Daisuke Katō

Rashomon

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Early Spring

A young Tokyo salary man and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he has an extramarital affair.

Turbid Youth

Shigeki Kachi, Tosuke Satomura, and Nanako, who belong to the theater company Vuanbert around Dosa, withdrew at the indignation of the chairman Hayashi and seeked their own careers in the film industry.

G-Men of Japan

The investigative unit of the Metropolitan Police Department organized a special investigative team to uncover a series of frequent gang robberies and car gangs... This is the first film in the Nippon G-Men series, of which four more films were later released.

Yojimbo

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.

Kanpai! Sararīman shokun

1962 Japanese movie

Saheiji’s Casebooks: The Purple Hood

The purple hood reveals the embezzlement of public money by officials. A remake of Masahiro Makino's 1923 film.

Jinsei Gekijo: dai ichi bu

Part one of Shin Saburi's Theater of Life adaptation.

The End of Summer

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.

Mother

A teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.

G-men of Japan 2: Bloody Duel at Shipwreck Cape

The second part of an action-packed action movie about the struggle between smugglers, the Japanese Coast Guard and G-men. Having caught a suspicious radio signal, the coast Guard discovers that a smuggling transaction is taking place and goes to the place. It was supposed to be a big catch, but they lose sight of the smugglers by finding and rescuing a woman drowning in the sea. The rescued woman says she jumped into the sea while escaping from a slaver's boat... A luxury version featuring the two main stars of the Toei company – Chiezo Kataoka and Utaemon Ichikawa.

Dotanba

Based on a 1956 television feature on Japan’s national network, NHK, this is one of Uchida’s rarest films. A socially conscious drama with a contemporary backdrop, Dotanba focuses on the attempts to rescue a group of trapped miners. The title is a figure of speech — (essentially “last minute” or “eleventh hour”) — that refers to a situation of peril. The film boasts a script co-written by Uchida and Akira Kurosawa’s frequent screenwriter, Shinobu Hashimoto, and stars Kurosawa’s frequent star Takashi Shimura.

The Life of Oharu

In Edo Period Japan, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.

Forty-Eight Man

Jidai-geki by Kiyoshi Saeki

Chûshingura

After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.

Shimizu Port Salaryman Part II

1962 Japanese movie

An Edoite Judge

Period film about a feudal era judge living in Edo

The 47 Ronin

In 1701, Lord Takuminokami Asano has a feud with Lord Kira and he tries to kill Kira in the corridors of the Shogun's palace. The Shogun sentences Lord Asano to commit suppuku and deprives the palace and lands from his clan, but does not punish Lord Kira. Lord Asano's vassals leave the land and his samurais become ronin and want to seek revenge against the dishonor of their Lord. But their leader Kuranosuke Oishi asks the Shogun to restore the Asano clan with his brother Daigaku Asano. One year later, the Shogun refuses his request and Oishi and forty-six ronin revenge their Lord.

Hail the 3 Gents

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.

Outlaw island

The southern tip of Shikoku. This village, surrounded by a bay, where, according to legend, the former warriors of the Heike clan settled, is famous for its bullfights. Today there is also a bull market in the village, and there are extremely many people here. The black bull "Great Tengu", which Gonzo from Misaki offered, cost 50,000, but was forcibly taken away by a Bakuro soldier, who possessed extraordinary strength and physique, for less than half the price. However, the violent soldier was in love with Tsunayo, the hostess of the inn and the organizer of the bullfight. One day, a young man from the city, an Ihara police officer, arrives in the village. And soon the real problems will begin…

Ika naru hoshi no moto ni

1962 Japanese movie

Saga of the Vagabonds, Part Two: Forward at Dawn

Story of a bandit king part 2.

The Naked Executive

The executive director of the «Chuo Shoji» company, Hidaka Shiro, is called a "demon of work", but the hostess of the bar calls him "the loneliest person in Japan." He lost his wife ten years ago and has been living as a widower ever since. He plotted to marry off his 22-year-old daughter Keiko for political gain, but Keiko is in love with Okuda, who is her father's subordinate. A story full of sadness and joy, depicting a man gripped by different thoughts, as an employee of the company and a father.

Floating Clouds

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.

Zokuzoku Ôban: Dotô hen

Ushinosuke returns to his hometown to become a farmer. Part three (of four) of the film adaptation of Bunroku Shishi’s novel, Oban.

Oban kanketsu hen

Ushinosuke returns to Tokyo with new ambitions. Fourth and final part of the film adaptation of Bunroku Shishi’s novel, Oban.

Ôban

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.

Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen

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.

Beyond the Hills

Story of young love in the hills.

Yaji and Kita on the Road

Two residents of Edo city Yaji and Kita make a journey to the temple of Ise, as part of a religious pilgrimage, but actually to get away from their wives for a little while. As they travel, they are constantly beset by complications involving women, mistaken identity, and misunderstood events. Another film adaptation of the famous novel Ikku Jippensha Footing It Along the Tokaido (Tokaidochu Hizakurige)

Vendetta of a Samurai

Mataemon Araki, a renowned swordsman, helps a young man find vengeance.

Star of Hong Kong

Wang Xinglian returns from her studies in Japan to visit her father in Hong Kong where she has an encounter with the young Japanese Hasegawa Toru. The two meet again and fall in love in Hokkaido when Wang and her best friend Sugimoto Kanako are going on a holiday. Urged by her friend Zhang Yingming to concentrate on her studies, Wang remains ambivalent about the relationship, and is even more upset to realise that Sugimoto is in love with her fellow countryman. Feigning an engagement with Zhang, Wang initiates a break-up with Hasegawa and finds work in Singapore after graduation. Hasegawa learns the real cause of the break-up from Sugimoto in Hong Kong. A frenzy search finally leads to a reunion and a proposal in Kuala Lumpur. However, their love is doomed by a twist of fate as Wang must leave to see her desperately ill father in Hong Kong while Hasegawa has to leave for America to pursue his career.

Hito mo arukeba

A drummer falls for a pawnbroker's daughter.

Twilight Saloon

Set in a tavern, director Tomu Uchida depicts the joys and sorrows of the people who gather there in an experimental style, weaving in a variety of music in this ambitious ensemble drama.

Ottamage ningyo monogatari

1962 Japanese movie

Yajikita dōchū sugoroku

1958 Japanese movie

Yotsuya Ghost Story Part 1

Iemon Tamiya is an impoverished masterless samurai who craves a better life, which he cannot have because of his marriage to Oiwa, who is completely devoted to her husband.

Little Peach

Anzukko (Little Peach) is the daughter of a successful writer. She turns down each one of her suitors, until she marries a beginning writer named Ryokichi. Their life quickly sinks into despair.

A Comedy in Front of the Station: Lunchbox

Third film in the "Ekimae" series, this time set in Hamamatsu. A widow named Keiko and her brother Jiro run the bento shop, "Goraku." One day, Keiko asks for advice from her childhood friends Kintaro, a textile manufacturer, and Magosaku, an entrepreneur, about a big-shot from Osaka who wants to invest in her shop. However, Kintaro and Magosaku suspect that things are not what they seem...

The Greatest Challenge of All

After an argument with his father a son leaves his home and comes back only, as an adult, many years later just to cause them problem after problem.

The Romance of Yushima

Hayase, a schoolteacher, assists Sakai in editing a German-Japanese dictionary. Hayase owes much to Sakai, as Sakai raised him for 13 years after Hayase lost his parents in a war. Hayase has been secretly married to Otsuta, a former geisha, and has been unable to tell Sakai of the marriage, aware as he is that Sakai wants him to marry his daughter, Taeko. Otsuta wants Hayase to tell Sakai about her, but understands the difficulty of his position. At a festival, Otsuta is mistaken for a pickpocket and taken to the police. Because of her background as a geisha, newspaper reporters eagerly delve into her past and report that she has been married to Hayase. Unaware of what has been printed in the papers, Hayase decides to tell Sakai about his marriage. Sakai shows the newspaper to him and orders Hayase to part with Otsuta. Given no chance to explain, Hayase accepts Sakai's order.

Ejima and Ikushima

This period film is inspired by one of the most notorious scandals to have taken place in Edo-period Japan. The heroine, Ejima, was a lady of the Ooku, the harem of Edo Castle in which the Shogun’s mother, wife and concubines resided, forbidden from contact with any other man except in the presence of the Shogun. The institution played a key role in the Byzantine world of Japanese court politics during the Edo era. In 1714, Lady Ejima was sent to pay her respects at a Buddhist temple in the city, and chose to pay an unauthorised visit to the kabuki theatre – a violation of protocol that was to have tragic consequences.

Street of Shame

The lives of five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation is debating the passage of an anti-prostitution law.

The Masterless 47

Part one of The Masterless 47.

Morning for Two

While Keisuke and Jiro were brothers, the characters of the two were opposite. My older brother Keisuke was a sophomore college graduate, a honest and passionate young man, but his brother Jiro was only a student of a ronin who failed in taking the university and was playing. Such two people had a dream. Keisuke traveled wandering at his own trailer house, Jiro became a racer, had a dream of surrounding the world.

The Tale of Genji

Genji, the illegitimate offspring of a Japanese potentate, goes by the philosophy of "love 'em and leave 'em" as a matter of course. Only when his heart is broken by Awaji does Genji realizes how much pain he himself has caused.

Shin kitsune to tanuki

1962 Japanese movie

The Abe Clan

“19 vassals of Lord Hosokawa ask permission to commit harakiri with him, as a demonstration of their loyalty. Only Yaichiemon Abe is refused permission, forced instead into the vassalage of his lord’s successor. Humiliated and derided, Yaichiemon eventually commits harakiri without permission. His eldest son is then punished for Yaichiemon’s suicide, and when he resists, is sentenced to death. The entire Abe clan rebels upon the son’s execution, and the clan is annihilated.” --Alan Poul, Japan Society

The Bogus Policeman

Toramatsu is a very enthusiastic policeman. Believing that the police should help others he is dismissed the force when his pistol is stolen while doing one of his good deeds. He saves a child from drowning, restores it to his mother, then finds that someone has run off with his gun and later uses it to kill. Then he breaks up a group of hoodlums attacking a young girl named Mieko, and the police, his former friends, deciding he has gone too far, decide to sue him. On top of this the girl gets hurt and, consequently, a child from the kindergarten where Mieko teaches is kidnapped on his way home. Impersonating a policeman he tracks down the gangsters and rescues the boy. Due to this he also uncovers a scandal which allows the police to make a long due clean up in the political world. As a reward for all of this he wins the regard of the girl but now faces a stiff prison sentence for impersonating the policeman he had been and which, at heart, he truly remains.

Mune yori mune ni

Japanese drama

Chikuhō no kodomotachi

A drama film based on Ken Domon's photography of the children around the Chikuho coal mines.

A Spectacular Murder

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.

The Storm

A widowed high-school teacher tries to raise his four children alone.

Admiral Yamamoto

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.

Fountainhead

A botanist woos the secretary of an industrialist whose company threatens the local water supply.

This Greedy Old Skin

A kind of modern dress "Donzoko" "The Lower Depths", about slum life in Osaka, where a greedy widow (Mimasu) takes advantage of her poor roomers, including her own son, who makes a meagre living stripping taxicabs.

3 Gents in the Snow Country

Shûe Matsubayashi movie

The Approach of Autumn

A single mother from the country raising a 6th grade boy comes to Tokyo, leaves the boy to live with his uncle's family, runs a struggling grocery store, and works a local inn. The boy befriends a girl, the daughter of the innkeeper.

Ikiru

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.

The Inner Palace Conspiracy

A period mystery in which an unconventional priest exposes the truth behind the bizarre death of a maid in the shogun's harem. Kinuyo Tanaka stylishly plays a constantly intoxicated geisha in this all-star entertainment film.

Late Chrysanthemums

With delicate, unobtrusive strokes, Naruse evokes both the humor and bitterness of his characters’ dilemmas, in this bleak, compelling poignant portrait of a quartet of aging geishas contemplating their troubles with men and money.

Flowing

Otsuta is running the geisha house Tsuta in Tokyo. Her business is heavily in debt. Her daughter Katsuyo doesn't see any future in her mother's trade in the late days of Geisha. But Otsuta will not give up. This film portraits the day time life of geisha when not entertaining customers.

Sudden Rain

A husband and wife's pet peeves and minor irritations escalate into major rifts and animosity.

Summer Clouds

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.

Daughters, Wives and a Mother

Sanae is left a widow after her prestigious husband dies, but holds the proceeds of a million yen insurance policy. Being childless, her former in-laws have no objection to her return to her own family.

A Wife's Heart

Kiyoko (Takamine Hideko) and her husband want to open a coffee shop. She becomes increasingly close to the bank clerk (Mifune Toshiro) she's asked for a loan.

The Thin Line

Tashiro coincidentally meets his best friend Sugimoto in a bar very close to the apartment in which Sugimoto’s wayward wife is found dead. Although Tashiro is not a suspect in the police investigation, he is racked with guilt and confesses to his wife, Masako. In an effort to further relieve his tortured sense of guilt, he then confesses to Sugimoto. Neither his wife nor his friend can believe that he could have been involved.

A Wanderer's Notebook

Considered one of the finest late Naruses and a model of film biography, A Wanderer’s Notebook features remarkable performances by Hideko Takamine – Phillip Lopate calls it “probably her greatest performance” – and Kinuyo Tanaka as mother and daughter living from hand to mouth in Twenties Tokyo. Based on the life and career of Fumiko Hayashi, the novelist whose work Naruse adapted to the screen several times, A Wanderer’s Notebook traces her bitter struggle for literary recognition in the first half of the twentieth century – her affairs with feckless men, the jobs she took to survive (peddler, waitress, bar maid), and her arduous, often humiliating attempts to get published in a male-dominated culture.

Yotsuya Ghost Story Part 2

Part 2 starts where the first film ended, with Iemon disposing of the bodies of his wife and Kohei, marrying upward, and being blackmailed by the evil Naosuke.

Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji

Tragicomic road movie set during the Edo period. It follows a samurai, his two servants – including spear-carrier Genpachi – and the various people they meet on their journey, including a policeman in pursuit of a thief, a young child and a woman who is to be sold into prostitution.

Here Is a Spring

The story of a group of young people who organise their own travelling symphony orchestra to provide music for people living in remote villages shortly after the war.

Foul Play

Private eye Bannai Tarao (Chiezo Kataoka) and his assistant Masako (Chizuru Kitagawa) investigate the mysterious murder of a baseball player who was killed in the middle of a game.

Mother's First Love

A melodrama based on the novel by Yasunari Kawabata, telling about the tragic fate of a mother and daughter who are attracted to the same man.

The Gambling Samurai

Chuji Kunisada returns to his home village to find that Jubei Matsui, the corrupt magistrate, has been responsible for virtually destroying Kunisada's family. A final tragedy leads Kunisada to join with a band of rogues living in the forest in robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, always with an eye toward avenging himself on Magistrate Matsui.

Stairs of Evil

Iwao, , Kumagai, and Konishi broke into the safe containing the wages of the employees of Ato Industries and obtained a fortune large enough to live a life of leisure. They celebrated with Iwao’s woman, Rumiko. However, it was too early to celebrate. They decided not to use the money for six months to avoid suspicion and stored it in a safe. But one day, Konishi asked for his share of the money in advance, even if it meant receiving a smaller portion, igniting the dark flame of desire among Iwao and the others.

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

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.

No Time for Tears

Coach Shimamura of the hapless Sparrows baseball team is pleased to obtain a hot new pitcher named Onishi. But when Onishi begins a romantic relationship with the coach's daughter Michiko, Shimamura becomes angry with the young man, lashing out at him when he disobeys instructions during a game. In turn, Michiko becomes angry with her father, who becomes increasingly depressed. When a tragedy strikes the family, Coach Shimamura begins losing control of his life, just when his family and his team need him most.

A Woman's Life

A woman remembers her own marriage when dealing with the love life of her son.

The Wiser Age

Drama about the lives of the five daughters and daughter-in-law of a store owner.

Moment of Terror

When an only child is struck by a car and dies, the child's mother seeks vengeance against the driver in this thrilling drama. The car was driven by the wife of a company president who is having an affair. The woman's husband manages to buy silence about the incident, but the victim's mother discovers the identity of the driver. After she secures a job in the home of the company president and his philandering spouse, the woman plans to murder the couple's son when he reaches the age of her late son.

Nonsense Boys

Japanese comedy film.

Nippon Paradise

Japanese comedy film.

Bright Young Maidens

In order to get Kanako (Izumi Yukimura) married, her mother places a rental listing in the student medical school newsletter and attempts to find a suitable lodger who will catch the eye of her daughter.

Mr. Pu

A math teacher loses his job while falling in love with a local girl.

Once a Rainy Day

Former playmates (Naito and Tamura), both long ago abandoned by their parents, recall their youth and fall in love.

Two in the Shadow

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.

Snow in the South Seas

Japanese soldiers stranded in Manokwari, New Guinea, improvise a theater play to keep their spirits up and endure the extremely difficult conditions.

A Night in Hong Kong

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.

Assignment Cloud

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.

Secret Assignment

In the fourth film of series, Secret Assignment, Raizo again plays the Jiro Shiina. This time he's out to discover who is spying for the British in the Foreign Ministry, under the code name “Cat's Eye”.

The Night before Pearl Harbor

The last film in the series brings the tale to the doorstep of Pacific War, with the planning of the bombing of Pearl Harbor dominant in Nakano Spy School.

Assignment Dragon No. 3

In late 1940 the Japanese were anxious to conclude peace in China and to that end sent Colonel Hidaka to inaugurate negotiations. He was mysteriously assassinated, however, when his car was blown up. The General Staff Headquarters in Japan, sends Lieutenant Shiina, a graduate of the famed Nakano School of Spies inaugurated by Colonel Kusanagi, to investigate the matter. Arriving in Shanghai, he disguises himself as a Chinese coolie and sets out to watch for developments, the only clue being a silver dollar found beside what was left of the victim.

The School of Spies

Nakano Institution is the so-called ‘Spy School’ where many young men are trained to be excellent spies. They erase their names, families, even lovers to bury themselves in training. Jiro, one of the cadets, successfully seize the secret code of English army to pass the final exam. However, he reaches the crossroad when his fiancee Yukiko turns out to be a spy of the enemy.

How to Make Money

Japanese comedy film.

Seven Masks of Revenge

The eighth film in the "master detective with seven faces" series. Bannachi patrols the town in his taxi when he sees a man heading into Shiodome Town. Next day the man is found brutally murdered and the mystery starts to unravel.

Awamori-kun kanpai!

Second of the three Awamori-kun movies.

Snow Country

It's a man's world. Shimamura, an artist, comes to this snowbound town to rejuvenate himself. He connects with Komako, a geisha he met on a previous trip, and it seems like love. She's the foster daughter of a local family, almost engaged to the family's son Yukio, now dying of consumption. He's tended by his sister Yuko who's angry at Komako for abandoning her brother. Shimamura returns to Tokyo but promises he will be back soon. In anticipation of his return, Komako breaks with her patron and her family loses their home. Complications arise when Shimamura doesn't come back as promised. Then Komako discovers that he and Yuko knew each other in Tokyo. Can Komako escape destiny?

Untamed Woman

A woman marries, gives birth to a stillborn child, and divorces, falls in love with a hotel-keeper, only to find herself subordinated to his drive for success, takes up with a tailor who cannot console himself with her strong personality.

Born in Sin

A dark family secret sends a 21-year-old French student (Hoshi) on a journey of self-discovery.

Superexpress

A man operates a small real estate business near Osaka. A man from Tokyo asks for help in buying a large tract of land in order, he says, to build an automobile factory. But by accident the realtor learns that the Tokaido Railway Line is going to be built directly across the land just acquired. Also known as Black Super Express

The Radish and the Carrot

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…

I Want to Be a Shellfish

On a post-war peaceful day in Japan, Toyomatsu Shimizu, a barber as well as a good father and husband, is suddenly arrested by the Prefectural Police as a war criminal and sued for murder.

Rise Against the Sword

Farmer Abare Goemon is confronted by brigand-like samurai. He raises an army of farmers to fight them and does so brilliantly. When Lord Asakura sees the success Goemon has achieved, he attempts to recruit him to fight in a conflict between Asakura and another clan. Goemon refuses, and Lord Asakura sets out to destroy him.

The Woman Who Touched the Legs

A screwball tale of a suspected “lady thief” and the detective who is on her trail, following her from Osaka to her home village, where she is going to hold a memorial service for her father. Of course, the detective falls in love with his prey.

The Naked General

A film about the life of Kiyoshi Yamashita, a Japanese painter with disabilities.

The Bitch

The fall of an accountant enthralled by the sexual charms of a cabaret dancer.

An Autumn Afternoon

Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter. Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

The Daphne

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.

The Lone Journey

Forced on the road by yakuza obligations, a man sets out on a reckless journey to Tsumagoi. Movie posters for local cinemas were often displayed at sento (public baths) too. The handwritten text on the bottom here announces the film will play at Hassen for 3 days.

Jirocho Strikes a Daring Blow

Jirocho and his followers chase the Kurokomas into the Kai Province.

Seniors, Juniors, Co-Workers

An Ishiro Honda film.

Humanity and Paper Balloons

In a slum in Edo Japan, a ronin hopes that his deceased father's former master will hire him while a disgraced hairdresser attempts to regain his pride by kidnapping the daughter of a wealthy pawnbroker, who is set to be married.

Seven Samurai

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

Itohan Monogatari

Based on the original work by Shuji Hojo, Itohan Monogatari depicts the fate of a clumsy and kind-hearted woman in the Taisho era.

Priest of Darkness

A boy steals a knife from an old samurai, unaware of its value, setting off a strange chain of events.

A Woman's Life

The film adaptation of Yuzo Yamamoto's novel tells the story of the difficult fate of a single mother in pre-war Japan.

Swordsman of the Two Sword Style

The story of Japan’s greatest warrior, Miyamoto Musashi, after his historic duel with Sasaki Kojiro on Ganryu Island.

Gamblers: The Raid

5th entry in the Bakuchi-uchi series.

Sanshiro Sugata

Remake of Akira Kurosawa's films "Sanshiro Sugata and "Sanshiro Sugata Part II". A young man, Sanshiro Sugata, troubled by personal problems, takes up judo. His teacher, Shogoro Yano, is a devout man who has aroused the enmity of the local practitioners of jujitsu, the older and more accepted of the two sports. Sugata uses his newly learned prowess to gain a measure of respect from others; however, Shogoro insists that the sport has a spiritual side, a lesson Sugata has yet to learn. Eventually, in hand-to-hand combat with the father of a young woman he loves, he comes to understand the true meaning of judo.

The Surf

Lonely youth Shinji meets Hatsue, a pretty pearl diver, on the beach and the two fall in love. But Shinji has a rival for Hatsue's affections, Yasuo.

Five Gents' Trick Book

The 22nd film in the Shacho comedy series.

The Man Who Laughs Last

The East Asian Acrobatic circus enjoys popularity after welcoming the Asuka brothers, two prestigious trapeze acrobats. One day, one of the brothers gets injured and a substitute needs to be found. Rumors start to float around concerning the circus clown and his grandiose acrobat career which ended tragically. Will he be able to reconcile with his tumultuous past and get the show running?

Diary of a Company President: Peaceful Period

Sixth entry in the Company President Series.

The Third President

The fifth entry in the Company President Series

Sequel- Three Generations of Company Presidents

7th film in the President series and the first entry in color.

Japan's Longest Day

Following the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and the government clash over the demand from the Allies for unconditional surrender. Minister of the Army Anami leads the military officers who propose to fight on, even to the death of every Japanese citizen. Emperor Hirohito, however, joins with his ministers in asking the unthinkable, the peaceful surrender of Japan. When the military plots a coup to overthrow the Emperor's civilian government, Anami must face the choice between his desires and loyalty to his Emperor.

Goblin Courier

Jida-geki by Santaro Marune.

I'm a Bodyguard

Kita Ippei (Atsumi Kiyoshi) became a security officer in the Metropolitan Police Department's Security Division after catching a thug who attacked a writer living in the area while working at a police box. His dream is to become a bodyguard (BG) for the Prime Minister, just like his senior, Detective Inspector Takagi (Ryu Chishu). Kita Ippei is very successful in both work and love, getting attacked while guarding a female minister, getting some perks as a BG for a foreign princess, and becoming friends with a woman at his favorite bar.

The Preacher of Love

1961 Japanese movie

Ganpeki

1953 Japanese movie

Zoku izuko e

Sequel to "何処へ" (1966). A coming-of-age drama adapted from the novel by Yojiro Ishizaka.

The Sharks

A film adaptation of Masatsugu Nobuhiko's novel of the same name, directed by Tasaka Tomotaka and starring Nakamura Kinnosuke. This literary epic tells the story of how the protagonist, who has become mired in evil due to his poverty and low position, eventually awakens to humanity through an encounter with a nun. Shark was born without a father in a fishing village where the main occupation is catching sharks. In his poor and humiliating life, his only source of comfort is the tender love of his mother. However, on the night of a festival, the village burns to the ground and his mother dies. Left alone, Shark sets off for Kyoto with an old caster.

First Love

A 1970s Toho coming-of-age film.

Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto

Struggling to elevate himself from his low caste in 17th century Japan, Miyamoto trains to become a mighty samurai warrior.

Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple

After years on the road establishing his reputation as Japan's greatest fencer, Takezo returns to Kyoto. Otsu waits for him, yet he has come not for her but to challenge the leader of the region's finest school of fencing. To prove his valor and skill, he walks deliberately into ambushes set up by the school's followers.

Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island

A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun, Japan's most powerful clan leader. He's also challenged to fight by the supremely confident and skillful Sasaki Kojiro. Takezo agrees to fight Kojiro in a year's time but rejects Shogun's patronage, choosing instead to live on the edge of a village, raising vegetables. He's followed there by Otsu and later by Akemi, both in love with him. The year ends as Takezo assists the villagers against a band of brigands. He seeks Otsu's forgiveness and accepts her love, then sets off across the water to Ganryu Island for his final contest.

Jinsei Gekijo: dai ni bu

Part two of Shin Saburi's Theater of Life adaptation.

Jiyūgaoka fujin

1960 Japanese movie

Samurai of the Great Earth

A film adaptation of Rikuo Honjo's novel "Ishikari River".

上州鴉

This happened at a post station on the Shinshu road. Takizo Hoshigoe, a wanted man who has been missing since breaking through the Oto checkpoint, came to this post station longing for his hometown and stayed at Shinanoya. A farmer named Sakubei, who was struggling to pay his taxes, came to sell his daughter Omitsu.

All of Myself

The daughter of a former Miss Universe winner finds success as a fashion model in Tokyo following the death of her fiancé.

The Terrible Game

Story of rebellious youth follows the 19-year-old son of a Hokkaido farmer who has an affair with the daughter of a wealthy trading company president.

Travel Stories of a Company President

It is the 16th series of the call series with the highest masterpiece among the "President" series. The president of the U. s.solar paint, heitaro Domoto (Morishige), has become completely American, and plans to rationalize the company to the American style and prohibit the company's entertainment. Members of the Taiko Kyushu Branch Company (Ryohei Miki), who were living in the banquet, were hit by a big blow, and the company and the meeting club were very annoying. After that, the president who went to the business trip to Kyushu met with a sexy Geisha (Junko Ikeuchi) on the way to the tour, and he felt like a fool.

Tokyo do mannaka

Set in the downtown area in the heart of Tokyo, this film depicts the lives of poor but kind-hearted people.

New Third-Class Executive

At an Osaka electronics company, power struggles, corporate schemes, and personal agendas collide when the boss is away. As tensions rise around a meddling heiress and a collapsing business deal, one quiet employee steps up to set things right.

New Third Class Executive: Travel, Women and Drinking

A struggling salesman at World Electric finds his major deal blocked by internal politics and pressure from all sides. During a company trip to Beppu, personal entanglements and old company secrets surface, forcing difficult choices and quiet compromises.

New Third Class Executive: Fortune Teller

World Electric's top ad model disappears, throwing the company into disarray. A fortune-teller’s influence spreads through upper management, sending staff on a misguided search. Misinformation, internal friction, and unexpected revelations push the company to its limits.

New Third Class Executive: Husband Education

Amid management shakeups and arranged marriage plans at Sekai Electric, an executive couple tries to support a young woman’s relationship with an academic over a business heir.

Playboy President

A straight-laced employee is tasked with supervising his impulsive CEO during a business trip intended to revive struggling sales.

Playboy President: Part II

After a promotion brings new professional challenges, a diligent employee is pulled into corporate matchmaking and a high-stakes business conflict over a critical eel supply.

Travel Stories of a Company President Part II

While on a business trip to Kyushu, a paint company president competes with a rival firm for a key overseas client, only to face setbacks both in work and in the personal affairs of his team.

Company President Travels Abroad

Executives from a Japanese department store travel to Hawaii to acquire land for expansion but become entangled in romantic distractions and miscommunication. By the time they act, the property is lost to a rival, forcing an abrupt return to Tokyo and uncertain outcomes.

Company President Travels Abroad Part II

As Marukyū Department Store plans its Hawaii expansion, company executives become sidetracked by local pleasures and personal entanglements. By the time they resume business, the target property is lost to a rival—forcing an abrupt return to Japan with both deals and relationships unresolved.

President's Ninja Trick Book Part II

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 Company President's Life Story

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.

Five Gents on the Spot

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.

Diary of an Elegant Hot Spring

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.

Discover Japan with the 5 Gents

In this outing, Shoji (Morishige) and his employees plan to build a hotel for Expo 70.

Five Gents Prefer Geisha

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.

Five Gents and Karate Grandpa

"Shacho" comedy about the president of a salt manufacturing company.

Five Gents and a Chinese Merchant

An aging company president pushes a youth-focused corporate fitness campaign but struggles to keep up himself.

5 Gents Fly to Kyushu

A cosmetics company president launches an aggressive new business strategy while balancing corporate pressure, romantic entanglements, and a high-profile international partnership.

5 Gents Fly to Kyushu Part II

A cosmetics executive promoted to chairman faces chaos at home and work as his company undergoes major changes and internal power shifts.

Five Gents Fly to Taiwan

A food company president is promoted to chairman, but his continued involvement creates leadership confusion.

Five Gents and a Kuniang

A food company undergoes leadership changes, with younger staff rising to key roles.

Miren

The story follows Tomoko, a writer who becomes involved in a strange and distant relationship with Shingo, a married novelist. Though they haven't seen each other in years, an unexpected connection forms. However, tensions rise, especially when Ryota, Tomoko’s ex-boyfriend, reappears in her life. As complications grow, Tomoko realizes she no longer loves Shingo and chooses to break away, despite the loneliness. Eventually, she decides to live independently, also leaving Ryota, and starts anew by the end of summer.

First Decade Showa Company President vs. Second Decade Showa Company President

After a major corporate merger, a middle-aged executive is demoted but unexpectedly appointed president of a small subsidiary.

First Decade Showa Company President vs. Second Decade Showa Company President: Monday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Friday

After a highway accident forces a motel stay, a company president devises a plan to create spring-based beds, sparking unexpected business deals, romantic entanglements, and corporate hurdles.

Fox and Raccoon

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.

Salaryman Idea Book: Man of Worrisome Episodes

A university graduate determined to become a fishmonger defies his mother's wishes, tangles with bar hostesses and a beer company heiress, and—after misunderstandings, brawls, and a second chance—discovers that maybe the salaryman life isn’t so bad after all.

Salaryman Idea Book: Concern for Success

A beer salesman with a passion for fishmongering stumbles through mishaps, rivalries, and gangster trouble while chasing a big contract, winning the deal through quick thinking—then turns down a promotion to keep working his own way.

We Are Salarymen

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.

Devices Stronger Than Women

An ad campaign for a TV show called the “Male Training Contest” stirs chaos at a major electronics company. PR staffer Takayama opposes it, but his girlfriend Eiko, the show’s host, supports the idea. 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.”

Ore wa yōjimbō

1950 Japanese movie

Holiday in Tokyo

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.

Dadakko Shachou

Adapted from a novel by Kaoru Funayama

Singing in the Sun

After their troupe disbands, musician Moriyama and his friends join Orion Records and form “Orion Stars.” Their song Love Express becomes a hit, exposing corporate scheming but ending with success and new romances.

The College Ruggers

Story of love, friendship, and college sports.

Diary of a Successful Salaryman Part 3

A clumsy but determined car salesman, Hideyoshi, faces rivalry, romance troubles, and job setbacks, but through persistence and humor, he wins a big deal and earns a long-awaited promotion.

Diary of a Successful Salaryman Part 2

After a transfer to a rural factory, salesman Hideyoshi faces blunders, schemers, and rivalries but proves his integrity, winning respect and a return to headquarters.

Diary of a Successful Salaryman

Optimistic student Hideyoshi struggles to land a job at Japan Motors, facing setbacks and rivalry but winning his way in through persistence—and a mix of charm, luck, and chaos in both work and love.

Young Lovers

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.

Mr. Giant's Victory Flag

Apparently a baseball drama starring real-life stars Nagashima (The Babe Ruth of Japanese Baseball) and teammate Oh-known collectively as ON-from the Yomiuri Giants. Nagashima nickname was 'Mr. Giants.

We Will Remember

Near the end of the war, a number of young Japanese join an army band hoping to avoid the front lines, but instead are sent to the Chinese Front.