Known for Sound
Born
July 2, 1978 (age 48)
Birthplace
Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
Filmography
35 films, 20 shows


The Tales of Kurashiki
2025 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
When Aoi and Kiichi, high schoolers in Kurashiki city, come across their friend Beniko trying to calm down her autistic brother Kyosuke, Aoi tries to help and makes the promise to shoot fireworks from Mount Tsurugata in the Bikan Historical Quarter. Upon hearing this, Beniko gets upset herself because she doesn’t believe this promise will be kept but Aoi becomes determined to make it happen. As surrounding adults see these young people put their spirits into this task, they are moved and the fireworks take on a greater meaning.


ChaO
2025 · 1h 30m
country: Japan
In a futuristic world where humans and mermaids coexist, the life of mild-mannered office worker Stephan is upended when he is suddenly proposed to by Chao — a princess from the mermaid kingdom. With no time to make sense of what's happening, Stephan soon finds himself living with the unpredictable, wholehearted Chao, and her sincere love begins to break down his emotional barriers.


In Love and Deep Water
2023 · 2h 7m
country: Japan
On a massive luxury cruise ship while at sea, the loyal butler and a mysterious woman cross paths as they try to uncover a murder-mystery that occurs on the ship.


PHOENIX: Reminiscence of Flower
2023 · 1h 35m
country: Japan
From time immemorial to the age of space colonization, there is one legend that has stayed unchanged in every history book—the tale of the immortal bird Phoenix. A being whose blood is said to grant eternal life or wisdom, the radiant figure ensures the continuation of sentient life in the universe as it oversees human civilizations and their development. Yet, mankind remains a slave to its habits; from happiness and sorrow, to wrath and love, a myriad of emotions continue to play an integral part of human life. Simultaneously, time and time again, certain beliefs and agendas persist over the centuries to disturb the fragile equilibrium of the world's preordained nature and principles. It appears that fate and its dynamic variables can manifest itself in many ways—and oftentimes exhibits a bizarre sense of humor…


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.


Tomorrow's Leaves
2021 · 9m
country: Japan
The annual arrival of the message leaf causes concern – something is undeniably wrong. Its usually vibrant and lasting colours quickly fade, and it suddenly withers and crumbles. Five envoys, from five diverse lands, are dispatched to find out what has happened. The envoys travel to a distant land, quietly guided by tiny spirits. Each envoy has its own strengths and vulnerabilities. They compete and support each other as they draw closer to their destination, facing treacherous terrain and difficult conditions. Through athletic challenges and the uniting power of sport, they discover the positive fundamental values that come with playful competition. Together, the envoys approach near the source of the message leaf. Can they restore life to a future in peril?


Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko
2021 · 1h 37m
country: Japan
Brash single mother Nikuko is well-known for her bold spirit, much to the embarrassment of Kikuko, her pensive yet imaginative daughter. In contrast to her mother, Kikuko wants nothing more than to fit in as she navigates the everyday social dramas of middle school. Life in the harbor is peaceful until a shocking revelation from the past threatens to uproot the pair's tender relationship.


未解決の女 警視庁文書捜査官~緋色のシグナル~
2019
country: Japan


Organ
2019 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
Set towards the end of World War II, Kaede Itakura, who leads kindergartners, and Mitsue Nonomiya, who enjoys music, persuades the parents at the school to take their children out of Tokyo. They seek shelter at an abandoned temple in Saitama while Tokyo is bombed.


Modest Heroes
2018 · 54m
country: Japan
Two tiny, aquatic humanoids search for their missing father, a boy battles a lethal allergy to eggs, and an invisible salaryman tries to become a hero.


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.


Mary and The Witch's Flower
2017 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
Mary Smith, a young girl who lives with her great-aunt in the countryside, follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest where she finds a strange flower and an old broom, none of which is as ordinary as it seems.


Lu Over the Wall
2017 · 1h 52m
country: Japan
In a small fishing village, a gloomy middle school student named Kai meets a mermaid named Lu.


Somebody's Xylophone
2016 · 1h 52m
country: Japan
A married woman obsesses over a hairstylist she becomes involved with.


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.


When Marnie Was There
2014 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.


I Just Wanna Hug You
2014 · 2h 2m
country: Japan
Tsukasa got into a severe car accident when she was a high school student. She still suffers from the effects of that accident, with memory impairment and needing to use a wheelchair. Tsukasa falls in love with taxi driver Masaki. Even though they have difficulties, they try to make a happy family together, but they encounter another serious situation.


Reunion
2013 · 1h 45m
country: Japan
The Movie depicts 10 days after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. At a morgue house in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, the workers treat the dead with dignity as they hand over the bodies to their families. Retired funeral worker (Toshiyuki Nishida), finds himself volunteering at the morgue house.


The Castle of Crossed Destinies
2012 · 2h 4m
country: Japan
In the inner chambers of the Shugun's castle, 3,000 men attempt to vie for the affection of the female shogun. Based on the 4th-6th volumes in the manga series "Ooku" by Fumi Yoshinaga.


Life Back Then
2011 · 2h 11m
country: Japan
Kyohei Nagashima (Masaki Okada) has shut away the world. During his high school days he was the target of bullying and experienced horrifying moments. Now as a young adult Kyohei takes a new job. He works for a company that specializes in cleaning out the homes of recently deceased individuals. With his new job Kyohei meets co-worker Yuki (Nana Eikura). Yuki has also experienced a traumatizing event as a teen and has also shut herself away from the world. These two young people form a bond as they go through the homes of the recently departed people. They gradually open up to each other and in the process to the world. Yet, their fragile psyches may or may not be ready for such changes ...


Nobody To Watch Over Me
2009 · 1h 58m
country: Japan
A 15-year-old girl forced into police protection to escape from the journalistic hordes after her brother is arrested for murder.


Climber's High
2008 · 2h 25m
country: Japan
On August 12, 1985, a jumbo jet crashes, causing 520 fatalities, making the accident the biggest single-plane accident in the world. The local press reporters are tossed about by the waves of facts and rumors. While overwhelmed by the magnitude of the accident, Yuuki, in charge of this crash report at a local newspaper, faces a string of decision-making moments. What are news and a reporter? How should a man do his work and survive in a corporate hierarchy? What do family and friends mean to him? An intriguing story, which keeps the audience on the edge of tension and reality.


Yunagi City, Sakura Country
2007 · 1h 58m
country: Japan
Thirteen years afterward, I wonder if those who bombed Hiroshima are looking at me and saying: 'We did it! We were able to kill another person!' They should be," murmurs Minami (played by Kumiko Aso), one of the two leading female characters in Yunagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni, as she lies dying in 1958, her life brought to a premature end by sickness resulting from her exposure to atomic bomb radiation. This is a story about those who at least initially survived the first U.S. atomic bombing of 1945 and their descendants in contemporary times. The film, based on a comic by Fumiyo Kono, jumps between the two time frames and quietly depicts the sorrow and mortification experienced through the everyday lives of laid-back and soft-spoken Hiroshima people. Only a few scenes of the bombing and the ensuing devastation are featured.


The Choice of Hercules
2002 · 2h 10m
country: Japan
When radicals from Japan's Red Army took a woman hostage in the resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano in 1972, Officer Atsuyuki Sassa was put in charge of diffusing the situation. But the task had its challenges. Upon arriving in mountainous Nagano, Sassa had to compete with freezing winter temperatures, conflicting opinions between the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the Nagano Prefectural Police, as well as public opinion to gain entrance to the lodge that held the single woman captive.


Inugami
2001 · 1h 46m
country: Japan
Akira, a teacher from Tokyo, has just arrived in a small rural town to begin his new job. Soon after arriving, he meets, and begins to fall for, Miki, a papermaker and part of a large and unusual family. When he learns of an ancient legend that the family carries the curse of the Inugami, or Dog God, he brushes it off as silly superstition. After a series of mysterious deaths, however, the townspeople begin to grow restless, and Akira must confront the truth about Miki and her family.