A woman and her daughter are each forced to contend with an increasing pressure to marry, particularly from three men who knew her late husband.
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped by the lord. Her husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to rescue her.
The family of an older man who runs a small sake brewery become concerned with his finances and his health after they discover him visiting an old mistress from his youth.
29-year-old Satonaka Takashi (Kudo Kankuro) is a freelancer. He falls in love at first sight with Satoru Nobunaga (Shiho Takano), who was a nurse at his previous hospitalization. He half stalks her and ends up working at the "Time Machine" restaurant in Tokyo Patio, an apartment complex for the elderly in Asakusa. On his first day of work, Takashi is approached at the entrance by a strange old man (Kunie Tanaka). However, he is told that the old man, Fujiwara Fujiro, is already dead. Fujiro, unable to give up his feelings for Chidori Kanzaki (Yoko Tsukasa), whom he loved before her death, possesses Takashi and uses his body to fulfill his feelings for her. Possessed by Fujirou, Takashi tries somehow to get rid of the spirit, but without success. However, when Fujirou discovers his feelings for Saiya, Takashi is helped by Fujirou, who has a wealth of knowledge and experience due to his age, and finally decides to allow Saiya to live with him in his body...
After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.
1962 Japanese movie
Near the end of the nineteenth century, as the balance of power shifts from Shogunate towards the Emperor, Japan restlessly awaits the dawning of a new age. But not all are content...The Shinsengumi, a small army of samurai, farmers and peasants, band together to do battle against the tide of history. Their leader, Isami Kondo is a man who rises from farmer to fighter to head the fierce Shinsengumi brigade. Using a stern hand and a heart of gold, he rallies his men in defense of the tottering Shogunate. But bloodshed and treachery lurk around every corner.
The president learns that the company's biggest stockholder is also a friend of his singing teacher and spies on his movements.
A guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place.
A young man named Kijima who works as a pianist in a small bar is surprised when one of the customers asks if he won't pretend to be the fiance of his sister. He is even more surprised when he is offered a million yen to play this apparently harmless role. Actually, it is anything but harmless. Both the customer and his sister are involved in a jewel robbery in which they have double-crossed two of their accomplices who are now out of prison and thirsting for revenge.
A war widow with a young boy manages a farm with her bossy mother-in-law. When a reporter comes to interview her, the two begin an affair. He turns out to be married and won't leave his wife. Her older brother tries to marry off his children and hang on to/ extend his farm through an advantageous marriage in the face of threatened land confiscation and the desire of his children to get comfortable urban jobs instead of the backbreaking work in the paddy fields under parental control.
The movie depicts the strength and resilience of a woman who spent her entire life as a merchant in Semba, Osaka.
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.
1962 Japanese movie
A woman and her daughter are in love with the same man, a chef at the restaurant that the mother manages. He is slightly crippled from frostbite in his years in Siberian labor camps and considers himself 'already dead'.
Japan and Russia clash in what comes to be known as the Russo-Japanese War. An attempt by the Japanese fleet and army to take Port Arthur fails, and a Russian fleet bears down on the Sea of Japan. Admiral Heihachiro Togo sends his fleet to confront the Russians, with results which stun both nations. Meanwhile, Major Genjiro Akashi makes secret negotiations with the Bolshevik revolutionaries in Russia, negotiations that have repercussions far beyond the conflict at hand.
Fourth entry in the Ekimae series, focusing on the restoration of a Fukushima hot spring inn.
When the only son of a working class woman is fatally struck by a car driven by the adulterous wife of a company president in a hit-and-run, the victim's mother changes her identity and infiltrates the couple's home to work as their maid, plotting to murder their similarly-aged son.
Ryukichi, the pampered heir to a cosmetics wholesaler, abandons his wife and child to pursue a scandalous affair with a famous geisha named Choko. This betrayal leads his father to disown him, leaving the unskilled Ryukichi with no way to earn a living. To keep them afloat, Choko is forced to continue working as a geisha while secretly scraping together a nest egg to start their own business. However, Ryukichi remains trapped in his hedonistic lifestyle, eventually squandering Choko’s hard-earned savings on his own self-indulgence.
A film by Hideo Suzuki.
Part one of The Masterless 47.
A man is involved in a fatal car accident, and though he is blameless, his company transfers him to a remote branch in a small town. Before he leaves, he gives the man's widow a large sum of money that she uses to move back to her hometown.
A new third-class president wins an appointment thanks to his marriage with the former president's daughter.
A Hiromichi Horikawa movie
As Japan joins in a political pact with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is appointed supreme commander of the Japanese fleet. With Japan headed inexorably toward war, Yamamoto, despite his misgivings, believes the only possible victory lies in destroying the American fleet by surprise at Pearl Harbor. The attack succeeds, but fails to sink the American carrier fleet. Thus Yamamoto must lead the Japanese navy into war with ever-diminishing likelihood of success.
A "hustler's hustler" (Takarada), works his way up the corporate ladder at a camera company. His biggest scheme involves winning the business of a foreign visitor by setting him up with a beautiful "model" (Tsukasa), actually a bar hostess, but the plan backfires when the would-be executive falls for the woman himself.
1962 Japanese movie
The life story of Japan’s greatest leader, Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose shogunate ruled the nation for almost 300 years has never been told like this before. From the early days as a supporter of Imagawa Yoshimoto, then on to his days with Oda Nobunaga, leading to his wars against and ultimate victory over the Toyotomi to become shogun is a fascinating tale of his military genius coupled with a native intelligence that allowed him to become the last of the great warlords and ultimately the leader of the nation. With great performances from an all-star cast featuring names like Kitaoji Kinya and Takahashi Hideki this is history come to life on the screen.
Shûe Matsubayashi movie
Lord Taro must deliver a money chest but is robbed by brigands led by Jibu. One of Jibu's men, Rokuro, steals the money from Jibu, but after meeting and befriending Taro, Rokuro decides to return the money to Taro. But Taro's unscrupulous brother Jiro falsely accuse Taro of the theft, and Taro reactively joins the outlaw band and encourages them to steal from the nobles and give to the poor.
An account of the life and work of legendary Japanese actor Toshirō Mifune (1920-97), the most prominent actor of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema.
To solve the mystery of a murder of an old governess which takes place at a wealthy Daidoji family's country estate, family secrets and lies dating back several generations must be sorted out once and for all.
Story of romance and rivalry between two ad agencies vying for the same account with a pharmaceutical firm.
Drama about the lives of the five daughters and daughter-in-law of a store owner.
Portmanteau film about young lovers.
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.
The ruthless and ambitious Yasuhiko uses his charm to manipulate and exploit those around him to climb the corporate social ladder. After securing a position at a prestigious firm through deceit, he callously discards the women who helped him and embezzles company funds to further his personal gain. His cold-blooded ascent eventually leads to a web of blackmail and moral decay as his past actions begin to catch up with him.
Tells of the feelings and sufferings of a young girl with an incurable paralytic disease.
Romantic melodrama set in contemporary Hong Kong, Japan and Laos. Hiroshi Tanaka (Takarada) is a Japanese journalist on assignment in Hong Kong who meets and falls in love with Wu Li Hung (Ming). He proposes to Wu Li but she rejects him because of her distaste for mixed marriages (her mother was Japanese but deserted her family and returned to Japan during WWII). Tanaka locates Wu Li’s mother and unsuccessfully tries to reunite them, but eventually Wu Li accepts his proposal. A joyous Tanaka flies off to Laos to finish an assignment but on the eve of his wedding he is killed there.
An extremely lovely tribute to Ozu, on the 20th anniversary of his death. It uses a combination of footage from vintage films and new material (both interviews and Ozu-related locations) shot by Ozu's long-time camera-man (who came out of retirement to work on this). Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it focuses less on Ozu's accomplishments as a film-maker than on his impact on the lives of the people he worked with..
Rumiko Arai, a 20-year-old girl working in a sawmill, meets a driver, Sekiguchi, and they begin a relationship with the promise of marriage. But Rumiko's grandmother tells her that they are both cursed by an ancient evil.
A scruffy detective investigates the murders of three sisters on a small Japanese island in 1946.
Sasaki Kojiro tells the story of the genius who staked his love, glory, and life on a duel with the supreme master of the sword, Miyamoto Musashi (Tatsuya Nakadai). Oscar winning Hiroshi Inagaki directs this epic motion picture based on Genzo Murakami’s fascinating story. Despite his humble birth, the orphan Sasaki Kojiro (Onoe Kikunosuke) is determined to become the foremost swordsman in all Japan, a title that traditionally belongs to a nobleman. At fencing school, young Kojiro receives the contempt of his classmates because of his superior swordsmanship. When rumors of the upcoming civil war between Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans spread, Kojiro leaves the school and sets out, seizing every opportunity to realize his dream.
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.
A trio of high school boys get summer jobs at a seaside resort. Soon, however, they learn that the woman who runs it is in financial trouble. The three decide to help her.
A dramatic film that recorded the history of Japan in the period of high economic growth. This work deals with Kashima Rinkai industrial zone development. The men who dream of making the overlooking wasteland as a big industrial area draw the courage to realize the ideal purely with the fishy desire swirling back to the coastal industrial area of Kashima Nada in Ibaraki prefecture.
An employee at an oil cartel (Mihashi) is haunted by an act years before when he euthanized a fellow soldier when the two were adrift at sea during the Pacific War. Matters are complicated further when he falls in love with the soldier's younger sister (Tsukasa).
Melodrama about a young factory girl who "chooses riches over chastity".
Epic saga of an idealistic land-owning family dealing with militarism, war, social change and economic reform.
One day a company executive learns that his younger brother, whom he recommended, embezzled company funds. To save the situation he withdraws his life savings and gives money to his younger brother. He then suddenly disappears…
Four sisters are all named after flowers. While the two youngest are married, the eldest two remain single, much to the annoyance of their long-suffering mother. The mother and her brother try various schemes to find husbands for them.
Aiko, a bar hostess, falls for the son of a company president who also keeps a mistress, and whose family disapproves of his relationship with the bar hostess.
An Ishiro Honda film.
A documentary about the 1974 film Prophecies of Nostradamus, released to coincide with the latter's release. It featured several prophets and experts on meteorology and food ecology giving their respective takes on the 1999 apocalypse which Nostradamus predicted. Performers Hiroshi Itsuki, Shizue Abe and Linda Yamamoto appeared as well as the film's stars, Tetsuro Tanba, Yoko Tsukasa, Toshio Kurosawa and Yumi Kaoru.
Professor Nishiyama, after studying and interpreting the prophecies of Nostradamus, realizes that the end of the world is at hand. Unfortunately, nobody listens to him until it is too late. As the effects of mankind's tampering of the earth - radioactive smog clouds, hideously mutated animals, destruction of the ozone layer - rage out of control, the world leaders hurtle blindly toward the final confrontation. The film sparked controversy in Japan and was subsequently pulled out of circulation, with no official video release of the uncut film.
A semi-documentary story about the vicissitudes in the life of an elderly fisherman.
Film directed by Senkichi Taniguchi
A lighthearted satire of Japan’s postwar corporate elite, The Executive Gentleman’s Register blends farce, romance, and boardroom comedy with the polished charm of 1960s salaryman cinema. When mild-mannered secretary Tsutomu Harada’s wedding is postponed yet again due to the sudden promotion of his matchmaker, Reitarō Koizumi, to company president, chaos ensues in the world of business and matrimony alike. At a raucous nightclub party, a game of musical chairs leads to injury, scandal, and rivalry with a competing paper-bag tycoon. Limping through his first day as president, Reitarō faces corporate sabotage, eccentric clients, and a disastrously comic “business trip” that tangles together love, liquor, and misplaced ambition.
The third installment in the Shacho Series.
The 22nd film in the Shacho comedy series.
The fifth entry in the Company President Series
An epic drama depicting the lineage of a military family that lived for three generations before, during, and after World War II, against the backdrop of the turbulent history of the Showa period and the magnificent nature of Hokkaido.
1955 Japanese movie
The eighth installment of ten in Nippon Ichi film series.
Iwato Construction secures a major project in Hokkaido and promotes a key employee, but chaos follows—personal conflicts, missed deals, and a lost hotel contract. Redemption comes when they restore a fire-damaged department store, earning overdue payment and a morale boost.
A clothing manufacturer president tries to revitalize his company during a business downturn by securing new sales partners and chasing a deal with a world-renowned fashion designer.
As his fashion company rides a wave of post-recession success, President Kurihara seeks to expand into women’s apparel through a deepening partnership with a French firm.
At a coastal hot spring inn, a group of women navigate work, personal struggles, and unexpected scandals. When a guest threatens to expose one maid's past, she must decide whether to run or face it—with help from a kind local officer.
In this outing, Shoji (Morishige) and his employees plan to build a hotel for Expo 70.
In this continuation of Discover Japan with the 5 Gents (Shacho sen ichiya, 1967), Shoji (Morishige) and his employees plan to build a hotel for Expo 70.
"Shacho" comedy about the president of a salt manufacturing company.
An aging company president pushes a youth-focused corporate fitness campaign but struggles to keep up himself.
A cosmetics company president launches an aggressive new business strategy while balancing corporate pressure, romantic entanglements, and a high-profile international partnership.
A cosmetics executive promoted to chairman faces chaos at home and work as his company undergoes major changes and internal power shifts.
A food company president is promoted to chairman, but his continued involvement creates leadership confusion.
A food company undergoes leadership changes, with younger staff rising to key roles.
Drama of a disillusioned youth, with writer-actor Ishihara starring as the young man at odds with his bickering parents and scheming brother, while finding little happiness when he begins a liaison with an older woman.
Eiichiro, a talented young salesman, grows disillusioned with office politics and returns to his family’s traditional tofu business, applying skill and rational planning to modernize it. Alongside his siblings, he transforms the shop into a thriving company, while his sister Atsuko overcomes social obstacles to marry.
The first of eight "Three Dolls" features. In this entry the girls, students at Nichinan University, balance studying for the final exams while falling for the new French professor.
An ad campaign for a TV show called the “Male Training Contest” stirs chaos at a major electronics company. On opening night, PR manager Sugishita is forced to join the contest, where husbands fail miserably at household chores. Frustrated, the men later gather to complain about their domineering wives, only to be confronted by a carefree stranger who teaches them absurd tricks to “stand up to women.”
Domoto Kozue, a gifted young ikebana artist, shoulders the legacy of her late father’s school while navigating the pressures of family expectation and an arranged marriage. Her path shifts when she encounters Shinichi, whose presence stirs both inspiration and conflict within the tightly bound world around her. Amid love, rivalry, and the fragile beauty of flowers, Kozue must decide how to shape her own future.
May Kawaguchi is a famous Japanese fashion designer. Returning to Tokyo from her home in New York, she travels incognito with a tour group, in hopes of having a quiet vacation without being noticed. But she is spotted and the press has a field-day with the returning celebrity. Her hopes of rest shattered, she agrees to put on a large-scale fashion show.
Teacher Miyako Hanai, disillusioned by her sisters’ unhappy marriages, rejects love until family conflicts and her mother’s unexpected remarriage lead her to rethink happiness and relationships.
Story of love, friendship, and college sports.
Romantic drama about three beautiful sisters, based on the acclaimed play.
About schoolgirls in a rural town, and a love letter which has the entire community in an uproar.
Outspoken student Noriko stands up to bullies and befriends pitcher Mitsuo. As their bond deepens, she impulsively declares she wants to marry him—then reconsiders, realizing both still have growing to do before love can truly begin.
Engineer Shuichi defies his wealthy family to live with bar hostess Kazuyo, whose loyalty to her struggling family complicates their love. As class, pride, and temptation test them, true affection proves stronger than circumstance.
At Kaikō Girls’ School, a fake love letter sparks a heated PTA debate. Teacher Shimazaki wins the vote, while students and staff navigate misunderstandings and mischief. Amid the chaos, romance blooms: Numata proposes to Yukiko, and Rokunosuke declares his love to Shinko, ending with a joyful countryside outing.
1956 Drama by Toshio Sugie
During a winter visit to her grandfather’s mountain home, a young saleswoman becomes entangled in love and jealousy among visiting skiers. After heartbreak and tragedy in the snow, she departs renewed, ready to begin again.
Three college friends support swimmer Okubo through family and financial troubles. Junko, a woman he helped, develops feelings for him, while a former classmate reappears. With his friends’ quiet help, Okubo regains focus and wins a major student swimming competition.
An omnibus comedy set in a newly built housing complex, the film follows seven interconnected stories about the everyday vices simmering behind thin apartment walls. The film observes the lives of ambitious young couples, suspicious spouses, self-styled rationalists, overworked husbands, and gossiping neighbors navigating the promises of modern apartment living.
Modern comedy social drama about a reporter (Mihashi) for the Toto Shimpo determined to scoop his rivals during the murder investigation of the president of a machinery company. A highly critical drama about the lack of ethics by both reporters and the newspapers they work for.
At a long-established katsuobushi wholesaler in Nihonbashi, the second-generation president leaves operations to the capable young manager raised within the family. The manager and the president’s daughter bicker constantly, masking unresolved feelings. When a dispute involving the president’s mistress surfaces, the incident strains both the household and the business.
Set at the end of World War II and after Japan's defeat, it is a melodrama about a man and a woman at the mercy of war. Wataru is entrusted by his best friend who has gone off to war with his sister Reiko to marry her, but he is not ready to abandon his love for Kumiko, a nurse at his mother's hospital.
Modern love story about three disparate sisters, one (Tsukasa) of whom who suspects her husband (Kobayashi) has been unfaithful.
Baseball movie about Eiji Sawamura.
In a household of three the husband is a salaryman who lives with his younger sister and wife in Tokyo. He is returning home late in the evenings because he plays go, or a Japanese version of chess, with his boss. The wife and sister are unhappy about this. The man's co-worker advises him to stop the late evenings out with the boss, but the man cares less. His sister works at a foreign firm and speaks English. When a man who had earlier visited her workplace returns and asks her out for dinner, she rejects him by lying about a husband. He had made impolite comments about her in English during his earlier visit not realizing she understands him.
The story depicts a young man suffering from an incurable disease trying to live his life to the fullest in the time he has left. Based on the true story of Ayumu Oya (poet), the eldest son of Soichi Oya (journalist, novelist and critic)
1957 Japanese movie.