Old Man
When Wabisuke's father-in-law unexpectedly dies, the family goes through a series of random events and occurrences as the funeral unfolds over three days in their home.
The story is set in Bakumatsu and revolves around the Bunta Sugawara character, a yakuza (of course :) but instead of a modern yakuza/gangster, he's a gambler/bakuto). After he kills someone and gets wound, is saved by a blind woman (Mitsuko Baishô), who took care of him. They has a happy time under the protection of the Tomisaburo Wakayama character, an oybun. But of course, happy time doesn't last long. The story is also related to Okada Izo and the Shinsengumi (w/ Kondo Isami played by Makoto Sato)
Lonely youth Shinji meets Hatsue, a pretty pearl diver, on the beach and the two fall in love. But Shinji has a rival for Hatsue's affections, Yasuo. Yasuo spreads unpleasant gossip about his rival, and Hatsue's father forbids her to see Shinji. But when the boy saves the passengers on a boat owned by Hatsue's father, his luck in love begins to change.
A boy born in a poor village in Tokushima spends his days idly until a chance meeting sets him on the road to becoming boss of Japan's largest gang.
Gang leader Nami (cult film legend Meiko Kaji) kills a member of a yakuza group and goes away to prison. Upon her release three years later, she’s a shamed woman confined to living in the shadowy world of sex clubs and street gangs. She returns to the city to live with her uncle, a billiard-hall owner, and after befriending pimp and ne’er-do-well Ryuji (Tsunehiko Watase), she gets a job working at a hostess club in the chic Ginza neighborhood, where the expensive shops and neon lights conceal a dark world of crime and sexual slavery. But when a rival gang attempts to muscle in on the club, Nami becomes enmeshed in a violent struggle that forces her to wield a skilled pool cue to defend her uncle’s business, and eventually a short sword to wreak bloody vengeance upon her enemies.
Former inmate Katsuji gets involved in the horse gambling business while lending a helping hand to a ranch operator.
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.
Chie (Sanae Ōhori), newly arrived in Tokyo, saves her friend from school, Mari (Annu Mari), from a suicide attempt. The two girls become close, eventually leading to a lesbian relationship. Their affair drifts into sadism and involvement with a bizarre sex cult, resulting in the deaths of the two lovers.
The hoodlum group tries to help a little printing factory against gangsters.
This anthology film consists of nine incidents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when assassins changed the course of Japanese history.
Popular geisha Shinji (Fuji Junko) must defy a gang who plot to steal a lucrative coal business from struggling miners during the turbulent Meiji Era. With a stellar all-star cast, thrilling story and Takakura Ken's violent swordplay, makes this into a classic Yakuza movie!
Iwakichi
Oichi may have met her match as she vies against the evil beauty that has set her sights on destroying her. She must face numerous other challenges before confronting her greatest rival. While longing to live and love like other women, she realizes that she can never have a normal life, her sword which she holds on to like a security blanket will always come between her and such a life...
Samejima
Japan nineteenth century. High demand for tattooed geisha generates an entire industry for their "production". Europeans pay more for tattooed beauties. Against this background, and considering the gorgeous tattooed women develop the history of confrontation between two highly skilled masters of tattoo.
Coal miner Isamu Oba is forced to quit his village and leave his mother and siblings behind. Mining buddy Ichiro accompanies him to Tokyo, and the pair enjoy several "fish-out-of-water" sequences before finding employment at a boxing gym with trainer Sawada and his spunky sister Tomoko. The boys also find part time night jobs as roving minstrels in the club district courtesy of benevolent gang boss Asakawa. Of course, they run afoul of boss Karasawa's cruel gang. Karasawa also has it in for Asakawa, and this indirectly throws a spanner into the works as far as Isamu's burgeoning success as a kickboxer. When Asakawa 's HQ is burned to the ground by Karasawa's men, Asakawa tries to kill Karasawa - which, of course, leads to his own gruesome death. Isamu goes on the rampage with his sword, wiping out Karasawa and men.
A private detective is hired to find a missing man by his wife. While his search is unsuccessful, the detective's own life begins to resemble the man for whom he is searching.
Minegishi
Also known as "History of a Man’s Face" and "By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him" . Immigrant gangs terrorize a Japanese town with their threats, loud jazz, and tasteless fashion sense, and only the tough but suave Dr. Amamiya (Ando) can stop them, as long as he gets rid of his silly peace-loving ideals.
Banteki
Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend’s obsession. Imamura’s comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems frankly ahead of its time.
Hidejiro is a wandering yakuza with a ‘karashi botan’ (Chinese lion and peony) tattoo. Owing a favor to the Soda Family, he kills the boss of the rival Sakaki Family. When the Soda attacks the Sakaki and double-crosses him, with sword in hand, Hidejiro seeks brutal retribution.
Young Sentaro struggles to avenge the murder of his younger sister Osuga and their father.
The continuing adventures of the Jirocho gang.
Second film of Makino's Nihon Kyokakuden series set in Osaka's harbor. The series also known as "The Domain" Each a stand alone film in it's own, none are connected other than starring the famous Ken Takakura as the main Character. This story begins with Ken Takakura's character coming to Osaka after his brother's death. Another exciting yakuza story with superb yakuza action!!
Komatsu Takioka is boss of a Yakuza group rival to Masakichi Kijima boss of the Kikuya group which supports the town vendors unlike Takioka, who will stop at nothing to undermine the vendors and take over the territory. Masakichi will do all he can to protect and support the people. Ryutaro Kijima is senior son to Masakichi, though disowned, he keeps interest in the family from a distance. He will be there for his father and his hot tempered younger brother Katsuo, if they should need his loyal help.
Young Lord Takenaka stands to succeed his father until a series of violent actions lead his retainers to think that he has gone mad with blood-lust. Never offering any explanation, he continues his seemingly unprovoked attacks until he is sent away from his domain.
This tragic drama shows a young man fettered by Bushido, the way of the Samurai, who tried to escape the chains of his position, but was being forced to die. When the Tokugawa Shogunate ruled the land, Tatsuno castle in Wakisaka Clan's home of Harima held an established custom, the inspection of the arms warehouse. The Government Inspector Okuno Magodayu found a slight bit of dirt on the point of a spear and mentioned it with disdain. Ezaki Shinpachi heard it and started an argument with him. Magodayu then sent a a letter of challenge to him because he felt insulted by a low-ranking underling without a title. As it turned out Magodayu was killed. Since then, Shinpachi and the Okuno family have had continuous revenge duels. The tension mounts as this story builds to an extremely violent climax, when blood must pay for blood if the clan is to survive!
Kichizo
Eight villains, former pirates, gather to attack the magistrate's office. They develop a plan and begin their actions in secret, making full use of their special abilities. In the end, their plan goes beyond what was intended and turns into a good deed for many people. A masterpiece of historical drama, full of breathtaking thrills and action.
Jirokichi Hanazawa
The main character Tachibana Isaburo is released from prison and discovers that his boss is dead. He is offered to become the leader of the group, but refuses. A young fashion villain, a Yakuza boss wants to get into politics. He makes a deal with the Osaka Railway Company, leaving many poor people homeless. Tachibana engages in a fierce battle with villains for the poor.
This is the story of a bad man who re-discovering humanity via woman and child while clashing with the yakuza and being hunted by a man called “Death” who has his own dark past. The prototype for the later two yakuza priest series with Shintaro Katsu and Tomisaburo Wakayama. Apparently so. And the swordsman motif seems to have been concurrent with Daiei's first ZATOICHI production.
A sake factory worker on holiday returns to his home town, where he rapes the wife of one of his co-workers in the forest. The other man returns home to find his wife changed and suspects that she has been unfaithful.
The third part of the story about feudal boss Jirocho and his underlings.
Jirocho and his henchmen befriend Ishimatsu, a wanderer in Mishima.
The tale of real-life Yakuza boss Shimizu Jirocho is told from his earliest beginnings as a gambler on the road as he forms his gang and sets out on the path to fame and fortune. One of the smartest and strongest of all the gang bosses, he went on to survive the end of the samurai era and become a successful businessman. But first, he must survive against all odds in order to build his reputation and develop his strength. Powerful portrayals of the group are led by the great Tsuruta Koji with help from the likes of Matsukata Hiroki.
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.
A gang plans to steal twenty billion yen by safecracking tactics; however, they discover that one of the gang members is an infiltrating cop.
The great Okawa Hashizo, in one of his most powerful roles risks his life and limb to help save the lovely Onaka from a terrible lifestyle. Starting out as a down on his luck gambler, Hantaro refuses to accept punishment for running up a 10 ryo debt in a crooked dice game. Forced from his village he must go on the run and learn how to fend for himself. After 3 years on the road, his past finally catches up to him, when he gets spotted by a pair of gang members. The action heats up after he saves Onaka from committing suicide and the two find themselves battling all odds for survival. This is a serious film with a strong story and exciting sword action!
Uemura
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.
In this tale of bravery and honor among the roving gamblers of old Japan, the heroic Jirocho, Boss of the Tokaido is called upon to help a young yakuza named Eijiro after he runs afoul of the new samurai officials who have taken over his hometown. Expertly portrayed by Kitaoji Kinya (son of the all-time great star Ichikawa Utaemon), this young man stands up for the townspeople and puts his life on the line. Jirocho, played by superstar Nakamura Kinnosuke, a boss known for his honor and valor soon finds himself involved in the feud which will only end in a brutal showdown.
Tetsunosuke, an eccentric doctor and an owner of a fencing school, takes aim against corrupt authorities.
Tanaka
As descendent of famed fishmonger Isshin Tasuke, young feisty Ishii Tasuke uses his talent to flourish his employer’s food business.
Hikosaburo Okubo
Mr. Mito, a former president of an instant food company, with two young men’s help, solves the quality problems and wins a big ramen contract with a large Chinese company.
Kinjiro Takeuchi
A group of men living a low life in Edo help each other to make the best out of their lives.
Playhouse employees Okimi and Otoshi become involved in an undercover officer’s investigation of a gang when they accidentally walk in on a drug deal taking place at their theater.
Yasuzo
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)
The story of two young men whose ambition is to become the personal bodyguards to the Shogun's uncle, Lord Mito Komon. Portrayed by a pair of up and coming stars, Sasaki Sukesaburo (Matsukata), the son of a widower and Atsumi Kakunoshin (Kitaoji), whose mother is a widow find themselves constantly in trouble and are forced to become two of the most powerful fighters in all Japan. The stories about Mito Komon and his travels througout Japan are many, but this is one that had yet to be told. The struggles of Suke-san and Kaku-san faced in order to join the Elder in his quest to fight against injustice and corruption during the samurai era.
A young girl, Okimi, falls in love with Kiritaro, a handsome thief disguised as a wealthy young master.
The epic battles between the Heike and Genji (Taira and Minamoto clans) take centerstage as the defeated leader of the Genji, Minamoto Yoritomo resolves to end his clan's exile and avenge the brutal loss in December, 1159 as they had fought under the white banner of the Emperor, while the Taira fought under their red flags in a battle to the death. The fight only took one day, with the Genji suffering utter defeat which led to their exile. His father, Yoshitomo, took responsibility for the loss and rather than live in humiliation, he decides to commit suicide with all his sons following him. However, the bravest warrior among them, Yoritomo stands tall and declares that he will not kill himself, but rather will fight to restore the clan.
Fishmonger Tasuke and Shogun Iemitsu swap their identities in pretence for the protection of Iemitsu.
Otoboke Senta
The sole survivor of a shipwreck pursues the whereabouts of his friends’ missing family members in Edo.
A stage director who directs a “Mori no Ishimatsu” play time travels and becomes “Mori no Ishimatsu” himself.
Yumatsu
From the opening theme song to the grand finale, you know that you have found something special as this exciting movie stars the great Misora Hibari in one of her most memorable performances as she plays Shintaro and Oharu, a brother and sister, the children of a lumber dealer who had been murdered by the evil boss Kumagoro who plots to take over Shintaro's family business with the help of a corrupt deputy who has fooled the family into believing that he is on their side.
Finding more freedom on the high seas than in war-torn Japan, the 'Bahansen' (Pirate ships) based on the Seto Inland Sea during the Warring Period (Sengoku-jidai)sailed to China, Korea, Luzon, and Siam under the Hachiman banner. A battle for supremacy of the seas begins when a strange old shipwreck survivor is brought to Sakai where he divulges a secret that can change the course of history.One of the most literate and well-written films from Toei, this is an exciting tale of swashbuckling samurai on the high seas!
One of Japan's most enduring stories is the true-life yakuza boss Jirocho of Shimizu and his gang as they took over the Tokaido Highroad and went on to everlasting fame. Many of the gang members have become household names although their backgrounds and how they came to join the group are mostly lost in the mists of a time gone by. This is the tale of Masa, who arrived in Shimizu Port hungry and down on his luck. His adventures contain some light-hearted moments as he meets up with the other gang members and goes on to join the group and become one of their best swordsmen. A truly exciting tale starring the ever-popular Okawa Hashizo along with all-time great Okochi Denjiro.
Taisuke is kind-hearted but overall lacks ambition. Taizo is smarter, but given to fits of emotion and impulsive violence. The samurai brothers fight against corruption in a castle.
A kindhearted wandering gambler named Hajiro gets involved in a crisis of a village as he passes through and decides to lend a sword in hopes to rescue them.
Umon’s services are called upon when innocent bystanders, Kayo and Minokichi, along with the ronin, Gontaro are mistakenly identified as suspects in several recent murder cases. To prove their innocence and uncover the truth, Umon launches his own investigation.
Teruyoshi
Tossing his hat in the air to pick a direction, Yataro the wanderer sets out on a journey of adventure, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. The son of a Hatamoto, he has left the samurai life and become a yakuza, gambling on life's fortune and ready to risk his life at a moment's notice. Featuring an all-star cast that includes the debonair Azuma Chiyonosuke, this is a tale of excitement and action that brings the best of black and white to the silver screen. An adventure like no other, this is one of Kinnosuke's lost gems. A series of mishaps leads Yataro to watching over the beloved daughter of his close friend.
A young lord lives against the will of his father Lord Tokugawa.
On New Year's Day 1716, Munenaga of Owari and Yoshinao of Kii were both named as candidates for the title of 8th Shogun. The wise and just Munenaga is plunged into a dispute with Tokugawa Yoshinao that will lead to one of them ascending the throne. This is an exciting and informative film that brings the brilliant history of Japan to the surface in a new light.
Yatazo
When a theater troupe's master visits his old flame, he unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences.
Yadashi Ukontaro
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.
It's an extravaganza of entertainment as famous magistrate in disguise, Toyama no Kinshiro attempts to confront the elusive thief known as the "Long-Sleeve Burglar". Played to the hilt by Misora Hibari in a delightful performance highlighted by singing, dancing, and swordplay with a unique story within a story twist that starts to unfold in the city jail as a playwright is brought into custody and meets the famed Long-Sleeve Burglar himself. Misora Hibari is totally captivating in this gender bending role as the famed thief whose expoits can only be stopped by the great Kin-san himself!
A woman abandoned by the man she loved all her life becomes a ghost and takes revenge for her offense!
A young, feisty woman named Osome searches for her true love in the midst of a family crisis.
Tatsuzô Haraguchi
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 their parents refuse to buy a television set. Ozu weaves a wealth of subtle gags through a family portrait as rich as those of his dramatic films, mocking the foibles of the adult world through the eyes of his child protagonists. Shot in stunning color and set in a suburb of Tokyo where housewives gossip about the neighbors’ new washing machine and unemployed husbands look for work as door-to-door salesmen, this charming comedy refashions Ozu’s own silent classic I Was Born, But . . . to gently satirize consumerism in postwar Japan.
(uncredited)
Edmund Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, transplanted to Japan. A poet-warrior with an oversized nose (matched only by his great heart) loves a lady. But she sees him only as a friend, so he helps another man to woo her by giving him the poetry of his own heart.
Mishima
With flashing swordwork and a terrific story, wandering gambler Kusama Hanjiro inspires the wrath of Boss Jirotaro who has been terrorizing travelers along the route through his territory. When Hanjiro steps in to gamble with him one-on-one it leads to a deadly vendetta that will show no mercy. Along the way Hanjiro is called upon to help sisters with no one else to depend on. Will the feud end in tragedy, or can the honest wanderer prevail against the bloodlust of an angry yakuza boss whom he had scarred for life?
Ryuta and Mineo Komatsu are brothers, both yakuza (gangsters). Mineo, although complicit in crime, even murder, wants out of the gangster life, hoping to become a successful singer instead. Ryuta loves his brother, but Mineo's possible defection presents problems for the gang, and Ryuta realizes he must kill his brother if he wants to survive.
These are the first two parts of the popular series in which a young samurai learns that he is the illegitimate son of the Shogun. Hoping to reunite with his birth father, Shogun Yoshimune, he heads for the castle.
Tasuke stumbles across Kokichi, a distraught man whom having lost his fiancee to Lord Kawakatsu is ready to commit suicide. Tasuke learns that Kokichi's fiancee, Otoyo, was a chambermaid whom Kawakatsu abducted in order to make her his concubine and Tasuke feels compelled to right this wrong. Meanwhile Kawakatsu is dealing in black-market lumber and receiving kick-backs but unbeknownst to him he is under investigation by Lord Izu, one of the Shogun Elders. Will Tasuke be able to rescue Otoyo from the clutches of Lord Kawakatsu and can Lord Izu put an end to his money hungry evildoings.
The Undefeated Woman
Proprietor of the Miharashitei
Rival bands of pirates try to get hold of a priceless treasure.
The story of Muhōmatsu, a rickshaw man who becomes a surrogate father to the child of a recently widowed woman.
Company commander Yamane
Fourth sequel to "Story of Second Class Private".
Romantic comedy.
A woman struggles to raise her young son on her own in postwar Japan, finding companionship with a kind laborer while still hoping for the return of her missing husband.
Tatsu
Residents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man and an aging actor, get drawn into a love triangle that turns violent. When amoral thief Sutekichi breaks off his affair with landlady Osugi to romance her younger sister, Okayo, Osugi extracts her revenge by revealing her infidelity to her jealous husband.
Fusayoshi
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.
Two sisters find out the existence of their long-lost mother, but the younger cannot accept the fact that she was abandoned as a child.
Porter
It's a man's world. Shimamura, an artist, comes to this snowbound town to rejuvenate himself. He connects with Komako, a geisha he met on a previous trip, and it seems like love. She's the foster daughter of a local family, almost engaged to the family's son Yukio, now dying of consumption. He's tended by his sister Yuko who's angry at Komako for abandoning her brother. Shimamura returns to Tokyo but promises he will be back soon. In anticipation of his return, Komako breaks with her patron and her family loses their home. Complications arise when Shimamura doesn't come back as promised. Then Komako discovers that he and Yuko knew each other in Tokyo. Can Komako escape destiny?
Tamura
In Asakusa, Tokyo, a couple of a violinist Yamano and a revue dancer Hanae lives in poverty. One day Hanae’s little sister rolls into their apartment and begins to stir things up with her riotousness.
Hagimura
Shozo is plagued by the needs of his ex-wife and his current one, but prefers the company of his cat.
While working in an education center for lonely children, a mother seeks her missing son.
Naosuke
Oiwa has been searching for the one who killed her father for a long time. She comes to Yedo and sees a man named Naosuke. The film is based on the kabuki classic: Toukaidou Yotsuya Kaidan (1826) written by Tsuruya Nanboku and is one of the most famous ghost stories throughout Japan.
Li Gong Fu
Lavish Japanese-Chinese coproduction based on an ancient Chinese legend about a man who falls in love with a snake goddess in human form.
Kiyoko (Takamine Hideko) and her husband want to open a coffee shop. She becomes increasingly close to the bank clerk (Mifune Toshiro) she's asked for a loan.
Joji the coolie procurer
Masahiko Koseki, a judo master, gets in several fights as a result of protecting a young woman. Despite his success, Koseki is expelled from his judo school because of his propensity for street fighting. He goes to work for a gangster named Joji, but when he realizes that Joji is mixed up in the slave trade, Koseki helps the police in their attempts to foil Joji.
A young salary man and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he has an extramarital affair.
Kumagoro the horse thief
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.
The story of a couple, a spoiled son and a down-to-earth girl, in Osaka in the early Showa era. The film won the prestigious Blue Ribbon awards for best director, best actor (Morishige) and best actress (Awashima), and the Mainichi Concours award for best actor and best screenplay (Yasumi Toshio). It ranked second (after Naruse Mikio’s Ukigumo) on the Kinema Junpō top ten films for the year.
Japanese film.
In this movie, Sashichi tries to catch a serial killer who kills his victims with shurikens.
Japanese film.
Gifuya Dôki
In 17th century Kyoto, Osan is married to Ishun, a wealthy miserly scroll-maker. When Osan is falsely accused of having an affair with the best worker, Mohei, the pair flee the city and declare their love for each other. Ishun orders his men to find them, and separate them to avoid public humiliation.
A ghost man with his face hidden entirely by bandages is killing beautiful nude models. Detective Kindaichi investigates.
Movie version of NHK renzoku drama "Tokyo Romance"
Kawamoto
Yukiko's fiance learns her mother runs a geisha house and ends their engagement. She despises what her mother does until one of her clients shows interest and starts to woo her.
A legendary gangster raises himself out of a small town and gathers followers on his rise to power.
An Inn at Osaka, rarely seen outside Japan, follows the story of an insurance company executive from Tokyo, Mr. Mito, who is demoted to the Osaka office. He takes a room at a small inn and tries to rebuild his life. Notable for its exquisite framing and cinematography, An Inn at Osaka allows its complicated plotlines to disappear behind the minutiae of penury and humiliation that Mito and others suffer during the post-war economic and social reconstruction.
A wandering Jirocho stumbles upon his wife's possible murder and has other adventures while on the run.
Jirocho and his followers chase the Kurokomas into the Kai Province.
In the post-war Gion district of Kyoto, the geisha Miyoharu agrees to apprentice the 16 year-old Eiko, whose mother was a former geisha who had just died. After a year of training they have to find a large sum of money before Eiko can debut. Miyoharu borrows the money from the tea-house owner, Okimi, who in turn obtains the money from the businessman Kusuda. Kusuda fancies Eiko himself and wants to give Miyoharu to Kanzaki in order to close a large business deal. However both geishas have minds of their own and, going against tradition, want to be able to say no to clients.
The final film in the 1953 trilogy based on the long novel series The Great Bodhisattva Pass.
The second film in the 1953 trilogy based on the long novel series The Great Bodhisattva Pass.
Chuji Tsukahara
Gosho’s most celebrated film both in Japan and the West, Where Chimneys Are Seen is perhaps the most compelling example of his concern for, and insights into, the everyday lives of lower-middle-class people. Based on Rinzo Shiina’s novel of the absurd, the film depicts the lives of two couples against the backdrop of Tokyo’s growing industrialization during the 1950s.
Kingoro Yanagiya's 100th film.
Jirocho the gambler hits the road.
A comedic retelling of the legend of the loyal 47 ronin.
The rise of the famed gambler.
Sakai
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.
Buntaro, the president of a food trading company got tired of the day-to-day routine of life. The new secretary, Nobuko, suggested her "shacho-san" (the president) run away from the job. Nobuko took Buntaro to her home and introduced him to her own family as friend, "Sachio-san"...
Fumio Sôma
Ito
Atsuko is an office secretary who is also her family's primary source of income and caretaker in postwar Japan.
Gondao Shimizu
Sakuzô Furuya
Bittersweet shomin-geki drama by Keigo Kimura
Michiyo lives in the small place Osaka and is not happy with her marriage, all she does is cook and clean for her husband.
After mastering swordsmanship at the dojo of Chiba Shusaku, and unable to serve a clan due to his illness, Hirate Miki becomes a ronin who winds up as bodyguard to Shigezo of Sasagawa leading up to an epic battle.
Goro Aoyama
Japanese drama film.
Gonroku Shirai
A luckless geisha struggles to make a living for herself and her young son.
Mekkachi no Katsugorô
Jidai-geki by Kiyoshi Saeki
Japanese comedy film.
Hamako has just started working for her personal hero, Madame Yuki. Her romanticized view of the Madame is broken immediately, though, as she is introduced with a ever-growing list of the Madame’s personal problems.
In Nihonbashi, a fire broke out in the Kodenma-cho prison, and the prisoners were released. With the proviso that if the prisoner does not return within three days, or if he leaves Edo Prefecture, he will be sentenced to death. Prisoner Yakichi went to Matsumoto to see his mother, who was in critical condition. However, Yoriki Matsukura tries to catch Yakichi and bring him to execution.
Adaptation of a novel by Yojiro Ishizaka, originally released in two parts.
Okubatake
Three humorous love stories set in rural Japan.
Noro
Mikami, a Japanese soldier, is captured by Chinese forces. Although able to escape, he is treated with contempt by his peers. After falling in love with a prostitute named Harumi, she convinces him to desert the army and live with her. Directed by Senkichi Taniguchi with a screenplay by Taniguchi and Akira Kurosawa and assistant direction by Ishiro Honda. Kurosawa's final credit as a screenwriter was removed from initial release due to various rewrites.
Seizô Kon'no
Saheita, the final heir of a once rich and respectable family, can't refuse the many villagers that come to him for favours and money, even though he is on the brink of bankruptcy. Around town he is better known by his nickname Mr. Shosuke Ohara.
Japanese comedy film.
Tanuma Kandayuu is a high class samurai of the house of Nabeshima. He finds a lavish board of Go (a Chinese Board game) at Kinbei's store. He recommend Kinbei to offer it to his lord. Kinbei hesitates at first, since he knows the board has a mysterious legend surrounding it; it's believed that for every game played on the board, one death is required.
Near the end of the Taisho era (1912-1926), Enokichi, a popular figure in the world of boxing entangled in the Yakuza business.
Postwar! Baseball! Comedy! Enoken plays a superfan of the Yomiuri Giants – the real Tokyo team, with many of its star players "acting" as themselves – who, despite his utter lack of athletic abilities, becomes embroiled in their successes, and their personal lives. Will Enoken help the Giants take the pennant?
Saburo Anekoji
A young man rents an apartment in Tokyo and discover it was built by his father. He falls in love with the daughter of the mistress of the house and decides to marry her. Only to discover that his father is is in debt and wants him to marry Ranko so that she may help his company by granting 1.5 million yen. Teruko decides to borrow money from a greedy bar owner who lends her money on certain conditions and photographs her without her consent. A love traingle forms between Koroku, Ranko, and Teruko. Things complicate when Koroku marries Teruko and Tsugawa threatens them for the money causing many twists and turns.
A platonic love story, the protagonist continues to love the woman he fell in love with when he was a boy for the rest of his life.
Kôfuku eno shôtai - Invitation to happiness
Jidai-geki by Ryo Hagiwara
A romance with political overtones about the relationship of a sheltered bourgeois woman and a doctor who devotes himself to caring for the poor. Over a ten-year period - from 1936 through the war - they find each other and are separated again by the events of those tumultuous days.
Student
Yukie, the well-bred daughter of a university professor, is shocked when her father is relieved of his post for his political teachings during a purge of anti-militarism in pre-war Kyoto. Years go by as she is courted by two of her father's former students; one a fiery leftist, the other more moderate and equable.
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.
Seijiro
In A Tale of Archery, young, timid bowmaster Kazuma (Akitake Kôno) seeks to beat the archery record set by Hoshino Kanzaemon, a mysterious figure who, it is rumored, drove the previous champion (Kazuma’s father) to suicide. Possessed of much raw talent, Kazuma is also very much a coward, holing himself up in an inn run by the kindly Okinu (Kinuyo Tanaka) and generally avoiding confrontation of any sort. Despite his clandestine manner, enough of the locals know of Kazuma’s purpose and an attempt is made on his life. He is saved by Karatsu Kanbei (Kazuo Hasegawa), a samurai who offers to help Kazuma hone his archery skills, though it soon becomes clear that this apparently selfless stranger has several potentially shady ulterior motives.
Fukigawa Genjiro
During the Warring States era, Hozoin Kakuzenbo and Yagyu Tajima-no-kami, being best friends, spend their days acquiring skills of the spear, sword and martial arts. Hozoin loses a series of matches with master swordsman Kozumi Ise-no-kami. Bitterly ashamed, Hozoin embarks on a journey, trying to perfect his skills. A few years later, Hozoin is ready and it's time for the ultimate showdown with Ise-no-kami!
Lt. Sakuragi (military doctor)
This film was made by the Japanese occupation authorities in the Philippines as a propaganda film to show the Philippine people the "benefits" of the Japanese invasion and takeover of their country.
Publicist Semi
A 1943 film.
A 1942 film.
Ishikawa, pilot
Kinkichi's friend, Hirose
A story of a servant girl whose life is upturned by her doomed love for a spineless young man.
Assistant Director
An aging actor returns to a small town with his troupe and reunites with his former lover and illegitimate son, a scenario that enrages his current mistress and results in heartbreak for all.
Directed by Daisuke Itō.
This film tells the story of a ronin's search for his parents, but primarily is a group portrait of life in a Tokugawa-era tenement.
This film is about the curse of a jealous woman destroying the lovers on the run.
