Shichinosuke Nakamura

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of TV broadcasting in Japan, and the 60th anniversary of the Taiga drama, this special depicts the struggles of creating the first Taiga drama.

For his first film in fourteen years, animation director Isao Takahata embarked on a visually sumptuous adaptation of The Tale of the Bamboo-Cutter. A dream project for the director that would hopefully establish the recently formed Ghibli Studio 7, created to meet the demands of a new type of modern animation process. But, almost immediately, the epic production is faced with difficulties and falls dramatically behind schedule. In this compelling and insightful documentary, we follow Isao Takahata and his dedicated team of artists as they frantically strive against adversity to make their vision a reality and bring Studio Ghibli into a new era.

Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate.

The Kabuki 'Lion Dance' features a father and a son who explore their relationships and power dynamics. A renowned kabuki actor and his two sons enact the lion and his cubs in this variation to the more traditional formation.

Kabuki performance of the story “Peony Lantern”.

Yaji and Kita are two men who live in Edo. They are deeply in love. Yaji is married to a woman, while Kita is an actor addicted to various drugs.

High school student Asako moves all of her belongings to the refuse area of her apartment complex and stops attending school. Kazuyoshi, a precocious young boy, invites her to join him in an online chatroom venture where she assumes the identity of a married temptress named "Miyabi".

Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.