Rhapsody in August

An elderly Nagasaki hibakusha spends a summer caring for her four grandchildren, whose curiosity abo

Tampopo

In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside

47 Ronin

Kon Ichikawa's retelling of the classic true story of Samurai honor. When a young clan lord is force

Hachiko

The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even

Boiling Point

Masaki, a baseball player and gas-station attendant, gets into trouble with the local Yakuza and goe

Dodes'ka-den

On a Tokyo dump’s shantytown edge, interwoven vignettes follow residents scraping by: a boy who “dri

Bullet Ballet

After his girlfriend commits suicide, a man becomes embroiled in gang warfare attempting to obtain a

The Wolves

After going to prison for killing the boss of the Kanno gang, Seji Iwahashi (Tatsuya Nakadai) gets r

Madadayo

In postwar Tokyo, beloved writer-professor Hyakken Uchida retires and is buoyed through hardship by

Rikyu

Late in the 1500s, an aging tea master teaches the way of tea to a headstrong Shogun. Through force

八幡鳩九郎

1962 Japanese movie

Villain

Shimizu Yuichi is a shy and lonely day laborer looking for love. He aimlessly spends time correspond

Goyokin

A guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place.

Tora! Tora! Tora!

In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos

Pitfall

A man wanders into a seemingly deserted town with his young son in search of work. But after a bit o

Zatoichi's Pilgrimage

Zatoichi's trek through 88 temples to atone for his violent past is interrupted as he stumbles into

Nakibokuro

Junko Mizuta, who is returning from juvenile training school, is a former motorcycle gang. Even thou

The Long Darkness

A delicate study of the relationship between two disillusioned young people, shot in atmospheric mon

Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis

A demonic reincarnation of a Japanese general from the 10th century appears in the early 20th centur

Cash Calls Hell

Before leaving prison, Oida uncomfortably enters into an agreement with his cell mate: in exchange f

Beauty

Set in a small Nagano village in the 1930s, the film follows Hanji, a young boy captivated by a loca

Fifth Movement

When a broadcasting company takes away its financial support from a symphony orchestra, some of the

Kataashi no ēsu

For the coming day

Miyo Hanayama works as a home care nurse, supporting the home care of patients who are close to dea

Letter from the Mountain

Husband and wife Michiko and Takao move from their urban existence in Tokyo to the isolated, rural f

Young People

"Young People" is a story about the lives of four brothers and a sister, Sato. After the death of hi

Kitokito!

Coming of age story about a boy and his mother.

The Summit: A Chronicle Of Stones to Serenity

In 1907, a group of men climb an unconquered peak in the last unmapped region of Japan.

A Samurai Chronicle

A retired samurai must redeem himself for a crime that he committed earlier in his life.

The Oil-Hell Murder

The indolent son of an oil vendor becomes a regular customer of a prostitute, racks up a mountain of

Home from the Sea

On a beautiful island in Seto Inner Sea, Seichi and Minko make their living by transporting rocks to

Luminous Moss

A headmaster and a novelist, looking for inspiration, regard a strange natural phenomenon before sha

Black Board

Takeshi Yasui, a junior high school student is found dead in a river. The police investigate it as a

Farewell, Kuro

Based on a true story set in Matsumoto city, Nagano, during 1960s. A stray dog wanders into a high s

Police Precinct: Backing Investigation

A man confessed to killing a woman in a labyrinth 2 years ago. The detectives must now conduct a "ba

Gassan

Akira leaves for the Mt. Gassan foothills before winter's onset, visiting the local temple and inter

Men and War II: Land of Love and Sorrow

Second part of an epic drama of war and its effects upon human beings, follows the fortunes of the G

Where Spring Comes Late

The story is set in 1970 during the time of the first EXPO in Japan. The film’s main figure is a min

The Desperate

A noir drama depicting the downfall of a veteran detective who hates evil and falls into its depths.

Homicide

This film tells about the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Aikawa, the head of the Bureau of Military Af

After the Rain

A group of travelers is stranded in a small country inn when the river floods during heavy rains. As

Asian Blue: Ukishima-maru Incident

Asian Blue focuses on Koreans brought to Japan to work in forced-labor brigades during World War II

The Living Koheiji

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

It's Tough Being a Man (Television Drama DVD Edit Edition)

This is the DVD version of the TV show, which consists of a single video that plays the first and la

Climbing to Spring

Toru grew up in alpine countryside around Mount Tate. As a child, he resented the yearly trek up the

Half a Confession

Half a Confession introduces itself as a thriller and abruptly changes gears, transforming into a ta

Star Reformer

Satoshi Nomura, a top-level bureaucrat of a prefecture government, has passion for his career. One d

Double Suicide of Sonezaki

Suicide has long been used as a form of social protest in Japan. In this film, set in 1703, samurai

Basara: The Princess Goh

Furuta Oribe is ordered to become tea master under Toyotomi Hideyoshi after his teacher Sen no Rikyū

Big Shots Die at Dawn

Grown up son arrives home to learn his father, the newly elected mayor, has been assassinated. So he

Bring Me the Head of Shichiemon!

During the Sengoku period, an army relentlessly lays siege to a castle, but they will need the head

War and Youth

An auto repairman's daughter questions him about what happened to her aunt during the war, but the f

The Firefly

Japanese film icon Ken Takakura, who has starred in over 100 films, stars in this elegiac look at wa

Ran

Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan w

Dreams

Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a

Harikomi

When a team of detectives lose the trail of a murderer, they decide to keep an eye on the suspect’s

Harakiri

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemp

Glowing Autumn

A very beautiful Japanese woman is in love with Persian carpets. She is being chased by lecherous Sa

Song of the Devil

Bakyo is a talented but unsuccessful rakugo artist. The very successful Rokyu wants to take Bakyo un

Lost in the Wilderness

The life and travels of adventurer Naomi Uemura, who disappeared in Alaska in 1984. A member of the

Foujita

A biopic of seminal 20th century artist Leonard Foujita, a contemporary of Picasso and Modigliani, w

The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

Kaji is sent to the Japanese army labeled Red and is mistreated by the vets. Along his assignment, K

The Far Road

Set in the time of steam locomotives and covering a period of almost 30 years, this sensitive film t

The Class of the Sewage Canal

The struggle of a young man and boys who try to create the environment where they can speak their mi

Friendship

Fourteen-year old student Ayumi has leukemia and starts losing hair. She becomes depressed but recei

Midnight Diner 2

The Master’s late-night diner welcomes a woman troubled by funeral fans, an elderly scam victim, and

Lost in Time

A story of friendship between two women, Yae and Kiyoko. Their friendship is tested when artist Yae,

Fight of the Gamblers

Ryuji Oshima, a gambler, kills Saiga in self-defense, and considering himself unfit to lead men, sec

The Village

This appears to be a labor of love. Its about a village which is given the opportunity to put on a m

Yamato

Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the pre

The Face of Another

A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his doctor, but the mask starts al

Christmas in August

A Japanese remake of the South Korean film of the same name.

Main Line to Terror

Akiyama is an intern, disgusted with the noise pollution caused by the bullet trains and the heart a

Three Outlaw Samurai

Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dic

Demon Pond

When a lone traveler stumbles upon a remote, drought-stricken village, he finds himself engulfed in

House on Fire

In the 50s, the complicated life of a popular writer who must share his life with his family, his nu

Village of Eight Gravestones

The heir to a family fortune discovers that a curse has been placed on it, put there centuries befor

A Thousand Suspects

Suspense film based on Ryuji Hori's non-fiction book about the kidnapping and murder of 4-year-old Y

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Dodes'ka-den'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses

A Trap

When her only relative, her elder brother is accused of robbing and murdering an old woman loan-shar

Kamigata Kugaizoshi

"Do Not Fall" - Set during Japan's Meiji period, three sisters are abused and exploited by their har

Zoku ôsho

Adaptation of novel.

Organized Violence

A war breaks out on the streets between rivaling Yakuza clans.

Jose Torres

A documentary about the eponymous Puerto Rican boxer

The Fossil

An industrialist is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He is on a trip to Europe at the time, and a gli

Summer Soldiers

During the Vietnam War, an American G.I. deserts his base in Japan and escapes to Tokyo with the hel

Have a Song on Your Lips

A young piano prodigy, Yuri Kashiwagi, returns to her hometown after several years and joins a middl

Eternal Monument

A remake of the 1953 film of the same name.

Pressure of Guilt

Fusa

Period piece about a samurai who marries a mysterious beautiful young woman who claims to have lost

Hole in the Pants

A boy transfers into a new high school in the big city. He gets bullied, but meets a pretty girl. He

Tom Cat Holmes' Deduction

A detective film by Nobuhiko Ōbayashi. Made for TV.

An Ocean to Cross

Set in Japan's Tenpyou era (729-749 CE), four young monks are sent to China to study Buddhism and br

The Story of Pure Love

Junai Monogatari AKA Story of Pure Love is about two poor youths, Mitsuko and Kando, rebelling again

Yun’s Town

A Japanese boy in love with a girl of Korean origin must battle the prejudices of those around him i

Willful Murder

The president of the Japanese National Railways is found dead during a period in which train service

Sada

The film follows the life of Sada Abe, who became a celebrity in 1936 after strangling her lover and

The Gate of Youth

Mainly the story of Shinsuke and his stepmother, ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his mid-teens

The Love and Adventures of Kuroki Taro

Taro Kuroki, 42, is a stuntman with a samurai's heart. He loves adventures, plays pranks with the po

Last Friends

Following the lives of three college rugby players drafted to serve in the military during WWII. Tho

Tora-san's Runaway

After an encounter with a dying yakuza's son and at his sister Sakura's urging, Torajiro attempts to

Actress

Story of famed Japanese actress Kinuyo Tanaka, with an emphasis on her working relationship with dir

This Madding Crowd

The Cliff of Time

A film adaptation of the second play from "The Man Who Turned Into A Stick" by Kōbō Abe himself.

The Professor and His Beloved Equation

This is the story between single mother housekeeper and mathematics professor,who has a brain damage

TANNKA

Kaori, a professional thirty-something caught between her passion for an older married man and the i

Koya Choken-bou oboegaki

The Corporation

Tadashi Iki returns to Japan from a Soviet gulag 11 years after being captured during the invasion o

Deep River

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

The Hall of the Crying Deer

The Story of Jiro

Adaptation of the classic masterpiece about the relationship between parents and their children.

Goodbye for Tomorrow

People from all walks of life all receive mysterious messages from loved ones who were killed 3 mont

Konnichiwa Hânesu

A female college student who aims to become a pianist meets a boy who raises a guide dog.

The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai

In the turbulent last days of the Edo period, Kawai Tsugunosuke, a Japanese samurai serving the Maki

Japan's Longest Day

Following the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and th

Hotoke

Rai pedals his bike and trailer about town, collecting old iron and sowing flower seeds. Because his

The Woman Who Took the Local Paper

Based on the original mystery novel by Seicho Matsumoto. Novelist Ryuji Sugimoto is publishing his

The Cold-Hearted Sea

A film adaptation of the novel of the same title written by Hiroshi Hatayama (畑山博).

Let Him Rest in Peace

This TV dramatization of Kitakata Kenzo's hard-boiled novel depicts a man who fights a deadly battle

国東物語

Trinacria: Porsche 959

A film director plans to make a film about a man who embarks on a journey to find a missing musician

The 8-Tomb Village

A band of samurai warriors places a curse on a family fortune thus frustrating the heir 4 centuries

The Human Condition

The Human Condition follows the journey of the well-intentioned, yet naïve Kaji who transitions from