Known for Acting
Mitsuru Hirata (平田 満, Hirata Mitsuru, born November 2, 1953) is a Japanese actor from Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture who is affiliated with Alpha Agency. His wife is actress Kanako Inoue (井上 加奈子).
Born
November 2, 1953 (age 72)
Birthplace
Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan
Filmography
124 films, 62 shows
SHOWTIME 7
2025 · 1h 38m
country: Japan
Orimoto Shinnosuke, a former popular news anchor, was forced to leave the nationwide news program “Showtime 7” for a certain reason. Orimoto, now a negotiator, forcefully goes live on air to negotiate with a bomber. Based on the 2013 Korean film “Terror, Live.”
Under Ninja
2025 · 2h 3m
country: Japan
The once-proud Japanese Ninja disappeared after the war when GHQ disbanded their organization.However, in reality ninjas still exist secretly and it is said that there are 200 thousand of them.And some elite ninjas are secretly operating behind the scenes in national-level struggles.On the other hand, grassroots ninjas often cannot find jobs, and one of them, Yun Yin Jiu Lang, also lives a life similar to that of the NEET generation.However, there is finally a major "endurance" around Ninomaru!
The Women in the Lakes
2024 · 2h 21m
country: Japan
A 100-year-old resident of a Lake Biwa nursing home dies mysteriously. Did a respirator keeping him alive suddenly malfunction, or was he murdered? A young detective on the case meets a female caregiver. The investigation runs into a dead end, but the two fall into a passionate but forbidden relationship. Terrifying memories emerge from the vast, deep lake to ensnare the detectives on the case, the caregivers, and a reporter trying to uncover a hidden past.
The Seafarer
2023
country: Unknown
Kienai Akari
2023 · 1h 14m
country: Japan
New Hamlet ~Osamu Dazai takes over Shakespeare!?~
2023
country: Japan
Call Me Chihiro
2023 · 2h 11m
country: Japan
An unapologetic former sex worker starts working at a bento stand in a small seaside town, bringing comfort to the lonely souls who come her way.
Dreaming of the Meridian Arc
2022 · 1h 52m
country: Japan
In the present day, the local government of Katori City is in the process of sponsoring a taiga drama about its famous historical figure Tadataka Ino, who is known for being the first person to make a map of Japan in 1821. During the process of of making the drama series, a surprising fact is discovered about the first map. That fact is that Tadataka Ino was not the person who made the first Japanese map.
Little Subculture Wars: The Village Vanguard Strikes Back
2020 · 1h 42m
country: Japan
Sugishita, a college student who works part-time at Village Vanguard, feels something strange about his peaceful days. Surprisingly, subcultures had disappeared from this world. When Sugishita learns of the existence of a censor who is destroying subculture, he works hard to escape his surveillance and regain the love of subculture among his friends.
The Asadas!
2020 · 2h 7m
country: Japan
Masashi is a photographer. He has his parents and an older brother Yukihiro. Through the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Masashi begins to take staged photos of his family.
Fukushima 50
2020 · 2h 2m
country: Japan
Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan risk their lives and stay at the nuclear power plant to prevent total destruction after the region is devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Listen to the Universe
2019 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
Four pianists take part in the preliminary round of an international piano playing competition. Each has a story that is different and unique. One is a former child prodigy who stopped playing when her mother died. One is a Julliard student. One is a new face and yet comes recommended.
We Are
2018 · 2h
country: Japan
Seven friends part ways after their last day at school. Some seek their fortune in Tokyo, others remain in their hometown Maebashi. Over the course of ten years, their paths keep crossing, and while they experience losses and broken dreams, they learn about the value of friendship.
Room Leader
2017 · 1h 34m
country: Japan
Detective Nobuhiko Kamamoto is a detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, armed with keen interviewing skills and the ability to read people's personalities. But his personal life is in shambles and he must find a way to juggle problems at home while also handling multiple complicated investigations.
And Then There Was Light
2017 · 2h 17m
country: Japan
On Mihama, one of Tokyo's outlying islands, Shinji witnesses the rape of his girlfriend and middle-school classmate, Haruka, then commits an irreversible crime. But the following day, the island is besieged by a tidal wave which wipes out everything. Twenty-five years later, Shinji has a wife and daughter. A childhood friend, Tasuku, presents himself to Shinji and discloses the real truth of his hidden past. Shinji will have to try and protect Haruka again.
Almost Coming, Almost Dying
2017 · 1h 30m
country: Japan
To reward himself for his new teaching gig in Sapporo, 29-year-old Manabu decides to celebrate New Year's Eve with a little treat at a local sex club. On the verge of... climaxing, he's struck by a brain hemorrhage and ends up buck naked at the hospital surrounded by his worried family who want to know how this happened.
Memoirs of a Murderer
2017 · 1h 58m
country: Japan
The movie begins in the year 1995 where there were 5 peculiar murder cases. The murderer would always get someone close to the victim to witness how he would strangle the victim from behind with a rope but he would let the witnesses go and speak to the media on how the murders happened. Ito plays the role of Makimura, the police detective who was in charge of investigating the serial murders but failed to catch the cunning murderer and his respected superior ended up being killed as well. 22 years later in 2017 when the case is nearing its statute of limitations, a man named Sonezaki claims to be the culprit for the 1995 murders and even publishes a book titled "Watashi ga satsujinhan desu" to talk about the cases. Despite the disgust towards Sonezaki's actions, the intensive attention showered on him via the media and SNS makes him become the talk of town.
Gukoroku - Traces of Sin
2017 · 2h
country: Japan
Tanaka is going through a tough time trying to support his younger sister Mitsuko, recently arrested and on hold in jail. An investigative reporter, he immerses himself into a story about a shocking murder case gone cold. The "perfect" family – successful businessman, beautiful wife and adorable child – were brutally murdered a year ago and the case remains unsolved. Tanaka interviews their friends and acquaintances, and as stories of their true nature unfold, he begins to discover that the family was not as ideal as believed.
The City of Betrayal
2016 · 2h 12m
country: Japan
Yuichi is a freeter who has lazy days. He receives an allowance from a woman that he lives with. Tomoko is a housewife. Yuichi and Tomoko meet through an online dating website. They become involved in an intimate relationship, but their lives are about to be shaken by an incident.
Taxi Driver's Mystery Diary 38
2015
country: Japan
Shabu-Shabu Spirit
2015 · 10m
country: Japan
A fiancé, Keita, goes to meet the family, the father, Shozo, begins his secret appraisal – a test to see whether this fiancé is worthy or not of marrying his daughter. Trying to reduce the distance between them, the mother prepares a single nabe (cooking pot) for the shabu-shabu meal. As Shozo’s eyes glint brightly, Keita reaches towards the shabu-shabu.
Taxi Driver's Mystery Diary 37 - Mystery of Double Homicides from Tokyo to Hamamatsu
2015
country: Japan
Zutaboro
2015 · 1h 51m
country: Japan
When friends graduate from junior high school and are enrolled in high school Koichi and Yakko join a motorcycle gang. They make new friends, have fights and flirt with girls. Yakko, however, is not having an easy time of it. Koichi stands up for his friend and joins the yakuza, which brings its own problems with it.
Taxi Driver's Mystery Diary 36
2014 · 2h 6m
country: Japan
Tales of the Bizarre: 2014 Fall Special
2014 · 2h 10m
country: Japan
An omnibus special comprised of five segments.
Our Tomorrow
2014 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
At a pawn shop called "K" which is known for being a place where backroom deals are conducted, a professional burglar named Ryo Fudo puts together a team with the aim of stealing a legendary cache of gold. Ryo plans to wash his hands of thievery once and for all after this one final job, but conflicting intentions and betrayal soon complicate the situation.
Piano in a Storeroom
2014 · 1h 55m
country: Japan
Two sisters living on a peach farm in Koori town, Fukushima Prefecture,are opposites. Haruka Miyamoto feels less beautiful than her sister Akiba Miyamoto and hates being compared to her. She finds comfort in playing a piano in a barn. A year after the Great East Japan Earthquake, she decides she wants to be a pianist. Akiba, for her part, moved to Tokyo to attend college. When she moves back to Koori, Haruka is unsettled and memories connected to the disaster she has tried to forget resurface.
Soul Flower Train
2013 · 1h 37m
country: Japan
Amamoto travels from his small village to Osaka to find his estranged daughter. When he meets a friendly young woman, she gives him a unique guide of the big city and helps him in his search.
Case of Kyoko, Case of Shuichi
2013 · 2h 14m
country: Japan
Kyoko (Sakura Ando) works as an insurance agent. Due to a series of unfortunate events, she brings shame to her family and has to leave her hometown. Shuichi (Tasuku Emoto) killed his drunken father to save his mother. After he is released from prison, he begins to work at a small factory in Tokyo.
The Morning Set, Milk and Spring
2013 · 1h 25m
country: Japan
Middle-aged salaryman Ichiro Sasaki (Mitsuru Hirata) hears of the death of his childhood friend Okabe (Takeshi Itoh). Okabe left a message for Ichiro right before his death. From the message, Ichiro learns the truth of a sad cast from the past and that Okabe liked Ichiro's first love Sachi (Aoi Kirishima). When they were young, Okabe got everything he wanted, but Ichiro could not do anything about what he wanted. After Ichiro meets a young woman named Haru (Kanako Mizumoto), his passion for the younger days begins to revive.
Angel Home
2013 · 2h 3m
country: Japan
The "Himawari So" ("Sunflower House") is a group home for mentally underdeveloped adults. Manga artist Itpon Aijo (Naoto Takenaka) begins to work at the "Himawari So". He moves into the home with his daughter Mako (Shihori Kanjiya), who is mentally underdeveloped. Uyan (Takayuki Takuma) is a resident at the group home. Uyan and Mako begin to develop feelings for each, but Itpon becomes worried about them.
Double Face: gisō keisatsu-hen
2012 · 1h 23m
country: Japan
This is the continuation and final part of Double Face SP, the Japanese remake of the highly successful 2002 Hong Kong film, Infernal Affairs. This special focuses on Police Inspector Takayama Ryosuke (Kagawa Teruyuki) who had been secretly supplying police information to the organized crime group, the Oda-gumi. Once a young street thug, Takayama was taken under the wing of Oda Hironari (Kohinata Fumiyo), the leader of Oda-gumi. Dressed, fed, and educated, Takayama was instructed to become a police officer and work as a mole for the group. Now, he is tasked to get close to Suenaga Mari (Aoi Yu), a daughter of an influential politician.
Double Face: Sen'nyû sôsa hen
2012 · 2h
country: Japan
Two men, a detective and a gang member, infiltrate each other's organization. Soon they find their fates intertwined.
The Last Message
2012 · 2h 9m
country: Japan
Police coroner Kuraishi Yoshio (Masaaki Uchino) and the crime lab team attempt to solve a serial murder case with a killer who seems to kill indiscriminately.
The Woodsman and the Rain
2012 · 2h 9m
country: Japan
A widowed lumberjack's life is turned upside down when a film crew shooting a zombie movie asks for his help and increasingly starts to rely on him.
KochiKame - The Movie: Save the Kachidoki Bridge!
2011 · 1h 52m
country: Japan
Police Officer Kankichi Ryotsu (Shingo Katori) is back at the Kameari Park Polic Box. Kankichi Ryotsu usually means to do well, but more often than not he ends up causing all kinds of trouble. Like on his way to work he away when he is asked to pay up by a shop owner or cheats an elementary school student. Ryotsu's co-workers Reiko Catherine Akimoto (Karina) and Keiichi Nagakawa (Mokomichi Hayami) have had about all they can take from Kankichi and his boss Ohara (Masato Ibu) is constantly berating him.
Princess Toyotomi
2011 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
National Audit Bureau member Hajime Matsudaira (Shinichi Tsutsumi), Tadako Torii (Haruka Ayase) & Asahi Gainsbourg (Masaki Okada) travel from their homebase of Tokyo to the city of Osaka. Their mission is to discover any financial irregularities & to ensure the correct use of federal money in the Osaka city government. Their initial audits go smoothly, but things turn more interesting once they enter the Karahori shopping district - the area with a long history reaching back to the Meiji era.
Rebirth
2011 · 2h 27m
country: Japan
After the collapse of their relationship, Kiwako abducts the 6-month old child of a man she was having an affair with. Raising the child as her own, it is four years before the authorities catch up with her and the young child.
Moonlight Mask
2011 · 1h 42m
country: Japan
The year is 1947, during the war torn period of the Showa era. The story begins when a man, presumed to have been killed in battle, returns home. Who was this man? Before the war, he had a bright future ahead of him as the proficient and popular rakugoka (comedic story-teller), Usagi Morinoya. However, because of an injury sustained during the war, his face is covered in bandages, and he suffers from total amnesia. As if trying to recover his memory, the man only keeps mumbling in a hollow voice his trademark rakugo, "Sokotsunagaya".
Wasao
2011 · 1h 57m
country: Japan
Wasao, an Akita dog in Aomori Prefecture that became famous as an ugly-yet-cute dog from a traveller's blog. Heartwarming drama starring Wasao himself turns part of the life of this former stray into an original story. Setsuko, who runs a grilled-squid shop in a fishing village at the foot of the Shirakami mountains, decides to take in a large dog with a long, unruly fur that has shown up in town. She names the dog Wasao and showers it with affection, but Wasao at that time doesn't take to Setsuko.
Kaidan Horror Classics
2010 · 2h 40m
country: Japan
Four short films based on ghost stories written by award winning modern Japanese writers.
Flowers
2010 · 1h 49m
country: Japan
Flowers examines the lives of six women across three generations, from the Show period all the way through to the present day.
A Lone Scalpel
2010 · 2h 6m
country: Japan
Dr Toma, a skilled surgeon, starts work at a regional hospital in Japan. After performing an operation to remove a patient’s liver cancer, something that normally would not be done at this hospital, he quickly gains a very good reputation amongst the town’s people. Some of his colleagues become so jealous they are resentful and waiting patiently for the perfect opportunity to crucify him. Soon they get their chance as Dr Toma considers performing a controversial operation…
Go Find a Psychic!
2009 · 1h 45m
country: Japan
Once a year, on Christmas Eve, Cafe Telekinesis holds a real psychic party. At the party, psychics gather together to show off their abilities while for the rest of the year they hide their abilities. Yone Sakurai is a program director for a psychic variety TV show called "Asunaro Psychic". She is stressed out and tired from her work, but proud of what she is doing. Yone actually believes in psychic abilities. By an audience request a new plan is set out for the program, a plan which requires the show to uncover real psychics or psychic events.
Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess
2009 · 2h 5m
country: Japan
A man arrives in the city upon news of a potential terrorist strike in Italy. He is Japanese foreign diplomat, Kosaku Kuroda, and he’s here under orders of his supervisor at the Foreign Ministry, Hiroshi Kataoka (Kiichi Nakai), to aid in the safeguarding of Japanese citizens. Kuroda’s main contacts at the Japanese embassy consist of Ambassador Kikuhara, Counselor Nishino, and fellow diplomatic envoys Haba and Tanimoto. All are busy preparing for the visit of Japanese Foreign Minister Kawagoe due to arrive for the high-profile G8 foreign minister’s meeting. Meanwhile, somewhere on the festively-lit streets of the city, a young Japanese girl has suddenly gone missing. Is it an abduction simply for ransom? Or could it be a prelude to terror?
Romantic Prelude
2009 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
An aspiring floral designer and the photographer next door become drawn to each other through the everyday sounds they hear through their shared walls.
Where The Legend Lives
2008 · 1h 58m
country: Japan
Kohei Miyazaki (Naoto Takenaka), a former railroad worker, has become obsessed with locating the ancient country of Yamatai. His obsession sprouted from a day when he discovered ancient ceramics while repairing railroad tracks. Now completely blind, Kohei relies on his wife (Sayuri Yoshinaga) to guide him through the country and read the maps in their pursuit of Yamatai.
I Want to Be a Shellfish
2008 · 2h 19m
country: Japan
1944, in the depths of World War II. Toyomatsu Shimizu is a completely typical barber from a remote sea-side town who lives frugally but happily with his wife Fusae and their five-year-old son. Eventually, though, the army beckons and he is drafted. One day an officer on the battle-field orders him to kill a captive U.S. soldier. Although Toyomatsu lacks the spirit to kill the man, and only wounds him in the arm, the victorious U.S. soldiers will not accept this, and Toyomatsu is arrested and tried as a war-criminal. And he receives the cruelest sentence possible...
Tokyo Boy
2008 · 1h 35m
country: Japan
Minato is a young girl who was traumatized at a young age by being abandoned by her parents and left with her senile grandmother. She frequently corresponds with a pen-pal named Night, a boy about the same age as her that she's never actually seen in person. Although Minato and Night are very different - Minato is upbeat while Night is brooding, they get along anyway and she regularly updates him on the happenings in her daily life. Minato is even willing to confide in Night that she's falling in love with a boy she's recently met named Sho.
ツナガルココロ 3 LOVE STORIES
2008 · 45m
country: Unknown
An anthology drama starring Kie Kitano. It depicts romance, friendship, and family love that a 17-year-old girl encounters through her cell phone. It includes three stories.
敵は本能寺にあり
2007 · 1h 50m
country: Japan
The plot is based on the novel “Akechi Samanosuke no Koi,” the final work in a trilogy by Hiroshi Kato about the forced suicide of Oda Nobunaga at the temple Honnoji. Historically, the general Akechi Mitsuhide is credited with causing Nobunaga’s downfall. Kato’s novel focuses on Mitsuhide’s nephew Samanosuke, who fought alongside his uncle during the assault on Honnoji.
Watch Me
2007 · 2h 12m
country: Japan
10-year-old Shigeki, owns his own room for the first time. From his room, he sees a girl living in a big hill top house. Shigeki instantly fell in love with the girl. Her name was Yayoi. Shigeki buys a telescope with the help of his father and starts watching her. But after a while, Shigeki has to move away. He wrote a love letter to Yayoi, put it in her post and left town. Shigeki grew up and still watching Yayoi.
Welcome to the Quiet Room
2007 · 1h 58m
country: Japan
28 year old freelance writer Sakura Asuka wakes up tied in a white room. The white room is a protected room located in an isolated ward of a psychiatric hospital. Sakura first became unconscious because of heavy alcohol use and a druge overdose. She’s confined in the single room because of her high risk of committing suicide. Sakura tried to talk to the nurses and doctors but they didn’t listen to her. Under the circumstances another patient Miki, who suffers from an eating disorder, leads her to understand the unknown world. But, Sakura is looking for the way to get back to the real world as soon as possible.
Fumiko no umi
2007 · 1h 45m
country: Japan
A blind girl of around ten years old is not having a pleasant upbringing. She is poor, neglected, shunned and even loses a friend. Yet, she does not give up hope. That is the adaptation of the actual story of Kiyo Awazu who grows up to educate blind children. The young Fumiko becomes an apprentice to a masseuse and works hard to learn a skill. She also studies to learn braille.
Taxi Driver’s Mystery Diary SP22
2006
country: Japan
Yoake Sudeo, a former elite detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, now works as a taxi driver. One day, he picks up Michiko Takanezawa, a university assistant professor recently acquitted of murdering her former lover. Hounded by the media and the victim’s wife at her home, Michiko pleads with Yoake to drive her to her hometown, Aizu-Wakamatsu. But the next day, the wife of the murdered professor is found dead near Tokyo—turning the case on its head.
Tales of Terror: The Curse of Nobuhiro-san
2006 · 1h 28m
country: Japan
Nobuhiro is convinced that, in order to honor his mother's death by suicide, he needs to find the reincarnation of his mother and die with her, together, under the spell of love. A young model tries to discover the truth behind one of his paintings which depicts the horrific death of a woman and her lover.
The Deep Red
2005 · 1h 57m
country: Japan
Shinku is a compelling drama that focuses on the strange relationship that develops between two people who find their lives irrevocably changed as a result of a horrible multiple homicide. The first person traumatized is the lone survivor of the terrible family bloodbath, a girl who grows up to be a pretty college student. The second person affected by this heinous crime is the daughter of the murderer, a young girl who ends up becoming a tattooed bartender. A full decade after the crime, the killer is finally going to be executed, and the surviving member of the massacre decides to reach out and befriend the murderer's daughter. A tentative, odd sort of friendship blossoms between these two people, both of whom seem to have little in common personally, and every reason in the world for not wanting to meet. Yet they do, but not without reservations. And really, is this friendship quite what it seems? Or is it all part of some twisted plan for vengeance?
The Buried Forest
2005 · 1h 33m
country: Japan
Three high school girls living out in the country build stories out from their local environment, mountainous and bordered by an unkempt buried forest.
Miracle in Four Days
2005 · 1h 58m
country: Japan
Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" wafts through a hospice recreation room. Sitting at the grand piano is a young girl, Chiori, with a prodigious ability to play any piece of music after one hearing. Keisuke Kisaragi whose career was abruptly cut short when he jumped in front of a bullet fired by a crazed gunman. The nerves in one hand were severed but he saved the life of Chiori. The tragic incident takes the lives of Chiori's parents, however, and Keisuke becomes her guardian. Not long after their return to Japan, Keisuke discovers Chiori's musical gift.
Akechi Kogoro vs. Kindaichi Kosuke
2005 · 1h 46m
country: Unknown
The two most famous Japanese mystery characters have come together to solve a crime. A year ago, a man was trying to commit suicide by jumping off a police station building. He was rescued by two men who happened to be the well known Akechi Kogoro and Kosuke Kindaichi. The famous duo were asked to be witnesses and provide information for the police record. From the surface, it was a simple case of suicide. However, soon after the incident, the police lieutenant committed suicide in his office. Slowly from the gathered evidence, the two most unlikely cases are being linked.
Year One in the North
2005 · 2h 49m
country: Japan
In 1868, after the fall of the Shogun-dominated Japan, the new government orders people from Awaji, near Kobe, to re-locate to the northern part of Hokkaido. These people once supported the now displaced Samurais of the older days. After two years, over 500 of them settled in their new land under the leadership of Hideaki, husband of Shino. However, as crops fail he is to go to Sapporo to learn new techniques of farming, leaving his wife and daughter for 5 years. All this time, the new community is constantly watched by the government which choose to again uproot them from their new homes.
Translucent Tree
2004 · 2h 1m
country: Japan
Translucent Tree is centered around divorced Chigiri, a suburban middle-aged mother taking care of her teenage daughter, Mayu, and her ailing father Kaho. Her life is mundane and rather hopeless until Go, a TV producer from Tokyo, pays a visit to her town and the tree they shared time under some twenty years back after a TV commercial shoot. His remembrances of her, the tree, and the long unrequited love stir both of their hearts to fumbling action as they re-discover the love between them.
Tokyo: Level One
2004 · 1h 51m
country: Japan
Panic occurs when the Governor of Tokyo proposes to attract a nuclear power plant to Tokyo.
北の国から 記憶 前編
2003
country: Japan
葵花劫
2003
country: China
The Man in White Part 2: Requiem for the Lion
2003 · 1h 47m
country: Japan
A rowdy, young yakuza takes revenge against a gang of thousands for the death of his boss.
My Grandpa
2003 · 1h 53m
country: Japan
Kenzo was behind bars for killing a gangster. Upon his release, he goes to live with his son, whose marriage is on the rocks. His 14-year-old granddaughter Tamako is ostracized when she discovers that her grandfather is a murderer. Kenzo soon helps defend Tamako from bullies at school. When Tamako stands up for herself, she comes to believe that she has inherited some of her grandfather’s great strength. Eventually, an associate of the man Kenzo killed comes looking for revenge, along with the dead man’s son.
The Man in White
2003 · 1h 35m
country: Japan
After his father figure - a yakuza boss, is murdered, Azusa Moribe goes on a killing spree to exact revenge.
Inochi
2002 · 1h 51m
country: Japan
Yu Miri is a writer who's just become pregnant by her married lover. When she decides to keep the baby without his help, her ex-boyfriend Yutaka, decides to help raise him.
Number One
2001
country: Japan
Kubozuka plays Araki Ryunosuke who starts working at a host club called "club NO.1" to pay his debt.
Pickpocket
2000 · 1h 52m
country: Japan
Kaido is a professional pickpocket who works the Tokyo subway with his young foster-daughter, Rei: She lets herself be groped while Kaido relieves the groper of his wallet. More often than not they're observed by a middle-aged cop, who generally lets Kaido go free. Rei is unsettled when Kaido takes on a young street punk, Kazuki, as an apprentice -- with instructions to make Kaido stop drinking. Kazuki, however, would like to go into business with Rei.
Whiteout
2000 · 2h 9m
country: Japan
A group of terrorists has taken hold of the largest dam in Japan. They also capture the workers as hostages, and demanded $5 billion yen from the government with a 24 hour deadline in exchange for the lives of the hostages. To make things more complicated, there was a snowstorm and no one can get in or out near the area. Fortunately, the terrorists did not capture Togashi, the dam controller, and he is the only person who can rescue those hostages from the terrorists...
The Whispered City
2000 · 1h 45m
country: Japan
Director Jun Ichikawa spins this affectionate portrait of the people who populate Shimokitazawa, a bohemian corner of Tokyo filled with small theater companies and smoky coffeehouses.
First Love
2000 · 1h 53m
country: Japan
This coming-of-age story from Japan opens just after 17-year-old Sataka has gotten dumped by her boyfriend. When her mother is hospitalized with a malignant stomach ulcer, Sataka is left alone with her emotionally repressed father; whiling away the hours one day, she comes across a love letter written to her mother 24 years earlier. Deciding to track down the letter's author, Sataka eventually finds Shinichiro (Hiroyuki Sanada), an overweight slob who was abandoned by his wife years earlier and now spends his time hanging around pachinko parlors. Determined to clean him up and reintroduce him to her mother, Sataka nags Shinchiro until he finally agrees to her demands, and a gradual friendship develops between the two as Sataka drags him to the gym and a clothing store. But once Shinchiro's makeover is complete, he turns the tables on his young friend, and when the time comes for him to meet Sataka's mother, all concerned parties find themselves embarking on a new phase in their lives.
Railroad Man
1999 · 1h 52m
country: Japan
A railway stationmaster at a dying end-of-the-line village in Hokkaido is haunted by memories of his dead wife and daughter. When the railroad line is scheduled to be closed, he is offered a job at a hotel, but he is emotionally unable to part with his career as a railroader. His life takes a turn when he meets a young woman with an interest in trains who resembles his daughter.
Investigative Notes of a Taxi Driver: The Black Sunflower Woman
Investigative Notes of a Taxi Driver: The Black Sunflower Woman
1998 · 1h 33m
country: Japan
Love Letter
1998 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
A romantic film about the spiritual exchange between a gangster and a Chinese woman who got married to him under false pretenses.
Friendship
1998 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
Fourteen-year old student Ayumi has leukemia and starts losing hair. She becomes depressed but receives overwhelming support from her classmates when they all shave their heads for her.
Investigative Notes of a Taxi Driver: Murder of the Killer
Investigative Notes of a Taxi Driver: Murder of the Killer
1998 · 1h 33m
country: Japan
Love & Pop
1998 · 1h 52m
country: Japan
Tokyo schoolgirl Hiromi and her friends engage in a practice known as enjo kosai, or "compensated dating", where older men pay young girls for dates. Hiromi plunges deeper into this world to raise money for an expensive ring.
Happy People
1997 · 1h 20m
country: Unknown
Japanese anthology follows the depressing lives of several people just trying to keep going in a nihilistic world. Movie version of Kosuke Suzuki‘s previous SOV movie by the same title.
Yurika-chan
1997 · 1h 10m
country: Japan
An exciting 'psychic movie' starring Kanako Enomoto, adapted from the manga series by Yukio Tamai. Police detectives searching for clues related to a serial murder case seek out help from high schooler Yurika, who possesses latent split personality psychic abilities. The mystery deepens once Yurika is brought face-to-face with the crime scenes.
Quiet Don 9
1996 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
Shouldn't gangsters love stubborn people? To protect true love, the Shinsen-gumi gather at night in Tokyo!
Oishinbo
1996 · 1h 45m
country: Japan
Based on the comic by Tatsu Kariya. Featuring journalist Shiro Yamaoka who works for Touzai Shimbun. He is a cynical food critic who is tasked by the newspaper's owner, along with the young Yuko Kurita, to provide recipes for the "ultimate menu".
Fly Boys, Fly!
1995 · 1h 56m
country: Japan
Six young pilots who all volunteered to be Kami-kaze or suicide pilots.
Kidnapping
1995 · 1h 54m
country: Unknown
One day, Kyoko's precious only daughter, who works as an insurance salesperson, is suddenly kidnapped. This drama depicts the dual nature of "mother" and "woman" that is gradually revealed as a result of this incident.
Pro Golfer Oribe 2: Par is Fine
1994 · 1h 41m
country: Japan
The second film in the series Professional golfer Oribe Kinjiro.
Rainbow Bridge
1993 · 1h 55m
country: Japan
Set in Edo-era Kyoto, this drama depicts the adolescent battles and the love between parents and children who are born and raised in the same tenement house.
Rex: A Dinosaur's Story
1993 · 1h 46m
country: Japan
A young girl befriends an infant T-rex after her paleontologist father nurtures a lair of lost dinosaur eggs.
Madadayo
1993 · 2h 14m
country: Japan
In postwar Tokyo, beloved writer-professor Hyakken Uchida retires and is buoyed through hardship by the fierce devotion of his former students, who honor him each year with a raucous “Not yet!” birthday toast. Told in warm, gently comic vignettes, Kurosawa’s farewell celebrates aging, friendship, and the sustaining ritual of teacher and pupils refusing to say goodbye.
Pro Golfer Oribe Kinjiro
1993 · 1h 46m
country: Japan
Kinjiro Oribe, nicknamed Orikin, is a professional golfer who has not won a single tournament in his 17-year golf career. He arrives at the golf training course in the city center as a professional instructor, he is inspired by unique people, and he becomes obsessed with the idea of winning at least one victory on the tour, which he almost gave up...
Hold Me and Kiss Me
1992 · 1h 46m
country: Japan
Keiko’s life is turned upside down when she discovers that she has been infected with HIV. As she struggles to cope with the situation and resist the infection, she finds new friendship and companionship with a journalist named Miyuki and a man named Akira.
Tsurumoku Dokushinryô
1991 · 1h 37m
country: Japan
Thriller CRT
1991 · 1h 25m
country: Japan
A creepy anthology about a homicidal little girl, a woman being stalked, a dentist and a man struggling to keep his eyes open on the road.
Bakayarô! 3: Weird Bunch
1990 · 1h 34m
country: Japan
Music Box
1989 · 1h 46m
country: Japan
A former yakuza returns to gangster life after an old enemy threatens his son.
Love Bites Back
1988 · 1h 42m
country: Japan
Yuichi Koga is an upper-class business executive, running his own adult video company, and living a successful life with his wife and daughter. Outwardly, his family seems really happy, but in reality Yuichi enjoys sex with everyone but his wife Chikako. One day, he gets a phone call from a woman named Sanae, an old elementary school classmate of his.
The Great Department Store Robbery
1987 · 1h 34m
country: Japan
Twilight of the Cockroaches
1987 · 1h 45m
country: Japan
The cockroaches of Saito's apartment live in peace with their human host, who gives them lots of space to breed and plenty of leftovers to munch on. In the midst of these high living times, Naomi and Ichiro plan to get married and start a family. But when a hard-bitten stranger roach named Hans appears with news of war with the humans across the lawn, it foretells disruption-not only of Naomi and Ichiro's relationship, but of the hive's entire way of life.
Ai wa kurosuoba
1987 · 1h 40m
country: Japan
Carefree Goddesses
1987 · 1h 33m
country: Japan
Actress
1987 · 2h 10m
country: Japan
Story of famed Japanese actress Kinuyo Tanaka, with an emphasis on her working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi.
Mr. Hacchaki's Tokyo Game
1987 · 1h 37m
country: Japan
A movie starring Meijin Takahashi, the God of Famicom. Based on the Hacchaki Sensei manga.
愛しのチィパッパ
1986
country: Japan
Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies
1986 · 2h 15m
country: Japan
Director Ogata discovers a new female star in Koharu Tanaka, who works selling candy at a studio theater and she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters.
Surgical Designs in Flames
1986 · 2h 5m
country: Japan
A story of the skilled brain surgeon, Todo, whose talent and ambition are put to test through a series of high risk surgical procedures.
Spectacle of Buds
1986 · 1h 40m
country: Japan
A weak willed man teams up with a stripper after her stage show partner runs off with another dancer. He is obsessed with her unique inverted nipples and they soon develop a successful stage show around them. But then the old partner returns…
One Who Died in Vain
1986 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
After returning from the Burmese front in WWII, a man finds trouble brewing back home.
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
1985 · 2h 1m
country: Japan
A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, combining dramatizations of three of his novels and a depiction of the events of November 25th, 1970.
Tora-san, the Go-Between
1985 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
In Nagasaki, Tora-san and an acquaintance help an old woman who has fallen and injured herself. She invites them to her home where the three share a night of eating and drinking. The old woman's health deteriorates and she dies. At her funeral, Tora-san falls in love with the old woman's daughter, but winds up acting as a go-between for her and a young law student.
Nuclear Gypsies
1985 · 1h 45m
country: Japan
Barbara, a dancer, is coming home to Nagoya after a long absence. She lives above a bar in an area whose inhabitants are mainly from Okinawa. Upon her return, Barbara faces problems beyond her control. Her brother and two friends take one of their teachers hostage to extort money to go on a school trip. Miyazato, the man who loves Barbara is there, but not Aiko, her best friend. Miyazato, a yakuza and manager in a nuclear power plant has forced Aiko into prostitution for the workers of the plant. Barbara plans to help her escape from this hell. Aiko has been sent to Mihama. Without even thinking for a moment, Barbara decided to go see her friend.
Capone Cries a Lot
1985 · 2h 10m
country: Japan
Umiemon is a naniwa-bushi singer who travels with his wife to the United States in hopes of achieving fame and fortune.
The Audition
1984 · 2h 7m
country: Japan
Four girls and their manager aiming for stardom!
Shanghai Rhapsody
1984 · 2h 1m
country: Japan
Set in the 1930s in the international city of Shanghai, the film follows the extravagant life and times of a group of jazz musicians, living from one advance paycheck to the next, as the country teeters over the brink into the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Kigeki kazoku dōmei
1983 · 1h 27m
country: Japan
Choji Snack Bar
1983 · 2h 5m
country: Japan
Eiji lives a quiet life running a small Izakaya with his wife. He spends his days cooking for and serving the lively residents of his small hometown.
The Politicians
1983 · 2h 16m
country: Japan
Who will be the next prime minister? As two candidates start to compete, political game and brutal murder ensue. And the existence of secret love letters changes the situation.
Nogare no machi
1983 · 2h
country: Japan
Based on the novel of the same name by Kenzo Kitakata.
Time and Tide
1983 · 1h 37m
country: Japan
An antique shop "Jidaiya" sells time not antiques. One day a lady run into this shop with a cat.
Theater Of Life
1983 · 2h 18m
country: Japan
Adaptation of Shiro Ozaki's novel.
The Man from Shimizu
1982 · 1h 32m
country: Japan
On the day his mother dies, young gambler Jirocho swears in front of her grave that he'll never gamble again. But, that night, Jirocho heads to a gambling den, where he bets the condolence money for his mother's funeral. No surprise to learn he loses the lot. Not the hard-boiled yakuza story it seems, this is a comedy featuring many new artists who were making a name for themselves at the time.
Fall Guy
1982 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
Ginshiro, threatened by poor repute and upcoming star Tachibana, forces his friend Yasu to marry Konatsu, Ginshiro's pregnant mistress; Yasu becomes a stuntman to make ends meet.
Pinwheel Hamakichi’s Spell 2
1982 · 1h 31m
country: Japan
Hamakichi, who used to be a detective is now a toy merchant. His former boss has a grudge against the Yakuza family, which leads to the murder of a policeman in Edo. This places Hamakichi between the rock and a hard place.
Gate of Youth 2
1982 · 2h 17m
country: Japan
Mid 50s: the trials and tribulations of Shinsuke Ibuki, freshly arrived in Tokyo from Kyushu.