Takashi Shimura

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Ikiru" (1952).

When a broadcasting company takes away its financial support from a symphony orchestra, some of the members refuse to admit defeat. The first violinist returns to his home and manages to get the orchestra back together for a grandiose performance, saved at the last minute by their original conductor -- and boding well for the future of the die-hard musicians.

Dr. Nishiyama has to combat increasingly bizarre events on which seem all too familiar to the French prophet Nostradamus's predictions.

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.

Set in Japan's Tenpyou era (729-749 CE), four young monks are sent to China to study Buddhism and bring a high priest back to Japan with them. The film tells the tale of the four monks' youth and the life and times of the high priest Ganjin.

When a young soldier is killed while trying to prevent his younger sister, Kaoru, from being sold into a life of prostitution, his commander, Col. Miyagi, tries to honor his dying wish to rescue his sister. Upon finding Kaoru at a party working as a geisha and later rescuing her from committing suicide, Col. Miyagi allows her to move in with him. Over time, the two grow close, but in spite of Kaoru's growing feelings for him, Col. Miyagi is unable to bring himself to return her love. On the night of his deployment to war, Col. Miyagi finally admits his feelings for Kaoru, but will they ever be able to enjoy a peaceful life together now that a very violent and bloody military revolt is under way...

After a chance encounter with Hiroshi's father on a bus, Tora decides to get serious and reflect on the mortality of man. His plans are derailed when a beautiful lady starts working at Toraya.

Sen Rikyu is a ceremonial tea master who advises warlord Hideyoshi in sixteenth-century feudal Japan. His daughter, the beautiful Lady Ogin, has an unrequited love for Lord Ukon, who has angered Hideyoshi by becoming a Christian convert. Ogin's father Rikyu also displeases Hideyoshi by opposing the warlord's plan to invade China and Korea. When the animalistic Hideyoshi is rejected by Ogin, he threatens her and her father with arrest and worse.

A re-edited Italian-language dubbed version of the original Godzilla, using as a basis the U.S. version, "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" (1956), plus WWII newsreel footage and clips from other science fiction films. The re-edited film was then colorized via a process called "Spectrorama 70" consisting of applying various colored gels to the black and white footage. The film's opening and ending also features new music composed by musicians Fabio Frizzi, Franco Bixio, and Vince Tempera (under the pseudonym Magnetic System).

A period comedy set at the end of the Sengoku Period about Sasuke Saruhi, a middle-aged ninja.

Dramatic story of one man trying to make a difference.

A Japanese bullet train is threatened with a bomb that will explode automatically if the train slows below 80 km/h, unless a ransom is paid. Police race to find the bombers so the train crew can learn how to defuse the bomb.

Youth movie.

Professor Nishiyama, after studying and interpreting the prophecies of Nostradamus, realizes that the end of the world is at hand. Unfortunately, nobody listens to him until it is too late. As the effects of mankind's tampering of the earth - radioactive smog clouds, hideously mutated animals, destruction of the ozone layer - rage out of control, the world leaders hurtle blindly toward the final confrontation. The film sparked controversy in Japan and was subsequently pulled out of circulation, with no official video release of the uncut film.

With a Kansai syndicate vying for Tokyo, one man reunites with his roguish half-brother in the midst of negotiations, when all hell breaks loose.

The most dangerous hired gun in Kyushu's underworld has managed to trigger a vicious gang war, and now, there's a contract on his life. Though nobody is more skilled in the arts of dealing death, can the tattooed hitman fend off the entire Japanese mafia as he searches for the man who wants him dead?

Zatoichi, the famed blind swordsman, returns to his home village for the first time in many years. He is befriended by Omiyo, who had the same wet-nurse as Zatoichi. He also encounters a boyhood friend, Shinbei, who is now wealthy and appears not to remember Zatoichi. Shinbei seems to be interested in repaying the villagers' debts, but is, in reality, manipulating the ownership of a now valuable rock quarry. Zatoichi learns of the subterfuge and confronts his old friend, who has a score of yakuza swordsmen backing his play.

The eighth installment in the popular film series starring Tomisaburo Wakayama. Embarrassed by the chairman of the Seiyu-kai for not having a family crest, Seikichi Shimamura sets out with his henchmen on a journey to acquire the crest of a local bankrupt family. The local Iwahashi clan and the fishermen fought over the construction of the industrial complex, but when Seikichi learned that the Seiyu-kai was behind the Iwahashi clan, he sided with the fishermen...

Taking a message from Hiroshi's father to heart, Torajiro attempts to give up his wandering ways.

Young coal miner Takeda leaves Kyushu in search of a better job in Tokyo, only to fall into the lucrative yet dangerous life of a yakuza.

A dramatic film that recorded the history of Japan in the period of high economic growth. This work deals with Kashima Rinkai industrial zone development. The men who dream of making the overlooking wasteland as a big industrial area draw the courage to realize the ideal purely with the fishy desire swirling back to the coastal industrial area of Kashima Nada in Ibaraki prefecture.

As the Killer Priest Shinkai travels around Japan during the Meiji era, he comes to the aid of a village headman fighting corruption from up above. Before he can do anything for the townspeople, he must first face his nemesis, Whipmaster, the blind Priest, a master killer thirsting for revenge.

The second film in Toho's series on the military history of the Showa era, Hiromichi Horikawa's war drama offers a look at the career of controversial politician Hideki Tojo and the strained relationships between Japan's government, military, and the media.

Ken Takakura stars as Ryoji one of the Aramasa family's loyal lieutenants whao takes the burden of his family being insulted by the Tanuma's family goons, by retaliating on his own. After injuring the head of Tanuma's family, and slaying others along the way, he then surrenders to the law and serves time. Before his last year to serve, the head of the Aramasa family falls ill and decides to retire, Ryoji miss chance to be successor, his old friend is reluctant but accepts. Now this gives the Tanuma family a chance for revenge! But with Tomisaburo Wakayama (Sekine) always having your back, how can you go wrong?

An honorable yakuza syndicate deeply rooted in Kyoto fights for survival when a new breed of gangsters threaten their very existence.

Lord Oda Nobunaga gains control of nearly all of Japan and tries to enlist the aid of Magoichi and his 3.000 gunners.

Tora-san, an itinerant peddler who is thrown out of his father's house twenty years before but reconnects with his aunt, uncle and sister Sakura. Tora wreaks some havoc in their lives, like getting drunk and silly at a marriage meeting.

Suehiro Katsuji, a prisoner of Abashiri, is sent to Shikoku to work at a dock where a fierce turf battle takes place between a local gang and the dock operator.

Hidejirō is sent to prison after killing the boss of a rival family. After being released, he discovers that his family has scattered and he is taken in by a company of quarry workers, whose boss has a strict code of non-violence. When the rival family tries to take over the company and kills their boss, Hidejirō must choose between his promise of non-violence and his yakuza code of revenge...

Kansuke Yamamoto is a samurai who dreams of a country united, peaceful from sea to sea. He enters the service of Takeda, the lord of Kai domain. He convinces Takeda to kill the lord of neighboring Suwa and take his wife as a concubine. He then convinces the widow, Princess Yu, to accept this arrangement and to bear Takeda a son. He pledges them his life. He then spends years using treachery, poetic sensibility, military and political strategy to expand Takeda's realm, advance the claim of Yu's son as the heir, and prepare for an ultimate battle with the forces of Echigo. Has Kansuke overreached? Are his dreams, blinded by love, too big?

Just released on parole, one young man hurtles towards a face-off with the gangsters controlling Shinjuku and its lucrative prostitutes.

Former soldier, Suehiro Katsuji, fights violent gangs and powerful Chinese merchants during the post-war period in Japan.

Shinkichi, a peasant employed as a cloth-dyer, has a dream: in the midst of the civil war which ravages Japan, he hopes to revive the long-banned custom of the Kyoto Gion Festival, and by doing so, bring together the warring clans and rampaging brigands in peaceful celebration.

Eighth film in the long-running series Daiei Studio's Woman Gambler with Kyoko Enami starring where she plays the woman gambler Ogin.

Zatoichi runs afoul of some evil fugitives, working for a corrupt law official.

Fifth film in the long-running series Daiei Studio's Woman Gambler with Kyoko Enami starring where she plays the woman gambler Ogin.

On the night of the summer Obon festival, Hagiwara Shinzaburo meets a beautiful courtesan named Otsuyu. Not knowing she's a ghost, he becomes infatuated by her.

Ken, son of a former samurai settles with his family in the west from Japan. Soon his family is killed in front of him by stagecoach robbers, making him aim to get revenge. Marvin an experienced gunman befriends Ken and becomes his mentor.

Kogure, an industrial spy, is tasked by Sawada, head of the research department of the Nisshin Corporation, to learn the secrets of the design of a new engine invented by a rival company. Kogure manages to obtain the secrets, but Sawada's goal was not the secrets themselves, but to use them to obtain the position of president of the company. Angered by Sawada's dirty tricks, Kigure begins to take revenge.

Kitagawa is an engineer charged with construction of a gigantic tunnel through the Japan Alps for the transportation of equipment in the building of the massive Kurobe Dam. The tunnel crosses an earthquake fault and Kitagawa is beleaguered not only by cave-ins and flooding, but by strife between management and the workers's union. Adding to Kitagawa's stress is the knowledge that as his attention is pulled inexorably toward the tunnel construction, his youngest daughter is dying from leukemia.

After the death of a colleague, the workers at a factory form a labor union.

Story of loyal sailors giving their lives for their country as human torpedoes towards the end of the War.

The 11th and final film in the Gang series. Most of the films had different directors and cast, and were only connected by the title and Toei's marketing department. Unlike the early entries, which were jazzy capers, this final entry is a prototype jitsuroku yakuza film. Just back from the war, Noboru Ando leads a gang of war vets turned gangster in the US occupied streets of Tokyo. They get into a conflict with a Chinese gang as well as the military police. Tetsuro Tamba appears as a police chief trying to bring peace to the streets; 1st wave pinky violence star Masumi Tachibana is a girl grieving his dead gangster father.

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.

Japanese film directed by Tadashi Imai.

Ryoma is a former military man who gets to know the leader of a yakuza group and begins to work with them, helping them defend themselves against other yakuza gangs.

Toru Sagara, a lone wolf assassin, is imprisoned for betraying his employer, Hanawa. After completing his sentence, he immediately takes revenge on Hanawa, but as he leaves, he is unaware that a boy is watching him. Toru's new employer asks him to kill a competitor in drug sales, but...

In 1943, Japan is amidst the Pacific War. Sobei Sonoda is one of the wealthiest landowners of the San'in region. His land spread for miles, as far as the eye can see. People treated him with respect. But even the richest must think about the future. One day, he decides to arrange a marriage between his only son, Junkichi and the daughter of an even more powerful family. Sobei, hoping to benefit from this union, soon discovers that his son was in love with a lower class girl.

A jazz pianist named Shiro Tsuda returns from an overseas tour unwittingly carrying drugs that have been sewn into his jacket. When he stops by to see his girlfriend Kyoko, he walks in to find an unknown man attacking her. While struggling with the man, who is armed, Shiro accidentally shoots and kills her. The intruder knocks Shiro down and takes the drugs from Shiro's jacket. Shiro realizes that he was being used as a drag smuggler. He is sent to prison for three years for killing his girlfriiend. When he is released, he is determined to find out who set him up.

Somewhat unique as it appears to be one of the very rare appearances of master thespian Itô in a yakuza role.

Mine, the only daughter of Kiyagen, is faced with running the family's timber business when her father falls ill. Under a great deal of pressure to continue the five generation long run of the business, Mine is put to the ultimate test when a former gangster sets his sights on closing her down.

Shuichi, a young doctor working at a hospital in Bangkok, falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy Chinese trader.

Japanese drama film.

Because of trickery, the Jinya Group has only seven days to complete a mountain road project or it will forfeit a major dam construction job to the scheming Ojika Group.

Young Sentaro struggles to avenge the murder of his younger sister Osuga and their father.

During WWII, Germans obtain the immortal heart of Frankenstein's monster and transport it to Japan to prevent it being seized by the Allies. Kept in a Hiroshima laboratory, it is seeming lost when the United States destroys the city with the atomic bomb. Years later a wild boy is discovered wandering the streets of the city alone, born of the immortal heart.

In 1943, the Aleutian island of Kiska was fortified by a small contingent of Japanese soldiers. When word arrived of an impending attack by an overwhelming force of Americans, the Japanese Navy attempted one of the most daring and unlikely evacuations in military history. This is that story.

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.

A tale of three Yakuza gamblers who traveled Japan during the samurai era living by their wits and sword skills. Told in 3 separate vignettes, each part tells the story of a different drifter’s life. Part 1: A man is on the run after killing two Hasshu Officials to avenge his Boss. He must make a life or death decision as he is asked to protect a gang from attack. Part 2: A pair of gamblers chased out of a crooked game must fight not only their pursuers, but the ghosts of their pasts as well. Part 3: A wanderer who wants to live according to the Yakuza Code, but is not sure that he can do so when asked to save a town from an evil official.

Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.

A good set-in-per-WW2 ninkyô type film with outstanding performances.

Shinichi is not only poor, he is also deaf, and leads a joyless life with his sick mother. His one happiness is his friendship with a girl who works in a bar nearby. Then, one day, his mother dies after drinking the medicine that Shinichi himself gave her. It is discovered that the pills contained poison. He is apprehended on suspicion of murder and taken away for interrogation, unable to defend himself - being deaf and dumb - or even to proclaim his innocence.

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.

Japan, 1860. The men of the Mito clan, victims of the Ansei purge, anxiously prowl around the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle with the intention of assassinating Naosuke Ii of Hikone, tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate and responsible for their misfortune.

After a meteorite unleashes a three-headed beast upon Tokyo, Mothra tries to unite with Godzilla and Rodan to battle the extraterrestrial threat.

A group of criminals whose diamond heist goes wrong retreat to a WWII era bunker where tensions begin to rise.

A Jonan Station detective, Kikuchi, is framed for smuggling drugs and sent to prison. When he is paroled, he joins a private detective agency, where he is asked to investigate Mitsue Takazawa, the wife of a local trading firm president. While secretly conducting his own research, he finds out that Takazawa's husband is the one, responsible for Kikuchi's imprisonment, who also have set sights on Setsuko, a woman Kikuchi becomes romantically involved with.

Third part in Tadashi Sawashima's Theater of Life trilogy.

A grieving factory worker storms a Tokyo police station, holding a department chief at gunpoint, convinced he killed his girlfriend. When he learns it’s the wrong Yamamoto, he still refuses to leave and threatens everyone with nitroglycerin. Tension peaks when the real detective’s wife arrives, but a quick intervention stops disaster, leaving the worker broken by loss.

A skilled assassin's services are called upon to put an end to the ugly turf battle between two yakuza families, Mitsuwa and Aikawa. Forced by the code of the yakuza to put one's life on the line for a Boss who offered a meal and lodging, each side manages to get hold of powerful swordsmen who will stop at nothing to pay their obligations.

A resolute young man searching for his mother, whom he was separated from as a child, defies a family who mistreat the poor and homeless.

An adventurous and daring sailor sets sail to the castle of an ailing king to stop an evil premier, hungry for power and wealth, from succeeding the throne and marrying the king's beautiful daughter. Along the way, with the help of some courageous rebels and a lustful wizard, he must overcome the powers of a bewitching witch, a band of ruthless pirates, and the castle's Imperial guards. He must also free those kidnapped into slavery and restore the king's reputation.

A man with a dark past comes from Tokyo to the fishing port of Izu, and tries to begin a new life as a fisherman.

A gritty, noirish gangster saga.

Komichi (Chieko Baisho), a maiko in Gion, reunites with her elementary school classmate Takao Segawa (Yukio Hashi) for the first time in eight years, and the two quickly grow close.

This is one of the many films based on the legend of Chuji Kunisada, a wandering gambler and a defender of the weak in the Edo period. In other words, he was the Japanese Robin Hood. In this film Kunisada (Chiezo Kataoka) arrives to a small town terrorized by an evil gang. He insists that he is not Kunisada, as the word is Kunisada has been executed, but of course the audience know better. Sonny Chiba plays an unusual supporting role as a helpless young man unable to defend himself from the gangsters. He does, however, get to play taiko drums and dance with Junko Fuji (who makes her film debut here). Chiba's father, an old judge who helps Kunisada, is played by Takashi Shimura. The film hardly anything exceptional, but it's a pretty decent jidai geki / yakuza drama.

Tetsuo Asakura, the son of a bus company president, was planning to take it easy as he neared graduation from college, but due to a series of unexpected events, he ended up taking a part-time job at his father’s company. Working undercover as a trainee bus conductor at a ski resort, Tetsuo found that the locals weren’t always kind to him. Amidst this, only Hisako, who worked at a hot spring inn, treated him with warmth.

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

Lt. Col. Senda resists the idea of sending Japanese fighter pilots on suicide missions. He believes that what is really necessary for Japan to regain momentum in the war is for the air force to gather its most brilliant pilots into an elite squadron and use the unit to pinpoint attacks on the Americans. Disrespected by the kamikaze pilots who think the "non-suicidal" pilots are afraid, the unit redeems itself by stunning victories. But success leads the military leaders to expect too much of the unit, and new orders portend disaster.

1962 Japanese movie

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

A fishing village is terrorized by a giant whale, and the fishermen are determined to kill it.

1962 Japanese movie

After her father gets incapacitated due to a stroke, a young girl named Sanae takes over his postal job to support her family.

1962 Japanese movie

In 1976, a drifting star named Gorath is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth. Although it is smaller than Earth, its enormous mass is enough to destroy the planet totally. A mission sent to observe Gorath is destroyed after the ship is drawn into the star, with a later mission barely escaping the same fate. However, Astronaut Tatsuma Kanai is left in a catatonic state due to his near death experience. Unable to destroy the invading star, Earth's scientists undertake a desperate plan to build giant rockets at the South Pole to move the planet out of Gorath's path before it is too late.

1962 Japanese movie

1962 Japanese movie

In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

A 1961 film directed by Yoshiyuki Kuroda.

In the middle of the period of high economic growth in Japan, a family is thrown into disarray over work, money, and romance. Their father's sudden unemployment later in life causes friction among the siblings of the Akagi family. Kensuke, a salaryman at a top company, refuses to support his parents while his brother, Shoji, determines to care for them despite only working as a taxi driver. The concern over money affects Noriko's own love life as she courts a wealthy salaryman to the chagrin of her mechanic boyfriend.

Drama about two college friends, now working for the same banking firm, torn apart by jealousy over their inequitable positions and love lives.

Megastar Kataoka Chiezo is Vice-commander Hijikata Toshizo of the Shinsengumi in this realistic tale of Japan’s inner battles that led to the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. Excellent performances and extremely good swordplay highlight this glimpse into the heart and soul of Japanese history. Although known as “Razor Blade” Hijikata, the vice-commander is a man of deep conviction with a little-known sense of humanity. Starting after the famed Ikedaya Incident, in which they saved Kyoto from Choshu’s plot to burn the city to ashes, they work hard to change the public’s view of them as merciless killers to their true mission of protecting the shogun. This is an extraordinary tale of blood and guts! From the pen of award winning author Shotaro Ikenami (Bandit Vs. Samurai, Hunter in the Dark, Misumi's The Last Samurai)

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

Shipwreck survivors found on the presumably uninhabited Infant Island leads to a scientific expedition that discovers a surviving native population along with the Shobijin, tiny twin fairy priestesses of the island's mythical deity called Mothra. After the fairies are kidnapped by an exploitative businessman named Clark Nelson, Mothra sets out to rescue them.

An employee at an oil cartel (Mihashi) is haunted by an act years before when he euthanized a fellow soldier when the two were adrift at sea during the Pacific War. Matters are complicated further when he falls in love with the soldier's younger sister (Tsukasa).

One of Japan's most popular stories is the tale of Kutsukake Tokijiro, a traveling gambler who finds that he must take care of the wife and child of a yakuza he had been forced by the code of the gamblers to fight man to man. In a brilliant performance from super-star Ichikawa Raizo, with strong support from two of the greats from Toho, Shimura Takashi (7 Samurai) and Aratama Michiyo (Sword of Doom) the heartfelt story reaches new heights. Tokijiro, having learned the true nature of the boss to whom he was obligated for having spent a night and eaten at the gang's headquarters takes up arms against them in a running battle fought across the back roads of the entire nation. Another powerful rendition of this superb story, it is not to be missed!

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.

1961 Japanese movie

During the raging war between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans, the swordsman Mohei (whose family has been completely decimated) is recruited by Toyotomi to overcome the seat of power, Osaka Castle. Mohei's daredevil skills will be put to severe tests.

Part one of The Masterless 47.

A historical drama that depicts the touching beauty of world obsession and human love in the style of light comedy, in the center of which is a young man who has a master license menkyo kaiden in the art of swordsmanship, but weak against lies and women. A remake of Bungaku no Issue, shot by Sadao Yamanaka in 1933.

In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi. At the reception, the wedding cake is a replica of their corporate headquarters, but an aspect of the design reminds the party of the hushed-up death of Nishi's father. It is then that Nishi unleashes his plan to avenge his father's death.

Kikumori runs a cabaret on the docks, while his friend Kaji operates transport boats. When a gang of drug dealers tries to force the pair to cooperate in a smuggling scheme, conflict arises between the two friends. Falsely blamed for murder, Kikumori is blackmailed into an attempt to sabotage Kaji's boats and kill him. But the friendship between the two men proves an obstacle to the gangleader's plans.

A skilled country doctor's talents are such that he can even perform operations as difficult and novel as removing a patient's kidney for the first time in Japan. Unfortunately for him, however, his wife's addiction to gambling is of such a magnitude that he is down to selling his underwear to make money. The image sticks and he becomes known as the 'underwear doctor.' On the other hand, his successful surgery's patient is so grateful he himself wants to become a physician.

A woman and her daughter are in love with the same man, a chef at the restaurant that the mother manages. He is slightly crippled from frostbite in his years in Siberian labor camps and considers himself 'already dead'.

Lt. Koji Kitami is a navigator-bombardier in Japan's Naval Air Force. He participates in the Japanese raid on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 and is welcomed with pride in his hometown on his return. As Japan racks up victory after victory in the Pacific War, Kitami is caught up in the emotion of the time and fights courageously for the standard of Japanese honor. But his assuredness of his government's righteousness is shaken after the Japanese navy is defeated in the debacle of Midway.

On his release from prison a young yakuza, along with his brother, decides to turn his back on criminal life instead of taking over the position of his recently deceased father, boss of the Asahina clan. But their exit proves more difficult than planned when their rival clan steps in to exact revenge.

A gorgeous tragic love picture scroll depicting a beautiful woman who weeps over her strange fate and falters in her search for true love!

Koharu, a young geisha, is in love with Kenichi, an apprentice carpenter to her father Masagoro. Their love life comes to a sudden halt after an argument between their two fathers. Can their love survive in spite of the bitterness between their two families?

The legend of the birth of Shintoism. In Fourth Century Japan, the Emperor's son Ouso expects to succeed his father on the throne, but Otomo, the Emperor's vassal, prefers Ouso's stepbrother, and conspires to have Ouso die on a dangerous mission he has contrived. But Ouso prevails in the mission and returns to his father's castle under a new name, Prince Yamato Takeru. Otomo plots to have the Prince sent into even greater danger, but Otomo is unaware that the gods have favored the Prince and the outcome is far from what any of them expected.

A romantic tale depicting the beautiful and tragic love between a young man and woman from aristocratic families who are caught in the crossfire of the February 26 Incident.

Historical and political detective. The main characters are drawn into court intrigues, and the investigation of corruption in the administration of the shogun Ienari Tokugawa comes to the fore in the plot. Based on the novel of the same name by Matsumoto Seicho.

A veteran officer and a young detective investigate a late-night taxi-driver killing; tracing an illegally held pistol leads them through a chain of owners—and toward an unexpected conclusion.

Lord Taro must deliver a money chest but is robbed by brigands led by Jibu. One of Jibu's men, Rokuro, steals the money from Jibu, but after meeting and befriending Taro, Rokuro decides to return the money to Taro. But Taro's unscrupulous brother Jiro falsely accuse Taro of the theft, and Taro reactively joins the outlaw band and encourages them to steal from the nobles and give to the poor.

A heartwarming tale of romance and thrills featuring an aging groom who discovers the potential of an exceptional racehorse hidden within an ordinary bloodline and dedicates his life to that horse, and an up-and-coming jockey, set against the backdrop of a thrilling steeplechase race.

Caught in a corporate power struggle, a man uses betrayal and strategy to expose corruption and settle personal scores—only to find true support where he least expects it.

A prehistoric monster called Gigantis emerges alongside another creature named Angurus.

When a corrupt executive takes over his struggling company and violates his girlfriend, a young salaryman declares war, leaving his job to expose the truth by any means necessary.

The story is about the social problems faced by Japan's indigenous Ainu, mostly centered on the reactions of the characters to their oppressed state.

An Ishiro Honda film.

Japanese family drama.

Sazae finally gets married, but right after that, Masuo is transferred to Osaka. A heartbroken Sazae sends her parents on a silver wedding trip, and eventually heads for Nikko, a travel destination. Sazae is once again overwhelmed by the sight of the newlyweds bustling with sunlight, but...

In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.

1958 Theater of Life adaptation.

Based on Matsumoto Seicho's classic mystery novel of the same name, the story centers around a group of detectives who are determined to find the truth behind an apparent double suicide.

During the 1200's, legendary Buddhist monk Nichiren returns from his studies to lead Japan out of moral crisis and prepare to fight Mongol invaders by creating a new form of Buddhism. He runs afoul of the existing Buddhist sects and their government supporters and is persecuted. Can Nichiren persevere before the Mongol fleet reaches Japanese shores?

In the midst of the warring age, a young samurai Kyonosuke defies his former lord Hojo Ujikatsu in order to avenge his parents’ deaths.

Adventures of Mori no Ishimatsu, a famous member of Jirocho gang. Ishimatsu is strong in righteousness weak to mercy, who falls in love at first sight to a woman just as fiery as he is. Great all-star cast brings to life the story of a true yakuza.

The life of three beautiful princesses in feudal Japan.

Bright samurai movie innovatively adapted from a classic story. A traveling masterless samurai is asked by a daughter of an established samurai family to pretend they are a married couple, and gets involved in the troubles of the samurai clan.

This action film depicts the conflict between two brothers, one a detective and the other a yakuza.

When Katsukawa, a low ranking vassal, learns that his greedy superior, Tatewaki, has hatched a plan to expand his territory, he and his comrades decide to take matters into their own hands. Lots of action in this all-star production from Toei Films, the foremost studio during that era. As with so many of their films, this is highly entertaining, with lots of plot twists and exciting swordplay

Japan, 1701. A group of samurai become rônin after their lord is forced to commit seppuku for assaulting a court official, who will become the target of a merciless revenge.

During the reign of Hidetada, the second shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, the advisor Okubo Hikozaemon (Ganjiro Nakamura) entrusts the young Takechiyo (Hiroshi Kawaguchi) to the fishmonger Isshin Tasuke (Kazuo Hasegawa) to help him understand the world. Tasuke, who does not know that Takechiyo is the shogun's heir, trains him harshly. Tasuke's wife Naka (Michiko Ai) is concerned about his harsh teaching style, but Takechiyo gains strength day by day and adapts to his new life. Soon, Takechiyo begins secretly talking about love with a city girl named Otoyo (Hitomi Nozoe), but...

Japanese mystery film.

In Japan, scientifically advanced invaders from the war-destroyed planet Mysteroid cause an entire village to vanish, then send a giant robot out to storm the city by night, after which they request a small patch of land on Earth and the right to marry earthling women, claiming to be pacifists. Mankind must decide whether to capitulate or to resist.

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.

At Kaikō Girls’ School, a fake love letter sparks a heated PTA debate. Teacher Shimazaki wins the vote, while students and staff navigate misunderstandings and mischief. Amid the chaos, romance blooms: Numata proposes to Yukiko, and Rokunosuke declares his love to Shinko, ending with a joyful countryside outing.

About schoolgirls in a rural town, and a love letter which has the entire community in an uproar.

After the son of a wealthy man is kidnapped, a tenacious young reporter decides to find the culprit.

1957 Japanese movie.

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.

A suspense drama about a thief who sneaks onto a late-night ski bus heading from Tokyo to Joshinetsu and the detective who rides with him to arrest him. Each of the passengers acts independently, and the incident takes an unexpected turn that goes beyond the detective's intentions.

Young Lord Gentaro (Otomo Ryutaro) takes a journey to Edo in search of his future wife. Easier said than done, evil forces lurk in Edo and Gentaro must use his phenomenal sword skills to overcome the evil and find the love of his life. Another must have for fans of the great Otomo Ryutaro. And don't let the "silly" English title fool you, this is a great movie!

A girl rebels against her mother, who runs a brothel in Yokohama, and attempts to find freedom on her own.

Obscure French version of the original Godzilla. The film combines elements of the original Toho version and the American King of the Monsters! in a unique assemblage exclusive to the Francophone market. Released by Les Films du Verseau.

A young man and woman are determined to marry despite opposition from her parents.

In a small Tohoku town, family tensions rise when a sick mother’s care leads to conflict over a mistress joining the household. Misunderstandings spread through teachers, students, and neighbors, testing loyalty and trust. After the mother’s death, the daughter decides to leave for Tokyo, parting with her grieving father on hopeful terms.

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

The story follows a man haunted by debt and crime, who flees with his mistress on a tense journey marked by betrayals and desperate choices. The film explores greed, betrayal, and the tragic downfall of a man consumed by money and despair.

Adaptation of the novel by Kan Shimozawa.

During an assignment, foreign correspondent Steve Martin spends a layover in Tokyo and is caught amid the rampage of an unstoppable prehistoric monster the Japanese call 'Godzilla'. The only hope for both Japan and the world lies on a secret weapon, which may prove more destructive than the monster itself.

An exciting film about thugs, in which murders and drugs, justice and resentment explode in the dark city of Tokyo with the help of guns and violence.

Yakuza boss Furuya leans more and more on his protege Takao Shoji, though Shoji has become romantically involved with Furuya's mistress, Natsue. Furuya himself has fallen in love, with a nurse after his recent hospital stay. As the gang grows more jealous of the favoritism Furuya shows Shoji, they decide to reveal Shoji's relationship with Natsue. But Furuya's affection for Shoji cannot be easily destroyed, even in the gang war that erupts.

A young girl moves to Tokyo and endures the rivalries between other high school girls of varying cultural and economic backgrounds.

The story of Yoshinaka during the tumultuous period of warring related to us in the Heike Monogatari. Close in setting to Kinugasa’s famous Gate of Hell (1953).

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.

An aging foundry patriarch, gripped by terror of nuclear annihilation, tries to uproot his family to Brazil. When they petition to have him declared incompetent, a family-court counselor witnesses his obsession slide into ruin—and asks whether ignoring the atomic threat is any saner.

A sequel to Geisha Konatsu (1954).

1955 Japanese movie

Kurama Tengu uncovers a suspicious gold robbery tied to a political scheme within the shogunate. As he follows the clues, hidden alliances, betrayals, and a mysterious woman entangle him in a dangerous conspiracy whose true aim remains just out of reach.

Film directed by Senkichi Taniguchi

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.

Two fishing scout pilots make a horrifying discovery when they encounter a second Godzilla alongside a new monster named Anguirus. Without the weapon that killed the original, authorities attempt to lure Godzilla away from the mainland. But Anguirus soon arrives and the two monsters make their way towards Osaka as Japan braces for tragedy.

Two youths – the serious son of a Buddhist abbot and his rakish pal – quarrel over a restaurant keeper's daughter. When one of the youths dies, the other boy and the girl find they cannot forget him.

In this movie, Sashichi tries to catch a serial killer who kills his victims with shurikens.

A beautiful dancer who lost her mother and was raised abroad searches for her long-lost father in the homeland she has always longed for.

Based on the original work of Akutagawa Prize-winning writer Ashihei Hino, the film depicts the love of the proud geisha Nobukichi Hakata in the early Taisho era.

Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.

Set at the end of World War II and after Japan's defeat, it is a melodrama about a man and a woman at the mercy of war. Wataru is entrusted by his best friend who has gone off to war with his sister Reiko to marry her, but he is not ready to abandon his love for Kumiko, a nurse at his mother's hospital.

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.

A young scriptwriter with a yakuza upbringing, an iron-fire dancer, a young painter, and a pure-hearted downtown girl fall in love in Asakusa in this entertaining tale of love and action.

A legendary gangster raises himself out of a small town and gathers followers on his rise to power.

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.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a brilliant tactician, is a loyal subject of the emperor, despite his grave misgivings about leading Japan's navy into war with the United States. He opposes the attack on Pearl Harbor, but, overruled, he leads his forces to the best of his ability.

Walking home late one night, a down-on-his-luck sewage worker runs into a drunk businessman with a briefcase full of cash. His impulsive decision will lead to a long, dark night of the soul, while his lady love, a bar hostess, tries to cope with her sudden change of fortune.

Shiro Yabe, a young gangster who boarded the second class on the Tokaido Line after finishing a dangerous smuggling transaction in Kobe, is next to a beautiful woman with a sad face.

Yukiko Nogami is rescued during a mountain blizzard by handsome forester Shinkichi, and the two subsequently fall in love. But when Shinkichi dies in an avalanche, Yukiko leaves the mountains in despair and takes a job in a bar where she becomes deeply involved in the personal lives of several of the patrons. One day she thinks she sees Shinkichi alive, but it turns out to be a gangster named Hayakawa, a man on the run who bears an astonishing resemblance to Yukiko's lost love. Against her better judgment, she is drawn to help Hayakawa, though clearly danger follows him.

1952 Japanese movie

An Ishiro Honda film.

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 picture belongs to the jidai gekki (historic) genre. It is a powerful story of violence and eroticism, picturing a world at once sordid and poetic, with two central themes which intermingle to compound an admirable panel of a critical period in Japanese history: the great famine in the mid 19th Century.

A silk mill worker living through a dark and twisted youth… What is chastity? A powerful work that speaks to society through the anguished expression of a woman twisted by torment.

Soldiers Hayate and Yaheiji secretly escape from their besieged castle. Hayate has left behind his lover, Kano. On his way, Hayate is wounded and cared for by O’Ryo, who falls in love with him. But when Hayate accidentally kills her caretaker, he flees, with O’Ryo in pursuit. Subsequently, Hayate's comrade Yaheiji falls in love with Oryo. Kano, the lover left behind by Hayate, believes him dead, and becomes involved with another soldier, Jurota. When Jurota defects to the opposing army, he takes Kano with him. A double set of love triangles has developed, wherein each man and each woman loves one and is loved by another. Finally only combat and self-sacrifice can untangle the weave.

A fugitive lord and his six retainers disguise themselves as monks to bluff their way through a hostile checkpoint.

A Japanese woman, the mistress of an American, falls in love with her servant.

When a group of young geologists declares a mountainside marked for residential development unstable, they are met with scorn on two fronts. On one end, they must contend with the local villagers who balk at the prospect of relocation; on the other, they face the ambitions of the headstrong lumber baron, whose actions will only further destabilize the land. Their pleas for reason ignored, the scientists can do little but observe as nature runs its inevitable course.

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

The tale of Katakana Yonetaro aka "The Shark," a rough-and-tumble horse trader in Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, despite being a father and a husband he is frequently drawn to taverns.

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

The Blue Pearl depicts the interplay between a young man from Tokyo and two ama (pearl divers; literally “women of the sea”) in a superstitious coastal town. Though raised within the same tradition-bound crucible, the two women – Noe and Riu – are portrayed as diametric opposites; the former meek but affectionate, the latter strong-willed but jaded by a tryst with metropolitan life.

Romantic melodrama

A gentle, war-shattered ex-soldier, Kinji Kameda, arrives in wintry Hokkaidō and is pulled into a volatile tangle of love and pity between the disgraced Taeko Nasu, the proud Ayako, and his possessive friend Akama. Kameda’s saintly compassion exposes everyone’s wounds, steering the quartet toward jealousy, violence, and inexorable tragedy. Adapted from Dostoevsky’s novel.

Wataru Naohiko who has the prosecutor general as his father became a young composer and its symphony "saint" invoked the world echoed. But his disciple Uchiyama and his best friend prosecutor Daisuke Toki accused his music as a sesame of pause-only technique, not a truly heart-hungry art.

A young man, convicted of a crime and imprisoned in the penitentiary, comes to believe that his wife is being unfaithful to him. He contrives his escape from the prison in order to seek her out and learn the truth, but the police give chase and he must flee into the mountains.

A romantic melodrama about the shifting relationship between Ryosuke and Miki as their precarious employment and social circumstances shift around them.

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

Also known as Crazy Uproar.

University students Sudo and Mori make money by picking up rich girls in dance clubs and conning them into giving them cash. Mori is the brains of the operation, and Sudo is the suave dancer who picks up the girls. Sudo becomes gradually involved with three different girls and is drawn into the gangster milieu, which he seems unable to resist even though he is responsible for his mother, grandmother, and sister Masako. In this world of bad boys and girls, Masako is the pillar of strength and moral virtue who finally enables Mori to straighten out.

A celebrity photograph sparks a court case as a tabloid magazine spins a scandalous yarn over a painter and a famous singer.

An early film by Kon Ichikawa

An attempt is made to suppress a journalist's investigation of collusion between a rural police chief and the local gangster bosses.

The Yoshikawa family is a typical small town family. With only the father's and daughter's salaries to support the family's six members, life is not easy.

The protagonist descends from the mountains with a huge amount of panned gold dust. Upon learning of his wealth, all sorts of people, driven by greed and a desire to get their hands on his money, immediately begin to gravitate toward him.

The story of Kanesuke and Entaro who are master elephant trainers in charge of two elephants, Taro and Hanako at the Metropolitan Zoo.

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

The tale of a feudal swordsman who cynically takes no responsibility for anything, relegating it to others, and then taking the credit.

A bold and cheerful tale that broke new ground in the historical drama genre.

Movie about biological mothers, foster mothers, and stepmothers.

A young army surgeon, Kyoji Fujisaki, accidentally contracts syphilis during a WWII field operation. Back at his father’s clinic, he treats himself in secret and breaks off his engagement rather than risk his fiancée’s future, even as he confronts the irresponsible patient who infected him—testing his ethics, pride, and capacity for sacrifice.

Three and a half years after Japan was bombed, the tax authorities organized the T-Men. Nango is in love with a girl called Mibu, and the two are against the T-Men organization. Mibu whats to kill all of the T-Men one-by-one.

Jida-geki by Santaro Marune.

A realistic film that sharply portrays a cross-section of postwar society.

In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculosis, forging an uneasy bond that’s tested when the gangster’s ruthless former boss returns and drags him back toward the swampy underworld he can’t escape.

1948 Japanese drama film.

During the late Meiji period, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Sumako, a country girl, becomes a great actress with the help of Hogetsu, a scholar who brought European realism to the Japanese stage. The relationship leads to the end of his marriage and the breakup of his Arts Society.

Slice of life film centered on a couple of years in the life of a rural high school girl.

Three bank robbers, Eijima, Nojiri, and Takasugi, flee the police and escape into the mountains. At an inn high in the Japanese Alps, Eijima and Nojiri encounter a young woman and her father, as well as Honda, a mountaineer. The inn folk do not realize their guests are wanted criminals and the visitors are treated with great kindness. Honda volunteers to lead them over the mountains, but Eijima's paranoia endangers all of them as they make the perilous trip.

1947 Toho film directed by Tadashi Imai

After her anti-fascist professor father is dismissed, Yukie navigates love, political repression, and wartime upheaval—ultimately forging her own path in pre- and post-WWII Japan.

With his simple appearance, eyes shining with love and a sense of justice, and voice burning with youthful passion, the eleven students felt unexpectedly in each other's hearts that "this teacher will surely be our confidant," and looked at each other and nodded their heads. This was the beginning of their collective affection for the new Ms. Shiono. The school for girls is a sacred place where the hearts of hundreds of innocent girls should ferment beautifully and freely for the day when they will become wives and mothers to come. How can we abandon them in such a state? Even after the nightmarish war was over, the nightmare remained at Shuei Girls' School.

In 1887, two businessmen, Echigo-ya and Kitahara, compete for railroad construction authorization from the government. The minister states that a local noble must not object, and his missing younger brother is the only one who could sway him. Meanwhile, Omitsu, a hotel employee tired of Echigo-ya’s wife’s arrogance, teams up with Kitahara to stage a scheme where a vagrant young man pretends to be the noble’s lost brother, aiming to trick and embarrass the wealthy woman.

In postwar Japan, two sisters—a film studio script girl and a revue dancer—become swept up in the growing labor movement when workers around them strike for better conditions. As their conservative father opposes their activism, his own dismissal forces him to confront the realities of class struggle and join their fight for a fairer future. Now considered a lost film, Those Who Make Tomorrow was produced by Toho to promote unionization during Japan’s Allied Occupation.

Tadashi Imai 1946 movie

The story is set in a rural village, where the village mayor gives a speech at the local community center as a theater troupe visits the village for the first time in several years.

The story of an airport and its air traffic control crew in a remote and northern Japanese town. Three of the air traffic controllers are female with one of them working with her dead fiancé's sister. The engaged man had gone to war and never returned.

After facing hard times, an orphan Korean boy gets adopted to Japanese society. He meets several Japanese people who are kind to him, and grows up wanting to repay his debt to Japan, by becoming a kamikaze pilot.

Japanese war movie.

Based on the comic by Ichio Matsushita

The Way of Drama unfolds in the world of kabuki in Osaka, but also addresses the politics of popular culture and the rivalry between theatrical styles like those used by amateur actors to dramatise contemporary events.

Young women at a precision optics factory in wartime Japan push to exceed production quotas, enduring illness, injury, and personal hardship to “serve the country.” Led by Tsuru Watanabe, they fight fatigue and setbacks to keep their line moving—even when duty collides with grief.

A 1944 propaganda film that depicts the fictionalised career of IJAAF pilot Tateo Kato, who led the 64th Sentai during the early months of the Pacific War. The film has scenes featuring Ki-43 fighters escorting Ki-21 bombers to attack Rangoon, where they are attacked by P-40 Warhawk and Brewster Buffalo fighters.

Japanese war film.

A hotheaded youth in 1880s Meiji Japan apprentices to judo master Shōgorō Yano, trading brute jujutsu bravado for discipline and humility. As Sanshirō matures, he proves judo’s spirit against old-guard challengers—including a deadly duel—while falling for his vanquished opponent’s daughter. Based on the novel by Tsuneo Tomita, son of Tomita Tsunejirō, the earliest disciple of judo.

1942 Japanese movie

It is a historical drama that follows Katsu Kaishu's efforts to surrender Edo Castle bloodlessly in the first year of the Meiji period.

There is an inn named Asano Ya in the port town, and a beautiful woman works there. Every year, during a local festival, travelling artists and teachers gather from all over the country, including sesame oil sellers and organ grinders. The day before the festival, trouble arises with some horses.

The undercover agent Tsukinosuke Kigurumi successfully escapes with Kirisaku, who possesses the coveted Shinshu Mountain map targeted by the phantom gang, but loses the key to unlocking it. The one who picks up the key is Osumi, a female courier. (Existing version. Please excuse any deterioration in image quality due to original conditions.)

Mt. Norikura's natural fortress, the phantom castle. A white-clad iron mask, offering prayers to the eerie triple-faced deity of the Sennjogadake Rocks - the lord of the phantom castle, scheming to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate that destroyed his lord. Sent by the shogunate to infiltrate Hida, Kigurumi Tsukinosuke's cover is blown... (Existing version. Please excuse any deterioration in image quality due to original conditions.)

Early Japanese three-part samurai / fantasy serial.

An actor, hit on the head, dreams that he has become legendary one-eyed gangster Mori no Ishimatsu.

Second part of director Hiroshi Inagaki's 1940 adaptation of the story of Musashi Miyamoto.

A classic wartime jidaigeki about the life of the famous samurai and first of the "Great Unifiers" of Japan, Oda Nobunaga, with Kataoka Chiezo and Shimura Takashi

An umbrella maker with a shopping addiction finds himself in dire straits when his debts force him to consider selling his attractive, desirable daughter to a suitor she doesn't love.

Naosuke, a servant of Okajima Yasoemon, devoted himself to his master. One day, his master Okajima Yasoemon, lost his face in front of people. It was a revenge by Oono, a karo (minister) who lost his chance to earn money by selling a fake antique to the lord. Okajima told the lord it was fake. Okajima endured Oono's humiliation. But, his servant Naosuke, could not. But what could he do? Oono is superior of his master. Naosuke would not hesitate to lay down his life for his master. But killing Oono would ruin his master. He wanted to clear his master's disgrace. What to do?

After being expelled from the Chiba Dojo , Hirate Zoshu , along with his acquaintances Tadaki Ganryu and Tamon Jubei, were hired as bodyguards by Sasagawa Shigezo, and became embroiled in a gamblers' feud known as the "Tenpo Suikoden.

A captivating operetta by Masahiro Makino based on Juppensha Ikku's humorous novel "Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige" starring Chiezo Kataoka and Kyoji Sugi.

Forty-seven Ronin of the Ako clan are waiting for the right moment to avenge the insult and death of their master. The film tells the story of one of them named Akagaki Genzo.

Taikoki is a legendary biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who rose to the office of taikō. And the story of this film is about the rise to power of Toyotomi Hideyoshi from a farmer's son.

The vassals of the Asano clan, who surrendered the castle & became wanderers, deceive the enemy and the public, wait for an opportunity to avenge their master and his family.

This is Kanjûrô Arashi's first film with Nikkatsu after his independent production company went bankrupt (many of these independent companies went bankrupt shortly after the transition to sound). As he is mostly famous for his portrait of Kurama tengu (and on the other hand, he's the definitive actor for Kurama Tengu as well), Nikkatsu made another version of Kurama tengu, co-directed by Masahiro Makino & Sadatsugu Matsuda who are both sons of Shozo Makino. Scripted by Yoshitake Hisa, a jidaigeki specialist who later scripted several Toei All-Star Jidaigeki.

“Dokuro sen” (The Skull Coin) is the first film adaptation of the popular novel by Kikuo Sumita. The story evolves around the seven cursed coins (the Skull Coin) that are supposed to reveal the secrets of the hidden Tokugawa treasure.

Based on the old tale of Jiraiya, this 1937 version is essentially a revenge story with fantastic visuals.

The tale of Nakayama Yasubei’s duel is famous, even if he in reality probably did not cut down 18 opponents. The story has been related in film, rakugo, kodan and on stage many times, in part because Nakayama later joined the famous 47 Ronin (Chushingura) as Horibe Yasubei. But Makino and Inagaki’s version gives no hint of this more serious future, playing up the thrills and the comedy with Bando’s bravura performance. The multiple pans of Yasubei running to the duel are an exemplar of the experimental flourishes of 1930s Japanese cinema and the final duel, performed virtually like a dance number, is a marker of Makino’s love of rhythm and one of the best sword fights in Japanese film history. The film was originally released under the title Chikemuri Takadanoba (Bloody Takadanobaba) with a length of 57 minutes, but suffered some cuts and a title change when it was re-released in 1952.

A man is brutally murdered and his famed shamisen (a three-stringed musical instrument) called the "Yamabiko" stolen. Prince Kogenta swears to avenge his father-in-law's death and retrieve the family heirloom.

A samurai is ordered by his lord to go to Edo and investigate the truth behind the rumor of a rebellion against him.

Ayako becomes the mistress of her boss in order to pay her father's debt and prevent him from going to prison for embezzlement.