly and holy rituals include human sacrifices. During his meditations, he is tempted by erotic dancing women, demons, and the evil machinations of his criminal cousin. Devastate to attain the spiritual perfection and become the Buddha. He travels to convert followers by his kindness and wisdom, gaining a multitude of believers when he stops an elephant from crushing a local priest. Buddha of course goes on to become one of the great religious leaders of the world.
On the night of the summer Obon festival, Hagiwara Shinzaburo meets a beautiful courtesan named Otsuyu. Not knowing she's a ghost, he becomes infatuated by her.
A lantern with a large sum of money hidden in it was sold without the owner’s knowledge. The honest lantern shop owners find themselves in a huge commotion over the lantern in question.
Zatoichi is forced to kill a young man who owes a debt to a yakuza boss. Moments later, his sister Osode arrives with the money she earned (prostituting herself) to pay his debts. The bosses true motives are revealed and he attempts to steal Osode even though the debt is paid. Zatoichi realizes his grievous error and protects the girl from the gang. Osode and Zatoichi are caught in a dilemma as she must rely on her brother's killer for protection and Zatoichi wrestles with the injustice he has caused.
Itarō abandons his life as a hatamoto to become a yakuza.
Zatoichi is sworn to protect the life of a young girl and without any real allies finds himself in the middle of a bloody turf war.
The blind masseuse is targeted by the leader of a powerful yakuza group while also fending off a jealous husband bent on revenge. Zatoichi tours Edo's underground via a rousing onsen fight scene, gambling houses and the gender-bending character of Umeji, before a final, flame-filled conflagration.
Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman returning home with her baby. When gangsters mistake her for Zatoichi and kill her, Zatoichi determines to escort the baby to its father. He gains the reluctant help of a young pick pocket and together they travel to find the baby's father. But they do not reckon on the father's reaction to their arrival, nor on their own growing feelings for the child.
A series of murders surrounds the 70,000 ryō in buried treasure hidden by the Kanayama Magistrate.
Zatoichi runs afoul of some evil fugitives, working for a corrupt law official.
Blind masseur and master swordsman Zatoichi finds a robbed and fatally wounded pregnant woman, whose baby he delivers before she dies. He takes the baby in search of its father and finds the child's aunt, who is about to be forced into prostitution for want of a payment the dead mother was bringing. Zatoichi determines to save the woman from her cruel fate.
Kayo (Kimie Shingyoji), who married Jingoro (Jun Eto) of the small-time goods dealer Kagamishimaya, is unable to even hug each other seven days after the wedding. Kayo (Kimie Shingyoji), who married Jingoro (Jun Eto), a merchant in a small house in Kagamiya, is unable to even hug Kayo even seven days after the wedding ceremony. One day, Jingoro suddenly dies, but a monk (Ichiro Arishima) appears to the grieving family and tells them that his soul has simply slipped away, and the next morning Jingoro wakes up as if nothing had happened. A few days later, Kayo follows the spirit that escaped from Jingoro again and arrives at the grave of Araji, where she sees Jingoro meeting with the spirit of a young girl. In fact, three years earlier, Jingoro had been torn apart by the daughter (Keiko Suzuka) of Miuraya, a kimono wholesaler, and they had tied each other's fingers together with string, slit their wrists, and thrown themselves off a boat.
In Kyoto a young kimono maker with traditional ideas gets involved with a married professor.
A story about a young woman who has been rehabilitated at a juvenile detention center for girls and released into society, but finds herself on the verge of falling back into a life of crime.
In one of Japan's most frequently-told ghost stories, a murdered wife returns in an act of vengeance.
Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman looking for her father, a village leader who has disappeared. As he helps her investigate the disappearance, Zatoichi also becomes involved with another young woman who is trying to help her brother, who has murdered someone at about the same time and place as the missing man was last seen.
The story follows Oshino, a geisha who is trying to start a new life with a lover who is a painter. However, her past filled with debts and pimps catches up to her.
Set against the backdrop of the Warring States period, this thrilling period drama follows the "Demon of Iga," a bloodthirsty and resolute Koga-ryu ninja Sarutobi Sasuke.
Story about a gambler who gets involved in a struggle between companies.
A model gets involved with some gangsters trying to pull a big deal.
The Fencing Master tells the story of a man trying to survive as the only world he knows is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Danpei Ichikawa lives for swordfighting – he was once a renowned kabuki swordfight choreographer, and as the Chairman of the New National Theatre Company, he wants nothing more than to choreograph the swordfights for the modern plays put on by the company.
One of Kinugasa's last films--based on the story by Tanizaki Jun'ichirō.
A lighthearted musical comedy in which a tanuki detective runs amok chasing a tanuki murderer who has disguised himself as a human and fled into the bustling streets of Ginza.
Period comedy.
1956 Daiei movie
Fifth film in the series. When Kyoshiro, in a moment of weakness, saves the life of a woman being attacked on the road, he quickly finds himself entangled in a conspiracy involving a corrupt chamberlain, a wily merchant, the survivors of a pirate gang, and a missing treasure trove.
A woman loses her son through an evil conspiracy and commits suicide. Shortly afterwards a ghost cat begins haunting the conspirators. This is Takako Irie's first bakeneko (ghost cat) movie; it started a Daiei cycle which was very popular at the time in Japan.
Set in the middle of the Edo period (1603-1867), this tragic love story takes its cue from a celebrated historical case tried by magistrate Tadasuke Ooka, whose shrewd legal decisions became the stuff of legend. Okuma Shirokoya, the daughter of a lumber merchant in Edo (today’s Tokyo), embarked on an affair and was executed after conspiring with her maid to murder her husband. (Source: https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/proiezione/shirokoya-komako/)
The tragic, yet exciting story of the friendship between Nakayama Yasubei, a member of the 47 Ronin, and Tange Tenzen, a relative by marriage of the vile Lord Kira.
About 1786 the doings of a demented lord results in many masterless samurai, including Iyemon (Kei Sato) who is used to luxury and cannot adjust to the hand-to-mouth conditions & piecework of umbrella making. Having hired ruffians to make him look like a superior swordsman, he arranges for himself the opportunity of a profitable marriage. He hires the half-blind masseur Takuetsu (Sawamura Sounosuke) to seduce or rape his wife (Kyoko Mikage), so that she can be divorced or killed for adultery. But the masseur takes pity & informs Oiwa of her husband's horrid plot. Assisted by the merchant's daughter he intends to marry, Iyemon disfigures his wife attempting to poison her so he can marry higher. There's a lovingly gruesome sequence as she combs blad patches into her hair, kneeling deformed at her mirror, weeping with bitterness. She eventually cuts her own throat, swearing revenge.
As a child, Okin the one-armed one-eyed swordswoman was disfigured by Lord Daizen-dayu, who was after her family's most treasured possession, the famed Drenched Swallow sword. As an adult, she has become a skilled swordswoman and lives a carefree life with her adopted family. One day, Okin saves a girl from a group of yakuza, and in doing so, gets involved in a grand conspiracy involving religious leaders, government officials, the yakuza and Lord Daizen-dayu, the man who killed her father and mutilated her body...
Film by director Kenji Misumi
When a theater producer Kurato is murdered in the audience on opening night, Inspector Kawano investigates the prop pistols used on stage, but all were fake. That same night, a dancer in the troupe went missing and a police officer was shot with the same caliber gun. Kawano suspects they are all related to a gun smuggling case.
A scientist successfully creates an invisibility serum, only to be kidnapped by a gang of thugs who wish to use the formula to rob a priceless jewel.
A sequel to the popular "The School of Spies", this film continues the adventures of one of the graduates who is assigned to crack a powerful spy ring working out of Kobe. Various people are suspected but, finally, it seems that an Army captain and his geisha friend might lead them to the ring.
Story of a Beloved Wife is an autobiographical work based on Shindo's first marriage. Jūkichi Uno stars as a struggling screenwriter, and Nobuko Otowa stars as the wife who supports him through his early struggles.
A racist sergeant stationed in post-war Japan finds himself softening towards the children and falling for a local woman.
Tsunamune Date, the young lord of Sendai Domain, was ordered by the shogunate to stand down after being spotted in a brothel. Shortly after, four advisors from his entourage were assassinated, calling into question the possessions of the Date family.
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!
A young swordsman takes on the mysterious, deadly “Demon Sword” wielded by a nihilistic master swordsman who trusts neither human compassion nor a woman’s heart… What is the fate of the undefeated Demon Sword?
One murky night, Soetsu, a blind acupuncturist and money lender, calls on Shinzaemon Fukami, a Hatamoto samurai, to collect some money. But Fukami is too busy having an affair with a maid and curtly tells Soetsu to ask Sawano, his wife, for the money. As they have no money, Sawano interprets her husband's words as telling her to give herself to Soetsu in lieu of payment. However, Fukami catches them in the act and kills them both. Snatching up Soetsu's money bag with 30 ryo in it, he then asks two ruffians, to sink the bodies in a marsh. From what follows, it seems as if the spirits of Soetsu and Sawano are still hovering on earth in anguish and anger. For soon afterwards, Fukami is found dead by his own hand and Osono, Soetsu's younger daughter, suddenly disappears from home.
Third film of the yoidore hakase series
Kazuo Miyagawa’s prizewinning black-and-white cinematography draws out the moral shadings of Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata’s 1952 novel Thousand Cranes, a quietly devastating story of a young man, orphaned during the war, who stumbles into a passionate yet tragic relationship with his late father’s mistress and her daughter.
An omnibus comedy in which an unique lawyer teaches about laws regarding sex crimes.
Who is Shinzo, the man who captivates both men and women…? Official lanterns flutter chaotically through the Great Edo of love and intrigue… A thrilling period crime drama featuring the Demon Magistrate.
Expressing the distinct personalities of the three daughters.
Set against the backdrop of Hiroshima, a city plagued by gun violence, a passionate newspaper reporter and the citizens band together to courageously confront the tyranny of two major organized crime syndicates.
When a corrupt magistrate rapes Oshima, Masa (Raizō Ichikawa) avenges her by killing the officer, becoming thereby a fugitive, haunted and grief-stricken by the fact that Oshima committed suicide. Going underground in the gambling world, perpetually hiding from the law, Masa eventually meets a young woman named Onaka, who looks exactly like Oshima. Tales having two look-alike heroines are a commonplace in Japanese period films, a plot affectation inherited from the kabuki theater. Based on a novel by Shin Hasegawa, Nakayama shichiri was already twice filmed in 1930, one version directed by Namio Ochiai, and from which less than 40 minutes survive, the other directed by Kyotaro Namiki. Both are silent films, preserved by the Makino film institute.
After a broken heart, the woman lives a lonely life in a dormitory, while the man is now a popular singer at the height of his fame.
Film directed by Kenji Misumi.
1959 Japanese movie
Adaptation of a famous Kyouka Izumi novel. Set in the early 1900's, it tells the story of the impossible love between a young scholar a beautiful geisha.
A 1961 film directed by Yoshiyuki Kuroda.
Fourth film of the Bannai Tarao series starring Chiezo Kataoka
During the war a man is bitten by a creature which looks like a cross between a bear and an ape in the jungle. Later he starts to transform to a monster like creature who kills with his claw like fingers.
This film stars Tanaka Kinuyo as the mother of the heir to the Hosho name, a famous lineage of Noh actors. The heir, Hosho Yagoro, is played by Hasegawa Kuzuo who went on to become familiar among Ichikawa Kon fans as Yukinojo in An Actor's Revenge, which was also co-written by Ito, adding to the relatedness of An Heir's Place.
A kabuki actress is murdered. Her pet cat laps its mistress's blood and becomes a demon possessed by the vengeful murder victim.
AKA Family of Women. A story about a wealthy family and the greed and selfishness of three daughters and relatives, after the passing of their old father.
1962 Japanese movie
A tanuki-themed musical.
Okoyo, the mistress of Lord Arima, fears that she is being replaced by a younger woman named Otaki. In a fit of jealousy, she kills the younger girl. The dead woman's cat licks her blood and becomes a demon, seeking revenge on Okoyo
The story of Kanesuke and Entaro who are master elephant trainers in charge of two elephants, Taro and Hanako at the Metropolitan Zoo.
A unique story of a life of romance, divided into three episodes about the profound secrets of the path deeply rooted in the essence of human nature, depicted with a wry and stylish touch.
Shinjiro is a rambler, a single sword carrying lone wolf with only his fighting skills to protect him. He doesn’t know where his road leads, only that he must find his lost sister, and the ronin who stole her away. The ronin that Shinjiro has sworn to kill. On the road he’ll find his sister and test his blade against his bitter enemy. He also encounters a lost boy searching for his father, a boy he will swear to protect, and find his own lost love, a daughter of the yakuza who draws him into a frenzied and bloody battle between rival yakuza gangs for the control of a frightened town.
Based on the comic by Machiko Hasegawa
Young lawyer Jiro receives a late night phone call from a distraught woman sending him on a journey to uncover corruption and exploitation stemming from those at the very top of society.
A remake of Kaidan Saga yashiki (1953).
The heroic warrior uses his magical powers and great sword skills to battle a criminal gang who all wear devil outfits.
A comic thriller directed by Tokuzo Tanaka, a first-time newcomer, based on a screenplay by Toshio Tamikado, who co-wrote "Nukiashisashi Ashi Shinobiashi." Photographed by Chikichiro Takeda of "Nurekami Kenpo." The music is by Han Takahashi of "Nukiashisashiashishininashi". Shoji Umewaka, Mieko Kondo, Daimaru Luckett and others
1961 Japanese movie
One day, a funeral was held at one of the tenements in Asakusa. It was the only son of a wealthy merchant named Matasaburo, who had run away from home with a woman he was in love with and had been living here. But this funeral was actually a kyogen (a farce) orchestrated by a gardener named Yunosuke, who had planted it without telling his wife, Okinu, in order to bilk his parents out of their money. Matasaburo believed Yunosuke, who said he would dig him up right away, and was buried in the ground. ......
Sequel to "Saiyuki" (1952)
O-Kiyo (Mitsuko Mito), who had escaped from her boss, Shoden, who controlled the Sensoji Temple district, was desperately contemplating suicide when she was rescued by ronin Kojuro Tozawa (Kazuo Hasegawa), who hid her in a dilapidated apartment building. The Shoden clan desperately searched for O-Kiyo, but Kojuro found a huge sum of 50 ryo and ransomed O-Kiyo. Unable to accept this outcome, the enraged Shoden clan attempted to win the favor of constable Jinnosuke Nakayama (Kusuo Abe), seeking to demolish the dilapidated building and transform the area into a pleasure district. However, Kojuro thwarted their plans, bringing joy to the poor residents of the building. After demonstrating his remarkable skills, Kojiro revealed his true identity - he was a prominent hatamoto.
Eight members of the Kuroinu clan gather to divide an inheritance, but one of them is suddenly found decapitated. A series of murders unfolds, with one mystery leading to another.
Set against the backdrop of a land-grabbing battle over a real estate development project involving tens of millions of yen, this story portrays two women—one who lives for money and the other who lives for love—and a resilient man, each searching for their own path in life.
