Director
Edo-era Japan. If you are familiar with the attitude of Sakamoto Junji, you don’t even need the cheeky welcome to understand that the samurais, nobles, and landlords in this jidaigeki will not be portrayed in the heydays of their glory. And so it is: our welcome party are two rogue vagrants making their living as “manure men”, turning the waste from the tenement toilets into fertiliser sold to local farmers. Enter Okiku, the only daughter of a fallen samurai, and amongst the overflowing piles of excrement, a well-nourished love story unfolds.
Screenplay
Edo-era Japan. If you are familiar with the attitude of Sakamoto Junji, you don’t even need the cheeky welcome to understand that the samurais, nobles, and landlords in this jidaigeki will not be portrayed in the heydays of their glory. And so it is: our welcome party are two rogue vagrants making their living as “manure men”, turning the waste from the tenement toilets into fertiliser sold to local farmers. Enter Okiku, the only daughter of a fallen samurai, and amongst the overflowing piles of excrement, a well-nourished love story unfolds.
Director
Jun Wataguchi lives a lazy, half-hearted life, not going to school, hanging out with half-witted delinquents, and begging money from his friends. His parents, who run a shipping business transporting earth and sand for reclamation by boat, manage to get by, despite the dwindling number of jobs and lack of successors over time. Jun showed no interest in his parents' business, and the father and son hardly ever spoke to each other. One day, one of Jun's friends is attacked by someone and an unexpected person emerges as the culprit.
Writer
Jun Wataguchi lives a lazy, half-hearted life, not going to school, hanging out with half-witted delinquents, and begging money from his friends. His parents, who run a shipping business transporting earth and sand for reclamation by boat, manage to get by, despite the dwindling number of jobs and lack of successors over time. Jun showed no interest in his parents' business, and the father and son hardly ever spoke to each other. One day, one of Jun's friends is attacked by someone and an unexpected person emerges as the culprit.
Director
A lonely researcher doubting his own existence builds an android which looks exactly like himself.
Director
Renji Ishibashi, starring in the movie for the first time in 18 years, plays a hero with two faces, a dull novelist and a legendary killer. Susumu Ichikawa, an obsolete writer with no manuscript at all, had another face - a legendary hitman. But the truth of the matter is... he had never shot a person. One day, he receives a murder request from a friend. Seeing this as an opportunity to achieve the ideal hard-boiled novel, he decides to hire a real hitman and demands that he report to him the assassination situation as it was.
Screenplay
Ko, a man in his late 30s, lives in the countryside with his wife and teenage son. Mitsuhiko, who runs a local car dealership, also stayed in his hometown. One day, their mutual friend Eisuke returns from a long military operation and their reunification brings back both pleasant and painful memories.
Director
Ko, a man in his late 30s, lives in the countryside with his wife and teenage son. Mitsuhiko, who runs a local car dealership, also stayed in his hometown. One day, their mutual friend Eisuke returns from a long military operation and their reunification brings back both pleasant and painful memories.
Director
La primera película en 40 años coproducida por Japón y Cuba. Narra la historia de Freddy Maymura Hurtado, un hombre boliviano de origen japonés. Se unió a los luchadores por la libertad, liderados por el Che Guevara en 1966, y fue martirizado a la edad de 25. Ernesto significa "serio", pero también era el nombre de pila del Che Guevara.
Director
Whether it's someone mixing burnables and recyclables or noise from a neighbor's domestic spat, there's always something occupying the residents of a housing project in the suburbs of Osaka. However Hinako (Naomi Fujiyama) and Seiji (Ittoku Kishibe) couldn't care less. Having moved in just six months ago after the closure of their herbal medicine shop, the old couple is reluctantly putting their life back together. But when Seiji disappears, the apartment rumor mill churns: divorce, murder, dismemberment? As the story spins out of control, and a mysterious man with a parasol puts in a tall order of natural remedies, the truth turns out to be even more fantastic than gossip. Ranging from incisive comedy of errors to absurdist adventure to moving late life romance, "The Projects" is one of the biggest surprises of the year.
Himself
Junji Sakamoto's documentary follows legendary boxing champ Joichiro over 20 years, from the ages 25 to 44. In a series of meetings, like the 7 Up series, Sakamoto conducts intimate interviews with Tatsuyoshi. Narrated by actor Etsushi Toyokawa.
Director
Junji Sakamoto's documentary follows legendary boxing champ Joichiro over 20 years, from the ages 25 to 44. In a series of meetings, like the 7 Up series, Sakamoto conducts intimate interviews with Tatsuyoshi. Narrated by actor Etsushi Toyokawa.
Screenplay
A professional scammer is hired by a wealthy young businessman to find a hidden treasure looted from the Bank of Japan and supposedly stashed away by a group of men after WWII in various locations around the globe. Eventually an assassin is put on their trail.
Director
A professional scammer is hired by a wealthy young businessman to find a hidden treasure looted from the Bank of Japan and supposedly stashed away by a group of men after WWII in various locations around the globe. Eventually an assassin is put on their trail.
Director
Teacher Kawashima Haru takes a position on a remote island off the coast of Hokkaido, where she takes charge of six students. However, she is later forced to leave after an accident occurs. 20 years later, Haru learns that one of her former students has committed a crime, and eventually returns to the island once more.
Writer
The annual kabuki show is the main attraction in a rural Japanese mountain town. However, Yoshi's life is thrown into disarray days before the performance when his estranged wife and former best friend arrive back in town...
Director
The annual kabuki show is the main attraction in a rural Japanese mountain town. However, Yoshi's life is thrown into disarray days before the performance when his estranged wife and former best friend arrive back in town...
Director
Former high school teacher Kazuo Hatano (Toru Nakamura) reunites 12 years later with Masako Tezuka (Manami Konishi). Masako Tezuka was his former high school student whom he married after her graduation. Their marriage became a scandal & the couple divorced ...
Director
El masajista y espadacín ciego Zatoichi, decide que ha llegado la hora de dejar la carretera y establecerse con su esposa (Satomi Ishihara) en su pueblo natal. Pero, como de costumbre, los problemas le persiguen y Zatoichi es de nuevo provocado a luchar en una batalla en la qué serán tan importantes su ingenio como su espada oculta.
Writer
A Middle-aged Japanese ex-pat journalist investigates child organ trafficking in Thailand and he uncovers a sinister network. In the darkest corners of Thailand, child prostitution and organ sales flourish. In order to save a child's life, another life must be taken. An outraged Japanese journalist and a passionate young Japanese NGO member attempt to save "children of the dark" from being consumed by arrogance and greed. However, the harsh realities of life intervene... Adapting Yan Sogil's book, which unflinchingly portrays the tragic realities unfolding today, filmmaker Junji Sakamoto directs a talented multinational cast to bring these stark events to life.
Director
A Middle-aged Japanese ex-pat journalist investigates child organ trafficking in Thailand and he uncovers a sinister network. In the darkest corners of Thailand, child prostitution and organ sales flourish. In order to save a child's life, another life must be taken. An outraged Japanese journalist and a passionate young Japanese NGO member attempt to save "children of the dark" from being consumed by arrogance and greed. However, the harsh realities of life intervene... Adapting Yan Sogil's book, which unflinchingly portrays the tragic realities unfolding today, filmmaker Junji Sakamoto directs a talented multinational cast to bring these stark events to life.
Director
La nueva obra de Junji Sakamoto es un thriller de venganza basado en un guión escrito hace 30 años por Shoichi Maruyama, un clásico de la productora Toei, que debía protagonizar la estrella del momento, Yusaku Matsuda. Convenientemente adaptado a los nuevos tiempos, Chameleon está protagonizada por el emergente Tatsuya Fujiwara, que ha atraído a las taquillas japonesas a más chicas de las que suelen interesarse por este tipo de películas. El protagonista de este filme es un misterioso joven con capacidad para transformarse según el entorno y las emociones de los que lo rodean. Líder de un grupo de timadores callejeros, un día es testigo del secuestro de un hombre a manos de un extraño grupo de individuos. Cuando estos empiezan a liquidar uno a uno a los miembros de su banda, se tomará la justicia por su mano, desatando un vendaval de violencia.
Screenplay
After the unexpected death of her husband a new life begins for Toshiko. 30 years of a happy marriage seem to suddenly vanish as she finds out that her husband had lived a double life. Struggling between her anger and the chance to begin a new chapter for herself, she finds her life moving into unchartered waters as she faces her 60th birthday.
Director
After the unexpected death of her husband a new life begins for Toshiko. 30 years of a happy marriage seem to suddenly vanish as she finds out that her husband had lived a double life. Struggling between her anger and the chance to begin a new chapter for herself, she finds her life moving into unchartered waters as she faces her 60th birthday.
Works commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of Japan mapping Supervision Association
Director
The Isokaze, an Aegis-class escort vessel, sets sail on a routine training exercise, playing host to a platoon from the Fleet Training Group. No sooner is the Isokaze on open water, however, then the FTG reveal themselves to be terrorist stowaways who kill the ship's captain, send the rest of the crew overboard and take control of the vessel. The ship is carrying a secret biological weapon which the terrorists are now threatening to use to level Tokyo! Only a stowaway NCO, Sengoko (played by Sanada Hiroyuki from Ring and Twilight Samurai) is in a position to stop them - but does he really have what it takes to save the day? Playing like a cross between a sea-faring version of Top Gun and Die Hard, director Sakamoto Junji shows that it's not just Hollywood that can produce thrill-a-minute action spectaculars.
Director
Five young musicians, each harboring painful memories, are assembled to entertain American soldiers at an Enlisted Men's Club. Tensions emerge between the tenor saxophonist, a disillusioned ex-soldier, and a bitter GI whose brother was killed in the war. And when the band plays the prohibited "Danny Boy" during a birthday bash for a sergeant whose son Danny had died a year ago, everyone must confront a past they'd rather forget.
Director
A young Japanese boy's life is changed when his sister returns to the small island, full of eccentric characters, where he lives.
Director
En 1973 Kim Dae-jung, fuerte opositor del entonces presidente Park Chung-Hee, se exilia en Japón desde donde continúa ejerciendo la oposición, manifestándose a favor de la reunificación de Corea del sur y Corea del norte. Kim desaparecerá del hotel de Tokio donde está alojado y 5 días más tarde aparecerá sano y salvo cerca de su casa en Seúl. Todo parece apuntar a que las agencias coreanas y japonesas hayan cooperado en el secuestro.
Director
Former childhood friends Kadoya Kaneo and Tochino Masatatsu cross paths again. Kaneo is now a yakuza member, while Masatatsu is a nightclub owner with a distaste for crime gangs. When a yakuza boss dies, a struggle for his position takes place between Kaneo's boss Awano and the young Nakahira. Nakahira's men try to extort money from Masatatsu, bringing him in between a yakuza battle.
Screenplay
Awkward and withdrawn, Masako kills her sister in an explosion of pent-up humiliation and rage that sends her tumbling into fugitive life.
Director
Awkward and withdrawn, Masako kills her sister in an explosion of pent-up humiliation and rage that sends her tumbling into fugitive life.
Screenplay
Hisashi gets fired from his temp job due to his impulsiveness. One day he meets Chikako, a housewife who constantly shoplifts at the supermarket he regularly goes. He somehow agrees to help her to look for her run-away son, Masaru. Unfortunate to Hisashi, Masaru starts following his around instead of returning home, after he was found by Hisashi. Then they end up stealing a gun from a police officer! In their course of running away, the similar two who cannot adapt to society very well start to develop a mutual friendship…
Director
Hisashi gets fired from his temp job due to his impulsiveness. One day he meets Chikako, a housewife who constantly shoplifts at the supermarket he regularly goes. He somehow agrees to help her to look for her run-away son, Masaru. Unfortunate to Hisashi, Masaru starts following his around instead of returning home, after he was found by Hisashi. Then they end up stealing a gun from a police officer! In their course of running away, the similar two who cannot adapt to society very well start to develop a mutual friendship…
Director
An odd journey starts as Mitsuru, a private detective, and a boy, whom a dying mobster entrusts to him, decide to go to northern Japan in search of the boy’s mother, and the detective’s buddy Hisashi joins them later.
Writer
The main hero of this film is the spirit of the once very popular wooden statuette called Billiken. It's a small god with a pointed head, a fat belly and a characteristic smile. When the casket in which the statuette was found is broken, the spirit of Billiken is free. After that he tries to fulfill the wishes of all those who had prayed to him, but it doesn't always works.
Director
The main hero of this film is the spirit of the once very popular wooden statuette called Billiken. It's a small god with a pointed head, a fat belly and a characteristic smile. When the casket in which the statuette was found is broken, the spirit of Billiken is free. After that he tries to fulfill the wishes of all those who had prayed to him, but it doesn't always works.
Writer
A school bus driver's life is irrevocably altered when his young son is kidnapped and murdered.
Director
A school bus driver's life is irrevocably altered when his young son is kidnapped and murdered.
Writer
Writer
Set in Osaka's Shinsekai, the film depicts the lives of Ayumu Tobita (Hidekazu Akai), who makes a living as a shogi gambler (shinken-shi), and Ryuzo Kayama (Masaya Kato) who aims to become a professional player.
Director
Set in Osaka's Shinsekai, the film depicts the lives of Ayumu Tobita (Hidekazu Akai), who makes a living as a shogi gambler (shinken-shi), and Ryuzo Kayama (Masaya Kato) who aims to become a professional player.
Writer
A directionless young man, recently released from prison, tries to make a new start in life as a boxer...
Director
A directionless young man, recently released from prison, tries to make a new start in life as a boxer...
Screenplay
A Japanese boxer stages a dramatic and dangerous comeback after suffering brain damage in the ring.
Director
A Japanese boxer stages a dramatic and dangerous comeback after suffering brain damage in the ring.
Screenplay
Three stories with horror and science fiction elements. 1st episode: "The Curse of Tutankhamen" (Tsutankâmen no noroï) by Kazuyuki Izutsu. With Naoto Takenaka. Two clans of Yakuza clash in a bar. 2nd episode: "They came back, tonight too" (Yatsura wa konya mo yattekita) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. With Renji Ishibashi. A polar writer is pursued by two mysterious mountebanks. 3rd episode: "I want to come back to this day" (Ano hi ni kaeritai) by Banmei Takahashi. With Toshiyuki Nagashima. A couple who robbed a bank decides to separate to escape the police.
Assistant Director
The story of beautiful Christian nun, Kyoko who is the object of affection for two very different men - one the happy-go-lucky yakuza gangster, Haruhiko who is the next-in-line to takeover the ragtag "Tenryu Gumi" gang and the other bumbling police detective Kumashiro. The Tenryu Gumi is a collection of misfits and other troublemakers but are relatively peaceful due to their Christian beliefs. Their bitter rivals are the more traditional "Kuroiwa Gumi", a much more sadistic and violent group led by godfather Kuroiwa.