Temptation
Shokichi, the owner of the clothing store, lives with his daughter Hideko and plans to open an art gallery. One day, Hideko led a handsome art student, Shohei and a…
Rika 3: Juvenile’s Lullaby
Reform schools are a way of protecting society by ridding it of lawless juvenile delinquents. But who’s protecting the juvenile delinquents from corrupt reform schools? Rica could be considered a…
Afternoon Affair: Rear Window
For a girl who works in a 3rd rate bar, Ayuko is full of vanity. Nomura, her patron, is besotted by her and it is their habit that they cannot…
Foundry Town
Set in Kawaguchi in the early 60s, this simple story chronicles the lives of foundry families and one girl’s dreams of higher education.
Black Report
After a businessman is murdered, an investigation identifies a suspect who is then put on trial for that crime.
Evil Spirits of Japan
Murase is a bodyguard of yakuza group. Ochiai is a police officer who once was a student activist. When they meet, they are surprised how identical they look.
Bamboo Doll of Echizen
Based on a novel by Tsutomu Mizukami, this haunting melodrama focuses on a young bamboo worker who takes his father’s prostitute as his wife.
Edo Porn
The world-famous woodblock artist Hokusai (1760-1849), a widower in need of a steady income, lives with his daughter Oei in the house of his friend Bakin.
Samurai from Nowhere
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…
The Far Road
Set in the time of steam locomotives and covering a period of almost 30 years, this sensitive film tells the story of the wife of a railroad worker in the…
Seisaku’s Wife
On the eve of the Russo-Japanese war at the beginning of the 20th century, small-town girl Okane has married an old wealthy man to escape a life of poverty.
The Seburi Story
The culturally isolated, nomadic Seburi people of western Japan are the subject of this tragedy about a few of the community’s members who especially experience difficulties as modern Japan encroaches…
Kuroneko
In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war…
Tokyo Pop
A young rock singer is not appreciated by her band, and gets a postcard from Japan saying “wish you were here”. She takes what little money she has including ex-boyfriend’s…
Zegen
At the time between the World Wars, Japan is involved in empire-building throughout East and Southeast Asia. After a brief career as a low-level military adventurer, Iheiji sets up chains…
Hachiko
The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even after Ueno’s death.
The Ballad of Narayama
In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should…
Vengeance Is Mine
A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.
Empire of Passion
In a small Japanese village at the end of the 19th century, a rickshaw driver’s wife takes on a much younger lover and the two conspire to murder him.
Ballad of Orin
A blind traveling musician is abused and oppressed wherever she goes, even as the modern world imposes change around her.
In the Realm of the Senses
A passionate telling of the story of Sada Abe, a woman whose affair with her master led to an obsessive and ultimately destructive sexual relationship.
Three Resurrected Drunkards
Three students spend their holidays at the seaside where they are mistaken for Koreans, a minority which is looked down on in Japan. The action develops into a crime story.
Japanese Summer: Double Suicide
A sex-obsessed woman, a suicidal man she meets on the street, and a gun-crazy wannabe gangster become trapped in an underground hideaway.
Captive’s Island
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…
Onibaba
While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are…
The Naked Island
A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.
Good Morning
A lighthearted take on director Yasujiro Ozu’s perennial theme of the challenges of intergenerational relationships, Good Morning tells the story of two young boys who stop speaking in protest after…
The Boy Who Came Back
Nobuo is a hot-headed hoodlum fresh out of reform school who struggles to make a clean break with his tearaway past.
Drunken Angel
Doctor Sanada treats gangster Matsunaga after he is wounded in a gunfight, and discovers that he is suffering from tuberculosis. Sanada tries to convince Matsunaga to stay for treatment, which…