Acting
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69 movies sorted by popularity
Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.
Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard.
A married Japanese forester during WWII is sent to Indochina to manage forests. He meets a young Japanese typist and promises to leave his wife. He doesn't and after the war, she turns up and the affair resumes.
In an effort to find an economic means of purifying salt water, a joint U.S.-Japanese military command is set up on an isolated Japanese island where an unusual salt water lake is situated. However, their purifying experiments arouse the prehistoric monster Obaki from hibernation at the lake's bottom, and it proceeds to attack Japan. Although made by a U.S. independent film company, this film was based on a Japanese Toho monster film of 1958, "Daikaiju Varan", from which all of the monster effects scenes and a few incidental dramatic shots were edited into it.
When a narcotics deal goes sour and a suspect disappears, leaving only his clothes, Tokyo police question his wife and stake out the nightclub where she works.
Struggling to elevate himself from his low caste in 17th century Japan, Miyamoto trains to become a mighty samurai warrior.
Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older.
Story of an ex-sailor, caught up in a murder mystery involving gold dust buried in Manchuria, while romancing a woman whose father may be the center of the intrigue.
The legend of the birth of Shintoism. In Fourth Century Japan, the Emperor's son Ouso expects to succeed his father on the throne, but Otomo, the Emperor's vassal, prefers Ouso's stepbrother, and conspires to have Ouso die on a dangerous mission he has contrived. But Ouso prevails in the mission and returns to his father's castle under a new name, Prince Yamato Takeru. Otomo plots to have the Prince sent into even greater danger, but Otomo is unaware that the gods have favored the Prince and the outcome is far from what any of them expected.
Chōsokabe Kyutaro, notorious as a master swindler, abandons Tokyo and flees to Watakano Island near the Shima Peninsula. Upon hearing that the Tawarado family, the island’s wealthiest clan, was desperately searching for their missing heir, Kyutaro, he immediately disguises himself as Kyutaro and makes his way there.
No description available.
Men are being murdered by a killer who uses a matter-transmitting device to locate his victims.
When a rare species of butterfly is found in a mysterious valley in Japan, a pair of entomologists go to investigate and find more. They discover Varan, a giant monster, who decides to leave the valley and head straight for Tokyo.
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.
Ushinosuke returns broke to his hometown, where everyone believes he's rich and successful. Part two (of four) of the film adaptation of Bunroku Shishi's novel, Oban.
Edmund Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, transplanted to Japan. A poet-warrior with an oversized nose (matched only by his great heart) loves a lady. But she sees him only as a friend, so he helps another man to woo her by giving him the poetry of his own heart.
Sixth film in the "Kyodai Jingi" series. Three gangsters challenge an underworld group in northern Japan.
A man running a small radio repair shop becomes a key witness in a murder case.
Based on the story "Uwaki no tabi" ("Affair Journey") by Keita Genji.
Battles of an average salaryman.
A bus driver and a female conductor on a route deep in the mountains are embroiled in a love affair that is depicted in great detail in this light-hearted romantic drama.
An Ishiro Honda film.
From Hokkaido to Tokyo, hunting dog Goro embarks on a long and grueling journey to reach home. With the loss of his master who held a secret to a weapons smuggling case and the corruptions of those who are involved, Goro's adventure unfolds.
Adapted from a poem, which was composed by poet and sculptor Kotaro Takamura, Chieko-Sho is the story of the artist's wife Chieko. The poet meets a woman, who also as an artist illustrates, one day. They marry and have a good life spending many years together. One day, however, she loses her mind and has to be confined to a hospital. The poetry was some of star Hara Setsuko's favourite even before her involvement in the film.
Dr. Mikami is an elderly somewhat clumsy, very popular therapist, his patients turn to him with all possible and impossible questions. Because Dr. Mikami's specialty is sexual clarification... The world's best-selling sex literature was filmed here in a manner close to the original. And the openness of the image shows the shocking conflicts of young people in scenes that were never filmed. Shocking documents about sex life from the doctor's office.
When a young soldier is killed while trying to prevent his younger sister, Kaoru, from being sold into a life of prostitution, his commander, Col. Miyagi, tries to honor his dying wish to rescue his sister. Upon finding Kaoru at a party working as a geisha and later rescuing her from committing suicide, Col. Miyagi allows her to move in with him. Over time, the two grow close, but in spite of Kaoru's growing feelings for him, Col. Miyagi is unable to bring himself to return her love. On the night of his deployment to war, Col. Miyagi finally admits his feelings for Kaoru, but will they ever be able to enjoy a peaceful life together now that a very violent and bloody military revolt is under way...
Japanese police detective Saburo Fujioka is suspected of corruption, demoted, and sent to the city of Kojin. Kojin is the scene of fierce fighting between rival gangs. Fujioka is assigned to investigate the death of the wife of gangster Tetsuo Maruyama of the Kozuka gang, probably at the hands of one of the Oka gang. During a gang gunfight, Maruyama is rescued by Detective Fujioka and the two become friends. But Maruyama insists on avenging his wife's murder, even if it means conflict with his new friend.
Married for almost a decade, a couple with a son have their life thrown for a loop when the wife Isoko comes across a photo of her university professor husband Asakichi with a younger woman named Terue, alongside a gift and a letter. When the husband is confronted he admits to merely loving his wife non-romantically, prompting her to take her son and leave the house. While she returns to her previous job and is staying at the company's dormitory, her husband is being visited by the other woman, who wants to tend to him, and his students.
Gangsters Ken and Maki are rivals in the ticket-scalping game. They make an uneasy truce, but Ken wrecks the truce by agreeing to fix a boxing match in which Maki has an interest in one of the fighters. After a terrible brawl, the two gangsters discover that they have both been played for suckers by their bosses. They join forces to turn the tables on the bosses.
A drummer falls for a pawnbroker's daughter.
Film about a station master's romance with a young prostitute.
A tragic love story set in a hot-spring town.
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a brilliant tactician, is a loyal subject of the emperor, despite his grave misgivings about leading Japan's navy into war with the United States. He opposes the attack on Pearl Harbor, but, overruled, he leads his forces to the best of his ability.
1953 Toho adaptation of Natsume's novel.
Based on the novel "Kyokatsu" ("Blackmail") by Ichiro Kashiwara.
A young woman tries to raise money to open her own coffee shop. She arranges a loan when her rigid family won't help and then her husband becomes jealous of the loan officer.
Sankichi Matsutani, a poor young fisherman, falls in love with Kikue, the only daughter of fisher Shiimbei. As the star-crossed lovers come from different religious backgrounds, they soon meet fierce opposition from their communities.
With World War II is coming to its end and Japan nearing defeat, Japanese military leaders step up suicide attacks on Allied ships. Toei legend Koji Tsuruta stars as a Kamikaze squad leader who has second thoughts about suicide runs. He becomes torn between his own morality and his duty to his country when he must deal with a pilot under his command who refuses to complete his mission.
When an invisible man is run down by a car it’s up to an eager young reporter and a strange clown to bring a dangerous gang to justice.
A young country boy leaves his village for Tokyo, where he begins to work as a stock trader. First part (of four) of the film adaptation of Bunroku Shishi's novel, Oban.
A promising post-graduate literature student is transformed into a psychotic killer following the suicide of his father and a sleazy affair by his mother with a younger man.
Two high school girls, Ruri and Yumi, go to Kyoto on a school trip, here they get acquainted with Hinagiku, there are many adventures ahead of the three of them. A musical starring 3 Japanese pop music and TV stars.
Ryuta and Mineo Komatsu are brothers, both yakuza (gangsters). Mineo, although complicit in crime, even murder, wants out of the gangster life, hoping to become a successful singer instead. Ryuta loves his brother, but Mineo's possible defection presents problems for the gang, and Ryuta realizes he must kill his brother if he wants to survive.
Ultra-perky model likes single freedom but feels ryosai kenbo ("good wife, wise mother") pressure, exemplified by her bored-to-tears sister.
When Sergeant Okubo's brother is murdered at a Japanese outpost in Northern China during the Second World War, Okubo poses as a war correspondent and seeks out his brother's killer.
A math teacher loses his job while falling in love with a local girl.
A group of hustling peddlers swindle rural towns with fake goods, facing betrayals, close calls, and constant setbacks as they chase survival and dream of a better future.
Three competing parties all race against time to track down an elusive creature known only as the Snowman.
After the heartbreak of losing a close colleague, a television star vanishes, presumed to have drowned in Lake Izu. A mysterious empty boat, a forged suicide note, and sleeping pills spark suspicion. As her family—an estranged husband, a troubled son, and a secretive ex—grapple with grief and confusion, layers of hidden pain and deception begin to unravel. What seems like a tragic suicide slowly turns into a web of lies, guilt, and emotional collapse… until the final, devastating truth surfaces
After killing a detective in a botched robbery, Keiichi (Natsuki) is on the run as police stake out the homes of his sisters, mother, and girlfriend.
The fifth film in the Toho Diamond series, following "The Hateful Thing." Based on the true story of "Zoo Story" by author Fukuda Saburo. During the Tokyo air raids of World War II, Zen-san, an elephant keeper at Ueno Zoo, is faced with the heartbreaking task of euthanizing Tonki, a beloved elephant, due to food shortages and wartime pressures. Unable to carry out the order, Zen-san secretly feeds Tonki, but the elephant is ultimately shot by the military police. The film poignantly captures Zen-san’s despair and the devastation of war, as he reflects on his powerlessness amid the chaos.
In a village subsisting on it herring fishery, a one-eyed criminal named Jakoman terrorizes the inhabitants. One of them, the son of the head of one of the fish companies by the name of Tetsu, decides to overthrow Jakoman and his cohorts.
In this Japanese drama, a village girl goes to Tokyo and becomes a sex worker to support her ailing mother. While there she meets a teacher and falls in love.
TV film about the "Nishiyama Incident", a scandal surrounding the 1972 return of Okinawa to Japan. Produced to commemorate the 20th anniversary of TV Asahi in 1978 and released theatrically by Office Henmi in 1988.
After a gang killing forces him to flee abroad, ex-yakuza Ryūji returns to Yokohama a year later to find his lover’s sister’s killer. With help from a mysterious woman, he exposes the real culprit and brings down the smuggling ring.
Second part of director Hiroshi Inagaki's 1940 adaptation of the story of Musashi Miyamoto.
With one year left until graduation, college student Keiko marries her newly employed partner Noboru, only to face family disapproval and financial hardship. As household duties and upcoming exams strain their young marriage, the couple must lean on each other to overcome early adult challenges.
A private detective and a colleague investigate a man for a wealthy young lady.
