Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money...

In the city of Yokosuka, Kinta and his lover Haruko, both involved with yakuza, brave the post-occupation period with a goal to be together.

This film follows the daily lives of a group of people barely scraping by in a slum on the outskirts of Tokyo. Yet as desperate as their...

In the midst of an attempt to take over his company, a powerhouse executive is hit with a huge ransom demand when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by...

A woman remembers her own marriage when dealing with the love life of her son.

An elderly woman, Ume Matsumoto, complained to the First Investigation Department that her son Hirasaka, who runs a shoe store, had disappeared. The...

1961 Japanese movie

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...

1962 Japanese movie

"Don't pity me, just give me money." A smart little girl, Suzu, for the sake of her beloved sick mother, has no choice but to attempt all ways to...

Set in the postwar turmoil, Akasaka no shimai paints a vivit portrait of the life of three sisters who struggle to live in Tokyo.

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,...

A rumbunctious and ribald tale of a troupe of travelling actors who alternate highlights of kabuki theatre with strip shows.

The murder took place at a hotel in Matsushima. The victim is a woman about 28 years old. The suspect is a young man who visited her the night...

Shinichi is not only poor, he is also deaf, and leads a joyless life with his sick mother. His one happiness is his friendship with a girl who works...

Set in Kawaguchi in the early 60s, this simple story chronicles the lives of foundry families and one girl's dreams of higher education.

A delicate study of the relationship between two disillusioned young people, shot in atmospheric monochrome among Tokyo's decaying lumberyards and...

Tatsuo, a reverent lumberjack, seeks to disrupt plans to build a marine park on his family land, instead promoting his traditions in reactionary ways.

Stuck in a fishing village in Hokkaido, Tadao's grand-daughter Haru is desperate to visit Tokyo, a trip Tadao is reluctant to make.

Near a remote Buddhist monastery, a young man falls in love with his sister and gets her pregnant. After a monk finds out, the young man becomes an...

The first instalment in Toho's popular Wakadaishō (Young Guy) series.

Saheji, a man-about-town, gets stuck at a high-class brothel when he can’t pay the bill. He makes the best of his situation by performing...

Police investigators investigate the link between a serial killer's machinations and a teenage boy who committed suicide.

A crime story (with strong elements of comedy) that pits a determined detective against a gang of pickpockets in Osaka. The detective (played by...

When a fugitive begins a romance with the woman hiding him from the law, it becomes uncertain whether he will ever escape the shadow of his heinous...

The sexual experiences of the passionate Sakiko, from her fling with her boss in her first job to her ending up as a prostitute.

Story of a resourceful hobo (Kobayashi), a con woman (Takamine) who pretends to be a victim of the Nagasaki A-bomb, and two orphaned children who...

Girl Boss Ruriko and her cellmates escape from a greedy corrupt reform school that's more interested in cheating the government out of money than...

After their father dies, his children try to get by on a house boat.

1959 Japanese movie

A former soldier is caught working the black market and sent to prison while his partner escapes and goes on to become a gangster, but their paths...

A middle-aged man's family loses patience with him as he struggles with his seemingly directionless life.

Akira leaves for the Mt. Gassan foothills before winter's onset, visiting the local temple and interacting with the residents all while falling for...

Love story of a working-class boy and girl.

1962 Japanese movie

The first film with Tetsuro Tamba as a detective. An exciting drama about the pursuit of a criminal, which takes place in Yokohama. Tamba...

Kizaki, who moved to Tokyo from the Kansai region to become a manga artist, is assigned to work at a used electrical appliance store where he works...

This Japanese action-adventure is set in the 17th century when all forms of swordplay were banned. One fighter, an excellent swordsman believes the...

Adaptation of the Shôji Yuki novel.

A young journalist interviews an elderly woman about being forced into prostitution in Borneo at a brothel called Sandakan No. 8.

Part 2 in a long running (8+1 films) action/comedy/melodrama series about a pair of short tempered, amoral, but not evil chinpira (Bunta Sugawara and...

The movie is centered around five friends as they end up spending the summer of 1962 shackled up together in a tiny studio apartment in Tokyo. The...

Veteran filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi rounds out the second of his two trilogies about his hometown of Onomichi with this film about the budding...

Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka's adaptation of a manga by Shotaro Ishinomori was an official selection at the 5th Shanghai International Film Festival...

Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him...

Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover...

A single mother from the country raising a 6th grade boy comes to Tokyo, leaves the boy to live with his uncle's family, runs a struggling grocery...

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...

In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the...

The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even after Ueno's death.

Considered one of the finest late Naruses and a model of film biography, A Wanderer’s Notebook features remarkable performances by Hideko...

A dying businessman intends to will his fortune to his three illegitimate children, whose whereabouts are unknown, so a bevy of lawyers and...

In 1930, the chance meeting of a novelist and one of his fans opens the door to a series of mysterious events culminating in the death of a wealthy...

After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his dear wife and his old...

A touching story about a young boy, Genta, who bravely takes on life's challenges in hopes of finding a better life for himself and his sickly mother.

A 1981 TV movie based on a short story by Kuniko Mukoda, starring Kaori Momoi and Jinpachi Nezu. A housewife is slowly tempted by a mysterious man...

This story is based on the novel "Jo no mai" by Tomiko Miyao which is based on the life of painter Shōen Uemura (1875–1949), the first woman...

"The Time of Reckoning" transforms a screwball-comedy plot into a sober study of a successful businessman with serious relationship problems...

Junkichi is the son of a rich landlord, while Koyuki is the daughter of a poor lumber worker. The mismatched pair soon finds love, and against his...

Two detectives begin a stakeout based on the slim chance of catching a murderer whom they suspect will try to reunite with an old flame.

Ayako, a young woman from a rural fishing village, is sold by her family into a brothel when her father takes ill. There, she is quickly stripped of...

A demobilized soldier becomes a day laborer with a road construction gang, and his wife goes to work to bolster their income. Their modest dream is...

Suspense drama about a married salaryman whose affair with one of his co-workers is compromised when, returning from a clandestine meeting with his...

A housewife whose memoir of divorce is selected becomes an editorial staff member, something she has always dreamed of. However, her divorce is a...

A group of five rookie insurance salespersons, driven to desperation by the impossibility of their work in Japan's failing postwar economy, form a...

Ayako (Sayuri Yoshinaga) is a free-willed college girl who shares a room with Takako and Kimie. They each have a clear vision of what they want from...

Japanese comedy film.

This is a sad and beautiful story about a father who is a popular comedian and a son who suffered by an incurable disease.

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...

When the Shogunates greatest secret is stolen, the fate of the nation hangs in the balance. The Shogunate sends an incompetent cop, Tanaka, to Kyoto...

A group of seemingly ordinary merchants is really a band of assassins for hire. When they discover that all the assassins in Edo are being killed...

A university student moves into an apartment building and becomes involved with a waitress. The landlord then attempts to evict the tenants and sell...

Fifth movie in the Hissatsu (Sure Death!) Series. At the behest of a corrupt bureaucrat, a mysterious band of murderers wage a bloody battle against...

When an artist dies, the official cause of death is judged to be a stroke, but his daughter suspects foul play. She recruits the services of an...

The great Bunta stars as a gangster who is sent to jail for the sake of his gang, but when he’s released he finds everything completely changed...

A young factory worker struggles to figure out what she wants to do with her life.

Having been demoted for failing to prevent the murder of one of his superiors, Mondo is startled by a group of masked thugs who are soon attacked in...

A police investigator cracks down on yakuza business, but once he realizes the police are in negotiations with certain factions, he sides with his...

Kingoro Tamai moves with his wife and son to the port city of Wakamatsu. He organizes the Tamai-gumi, a stevedore group, to vie for work with two...

Tai Kato’s early 20th century set yakuza epic about an ordinary merchant girl (Hiroko Maki) who crosses paths with an assassin (Tetsuya...

During an assignment, foreign correspondent Steve Martin spends a layover in Tokyo and is caught amid the rampage of an unstoppable prehistoric...

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Ikiru" (1952).

The harrowing joruney of Kinu Wada, a young woman who is sold into prostitution to pay her family's debts.

Satoko is a mistress by trade or fate: when her master, the silkscreen artist of the Kohoan Temple in Kyoto, dies, she is given to the temple's...

Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful...

In 1947, in Kobe, Japan, a local street gang fights for their survival when its turf is overrun by United States occupation forces and international...

A ryokan maid is on trial for pushing a familiar guest off a cliff to his death. An eager attorney offers to take the case to gain notoriety.

A young girl in an industrial town is saving her money to enter college. But her drunken father loses his job, her mother cannot make ends meet, and...

In the wake of the 1956 Prostitution Prevention Law, a young woman recently released from one of Japan's new rehabilitation centers struggles to...

A violent fire one evening kills a husband and wife couple and burns their Kazusaya rice shop to ashes. Their daughter Sachi manages to make it out...

This show marks the return of the jidaigeki series "Hissatsu Shigotonin," which has had several seasons between the 1970s and the 1990s. The...

A highly anticipated cultural festival is less than a week away for the students of a local high school when mysterious, seemingly paranormal events...

A romantic comedy, it comically depicts a great twist of fate between a young man who leads an attractive life and a girl who was unlucky in life.

A young boy, Atsu, grows up along the banks of the Shimanto River in rural southern Shikoku. He comes to grips with the unfairness of life and the...

The film stars two of Itami's regular actors, Nobuko Miyamoto as a geisha who brings luck to the men with whom she sleeps, and Masahiko Tsugawa as...

The female members of the family of the Minister of Health and Welfare, who has just proposed a program of birth control, become pregnant one after...

When a wealthy, selfish family decides to take care of an elderly hobo who collapsed near their home, they are beset by visits from his numerous...

Third movie in the Hissatsu (Sure Death!) Series. Chasing the killer of a lawman, a group of assassins fall foul of a group of blackmarket...

A young woman named Izumi suffers the loss of her boyfriend Junichi, who died from a fatal motorcycle accident. The shock from her boyfriend's sudden...

Upon his release from prison, Masa (Bunta Sugawara) is disappointed to not be picked up by his brother Katsu (Tamio Kawaji). After hitching a ride on...

Home-design sales representative Tomohiro lives with his wife and their son. As his job involves houses, it is his motto to take great care of the...

"Do Not Fall" - Set during Japan's Meiji period, three sisters are abused and exploited by their harsh father, including a daughter who plays the...

A Toho film featuring the comedy duo Konto 55, (コント55号), comprised of comedians Kinichi Hagimoto and Jiro Sakagami.

A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.

The president of the Japanese National Railways is found dead during a period in which train service is plagued by numerous layoffs, strikes and...

Former boxer Daishiro lost his wife, and his only son, Kaoru, went missing, it was a heavy blow for Daishiro. One day, Daishiro got a call from his...

A group of Japanese tourists try to forget their pasts and find themselves in India.

Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard.

University student Arima Yasuhiro becomes acquainted with Ishihama, the president of a pharmaceutical company with a dark past, slowly but surely...

In this direct continuation of the earlier special, Godai tries to figure out what to do with his life after college while competing with Kyoko's...

Four people are discovered brutally murdered in an up-scale high-rise apartment. All the victims appear to be family, but as the investigation...

Could I But Live

"When human beings venture too far along a trail made by wild beasts, it is said, they quite often discover themselves on a road of no return." ...

A nanny, played by Sayuri Yoshinaga, who lives and works in a Tokyo family, causes all kinds of waves with her outspoken personality and behavior in...

A human drama of joys and sorrows about a married woman living in an apartment complex who suddenly finds herself with a large sum of money and the...

Sequel to "真実の愛情を求めて　何処へ" (1954). A coming-of-age drama adapted from the novel by Yojiro Ishizaka.

1960 Toei film.

Set in a juvenile detention center and depicted with a documentary touch.

The chronicles of Sakamoto Ryoma, a pre-revolutionary who helped shape the face of modern Japan. In order to study swordsmanship, Ryoma heads for Edo...

It tells about the women's view on love and marriage through the love affair of three women. Ayako, a rampant college student; OL Takako who works...

Although 23 year old Yamada Naoko is a "super" magician, she is continously fired and constantly hounded by her landlady for the rent being late....

Ryōmaden is the 49th NHK Taiga drama. It was shown on NHK from January 3 to November 28, 2010 spanning 48 episodes. The story centers on the life of...

The Tsuru family is a family of nine, headed by Kamejiro. Kamejiro is the president of a construction company that has made a fortune in its first...

The drama depicts the lives and loves of people living in three different environments: a family consisting of two brothers and their parents; a...

As a former gang member, Hazama Ichiban witnessed the worst side of the emergency medical system and vowed to become a doctor to change it. With the...

A historical drama about the days of youth of the famous yakuza boss, the protector of ordinary people Chuji Kunisada. The film was made to...

The drama features two families, the all-male Shibata family and the all-female Inaba family, and depicts the interactions between the two families...

This is the story of a young mother, Kitayama Nazuna, and her son Taiyo from Ohma, a small town at the tip of a peninsula in Aomori. Taiyo's father,...

The 6th NHK Asadora. Starring Fumie Kashiyama as a woman, born in the Meiji era, who raises a family by herself.

The day before he leaves on a business trip to Europe, Shoji meets an old man named Ogawa while visiting his younger brother in the hospital. Ogawa...

"Don't pity me, just give me money." A smart little girl, Suzu, for the sake of her beloved sick mother, has no choice but to attempt all ways to...

Continuation of the popular series of films about the assassins in Edo. This show marks the return of the jidaigeki series "Hissatsu Shigotonin,"...

The drama begins in August 1945, three days after the end of the Pacific war. A freight train completely jam-packed with passengers heads for Aomori...

The 78th NHK Asadora is Hitomi. The series takes place in the old shitamachi area of Tokyo, and in these most recent episodes, 20-year old heroine...

Nakamura Mondo was relegated to a post in Hachioji from the Minamimachi Bugyōsho and he has retired from professional assassin. But one day he was...