The Hidden Fortress

In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a

Mothra vs. Godzilla

Journalists Ichiro Sakai and Junko cover the wreckage of a typhoon when an enormous egg is found and

Traveling with Breeze

1953 Hiroshi Inagaki movie.

Kwaidan

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four fol

Drunken Angel

In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculos

Yasugorō shusse

Home-Brewed Tatsu

1962 Japanese movie

The Scarlet Camellia

A young woman begins murdering all those responsible for her ailing father's condition. Because the

Zokuzoku Ôban: Dotô hen

Ushinosuke returns to his hometown to become a farmer. Part three (of four) of the film adaptation

Ôban

A young country boy leaves his village for Tokyo, where he begins to work as a stock trader. First p

Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen

Ushinosuke returns broke to his hometown, where everyone believes he's rich and successful. Part tw

The Bride from Japan

A young Japanese-American comes from California looking for a bride, going on blind dates with three

The King

The film takes place at the junction of the two eras of Meiji and Taisho. Sakata Sankichi, an uneduc

Desperado Outpost

When Sergeant Okubo's brother is murdered at a Japanese outpost in Northern China during the Second

My Hobo

Story of a resourceful hobo (Kobayashi), a con woman (Takamine) who pretends to be a victim of the N

Omatsuri hanjiro

Every year, at the festival, familiar merchants such as Toraemon, a magic trick, Tokubei, a blowgun,

Yajikita dōchū sugoroku

1958 Japanese movie

Our Failures

Tells the story of Shintaro, a lawyer who quits his job to work at a camera factory, and his love ad

Farewell Rabaul

A squadron of Japanese fighter pilots realise that they are never going to win the war when they und

Ōwarai Jiro chō ikka: Sanshita nitei kenjū

Comedy movie

Shozo, a Cat and Two Women

Shozo is plagued by the needs of his ex-wife and his current one, but prefers the company of his cat

Pirates

Yojimbo

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival

The Storm

A widowed high-school teacher tries to raise his four children alone.

Beast Man Snow Man

Three competing parties all race against time to track down an elusive creature known only as the Sn

Ikiru

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for

Seven Samurai

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs pr

I Live in Fear

An aging foundry patriarch, gripped by terror of nuclear annihilation, tries to uproot his family to

Throne of Blood

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who pred

The Human Condition I: No Greater Love

After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of la

Late Chrysanthemums

With delicate, unobtrusive strokes, Naruse evokes both the humor and bitterness of his characters’ d

Wife

Ten years into a marriage, the wife is disappointed by the husband's lack of financial success, mean

社長野郎ども

The Legend of the White Serpent

Lavish Japanese-Chinese coproduction based on an ancient Chinese legend about a man who falls in lov

Mr. Pu

A math teacher loses his job while falling in love with a local girl.

The Living Koheiji

The actor Koheiji is terribly in love with the wife of his best friend, the playwright Takuro; to ge

Marital Relations

The story of a couple, a spoiled son and a down-to-earth girl, in Osaka in the early Showa era. The

Yagyu Secret Scrolls

In the Tokugawa Era, the clan of Lord Yagyu has hidden away three scrolls containing clan secrets wh

Samurai Saga

Edmund Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, transplanted to Japan. A poet-warrior with an oversized no

Daredevil in the Castle

During the raging war between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans, the swordsman Mohei (whose family has

Whirlwind

Set at the end of the Siege of Osaka this film follows the exploits of several members of the defeat

The Three Treasures

The legend of the birth of Shintoism. In Fourth Century Japan, the Emperor's son Ouso expects to suc

Snow Country

It's a man's world. Shimamura, an artist, comes to this snowbound town to rejuvenate himself. He con

The Beast Shall Die

A promising post-graduate literature student is transformed into a psychotic killer following the su

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She

The Lone Journey

Forced on the road by yakuza obligations, a man sets out on a reckless journey to Tsumagoi. Movie p

The Hotelman's Holiday

Based on the novel "Ekimae Ryokan" by Masuji Ibuse, a longtime hotel employee struggles to bring his

Husband and Wife

A married couple looking for an apartment move in with the husband's co-worker, a widower. The husba

A Gang of Five

A group of five law enforcers search Edo for a missing sword.

Jirocho's New Year

The Man Who Came to Port

An Ishiro Honda film.

Lovetide

An Ishiro Honda film.

Chûshingura

After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the c

Saga of the Vagabonds

Lord Taro must deliver a money chest but is robbed by brigands led by Jibu. One of Jibu's men, Rokur

Untamed Woman

A woman marries, gives birth to a stillborn child, and divorces, falls in love with a hotel-keeper,

The Wiser Age

Drama about the lives of the five daughters and daughter-in-law of a store owner.

The Irresponsible Fool

Picked up and raised on an island in the Seto Inland Sea, Yasukichi's only trait is his innate misch

Floating Clouds

A married Japanese forester during WWII is sent to Indochina to manage forests. He meets a young Jap

True Osaka Grit

Based on a novel by Kôen Hasegawa

Youth of Heiji Senigata

Red-Light Bases

Story about a poor Japanese woman living near an American army base who resorts to prostitution.

Blind Wolf

Jakoman and Tetsu

In a village subsisting on it herring fishery, a one-eyed criminal named Jakoman terrorizes the inha

Half Human: The Story of the Abominable Snowman

An American scientist tells two colleagues about the finding of an abominable snowman living in the

Beast Alley

Desperate to escape her grueling life caring for her paralyzed husband, Tamiko murders him and burns

Story of Lightning

Gensaburo Funaki and Oyuki were childhood friends, but Gensaburo misunderstood that Oyuki was hesita

Life of a Country Doctor

A skilled country doctor's talents are such that he can even perform operations as difficult and nov

Garakuta

1964 Japanese movie

Onatsu Detective Case: Mad Slasher

Japanese crime film

The Enchanting Devil

Thriller directed by Seiji Maruyama

The Maiden Courtesan

Period romantic drama.

The Last Gunfight

Japanese police detective Saburo Fujioka is suspected of corruption, demoted, and sent to the city o

Bandits on the Wind

1961 Japanese movie

How the Bell of Liberty Rings

Set during Japan's Bakumatsu period, the film follows Fukuzawa Yukichi, a poor samurai's son who def

Playboy President: Part II

After a promotion brings new professional challenges, a diligent employee is pulled into corporate m

Fox and Raccoon

A group of hustling peddlers swindle rural towns with fake goods, facing betrayals, close calls, and

Three Dolls in College

The first of eight "Three Dolls" features. In this entry the girls, students at Nichinan University,

Geisha in the Old City

Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, the drama, set in the brothels of Shimabara in post-war Kyoto, is a mov

Start Here

Teacher Miyako Hanai, disillusioned by her sisters’ unhappy marriages, rejects love until family con