Known for Directing
Filmography
37 films, 2 shows


The Samurai and the Prisoner
2026 · 2h 27m
country: Japan
When Lord Murashige rises up against the tyrannical Oda, he finds himself besieged within the walls of his own castle. Isolated, he is confronted with a series of mysterious crimes that shatter the fragile order of his court, plunging the fortress into fear and suspicion. With Oda's army closing in and a traitor hiding among his ranks, Murashige is forced into an uneasy alliance with Kanbei, a brilliant and dangerous strategist held prisoner in the dungeon, as he must outwit his enemies and uncover the truth before time runs out.


Cloud
2024 · 2h 4m
country: Japan
Ryōsuke Yoshii, an ordinary reseller, carelessly earns grudges by people and becomes entangled in a life-threatening struggle.


#Manhole
2023 · 1h 39m
country: Japan
Kawamura is a promising young man with everything going for him. On the eve of his wedding, he falls into a deep manhole. Despite sustaining a debilitating injury, he is determined to attend his wedding as planned, and resorts to social networks for help.


Fragments of the Last Will
2022 · 2h 14m
country: Japan
Based on a true story - a true love story of a man and his wife who are at the mercy of fate, but wish to be reunited for 11 years. With thoughts of his wife and his fellows, Yamamoto Hatao never gave up hoping that he'd return home despite hopeless circumstances.


The Misogyny
2022 · 1h 17m
country: Japan
An actress penning a play inspired by the story of a woman vanishing into thin air becomes disturbed by unexplained phenomena at her rental villa.


Tonbi
2022 · 2h 19m
country: Japan
Yasuo (Hiroshi Abe) grew up as an orphan. He married a woman he loved and they had a son Akira (later played by Takumi Kitamura). Yasuo's life seemed great at the time, but his life totally changed after his wife died in accident. Since that time, Yasuo, who never experienced parents' love himself, has to raise his son Akira alone.


In the Wake
2021 · 2h 14m
country: Japan
Baffling serial killings unfold in which the victims are tied up and left to starve. Tone was just released from prison after finishing his sentence for another crime, and he surfaces as a suspect but detective Tomashiro can't nail down conclusive proof.


Ora, Ora Be Goin' Alone
2020 · 2h 18m
country: Japan
In 1964, Momoko came by herself to Tokyo from her hometown. She met Shūzō and married him. They raised two children together, but Shūzō suddenly passes away. Momoko is dumbfounded by being alone again. She begins to go to the library and borrows books. This changes her life.


The Promised Land
2019 · 2h 9m
country: Japan
A girl is kidnapped and the perpetrator roams freely. When a similar case occurs along the same road and in similar circumstances a suspect is identified leading to the accused running away and going into hiding.


To the Ends of the Earth
2019 · 2h
country: Japan
A young Japanese woman named Yoko finds her cautious and insular nature tested when she travels to Uzbekistan to shoot the latest episode of her travel variety show.


The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine
2018 · 3h 9m
country: Japan
In the wake of the social unrest caused by the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, two female sumo athletes, Kiku and Tokachi, and an anarchist group called the Guillotine Society, spark an unlikely connection.


My Friend "A"
2018 · 2h 9m
country: Japan
Masuda, an aspiring journalist, plans to write an article in order to expose his co-worker Suzuki, who is a psychopathic murderer according to Masuda.


The 8-Year Engagement
2017 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
Hisashi and Mai are a happy couple in their 20s who are engaged to be married. But three months before their wedding, Mai becomes seriously ill. Her heart stops momentarily, and she falls into a deep coma. Hisashi visits Mai at the hospital every day before work. With no idea if or when she will ever awake, Mai’s parents encourage Hisashi to find someone else, but he refuses to give up and continues to pray for her recovery. As if his prayers are answered, Mai begins to regain consciousness several years later, and even utters a few words. But tragically, she has suffered brain damage and has no memory of Hisashi.


Creepy
2016 · 2h 10m
country: Japan
After having narrowly escaped an attempt on his life at the hands of a psychopath, detective inspector Takakura quits active service in the police force and takes up a position as a university lecturer in criminal psychology. But his desire to get to the bottom of criminals’ motives remains, and he does not hesitate long when former colleague Nogami asks him to reopen an old case.


64: Part 2
2016 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
1989: 64th and last year of the Showa era. A girl is kidnapped and killed. The unsolved case is called Case 64 ('rokuyon'). 2002: Yoshinobu Mikami, who was the detective in charge of the Case 64, moves as a Public Relations Officer in the Police Affairs Department. His relation with the reporters is conflicted and his own daughter is missing. The statute of limitations for the Case 64 will expire in one year. Then a kidnapping case, similar to the Case 64, takes place. The rift between the criminal investigation department and police administration department deepens. Mikami challenges the case as a public relations secretary.


64: Part 1
2016 · 2h 1m
country: Japan
1989: 64th and last year of the Showa era. A girl is kidnapped and killed. The unsolved case is called Case 64 ('rokuyon'). 2002: Yoshinobu Mikami, who was the detective in charge of the Case 64, moves as a Public Relations Officer in the Police Affairs Department. His relation with the reporters is conflicted and his own daughter is missing. The statute of limitations for the Case 64 will expire in one year. Then a kidnapping case, similar to the Case 64, takes place. The rift between the criminal investigation department and police administration department deepens. Mikami challenges the case as a public relations secretary.


Fatal Frame
2014 · 1h 44m
country: Japan
High school student Aya Tsukimori becomes cursed and is unable to leave her school dormitory. Meanwhile, many students begin reporting ghost sightings at the school, while others go missing and are later discovered to have drowned mysteriously. Soon, Aya attempts to communicate with fellow student Michi Kazato, who begins investigating the disappearances of her friends.


Say 'I Love You'
2014 · 1h 42m
country: Japan
Mei Tachibana is a high school student. Due to a traumatic incident when she was a kid, Mei has been unable to make friends or have boyfriends. By mistake, Mei then injures the most popular male student named Yamato Kurosawa. Somehow, Yamato Kurosawa likes Mei Tachibana and tells everyone unilaterally that Mei is his friend. One day, Yamato Kurosawa saves Mei Tachibana from a stalker by kissing her. From that kiss, their love story begins.


My Man
2014 · 2h 9m
country: Japan
As a young child, Hana loses her family to a devastating tsunami that wipes out her town. At a shelter, distant relative Jungo sees her wandering and adopts her as his daughter.


Fukuchan of Fukufuku Flats
2014 · 1h 51m
country: Japan
Fuku-chan is generous, light-hearted, and a little chubby. When a woman from his past returns, his old fear of women is finally put to the test


Bilocation
2013 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
Shinobu Takamura is an aspiring painter. One day, she is accused of using counterfeit money. Shinobu is confused by the allegation, because she never did such a thing and was at home when the crime occurred. Police Officer Kanou then appears and takes her to a place. When they get there, a group of people are already gathered. All of the people there are concerned over a doppelganger like existence that looks just like them and acts like them. They call that existence "bilocation".


A Story of Yonosuke
2013 · 2h 40m
country: Japan
The year is 1987 and Japan is just reaching the peak of its economic success. Eighteen-year old Yonosuke Yokomichi arrives in Tokyo from Nagasaki. Ordinary in every way possible, he lives in a suburb far from the excitement of the big city and commutes to a university in the center of Tokyo.


Wakusei no Kakera
2011 · 1h 13m
country: Japan


NINIFUNI
2011 · 42m
country: Japan
Tanaka, a man lives in the countryside, breaks into a game arcade with his friend Kato, rob the safe and runs away with the store owner's car. After straying on a highway route, he finally ends up a lonesome beach. A few days later, the idol group Momoiro Clover, visits the beach for their music video shoot, and find his car in the bush. The film takes its inspiration from a real-life case of a young man who kills himself after being involved in a violent robbery.


When You Love And When You Are Loved
2010 · 1h 35m
country: Japan
An entry in a series focused on "love" and "erotica," in which six creators from multiple fields -- from film and TV to direct-to-video and manga -- compete. Director Zeze Takahisa, known for his bold undertakings, including Heaven's Story, presents an unabashed depiction of the tormented heart of a woman who lives in the countryside. Yuko (Ezawa Midori) meets the man (Kawai Ryunosuke) suspected of leaking inappropriate pictures of her younger sister having an affair onto the Internet. She agrees to let him take nude photos of her on the condition that he stays away from her sister.


Heaven's Story
2010 · 4h 38m
country: Japan
A young girl named Sato watches on television as a man named Tomoki states brazenly at a press conference that he hopes convicted murderer Mitsuo is eventually placed back into society so that he can kill him with his bare hands.


The Chef of South Polar
2009 · 2h 5m
country: Japan
When eight men are assigned to live 14,000 kilometers from home in inhumanly cold conditions, food becomes their new existence.


Torihada 3~ Yofukashi no anata ni zokutto suru hanashi wo
2008 · 46m
country: Japan


Tomie vs Tomie
2007 · 1h 26m
country: Japan
A young, depressed man is trying to move on with his life after his girlfriend's bizarre death. One day, a mysterious woman notices him at work and convinces his coworkers to introduce him to her.


Women's Erotic Pictures
2007 · 1h 4m
country: Japan
Such Beautiful and Promiscuous Women. Yu, an aspiring film director, is in a relationship with Endo, a woman he's been seeing for over ten years, while also dating the younger Ai. Ai knows Yu is cheating on her, but she loves him devotedly. One day, Ai and Endo encounter each other in front of his apartment.


The Graduates
2007 · 1h 55m
country: Japan
The experiences and relationships of five senior students at a rural high school, during the last year leading to graduation.


Hitozuma maru-ura tôsatsu: Haitoku no jôkô
2005 · 59m
country: Japan
Reiji, a young man who single-handedly runs an electrical shop inherited from his parents, has a hobby of secretly installing small cameras while repairing appliances and spying on other people's private lives. He then sells the footage to illegal businesses. One day, Reiji falls in love at first sight with Yoko, a married woman who comes in to change a light bulb.


Look of Love
2005 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
A young man is unable to have relations with the girls he likes. A pimp meets him after having a strange experience and they are althogether on a bizarre ride through a gloomy and disconnected Tokyo.


Secret Journey
2004 · 1h 53m
country: Japan
I (Ken MItsuishi), documentary video maker, saw a guy named YUDA (Kazuma Honda) in middle of Tokyo. I was curious about Yuda and begun following him around, but one day he disappeared with my video camera. A couple months later, a lady name Michi Nakamura (Yukiko Okamoto) came to my office. She had the strap of my video camera that Yuda stole from me, and said she saw the address that was on the strap, so she came here. I asked her about Yuda, and she told me that he was dead. Right after she left my office, she was hit by a car, I visited her in hospital and she begins to tell me about the mysterious story of her and Yuda.
Hentai ero seiheki: Chijiruzeme
Hentai ero seiheki: Chijiruzeme
2004 · 59m
country: Japan
At the café where he worked part-time, Shoichi got into a confrontation with a customer couple, Kikuchi and Azusa; Kikuchi doused him with juice and hurled insults at him. Yet, for some reason, Shoichi was enraptured by the experience. Aimi, a fellow part-timer, comforted him as he felt dejected after being scolded by the manager. The two grew close very quickly...