Shima Iwashita

Eiko Yagami is a "Marubo", a unit of Ueno Central Police Station's Organized Crime Division which deals directly with organized gangs to try and keep the peace. However, Eiko has some sidelines: she's a moneylender to her fellow police officers without charging interest in return for information and is also willing to do the odd side job for those on the criminal side for the money. One day, Kasumi, who is the daughter of Senma-gumi gang's leader, is found stabbed to death. As this threatens to pit gang against gang, Eiko and the police have to hurry and find her killer.

Kana Uemura's song "Toilet no Kamisama" turned into a 2-hour drama special on TBS. The song, which is nearly 10 minutes in length, tells of Uemura's relationship with her grandmother, from her childhood to her grandmother's death.

In the spring of Genroku 14 (1701), Oishi Kuranosuke (Tamura Masakazu), the chief retainer of the Asano family in Ako domain is shocked to learn that his feudal lord, Asano Takumi-no-kami Naganori (Tamayama Tetsuji), had stabbed Kira Kozukenosuke Yoshinaka (Nishida Toshiyuki), the master of ceremonies, at Edo castle. Lord Asano was ordered to commit ritual suicide and the Ako clan abolished. Facing up to the gravity of this unfair ruling, since only one party was being punished instead of both as would be usual, Oishi decides to lead the loyal former retainers in an attack on Lord Kira so that he could take Kira’s head to his lord’s gravesite so that Lord Asano could finally rest in peace.

A young tofu maker, Eikichi comes from Kyoto to open a tofu shop in a friendly neighborhood. He meets there a feisty local girl Ofumi who befriends him as he sets up his shop, Kyo-ya and in spite of the difficulties stemming from cultural differences between the two ancient capitals including the favored taste of tofu itself, they eventually marry and become the owner of a tofu shop on a more respectable street. Behind the rock-solid business of Kyo-ya, their son, Eitaro bears the brunt of other tofu shops' animosity toward Kyo-ya's refusal to comply with Edo's way of running business and starts to frequent a gambling hall run by the mysterious "Boss", which throws the family into a critical situation that threaten to pull them apart...

A foreign spy using the Sorge alias is assigned to Tokyo the capital of Japan just prior to the outbreak of World War II and in the midst of the Japanese imperial ambitions in Eastern Asia. The spy becomes acquainted with a sympathetic communist who like he is attached to the ideals of freedom and rule of the masses. Sorge is able to feed the Soviet Union useful information regarding the Axis allies and their movements in Asia and beyond.

An actress visits a university hospital for research and mistakenly believes she has only six months to live. Having grown up alone with no family grave, she is shocked by the words of a film crew member and decides to search for a grave befitting a famous actress. She disguises herself and joins a bus tour organized by a cemetery company.

Kasuga’s husband gets arrested for a murder of his beloved protégé. She and her family investigate and find out he was trapped by greedy Nagoshi, the boss of their rival yakuza family. She has to make a decision to revenge Nagoshi.

A journalist reporting on the 1997 Kobe earthquake recalls a boat trip he took as a boy after WWII to bury his brother's ashes, during which his family grapples with life in occupied Japan.

The wife of a recently deceased yakuza boss is caught in a conflict between the candidates for his succession and must protect her beloved daughter. 9th installment of the 16-film franchise.

A story of friendship between two women, Yae and Kiyoko. Their friendship is tested when artist Yae, who suffers from fatal illness, develops special feelings towards her best friend Kiyoko’s boyfriend Kosuke.

A criminal syndicate wants detective Onihei dead, but the resolute hero proves to be hard to kill.

Turbulent life of Kiwa, the successor of the most prominent yakuza in Osaka, the Domoto Clan.

Crippled Kabuki player Tonbo is taken in by a strolling company of itinerant actors. An influential publisher notices his honest, bold art, and nurtures him despite persecution and betrayal.

The seventh movie of the series “Yakuza Ladies” focuses on a wife of a small Osaka family. She risks her life to protect her husband’s family and its members against much larger, more established organizations.

A noble samurai serving the Shogun as 'Kogi Kaishaku-nin' (Official Executioner) is the target of a plot by the evil Yagyu Clan to take away his position and replace him with a member of their own family. When his wife is murdered and evidence is produced that he was plotting against the Shogun the Code of Bushido calls for him and his son to commit sepuku. Instead he defies the Shogun's orders and takes up arms against his enemies, becoming an assassin for hire.

Recently released from prison for a murder sentence, a yakuza boss's wife leaves Hong Kong for a fresh start, but a betrayal leads to her return.

The tale of Taira Kiyomori who started as a young inexperienced warrior who led the Heike into the battle against the brutal pirates on Setouchi.

The wife of a yakuza lieutenant tries to keep the peace when the clan's heir suddenly dies and a succession conflict threatens to break out.

Rin Jyoshima lost her father to death-by-gambling; years later, she's grown up in the Kosugi household and has fallen victim to gambling herself.

During the 16th century, Japan was involved in the Sengoku Period, an era of civil wars and the powerful warlords who fought them. One of the earliest and strongest of these men was the Lord Takeda Shingen, a tremendous military genius.

One evening, when the monk Saito Musashibo Benkei was luring for his sword number 1000 at Gojo bridge, Shanao (later Yoshitsune), a young man of small and fragile stature passed by. He wore a nice sword and played the flute.

A Yakuza boss's wife and the widow of a rival crime syndicate's murdered leader bond over a common purpose: to seek vengeance.

A city boy, Shinji, is sent to live in the countryside to escape the Tokyo bombings, where he experiences the complexities of rural school life, including a power struggle with the local class leader, Takeshi.

A story about love triangle between mother and daughter relation...

From his early days as Matsudaira Motoyasu through his rise to the most powerful man in Japan as Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first of the Tokugawa Shoguns, this is the story of the man who truly unified Japan under one ruler. Tokugawa Ieyasu is quoted as saying: “People carry burdens through life as they travel a long road. Never rush” “If you think of privation as normal, you’ll be contented. If you know only about winning and losing, harm may fall upon you. Being inferior is batter than being superior.” These writing reflected the beliefs and military strategy of Ieyasu, a man before his time who was destined to take over the entire country in order to ensure the safety of his children.

In Jimpachi Kodera's household, young samurai Keishiro Kanie arrives, captivating Jimpachi's wife, Shoko, despite his initially arrogant demeanor. Keishiro introduces himself while Shoko is cleaning, and she recalls her husband mentioning a visitor, reluctantly preparing a meal for him. Frustrated by Jimpachi's silence about Keishiro, Shoko confronts him, but he remains tight-lipped, further irritating her. As Keishiro addresses Shoko as "Okami" (landlady) and speaks informally with Jimpachi, his innocent and unpretentious nature gradually wins Shoko over. Despite initial irritation, Shoko is drawn to Keishiro's kindness and dependability as they spend more time together.

When her crime boss husband is sent to prison, a woman assumes control of one of the most powerful gangs in Japan.

During the peaceful Tokugawa period, handsome samurai Gonza becomes entangled in a tragic love triangle and a web of deceit while trying to advance his social standing through the tea ceremony.

One year after the Kidojis' eldest son Otohiko was arrested for his part in a terrorist kidnapping, which resulted in multiple deaths, all the other perpetrators' parents have either resigned from their professional positions or taken their own lives, Nobuyuki Kidoji remains adamant that he is not responsible for his son's actions.

Released after seven years in prison, an inveterate thug goes from strength to ruthless strength as he makes his way through a succession of dubious jobs, illegal schemes, and brutal romances.

Filled with guilt over his forbidden desires, a young man leaves home and his studies. He finds a new smaller place to stay, a low-paying but satisfying job and a girlfriend. Then his mother, unable to fight her forbidden desires, shows up.

Set in the icy wilderness of Hokkaido during the early days of the Meiji era, where the brutal warden of Kabato Prison terrorizes convicts sentenced to forced labor to build the roads needed to open up the territory.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the denizens of a small Japanese fishing village struggle with defeat, cultural change, and the arrival of American troops.

A television drama aired on November 3, 1983 as a special project to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of Yomiuri Television and the 30th anniversary of the founding of Nippon Television.

An extremely lovely tribute to Ozu, on the 20th anniversary of his death. It uses a combination of footage from vintage films and new material (both interviews and Ozu-related locations) shot by Ozu's long-time camera-man (who came out of retirement to work on this). Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it focuses less on Ozu's accomplishments as a film-maker than on his impact on the lives of the people he worked with..

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.

Also known as: For My Daughter's 7th Birthday. Many years following her mother’s suicide, Maya seeks out her father, who deserted them, for revenge. All intertwined with the investigation of journalists into local murders, the manipulations of a palmist known as the “blue moth”, and political corruption.

A car going at 25 mph plunges into the sea at Shinko Harbour, Toyama prefecture. Inside is the local business magnate Fukutaro Shirakawa, who perishes. Riding alongside him and surviving unhurt is his second wife, Kumako. It soon comes to light that Kumako’s husband was insured for 300 million yen and she is arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband for the insurance money. The newspapers denounce her as an evil woman, while the public is in no doubt about Kumako’s crime. Ritsuko Sahara is chosen as her defence attorney but the pair clash over almost everything...

Onimasa is the egocentric boss of a small yakuza clan on Shikoku Island, whose criminal duties conflict with his self-image as a chivalrous samurai. His struggles with his boss, the Shikoku Godfather, and the tumultuous life of his adopted daughter, Matsue, form the backdrop of this epic tale of justice, obedience, and bloody vengeance.

Renowned detective Kosuke Kindaichi is called to an island where a dying man's words lead him to investigate a series of murders connected to the 'Nue' legend and the powerful Osakabe family, who separate twins at birth.

When Sokichi stops providing his long-time lover Kikuyo enough money to pay for the care of their three young children, Kikuyo leaves the children with Sokichi - and his very surprised and angry wife Oume - and disappears.

A rural high school takes part in a mountain-climbing exercise and are caught in a sudden typhoon.

Kumokiri Nizaemon, a former samurai warrior, has abandoned his class to become the leader of a gang of thieves. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan.

Expelled from her group for losing her virginity, blind travelling musician Orin endures a life of hardship, abuse, and poverty while wandering the countryside, finding brief companionship with an army deserter, and struggling against a society that marginalises her.

A mountain bandit abducts a woman who demands he kill his other wives to please her, leading to a cycle of violence and madness fueled by superstition and obsession.

An epic drama depicting the lineage of a military family that lived for three generations before, during, and after World War II, against the backdrop of the turbulent history of the Showa period and the magnificent nature of Hokkaido.

A reimagination of the myth of Himiko, focused on her divine role as a sun goddess's oracle and her forbidden love for her half-brother Takehiko, which threatens her power and the kingdom's stability.

Three assassins take on a band of thieves who specialize in murder.

Troubled medical student Haruo navigates a toxic relationship with his mother and a dangerous affair with former classmate Eiko, leading to a murder plot involving a potent poison.

After accidentally hitting and killing a man on a rainy highway, a married couple takes in the victim’s widow and disabled mother out of guilt. What begins as an uneasy act of compassion gradually turns into a tense and psychologically charged living arrangement. As suspicions, jealousy, and hidden desires surface, the relationship between the two women spirals toward obsession, betrayal, and tragedy.

Film by Deme Masanobu

This story depicts the relentless determination of a wife seeking revenge after her husband is drawn into a conspiracy and murdered. Based on the novel of the same name by Giichi Fujimoto.

In 17th-century Japan, two Portuguese Jesuit priests seek their mentor, who is rumoured to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.

Takei Goro leaves the gang to quit the yakuza world, but the gang won't allow it and relentlessly pursues Takei. This is Watari Tetsuya's first film to star in Shochiku.

The clerk of a trading company happens to have a large sum of money from his company in his possession. His girlfriend pressures him into fleeing with the money...

Set at the end of the feudal period. A woman spends most of her early life in prison, incarcerated by political opponents of her father. When she is released at the age of 44, the power struggles of her clan continue to disturb her life and the man whom she loves.

It was five years ago when Minako spent a night with Sozo, younger brother of her ex-husband. She now lives in a local town with a rich old man who owns a dry goods store. Minako travels to Tokyo on business every three months, during which time she continues to meet Sozo, who has married the daughter of his respected teacher.

Comedy about five good-for-nothings who run a phony exercise-hall.

Ryô is a young leopard, Maki a rhythmical wave. The barrier between a teacher and a student gives way to the passionate embrace of a man and a woman desperately in love.

When a married man begins an affair with a woman from his past, he comes to suspect her young son intends to murder him.

TV drama based off the play of the same name by Yukio Mishima.

An outlaw pushes the residents of Edo's red light district to rebel against a growing number of stifling, moralistic laws.

Japan, February 1868. As the Tokugawa shogunate declines and the power of Emperor Meiji grows, Gonzo, a soldier of the Restoration Army, returns to Sawando, his hometown, to announce the end of tyranny.

A lovely female thief, and disguise artist, has a great passion for her next big job which she sets up with her right-hand man: She intends to steal 500 million yen of ill-gotten money from the safe at Nitto Textiles

Successful and married with children, paper-mill owner Jihei knows better than to contradict the strict social and moral codes of 18th-century Japan. But when he meets the lovely courtesan Koharu, he becomes a man obsessed. Koharu returns his love, even foregoing other customers while Jihei schemes to somehow buy her freedom. His efforts yield ruinous consequences for his business and his family life, and Koharu is meanwhile purchased by another client.

Young and beautiful Matsuko lives alone with her father in old Kamakura. Matsuko experienced love once, with Munehiro, who married another girl. But now she is content to live an uneventful life with her father. That is until she meets Munehiro again.

The golden duo of Yoshitaro Mura and Kiyoshi Atsumi brings you a full-on comedy filled with laughter and melancholy set in Kitakyushu. Matsujiro Minamida (Atsumi) plays an uneducated and uncouth local troublemaker who becomes the talk of the town following an unexpected incident.

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.

After marrying off one daughter, a widowed father struggles with loneliness and the changing lives of his children. While his younger daughter falls in love with a charming but controversial man, his older daughter remains emotionally tied to a former lover who has since married. As tensions over marriage, independence, and family expectations grow, the family is forced to confront the gap between traditional values and modern relationships in postwar Japan.

Takamura, a poet and sculptor, marries a budding artist named Chieko who dreams of becoming an oil painter. When a series of hardships befall her family, she finds herself unable to confide in her husband, and the pain she carries within begins to weigh heavily on her sanity...

Suzuko, a woman in her twenties who has a brother with political problems (due to communist reprisals), lives for over five years in a love affair with Tate who's a young lieutenant in the Army, ultimately becoming a right-wing fundamentalist revolutionary. She marries another man, one totally dedicated to the rigorous practices of Noh theatre, in an arranged marriage, but the bond that connects her with Tate is too strong.

A Japanese soldier deserts his position and travels to a small town on the Sea of Japan to start over. When a young maid falls for him, he talks her into sleeping with an older man for money.

1966 Japanese movie

A sequel to Ohana han.

This is a film adaptation of a popular NHK drama that depicts a strong-willed woman, Hana, who lives a lively life while being swept up in the waves of the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras.

Seeking revenge against the guard who tormented him, a young man returns to the island where he was imprisoned in reform school. But his plans for vengeance are disturbed when he encounters a strange and beautiful young woman.

Epic saga of an idealistic land-owning family dealing with militarism, war, social change and economic reform.

Chizuru, the beautiful daughter of a Kyoto restaurant owner, feels trapped by the marriage plans her mother has arranged for her. When an older university professor and longtime admirer of her mother invites her to Tokyo, she sees it as a chance to escape her traditional life. In the city, Chizuru is drawn to a sophisticated businessman and begins searching for independence, romance, and her own identity while uncovering unsettling truths about her family and the people around her.

Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Gosha's Sword of the Beast chronicles the flight of the low-level swordsman Gennosuke, who kills one of his ministers as part of a reform plot. His former comrades then turn on him, and this betrayal so shakes his sense of honor that he decides to live in the wild, like an animal. There he joins up with a motley group who are illegally mining the shogun’s gold, and, with the aid of another swordsman, gets a chance not just at survival but to recover his name and honor.

Daisuke Hamamura (Hiroshi Inuzuka), a driving instructor, is rather unremarkable and doesn't attract the attention of the women around him; the only one who shows interest is the landlord, Rie (Chieko Murata). One day, Daisuke finds a puppy and names it "Chibi." When he sleeps with Chibi in his arms, he inexplicably begins to dream of beautiful women, and soon he has pleasant dreams of beautiful women every night. Then, one day, Chibi runs away, and Daisuke takes time off work to search for him, but he can't find him anywhere.

This movie is based on an immortal literary work "The Snow Country," a story about a life of geisha Komako who lives in a region with heavy snowfalls.

A drama centered on women, adapted from the novel of the same name by Ineko Sata.

One day a company executive learns that his younger brother, whom he recommended, embezzled company funds. To save the situation he withdraws his life savings and gives money to his younger brother. He then suddenly disappears…

Sabu was once a boy soldier but people in his village disliked him. He finally broke loose when his land was taken.

A young woman begins murdering all those responsible for her ailing father's condition. Because the girl is so outwardly sweet and innocent, the detective looking into the deaths does not suspect her.

In 1863, when American warships approach Japan, an enigmatic ronin becomes an important figure in a complex game of power between the Shogunate and the empire.

Picked up and raised on an island in the Seto Inland Sea, Yasukichi's only trait is his innate mischievousness. However, because his love for his hometown is exceptionally stronger than anybody's, he is trying everything he can to somehow help the inhabitants of the island which are going through a recession. He saddles himself with a debt to bring a cheap band onto the island and tries to market the underwater sightseeing ship on the island without regards for the Marine Act.

Yutaro Kida, a worker at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal, volunteers for the navy but finds himself a cook's mate in the galley of a gunboat. But his dream is eventually realized when he is transferred to the new and powerful destroyer Yukikaze which he helped to build. When the Pacific War breaks out Yukikaze performs valiantly in the South Pacific, and while on shore leave, Kida meets and falls in love with Yukiko, younger sister of his commander.

Misawa Ihei (Nagato) is traveling with his wife Tae (Iwashita Shima) who abhors the practice of sword fighting for prize money. Tae is the daughter of the clan's chief counselor who married the low-ranking Ihei to avoid becoming the clan lord's mistress. Into the mix comes Oba Gunjuro (Tetsurō Tamba), a mysterious ronin who will do anything for money. This leads to a fitting climax as the forces of hate and love converge while the couple attempt to break through the border!

Based on Muneta Hiroshi's military novel. The main character, Yamaguchi Zensuke, is a military dog soldier. He joins the army and winds up sent overseas to China as a part of the military dog unit. He's ridiculed by others due to his inability to advance.

A Tokyo family escaping the war relocates to a Hokkaido village; their daughter is set to marry the local leader's son, but her siblings disapprove.

A melodrama based on a hit song by Yoshio Tabata. Set on Kikaijima Island, the story depicts the love between a simple-hearted island girl and a down-to-earth island man.

1963 Japanese movie

Based on the novel of the same name by Seichō Matsumoto.

In this Japanese drama, a dry goods merchant's daughter is surprised to discover that she has a twin sister. In rural Japan it was thought that twins bring bad luck, so the sister was abandoned at birth. Later her parents tell her that her sister was kidnapped. The woman doesn't believe this and when she eventually meets her twin, both women are involved in love affairs. The merchant's daughter is seeing an educated fellow. Trouble ensues when she begins suspecting that he may be more interested in her sister.

A story about four best friends and their lives inside and outside college. Then suddenly one of them receives a surprising offer to be a movie star.

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

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

In the 15th year of the Genroku era (1688), the world praised the 47 ronin who avenged the death of their master Asano Takumi-no-kami. Shogun Tsunayoshi, who ruled at that time, experienced difficulties in what punishment to impose on the soldiers. As a result, it was decided to sentence them to seppuku (ritual suicide).

1962 Japanese movie

A treasury official passed over for promotion and obsessed with careerism interferes in the lives of his three sons, who seek escape from his relentless pressure in the mortal danger of mountain climbing.

1962 Japanese movie

1962 Japanese movie

The university professor Ozeki Hitoshi (Ryu Chishu) is regarded as an eccentric by people in his surroundings. When his daughter Tokiko is asked to marry a colleague, she and her mother are overjoyed, but Hitoshi is not satisfied with the situation.

A young reporter falls for a beautiful waitress, but fate conspires against their burgeoning romance when the latter is involved in a car accident and loses her memory.

A promising dancer asks her professor to write a libretto for a Nō play. He then introduces her to a student of classical literature, but also a classical theatre student in the hope that the latter will marry Senya..

A vengeful contractor hires a series of young killers to target a woman muckraker. Trouble brews when an amateur marksman shows up his eclectic competition.

1961 Japanese movie

On his way to Tokyo one night, a truck driver picks up a country girl and has his way with her amidst a forest. A few days later he loses his job after a run-in with some punks, but is offered a job by a gangster impressed by his fighting skills. He tries to make amends with the girl he ravished, but becomes caught up in the ways of the underworld...

A woman and her daughter are each forced to contend with an increasing pressure to marry, particularly from three men who knew her late husband.

In a time of continuous civil wars ravaging the fields of feudal Japan, the eldest son of a very poor peasant family, living alongside the bridge over the Fuefuki river, decides to serve a warlord to escape his miserable condition, being soon followed by his younger brothers. Although not all the men of the family take this tragic path of death, women of the family will be doomed to endure the pain of loss during the next five generations.

Amidst the 1960 Japanese-American mutual security treaty, alienated young nihilist Takuya struggles to find his footing between his do-nothing wealth and the outer Western extremism as major student protests take place.