Saki's father is an alcoholic and her mother is a follower of a new religion. She sees her father's strange behavior and her mother's loneliness. Her family is collapsing, but Saki struggles to look for her future.
Even though Gennosuke and Oboro are from rival ninja villages, they are secretly in love. At an annual conference with the Lord, it is dictated that a competition--a fight to the death--will take place between the five best shinobi from each village. Gennosuke and Oboro's love is made even more impossible when they each got picked as the leader of the five to represent their respective villages.
A short film that merges footage from Hazard [2005] with music video aesthetics to create a strange visual experiment that challenges the medium of film and music video.
Mushi are beings in touch with the essence of life, far more basic and pure than normal living things. Most humans are incapable of perceiving Mushi and are oblivious to their existence, but there are a few who possess the ability to see and interact with Mushi. One such person is Ginko who travels from place to place to research Mushi and aid people suffering from problems caused by them.
In 1923, teenager Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island, in South Korea, to Osaka, in Japan. Along the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko, processed seafood products, in his poor Korean-Japanese community exploiting his employees.
A free-spirited psychiatrist exudes a magnetic attraction for patients with out-of-the-ordinary neuroses and odd conditions brought about by stress.
In the aftermath of a car crash, a man discovers his dreams are tied to a stranger's sleepwalking.
A life-size, inflatable sex doll suddenly comes to life one day. Without her owner knowing, she goes for a walk around town and falls in love with Junichi. She starts to date Junichi and gets a job at the same store where he works. Everything seems to be going perfectly for her until something unexpected happens.
Two friends who work together at a Tokyo laundry are increasingly alienated from everyday life. They become fascinated with a deadly jellyfish.
Yuda, a Chinese immigrant, and his adopted son Kirin, who he saved being eaten by a tiger in the jungle, stand at the head of a massive pirated goods operation that brings in both money and influence. But their empire is crumbling, as corrupt politicians and rival gangs seek to end their power in the city. Yuda is soon got arrested and his dedicated son tries his best to save not just the family business, but his father's reputation.
Adapted from the bestselling Japanese autobiography of the same title, this gentle coming-of-age drama concerns an adolescent boy, Boku - Masaya, torn between the inherited recklessness of his father Oton and the inherited responsibility, wisdom and emotional strength of his mother Okan. Following a period of intensely rebellious behavior, Boku learns that his mom has contracted cancer; suddenly, his mother comes to live with him in Tokyo the entire emotional landscape of his life is altered.
A thug offers to pay a law student's gambling debt if the student will accompany him on a trip across Tokyo.
A road movie about Yoko, a frustrated part-time worker who hitchhikes to her hometown of Hirosaki, Aomori, where she has not returned for 24 years, after hearing the news of her father's death.
Amechiyo (the banished prince) falls in love with Tanukihime (a princess of raccoon dog disguised as human). This is an operetta which includes comedy, singing and dancing, and a love story.
A psychologically thrilling portrait of the severe dysfunction behind a family clinging to decorum and pride.
A detective investigates a series of murders. A possible serial killer might be on a rampage, since they all are in the same vicinity and by the same method, but as the evidence points toward the detective as the prime suspect, a ghost in red follows him, and he begins to question his identity. His realization of what seems to have really happened results in something much more sinister and larger in scope, and it leaves his psyche scarred.
When Aoi is gang-raped by her classmates and kicked out of her home by her own parents she sees no reason to continue living. Before she commits suicide, however, she receives an email on her cellphone from a man named Toshi addressed to a girl named Ai. The message simply thanks the girl for being alive, but this specific message has an effect on Aoi and she decides to keep on living. Without many options, Aoi resorts to everything from paid dating to porn to earn money and meets a lot of less than reputable characters. Throughout it all though she looks toward Toshi as her hope for happiness and the two form a relationship.
A humorous wedding story fueled by a rather no-good father and son, disguised as the old and new “good guys.” The father Nobuo, and his son Tamio, are unable to mature, unable to break the parent-child roles, have no sense of responsibility, and keep holding on to the past. The pair is overwhelmed by all the colorful characters around them telling them what to do. They go to strenuous and humorous efforts to make Tamio’s wedding an event to remember.
Twelve-year-old Koichi, who has been separated from his brother Ryunosuke due to his parents' divorce, hears a rumor that the new bullet trains will precipitate a wish-granting miracle when they pass each other at top speed.
The lives of a young cop, a sanitation worker and a brooding pharmacist violently intersect on a bus that's hijacked by a suicidal political flunky, then cross paths again months later.
The Making of Hazard
Saori is a young woman struggling to make her way in life. Her gay father, Himiko, had abandoned Saori and her mother years before. Now her father's young lover Haruhiko shows up to tell Saori that her father is dying of cancer. Still angry with her father but in need of money, Saori travels to the House of Himiko, a nursing home established by her father for gay men. Over time, a tenuous relationship begins to develop between Saori, her father, and Haruhiko.
New Year's Eve at a posh hotel and all should be shipshape. It is not. There is the traditional party, an official ceremony, entertainment and a special dinner planned and yet there is trouble everywhere. An Animal is on the loose, a politician to protect, a prostitute to handle, a bellhop to focus and a few things more.
Neurosurgeon Koichi uses an experimental technique to enter the brain of his beloved Atsumi, who is in a coma after attempting suicide. In his quest, Koichi drifts steadily further into the sweltering marshes of the spirit. It is soon no longer clear what is real and what is not.
Majime, an eccentric man in publishing company, who has unique ability of words, joins the team that will compile a new dictionary, The Great Passage. In the eclectic team, he becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries. But the team is overwhelmed with problems.
"A School Behind Bars" centers around Asahi Junior High School, which is located within Nagano Matsumoto Boy's prison in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture - the only public school in Japan that is located inside a prison. The school's students are all prisoners ranging in age from 20-70. The students are carefully selected after taking an entrance exam and being selected by the school's admission board.
Four beautiful sisters are entrusted with taking care of Kinjiro, a giant salamander and national treasure. Rumors spread that Kinjiro is an impostor, so a genius x-ray technician is sent to run some tests.
Yoko, who gets a job at a nursing home, witnesses the elderly and disabled people there having their human dignity threatened.
A large monster attacks Japan, but dies suddenly. While the people rejoice and bask in relief, the giant corpse left behind begins to slowly rot and bloat. If it explodes, the nation will be destroyed.
When Kanako, a model daughter and a brilliant student, disappears, her mother asks her ex-husband, a violent former policeman, to find her. As his investigation progresses, his idealized image of Kanako cracks: the girl hides a dark life that her father can not even imagine.
Yuta lives in an orphanage while waiting for her mother to pick her up. One day, Yuta, who happened to know his mother's whereabouts, escaped from the facility with all his heart. However, there was a mother who depended on her cohabiting man and lived a self-deprecating life. Despaired, Yuta meets Sakamoto, a homeless man who lives in a light tiger while walking along the beach. Sakamoto accepts Yuta without asking anything. The two sleep and eat together while earning a small amount of money. Eventually, he became acquainted with Shiori, a girl who grew up in a wealthy family but had no place to live at home or school. Yuta is attracted to Shiori, who has the same loneliness as himself but is kind to him. However, the calm days end with an incident.
Set during China's the Warring States Period (476-221 BC), benevolent warrior Chenkang Lu (Joe Odagiri) enters into a torrid love affair with a woman (Maggie Q) from the nomadic Harran tribe. Their relationship sends the warrior to a place where humans were once wolves...
During the invasion of Normandy the photograph of a slim Korean man in German uniform was found. It transpired that the man had served as a soldier in the Japanese, Russian and German armies. His incredible story inspired director Kang Je-Gyu to create this epic war drama.
Shigure makes a living as a transporter with his young buddy, Haruki. One day, Haruki disappears with the counterfeit bills they bring. Shigure makes every effort to find them, trying to assume ignorance of his BOSS. As all his efforts are getting in vain, he gets a call. It is from Haruki and he says “these bills are genuine.”
Shin is a Japanese university student living a boring and meaningless life. One day, he spots a book titled Dangerous Ways to Walk the World, in which he finds a page written about hazards in New-York. Eager to get out, he jets off to New-York to find this inspiration.
Kamen Rider Kuuga final TV special. Jokingly labelled as the "50th episode" of the series.
A 15-year-old circus ringmaster Wei-wei is left all alone with gorilla Ling-ling after grandfather passes away. Thanks to her grandfather's love for baseball, Ling-ling was trained to play baseball and has developed remarkable hitting skills.
Asuka is an aspiring model who moves to Tokyo to pursue her career. She moves into a small apartment with a friend of a friend, Kasumi. A bizarre murder occurs in the hotel across the street. The body was mutilated and repositioned into a lurid work of art. After this, a string of murders start happening all around the two girls, as if some crazed serial killer was following them. At the scene of each crime, the perpetrator leaves a black lip print, and is subsequently dubbed "The Black Kiss.
In war-torn Japan, the Tokugawa Shogun, desperate to restore peace to his people, orders the assassination of the hostile warlords. A beautiful young woman is raised from birth with nine other orphans, to become an assassin. Her name is Azumi, the ultimate assassin.
Five young musicians, each harboring painful memories, are assembled to entertain American soldiers at an Enlisted Men's Club. Tensions emerge between the tenor saxophonist, a disillusioned ex-soldier, and a bitter GI whose brother was killed in the war. And when the band plays the prohibited "Danny Boy" during a birthday bash for a sergeant whose son Danny had died a year ago, everyone must confront a past they'd rather forget.
Romeo, A.K.A. Kosuke Matsuyama, is a second-year high school student. A nice, normal, nonviolent type, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a rampaging crowd of Korean boys, outraged by insults perpetrated by several of his idiotic class-mates on two Korean girls. He makes a narrow escape, but soon after, he and his best bud Yoshio are sent by their home-room teacher to invite the Korean students to a friendly soccer game as a way of restoring the peace.
Low-profile theater troop actor Mutsugoro Suzuki begins an oneiric journey back to his hometown, marked by his quest to find the one responsible of infecting him with a STD.
Soon after he lands in America, Ali, a Muslim man from Pakistan, begins his search for his estranged wife, Nadia. On his journey, Ali meets with Teppei, a Japanese traveller hitchhiking his way across America, and Sarah, a local trailer park girl, who help him in his search. The three travellers succeed in finding Nadia, who, to Ali’s dismay, is living a new life in Phoenix with another man. Ali spends the rest of his stay in America with Teppei and Sarah, anxiously wondering where his life is leading. In the brief time they are together, the three companions commit to helping one another. Ali, Teppei and Sarah begin a new journey, to find their own individual identities and in the process they find each other. Big River is a road movie, a tale about the borderless realm of friendship and its ability to transcend culture.
Kenji, abandoned by his mother, scrapes out a meager existence doing odd jobs including driving bar hostesses and their customers home. Besides this he takes care of the sister of an old friend in jail and a young illegal immigrant. Eventually his life reaches a turning point.
Poongsan has the unenviable - and death-defying - job of delivering messages across the North and South Korean border to separated families. When South Korean government agents ask him to smuggle in In-ok, the lover of a high-ranking North Korean defector, into the South, the damsel and rescuer fall in love instead.
A professional scammer is hired by a wealthy young businessman to find a hidden treasure looted from the Bank of Japan and supposedly stashed away by a group of men after WWII in various locations around the globe. Eventually an assassin is put on their trail.
Japanese film directed by Jinsei Tsuji
Three strangers gather in search of an elusive cherry blossom. The tree hardly matters after a while, though, as they stumble into one funny and revealing episode after another.
Shigeru Kajiwara (Joe Odagiri) works part-time at a company that sells mysterious health food. One day, the other employees run off with the company's money.
A restaurant opens at midnight. Both the menu offerings and personality of the owner draw a series of flawed patrons including Tamako, whose boyfriend has passed away, live-in worker Michiru, and ruckus-raising Kenzo.
A biopic of seminal 20th century artist Leonard Foujita, a contemporary of Picasso and Modigliani, who was famous for mixing up European and Japanese styles.
In the year 1868, three young men join the elite Shogitai division of the Shogunate. The Shogitai fights to the end and opposes the dismantling of the feudal military dictatorship known as the Bakufu system.
Documentary on the life of actor Yusaku Matsuda. This is a documentary film produced on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the birth of actor Yusaku Matsuda and the 20th anniversary of his death . It is composed of newly shot interviews as well as real voice interviews and treasured videos that were not officially revealed until now.
Initially, Ambivalent Future was intended as a film about the production of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Bright Future". But director Fujii has taken the "behind the scenes"-concept to unprecedented heights with this unique documentary offering a close look into the world of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the auteur. Scenes from the surprisingly low key and relaxed production of "Bright Future" are of course sprinkled liberally throughout the documentary, but between these we are treated to interesting and revealing interviews with actors, producers and Kurosawa's many other collaborators. And perhaps the most surprising thing of all is how much of Kurosawa there is, talking candidly about his working methods and the philosophy behind it all.
Aiko Satō, who has won many literary awards, retired from her life as a writer and had no guests. She spent a gloomy time, but then a middle-aged editor named Tachibana came with a commission for a story. The story begins with a series of essays that are initially unpleasant, writing out her anger towards society. Aiko's life will undergo significant changes by the time she is 90 years old.
The NPS (National Police Safety Rescue), whose purpose is to catch extreme criminals alive, becomes the center of attention. A sit-in demonstration takes place. Members of the NPS, including Ichigo Kamikura (Osamu Mukai) go to the protest site. Meanwhile, a transport ship is hijacked in the Pacific Ocean.
A strict, but caring mother has an awakening when she is told she has cancer and it is terminal. She has a few months. She needs to complete her tasks in that short time frame.
When there's a transfer flight delay, a put-upon ground staff worker at a small town airport has to deal with a family that has plenty of problems of their own. Shot in a single take, "Airport" focuses on familial and romantic relationships and the secrets that often hold them together.
A recently divorced and traumatized man moves to Hakodate, Hokkaido and attends a vocational college to learn carpentry along with several other students who are in the same boat as he. When a couple of the guys go to a hostess club the man meets an unconventional girl who likes him and a relationship is born.
The Master’s late-night diner welcomes a woman troubled by funeral fans, an elderly scam victim, and a noodle delivery man struggling with love.
Freddy Maemura Hurtado, a second-generation Japanese-Bolivian, heads to Cuba to study medicine. He meets revolutionist Che Guevara. When civil war breaks out in Bolivia, he decides to join Guevara’s revolutionary army under the name of “Ernesto Medico”.
A noir fairytale revolving around three outsiders: a mysterious artist on the run from the real world, a street kid who dreams of getting rich and a girl who is allergic to the sun.
A group of very different people set sail on an old warship. The passengers include a senator with his son, a newly-wed couple, a mysterious old man, a group of sex workers and a gang of violent criminals. At first the aggressive behaviour of the thugs and their leader is directed at the first class passengers, but then more and more indiscriminately against the rest of those on board. Rape is followed by murder and it’s not long before the first of numerous and increasingly brutal mutinies takes place.
A struggling, unemployed musician living with his girlfriend looks to improve his life after he discovers how she's been paying the rent.
Iconic actress Jean Yu returns to Japanese-occupied China to star in a play directed by her former lover. However, her undercover work for the Allies soon places her life in grave danger.
Suzume Katagura, a bored housewife, spends her days doing chores and taking care of her husband's pet turtle. One day, she sees a wanted ad for spies. Hoping for some excitement in her life, she decides to give them a call.
Yakumo Miko's father died when she was 5 years old. The next year, Miko mother went missing. Miko then moved in with her grandmother, but, at the age of 18, Miko's grandmother passes away. She shuts herself away from others. One day, her uncle from her mother's side, Ikazuzi Goro appears. He sets up a place for Miko to live and also a place for her to do part-time work. Her part-time job is "room laundering." After starting her job, Miko sees ghosts. She struggles to solve the worries of the ghosts who are staying in rooms. Ikazuzi Goro tells Miko that her mother was able to see ghosts which affected her. Miko asks him to find her mother.
A group of archaeologists open a tomb that awakens horrible monsters, while journeyman Yusuke Godai is compelled to access a strange belt from the tomb to fight back against them. Also, a drunkard witnesses a murder by an unidentified lifeform near a church. Meanwhile, Yusuke is bothered by the idea of fighting and is unsure if it was right until he saw the daughter of one of the slain archeologists crying, making his reason to fight "to protect the smiles of people". This is the director's cut version of the first two episodes of the Kamen Rider Kuuga TV series.
On January 2nd, Yusuke Godai prepares the Pole Pole cafe for opening, reflecting on the events of the prior year's battles he's had as Kamen Rider Kuuga against the Grongi. This special serves as a clip show and is also referred to as episode 46.5
Yusuke Godai awakens from a nap at the Pore Pore Tea Cafe and finds a scrapbook with newspaper clippings about his battles as Kuuga. As he reminisces about each fight, gaining each of his forms and the Gouram attachment for the TryChaser, Godai gets a call about a new Gurongi. Godai heads over and transforms into Kuuga to face off against the beast who introduces himself as Go-Jiino-Da!
Two tiny, aquatic humanoids search for their missing father, a boy battles a lethal allergy to eggs, and an invisible salaryman tries to become a hero.
Aoki is a failing novelist, and Sol is a failing pop singer. Encountering each other in South Korea, speaking different languages, they and their families somehow end up in a truck heading off into the Korean countryside.
Two people meet each other after missing the last train home, leading to a beautiful relationship over five years.
7 years ago, Yoichi died in a traffic accident. His wife Ryoko did not receive compensation from her husband's death. She has since raised her son Junpei by herself. Junpei is now a middle school student. Ryoko also cares for her father-in-law, who lives in a nursing home and she also runs a cafe. Her care is in a difficult situation due to Covid-19, while Junpei experiences bullying at school.
A human drama about the strange fate of the three brothers, played by Masatoshi Nagase, Joe Odagiri, and Nobuaki Kaneko, set in Nagoya.
Life seems pretty normal at the Forensics Division. Ippei's canine partner, Oliver, appears to him as a womanizing middle-aged drunk in a dog suit, but that's nothing new. However, when "Super Volunteer" Konishi vanishes, the investigation pulls them into a bizarre mystery. Joined by Supervisor Hagoromo, Ippei and Yukina follow Konishi's trail, Urushibara uncovers a family secret, and former handler Mizoguchi stumbles upon a takoyaki-infested town and a tiny fairy man. All while mysterious red doors keep appearing… Something is obviously deeply wrong. Can the team find Konishi and save him from unseen forces before chaos consumes them all?
Upon receiving a message from an old friend’s daughter, Goro arrives in Paris and learns of the elderly man’s wish to taste a particular soup he had in his childhood before he dies. Deciding to help, Goro sets out on a quest to find this mysterious soup, traveling through Japan, braving a storm, and even ending up in South Korea.
This story begins with a protagonist whose sense of time has halted due to the grief of losing his son, now abandoned by his wife, and his sudden cohabitation with his 17-year-old niece left behind by his sister. A man who has lost love, a woman who has renounced love, and a girl who knows nothing of love... As they confront their respective pains, their journey of discovering faint sprouts of hope in hearts as parched as summer sand is depicted—a poignant yet tender masterpiece where sorrow and warmth intertwine.
Released as part of Kamen Rider Kuuga's 25th anniversary celebrations, Detective Kaoru Ichijo visits café Pole Pole for the first time in a long time, and looks back to the events that happened 25 years ago.
Ko Shibasaki will star in "Ani wo mochihakoberu saizu ni," a film directed by Nakano Ryota of "Hot Water's Love," his first in five years. She plays a younger sister who struggles with the sudden death of her good-for-nothing older brother, played by Joe Odagiri Joe, together with his ex-wife, played by Hikari Mitsushima.
