Chieko Murata

Aijô ni tsuite

Michiko Asakura was married to the eldest son of the Sakuma family, an unsealed family in Shinshu, but died from her husband and returned to her parents' house in Tokyo with her five-year-old daughter Yoshiko.

Yume de aritai

1962 Japanese movie

A Geisha on Horseback

Based on the original work of Akutagawa Prize-winning writer Ashihei Hino, the film depicts the love of the proud geisha Nobukichi Hakata in the early Taisho era.

Jinsei Gekijo: Zankyaku hen

1938 Theater of Life adaptation.

The Sun of Love and Tears

The golden duo of Yukio Hashi and Chieko Baisho. A film rich in a variety of songs, dances and falling in love to the rhythm of Yukio Hashi's song of the same name.

Tokyo Crime Map

An exciting film about thugs, in which murders and drugs, justice and resentment explode in the dark city of Tokyo with the help of guns and violence.

Earth

Kanji is a poor peasant widower who struggles to earn a living for his daughter and himself and to pay off his father-in-law's debts.

A Hen in the Wind

Tokiko is a mother patiently waiting for her husband's return from the war when her 4-year old son becomes ill. She takes him to the doctor for treatment but has no way of paying. She resorts to prostitution. One month later her husband returns from WWII to find his desperate wife, who tells him the truth. Together they must deal with the consequences.

Devil's Flute

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.

Triangle Moods

Ayako Wakao portrays a downtown rice ball shop girl whose heart is set on her business. Involved in her life are three young men—stage actor Goro, businessman Kokichi and Sanpei Pachinko.

Black Sea of Trees

Sachiko's beloved sister Nobuko was supposed to go to Tohoku when she suddenly dies in a car accident in Hamamatsu. Sachiko begins to trace her sister's friendships to unravel the mystery of her mysterious death...

The Betrothed

Adaptation of the Yukio Mishima novel.

Sugata naki teki

1945 Japanese movie

The Ghost-Cat Cursed Wall

When a nobleman finds a woman to be an obstacle to his growing political influence, he kills her and her cat and has their bodies immured in a wall. Shortly afterwards, a catlike demon begins to haunt the castle.

The Old Temple Well

Features a haunted well with yet another blind masseur's vengeful ghost.

Ghost Story: Depth of Kasane

Follows the murder of a money-lending masseur by an impoverished samurai. The slain masseur's daughter will also fall victim to his curse, so that she can become empowered as an agent of her father's vengeance.

The Red Water

Comedy drama film

Lightning

The story of Kiyoko, a young woman who has successfully managed to make a break with her dysfunctional family who have been trying to arrange a marriage for her with a disagreeable man whom she has rejected.

A Samurai's Love

A film about the Ghost of Okiku that's based on the kabuki play Bancho Sarayashiki.

Fūshinraishin

1962 Japanese movie

Saigo no kikyō

1945 Japanese movie

Wakare mo tanoshi

1945 Japanese movie

A Flower Blooms

Machiko falls in love with a mysterious man, but her family wants something different for her.

The Whale God

A fishing village is terrorized by a giant whale, and the fishermen are determined to kill it.

The Makioka Sisters

Based on the famous novel by Junichiro Tanizaki, this is a story of the four sisters of the ancient and reputable Makioka family of Osaka.

The Ghost Cat of Ouma Crossing

A kabuki actress is murdered. Her pet cat laps its mistress's blood and becomes a demon possessed by the vengeful murder victim.

Song of Happiness

Japanese comedy directed by Noriaki Yuasa.

Beauty the Enemy

In a rural district of Tokyo, the owner of a farm is abandoned by his two daughters who are attracted to the life of the big city.

High School Third Graders

In 1963, Funaki Kazuo's debut song of the same name was released and then it was adapted to a movie based on Kenji Tomishima 's novel “Shake to Tomorrow” with the same title, produced by Daiei with this song as a motif. Singer and actor Funaki Kazuo also appears in the movie, which depicts the fun, love and heartbreak in a Japanese school.

Roses Bloom on a Rose Tree

Yano Reiko is a part-time student. After being introduced by a well-known classmate, she becomes the tutor for Mariko, the second daughter of the bourgeois Todo family. The eldest daughter of the Todo family, Tomoe, is a typical bourgeois lady who secretly loves Fuyuhiko Kanae, an architectural engineer who is designing her villa. For Reiko, the life of the Todo family is completely different, but when she meets the bright and intelligent Fuyuhiko, she feels more than just affection for him, going beyond Reiko's circumstances. Meanwhile, Fuyuhiko also begins to love the neat and beautiful Reiko. The relationship between the two develops rapidly, but Reiko's heart is complicated. This is because Reiko has an older sister, Ginko, who works in a red-light district...

Diary of a Mad Old Man

Utsugi, a seventy-seven-year-old man of refined tastes who is recovering from a stroke, discovers that, while his body is decaying, his libido still rages on -- unwittingly sparked by the gentle, kindly attentions of his daughter-in-law Satsuko, a chic, flashy dancer with a shady past. Pitiful and ridiculous as he is, Utsugi is without a trace of self-pity, and his diary shines with self-effacing good humor.

Eriko

Japanese "kayo" film centered around the song "Eriko" by Yukio Hashi.

Warm Current

The story revolves around a young man appointed to rescue a troubled hospital who must choose between two women, a dedicated nurse or a spoiled rich girl.

The Cruel Sea

It is 1921 and a town has a newspaper which prints urgent bulletins as required. The Washington-based CITES treaty, in which Japan participates, puts a limit on the number of warships any country can possess. As a result, Japan has to decommission a ship to its makers' disappointment. An institute of technology's laboratory designs a new ship. Due to less ships, sailors have to retire and are also disappointed. The laboratory's manager and an admiral are visiting a patient at a hospital and meet coincidentally. The former has a daughter who worries about her father's workload. She asks him to accompany her to a concert. Father has little time, but is convinced for her sake. He is inspired for a ship's design at the performance. The film is inspired by the life of Jo Hiraga.

The Ball at the Anjo House

After Japan's defeat in the war, the Anjo family lose their peerage and wealth. Since their mansion is due to pass into the hands of a creditor, the family holds one last ball before leaving.

Akado Suzunosuke vs. the Birdman with 3 Eyes

Suzunosuke faces perhaps his wildest foes. This evil gang is lead by a one-eyed birdman and other demonic creatures.

Black Snow

Black Snow tells the tale of a disturbed young man who, after spying on his mother with a black serviceman, finds himself unable to attain sexual arousal unless fondling a loaded gun. Later that night, he murders the GI before running amok through the building and finally slaying his mother's sister...

Miyamoto Musashi: Showdown at Hannyazaka Heights

The remake of Yoshikawa's novel continues with the second installment in which Takezo, soon to be Miyamoto Musashi, emerges from the Himeji Castle after three years of intense contemplation and philosophical study and starting on his epic quest to complete his skill in the Way.

My Wife

Japanese comedy film.

High School Juniors (Part II)

A story full of youthful vigor and spirit as high school students try to work out their problems, realize the awakening of love and growing maturity and find fun and happiness in helping others.

The Most Beautiful Day of My Life

Life and love in corrupt postwar Tokyo, as a young couple struggles against both the law and the mob.

A Geisha's Diary

A young girl is rigorously trained in the feminine arts so that she can become a geisha. As she struggles through life, she learns to live not just as a woman but as a complete person.

Clothes of Deception

The story of two sisters in post-war Japan. One is a geisha and the other works for the tourist board.

The Messenger from the Moon

Adaptation of the novel by Masao Kume.

Haha machi gusa

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.

Chushingura

The vassals of the Asano clan, who surrendered the castle & became wanderers, deceive the enemy and the public, wait for an opportunity to avenge their master and his family.

The Big Wave

Yukio, a farm boy, and Toru, a fisherboy, live in a small Japanese village that is periodically threatened by a volcano on one side and tidal waves on the other. Yukio's younger sister Setsu follows then and dreams of becoming a pearl diver. Toru is preparing to go fishing with his father when a bell tolls and a danger flag is hung high on the hill behind the village to warn of an impending tidal wave by the village patriarch, known as Old Gentleman.

A Woman's Testament

The first story concerns an attractive young woman who works in a Tokyo nightclub. Her plan for a solid financial future has a double whammy. In the second story, a beautiful young woman is employed by an unscrupulous real estate agent to convince male clients to invest in worthless property. The last story is about a widowed geisha who has no real financial worries and who falls in love with a forger.

The Fellows Who Ate the Elephant

The film is set during the days of the scarcity of food after World War II, during which five men ate an elephant that died in a zoo. The elephant's corpse however, was infested with deadly bacteria and the men have only 30 hours left to live...

A Design for Dying

Shikiko Oba is nimble with her fingers and teaches dressmaking and designing. Among her pupils are Rinko, Katsumi and Tomie. Ginshiro, who is as shrewd as the shrewdest of the older generation of dyed-in-the-wool Osaka businessmen, steps into picture and Shikiko soon feels that he is indispensable to her. But the advent of a man in their midst breaks up the harmony that has existed among the four women, as gradually he forces himself on them with promises of love.

The Snowy Heron

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.

The Naked Town

A 1937 Japanese language film directed by Tomu Uchida, starring Ryo Akaboshi, Mitsuru Date and Hisao Furutani.

Down Town

A woman struggles to raise her young son on her own in postwar Japan, finding companionship with a kind laborer while still hoping for the return of her missing husband.

A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love

A Girl isn't Allowed to Love is a 1955 Japanese film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa.

Image of a Mother

The young boy Michio struggles with the loss of his mother while his widowed father, Sadao remarries the kind-hearted Sonoko, who has a daughter of her own. As Michio clings to memories of his mother, the family navigates the challenges of grief, love, and new beginnings.

The Ghost of Yotsuya

In one of Japan's most frequently-told ghost stories, a murdered wife returns in an act of vengeance.

Princess Yang Kwei-fei

In eighth century China, the Emperor is grieving over the death of his wife. The Yang family wants to provide the Emperor with a consort so that they may consolidate their influence over the court. General An Lushan finds a distant relative working in their kitchen whom they groom to present to the Emperor. The Emperor falls in love with her and she becomes the Princess Yang Kwei-fei. The Yangs are then appointed important ministers, though An Lushan is not given the court position he covets. The ministers misuse their power so much that there is a popular revolt against the Yangs, fueled by An Lushan.

Family of Love

Family of Love

The Burdened Sisters

Obscure Masumura film shot in 1961.

The Person I Chose

A 1959 film directed by Hiromu Edagawa.

The Judo Champ

When Shinsuke returns to Kyushu from the Russo-Japanese War he finds his Judo school hall neglected and in decay. His Judo teacher has died and his brother, Ryota, and the teacher's only daughter, Akiko, are greatly disturbed by Zanba, who intends to use the school for teaching the Ryukyu art of Karate.

Rira no hana wasureji

In the 30th year, Nirasaki Den'emon established the Nirasaki Hokkaido Development Company with investment from Sonoi to build railway facilities. However, the endeavor faced criticism for attempting to buy Ainu land at low prices. Tokyo Nippo reporter Toshimasa Matsuzaka, who was actually Nirasaki's son, wants to expose the flawed practices of the company.

Young Trees

A bright and cheerful story about a young girl who comes to Tokyo from the countryside, relying on her aunt to become a maid, and willingly aspires to become a maid and lives a healthy life despite the hardships she encounters with people from all walks of life. Ririko Tachibana moved to Tokyo in reliance on her aunt Motoko, who lives in Tokyo. When Ririko leaves her classmate Chizuko Misawa, who says she is going to rely on jazz singer Michi Nozoe, and arrives at her aunt's house, she is disappointed to find that a job has been arranged for her as a nanny. Her dream of attending night high school was dashed, but Ririko made up her mind to do her best to do as much as she could. The Honbashi family, where she was employed, lived alone with the widow Shinae, and Mrs Shinae was asked to go to her daughters' house to help out...

Jōen

1959 Japanese movie

Tokyo Eyes

A beautiful older sister and her younger brother, both designers who paint the dreams of young hope, are paired with an innocent young artist and the daughter of a company president, creating a miniature picture of the youth of Tokyo that revolves around these four characters.

Bakeneko Goyōda

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

Nocturne of a Woman

A woman has to give up her dream of becoming an actress when her family goes into debt, but she catches the eye of a businessman while working at a nightclub. He sets her up with her own nightclub, but with expectations attached.

A Town with a Mountain and River

In a small Tohoku town, family tensions rise when a sick mother’s care leads to conflict over a mistress joining the household. Misunderstandings spread through teachers, students, and neighbors, testing loyalty and trust. After the mother’s death, the daughter decides to leave for Tokyo, parting with her grieving father on hopeful terms.