Shoichi Ozawa
Also Known As: Shôichi Ozawa , Соити Одзава, Сёити Одзава
Biography: Shōichi Ozawa (小沢 昭一, Ozawa Shōichi, April 6, 1929 – December 10, 2012) was a Japanese actor, radio host, singer, and prominent researcher and expert on Japanese folk art. He also founded the Shabondama-za theater company. Ozawa, who was born in Tokyo, graduated from Waseda University. He began acting after college, beginning with his debut stage role in 1951. He also appeared in television and film roles, acting quite frequently in films directed by Shohei Imamura and Yūzō Kawashima. In 1971, Ozawa launched his long running radio show.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Adult: No
Birthday: April 06, 1929
Age: 96 years old
Gender: Male
Deathday: December 10, 2012
Popularity:
Known For:
The Eel
Overview: A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After his release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking to almost no one except for an eel he befriended while in prison.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1997-05-12
Popularity:
Pigs and Battleships
Overview: 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.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-01-21
Popularity:
A Modern Samurai Village
Overview: Tajima Yumi, in grade school, is overjoyed when her father says they are moving to an apartment in a big city. But the beautiful home she had imagined is in a slum area called Samurai Village, a little settlement, where people live from hand to mouth. To make things worse, a group of vagrants descends on the already crowded ragpickers' village. The sight depresses and saddens little Yumi, but when her father gives up drinking, it makes up for everything in her eyes, and when he runs past liquor shops to avoid temptation, Yumi's laughter rings out merrily again. A unique social drama depicting the growth of a new generation that confronts the world of adults full of vanity in the image of a girl living in poverty.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-02-24
Popularity:
Explosion Course
Overview: Auto-racing crews prepare for the Indy car race near Fuji in this Japanese documentary. Award-winning director Hiroshi Teshigahara compares the celebrated event with the enthusiasm of the youth of the time to the sport. Narration is provided by Shoichi Ozawa and compliments a well-crafted feature that will only appeal to die-hard auto-racing fans.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-02-04
Popularity:
The Ballad of Narayama
Overview: In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse they would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1983-04-29
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The Pornographers
Overview: 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.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-03-12
Popularity:
The Insect Woman
Overview: A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-11-16
Popularity:
Stolen Desire
Overview: A rambunctious and ribald tale of a troupe of travelling actors who alternate highlights of kabuki theatre with strip shows.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-05-20
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Neon taiheiki
Overview:
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-04-13
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Foundry Town
Overview: Set in Kawaguchi in the early 60s, this simple story chronicles the lives of foundry families and one girl's dreams of higher education.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-04-08
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Shūmatsu-ya hanjō-ki
Overview:
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-04-22
Popularity:
The River Yokobori
Overview: Taka, the daughter of Naniwa-ya, a longtime Osaka store owner, married Kichisaburo Kawashima-ya, the son of a kimono wholesaler. Her husband just tried to play with her like a sweet candy, but Taka fell in love with him. One day, the father-in-law suddenly dies, and the Kawashima-ya family fortune is rapidly changing. However, the depravity of Kichisaburo does not subside...
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-09-15
Popularity:
Take Aim at the Police Van
Overview: A sniper kills two prisoners in a police van, and the driver sets out to find the killer.
Genres: Thriller Mystery Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-01-27
Popularity:
Pleasures of the Flesh
Overview: A corrupt businessman blackmails the lovelorn reprobate Atsushi into watching over his suitcase full of embezzled cash while he serves a jail sentence.
Genres: Drama Comedy Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-08-29
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Ōatari hyappatsuhyakuchū
Overview: 1961 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-04-23
Popularity:
Badge of the Night
Overview: A noir action whodunit with Kobayashi his usual jaunty self as the smart aleck private eye whose missing person search soon becomes a murder case. Nightclub-managing, drug-dealing gangster Uchida is the prime suspect in the case until he commits suicide. Kobayashi then discovers evidence that points to the doctor sibling of an innocent girl. The climax in a rural snowy locale is suspenseful and well-staged.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-03-31
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Kigeki Ijiwaru Daishougai
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-03-20
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Nuclear Scrapbook
Overview: A film essay about nuclear energy in Japan, composed of newspaper clippings collected in scrapbooks
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-11-30
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Silence Has No Wings
Overview: Following the journey of a caterpillar along the Japanese islands from Nagasaki to Hokkaido, this allegorical and oblique first feature film by Kuroki depicts in exquisite images a series of encounters and life's turning points.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-02-11
Popularity:
The Human Bullet
Overview: A soldier has been in the Japanese military for the entirety of WWII, and in that time, his dedication to the army has never faltered. However, as the war draws to a close, his commanding officers become increasingly desperate and push their men to ever more absurd extremes. The ridiculousness of the orders from above peak when the hero of the story is assigned to drive a one-man submarine straight into the hull of an enemy battleship.
Genres: Comedy Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-10-22
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Japan for Sale
Overview: The sixth "Japan's No. 1 Man" feature. Followed by "Japan’s No. 1 Disconnected Man".
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-11-02
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A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era
Overview: 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 various tasks amidst the tumult of the end of the shogunate—but always by making sure to get a “commission” for his troubles.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-07-14
Popularity:
Elegant Beast
Overview: A greedy, materialistic family attempts to cover-up the embezzlement committed by the son while keeping their other schemes active. They discover there are other, equally conniving players involved.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-12-26
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How to Be the Worst of Office Workers
Overview: A salaryman comedy.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-06-22
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Black Comedy - Ah, Fool
Overview: A timid salaryman is the subject of this black comedy.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-06-14
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Forbidden Lips
Overview: A youth lyrical story of pure love of a girl who grew up in the Kyoto Gion quarter, with a geisha mother and sisters Maiko and a college student.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-01-03
Popularity:
Seisaku's Wife
Overview: On the eve of the Russo-Japanese war at the beginning of the 20th century, small-town girl Okane has married an old wealthy man to escape a life of poverty.
Genres: Drama Romance War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-06-25
Popularity:
Gonza the Spearman
Overview: The tragic story of Gonza, a handsome ladies man, set in the Tokugawa Period, a time in which appearances are very important. Gonza competes with Bannojō for the honor to perform the tea ceremony to celebrate the birth of an heir to the lord of their clan. To see the sacred tea scrolls Gonza promises to marry the daughter of the family which possesses them, even though he is unofficially engaged to another. When studying the scrolls with Osai, the mother of the house, Bannojō sneaks into the house and steals their obis and runs through the town proclaiming the two as adulterers.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-01-15
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A Sandcastle Model Family Home
Overview: An opportune salaryman moves his family into a model mansion for 12 months; unfortunately, they must allow prospective buyers to trek through their home during business hours.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1989-09-15
Popularity:
The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan
Overview: An outlaw pushes the residents of Edo's red light district to rebel against a growing number of stifling, moralistic laws.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-04-18
Popularity:
Wild Ducks and Green Onions
Overview: The four-member con group, including the intellectual boss Nobukichi Ishiguro (Masayuki Mori), who is called an "aristocrat con man" for his elegant appearance; the amorous Kyuhei Maruki (Tadao Takashima); the inventive Yosuke Mori (Hideo Sunatsuka); and the amorous Mami (Mako Midori), set one bizarre trap after another in their quest for the perfect crime in this wry crime comedy.
Genres: Adventure Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-03-16
Popularity:
Fresh Leaves
Overview: Keiko is pretty and intelligent but her home life is not a happy one. Never having known a father's love, she develops a possessive attachment to Mr. Mazaki, the new mathematics teacher.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-10-06
Popularity:
Eigo ni yowai otoko azuma wa azuma, nishi wa nishi
Overview: 1962 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-06-24
Popularity:
Kaoru Kiri: The Best Lesbian In Japan, Authentic Account
Overview: A backstage documentary and interview with the real life lesbian stage performer Kaoru Kiri mixed with a fictional life of her rejected lover.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-08-28
Popularity:
Quick-Draw Dog
Overview: Quick Drawer Dog (早射ち犬 Hayauchi inu) is a 1967 film directed by Tetsutarō Murano. It is the eighth film in the Inu series.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-05-27
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Whistling in the Darkness
Overview: A 1961 crime film.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-05-28
Popularity:
Vengeance Is Mine
Overview: A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1979-04-21
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Frankie the Milkman
Overview: Roppeita is big in size, clumsy and full of energy. When his grandfather orders him to move out to Tokyo to save a sinking milk delivery business a distant relative of his runs, he encounters the most strangest of clientele.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-12-05
Popularity:
Shashō monogatari tabi wa michidzure
Overview: 1962 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-10-19
Popularity:
Ponkotsu oyaji
Overview: 1962 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-11-14
Popularity:
He's the Witness
Overview: Takuya witnesses the homicide of the detective leading an investigation into the murder of the chairman of the People’s Economic Association, and he disguises himself.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-03-26
Popularity:
I Can Hear the Duck Singing
Overview: A man fed up with city life moves to a village in the mountains
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1993-09-11
Popularity:
Wolves of the Night
Overview: A unique action drama in which a ruthless yakuza encounters a woman and realizes his true love as the conflict between the yakuza intensifies.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-10-08
Popularity:
Winter's Flower
Overview: Kanno is a Yakuza. He had to kill Matsuoka who betrayed their boss. Kanno knew Matsuoka had a 3-year-old daughter named Youko. Before he gave himself to the police, he asked his trusted man to take care of her. While in prison, Kanno kept sending letters to Youko, disguising as an uncle in Brazil. 15 years later, Kanno is released. He is determined to live legitimately, however the Yakuza has not forgotten his wicked deed!
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-06-17
Popularity:
Why Not?
Overview: The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-01-08
Popularity:
Ichijo's Wet Lust
Overview: Ichijo Sayuri, once the legendary queen of Osaka strippers, has retired to run a sushi shop. She is awaiting her day in court after having been arrested for indecency at her farewell performance. While she was active, she was both the rival and the model for many young strippers. Harumi was one of them. Ichijo Sayuri was the real-life queen of Osaka strippers who was arrested on her final performance.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-10-07
Popularity:
Love for an Idiot
Overview: A middle-aged factory engineer trains, marries, and ultimately loses a teenage bride after she enslaves him to her whims.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-07-29
Popularity:
Boxer
Overview: In the midst of a match, a successful boxer - Hayato, has had enough of the sport. He lets himself get knocked, quits boxing, leaving his wife and start living alone with his mangy dog. One day a young mediocre boxer knocks at the door and wants to be Hayato's apprentice.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-10-01
Popularity:
Black Rain
Overview: Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1989-05-13
Popularity:
The Sleeping Beast Within
Overview: When a middle aged salaryman is unknowingly used by drug traffickers he is dishonored and fires back at the Yakuza bosses, with destructive consequences.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-04-09
Popularity:
Rennyo and His Mother
Overview: Rennyo was the key figure responsible for the restoration of Shin Buddhism in Japan, in particular the Honganji lineage that had a slump in its fortunes during the Middle Ages. According to the legend, his motivation was a pivotal childhood incident at the age of six when his mother summoned him and told him about his destiny to revive the fortunes of the Honganji school to which he was the next in line. She then mysteriously disappeared from the temple. Taking her words to heart, from a background of great poverty and hardship, at the age of 16 he set out to spread the word across the land.
Genres: Animation
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-10-07
Popularity:
Dai shusse monogatari
Overview: 1961 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-01-03
Popularity:
おヤエの家つき女中
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-04-01
Popularity:
Smashing the 0-Line
Overview: Katiri is a reporter so ambitiously amoral that he’ll sell out anyone—including his partner and the drug dealer he’s sleeping with—to get a scoop. But what happens when an even more ruthless female gang boss kidnaps his sister?
Genres: Drama Crime Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-06-25
Popularity:
The Golden Bat Shows Up
Overview: A comedy featuring The Golden Bat
Genres: Comedy Fantasy Action Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-05-13
Popularity:
Classmates
Overview: A story of young students trained to become Kamikaze pilots in World War II.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-06-03
Popularity:
Cold Rice, Osan, Chan
Overview: Three stories revolve around independence, a man searching for his wife, and a poor craftsman trying to make money.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-04-10
Popularity:
Express Train
Overview: Atsumi Kiyoshi, famous for his role in Torasan, stars as Aoki Goichi, a veteran train conductor who dedicates himself in providing quality service to his passengers. With his many years of experience, he never fails to find solutions for any troubles that occur along the way. A comedic drama revolving around the lives of those who ride the express train.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-06-03
Popularity:
The War Without Weapons
Overview: It's a story of the life of a man who advocated the necessity of sex education to children, which was unusual at the time, solely opposed to the amendment of the Peace Preservation Law, and was assassinated by a rightist prior to his opposition speech.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-11-08
Popularity:
The Girl from Osaka
Overview: Japanese comedy film.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-06-01
Popularity:
Our Town
Overview: In 1906, after finishing a tough migrant job in the Philippines, Takichi has returned to Japan. He starts to work as a rickshaw driver, but his lover had died of an illness, leaving a baby girl, Hatsue. Hatsue grows up beautifully and falls in love with Shintaro. But Takichi objects to their relationship...
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-08-28
Popularity:
The Ghost of the One Eyed Man
Overview: Japanese horror film directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-09-04
Popularity:
The Glamorous Ghost
Overview: Based on the novel by Naoki Prize-nominated author Taro Takeshita, a thriller full of black humor. A jealous husband murders his adulterous wife, then embarks on a crusade to extort all the wealthy men whom she had affairs with.
Genres: Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-10-03
Popularity:
A Smell of Money
Overview: Banjun organizes a group of con men to fleece the greedy and rich.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-12-05
Popularity:
Endless Desire
Overview: Set in post-war Japan, a group of five, four men and one woman, gathers in the basement of a butcher shop to dig up a cache of morphine buried during the war. A grimly humorous tale of twisted relationships as one by one each of the group is eliminated.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-11-18
Popularity:
Story of a Prostitute
Overview: Volunteering as a "comfort woman" on the Manchurian front, where she is expected to service hundreds of soldiers, Harumi is commandeered by the brutal Lieutenant Narita but falls for the sensitive Mikami, Narita's direct subordinate. Seijun Suzuki's Story of a Prostitute is a tragic love story as well as a rule-bending take on a popular Taijiro Tamura novel, challenging military and fraternal codes of honor, as seen through Harumi's eyes.
Genres: Drama Romance War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-02-27
Popularity:
Tora-san's Promise
Overview: Tora-san returns to his family's home to attend an elementary school class reunion. After he embarrasses himself by getting drunk and insulting all his ex-classmates, he resumes his travels. In Kyushu he meets an outspoken 18-year-old girl who becomes enamored of Tora-san and follows him around. One of Tora-san's old friends is terminally ill and makes Tora-san promise him to marry his wife once he is gone.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-12-28
Popularity:
Once a Rainy Day
Overview: Former playmates (Naito and Tamura), both long ago abandoned by their parents, recall their youth and fall in love.
Genres: Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-10-01
Popularity:
A Slope in the Sun
Overview: The young Takako Kuramoto has come to Tokyo to study and starts working for the rich Tashiro family as tutor of the daughter, Kumiko, while she receives attention from her two older brothers, Yukichi and Shinji. Meanwhile, the exact parentage of Shinji comes to light.
Genres: Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-04-15
Popularity:
A Story from Echigo
Overview: 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.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-05-09
Popularity:
The Song of the Season
Overview: A touching love story about a heroine who loses her parents in the war and tries to keep her pure love alive despite the many difficulties she faces.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-11-22
Popularity:
Bad Girl
Overview: Wakae is a 15 year old girl who lived under the same roof with her alcoholic father and stepmom. Her mother had died years ago. She spends her nights at a rundown bar, sharing drinks and cigarettes with the lowlife drunks. She has nowhere to turn and no one to talk to, until she is reunited with her childhood friend, Saburo, who brings warmth to her heart.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-03-16
Popularity:
Tokyo Knights
Overview: A college student takes over the family business in the field of organised crime.
Genres: Crime Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-02-01
Popularity:
Revenge
Overview: An innocuous comment during a weapon inspection wounds the pride of low-ranking samurai Shinpachi, leading to an argument with his superior. The situation snowballs out of control, leading to a deadly duel and political fallout which threatens the entire clan. Declared mentally unstable by the corrupt authority, Shinpachi begins his descent into true insanity…
Genres: Drama Thriller Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-11-01
Popularity:
Suzaki Paradise: Red Light District
Overview: A jobless young couple, Yoshigi and Tsutue, wind up at the outskirts of the Suzaki red-light district in Tokyo. Tsutue talks her way into a job pouring sake for male customers at a small bar run by a sympathetic older woman, while Yoshigi is shunted off into a nearby noodle shop, where he gets a job delivering noodles. Tsutue charms and runs off with one of her clients. Yoshigi, ignoring the attentions of a sweet co-worker, pursues Tsutue.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-07-31
Popularity:
Young Breasts
Overview: A delinquent young man (Kobayashi Akira) from a wealthy family decides to get in on a blackmailing scheme targeting his young stepmother (Watanabe Misako). However, he doesn't realize that his fellow blackmailers have their eyes on his girlfriend next.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-09-08
Popularity:
The Threat
Overview: Two escaped criminals who kidnapped a baby break into the house of Misawa, a man who works in an advertising agency and lives quietly with his family. They will force him to collect the child's ransom for them.
Genres: Crime Action Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-02-17
Popularity:
Room for Let
Overview: When Yumiko Tsuyama, a potter by profession, comes inquiring about a room for rent in an old mansion overlooking Osaka, she finds a bizarre collection of characters already living there. The unlikely leader of this menagerie is Yoda Goro, who speaks four languages fluently, is an expert in cabbage rolls, and has written how-to books encompassing every aspect of human existence.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-06-02
Popularity:
Our Happiness Alone
Overview: Mototsugu is the younger son of Akira Sakawa, a director of an advertising agency whose mother, Nobuko, is ill with cancer of the liver. His elder brother, Ichiro, works at the Bank of Japan whose wife, Masuko, is from a very high-class family. Mototsugu becomes disgusted with such strait-laced living and leaves home to marry Yoshiko, a blind masseuse, and they live in a small apartment near a pinball parlor where he works.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-03-29
Popularity:
Female Ninja Magic
Overview: In Osaka during the Edo period, ruler Sanada Yukimura was in losing position, fearing Toyotomi's blood descendents would end, he impregnates one of five Shinano female ninja with the seed of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in hopes of continuing the bloodline. Princess Sen and the five female ninja escape from Osaka castle by blending in with the handmaidens. Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu who was supposed to rule all under the heavens was informed of this secret. So Ieyasu orders five samurai of the Iga Ninja clan (brought by Hattori Hanzo) to stop the Toyotomi bloodline by killing the Kunoichi ninja. An attack of ninja magic arts unfolds in a battle of the sexes.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-10-03
Popularity:
The Scarlet Camellia
Overview: A young woman begins murdering all those responsible for her ailing father's condition. Because the girl is so outwardly sweet and innocent, the detective looking into the deaths does not suspect her.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-11-21
Popularity:
The Temple of Wild Geese
Overview: 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 lascivious head priest Kikuchi. She is drawn to a melancholy young acolyte, Jinen, who has observed the profligacy of his cruel master and Satoko's utter dependence on the man. Jinen is both fascinated and disturbed by Satoko's interest in him; he is similarly caught between loathing of Kikuchi and of the dark circumstances of his birth and his own moral weakness. The story unfolds in a dreamlike manner—a flashback inspired by a now-infamous image on a silkscreen in the souvenir shop at the so-called Temple of the Wild Geese.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-01-21
Popularity:
Scrap Collectors
Overview: Based on a story by Akiyuki Nosaka.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-11-28
Popularity:
The Black Cat
Overview: Helping her mother manage a nightclub, young Emiko quickly realizes how difficult life is.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-02-13
Popularity:
A Killer Without a Grave
Overview: Nakata (Keiichiro Akagi) is a nihilistic young buck who is willing to do anything to get money in his pockets. As he knocks back a couple drinks that he knows he won't be able to afford, a former marksman-turned-bad, Ishioka approaches him. Ishioka is looking for an unaffiliated hit-man who is willing to handle some business. Nakata is just the right man for the job.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-02-11
Popularity:
The Maid Story
Overview: Nine maids serve the household of a writer and his wife. The couple treat their maids like daughters and marry them off to eligible men. So, they are forever looking for new maids. As the years go by maid servants become hired help and more bossy and independent, so Chikura and his wife find themselves adjusting their lives to keep up with changing times.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-06-16
Popularity:
Traveling in Party
Overview: A comedy about Hikoichi, a mediocre train conductor who falls in love with a beautiful widow Sayuri.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-11-12
Popularity:
Till We Meet Again
Overview: Jiro Sone sacrifices all comfort to devote himself to research. Young housewife Yachiyo is disappointed with her husband Kappei, who is more attracted to mountain climbing and another girl. When Yachiyo’s father is introduced to Jiro, all of their lives become intertwined...
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-05-29
Popularity:
Summer Soldiers
Overview: During the Vietnam War, an American G.I. deserts his base in Japan and escapes to Tokyo with the help of his Japanese bar hostess girlfriend. In the capital he gets involved with an anti-war organization while dodging the military police.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-03-25
Popularity:
Living by Karate
Overview: Wada Kōji is a chivalrous young man who leads a group of youths that take on a yakuza boss.
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-04-16
Popularity:
Inn of the Floating Weeds
Overview: Young gangster wannabe is framed for a murder and sent to prison.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-01-09
Popularity:
Intentions of Murder
Overview: The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect of a better life.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-06-28
Popularity:
Trigger Happy Romeo
Overview: Fifth film in the "Inu" series.
Genres: Action Crime Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-12-24
Popularity:
Sweet Sweat
Overview: This film by Toyoda depicts the hard life of an unmarried mother in Tokyo. Umeko (Machiko Kyo), at 36, is working in a bar, struggling valiantly to keep her family together. Her 17-year-old daughter Takeko becomes increasingly upset by her mother's constant drinking and yakuza boyfriend, and runs away from home. Kyo's performance was highly praised.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-09-19
Popularity:
Young Challengers
Overview: A story depicting the challenges faced by today's youth in working to build a better tomorrow, based on the theme of Toshiba's progress as one of Japan's leading manufacturers of electronic and electric goods.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-10-12
Popularity:
Jungle Block
Overview: A young doctor falls into a despair of developments. He plans to revenge the disgrace inflicted upon his sister, whose engagement was broken as a result.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-06-15
Popularity:
Nippon no obaachan
Overview: Two obaachans become fast friends listening to music in front of a record store. They both boast about their loving sons but in reality, one had just escaped a retirement home and the other was looking for an escape from her son and daughter-in-law. With nowhere to go, the two wander around, befriending a cosmetics salesman and a kind waitress who give them beer. This biting social satire starring two memorable grandmothers, scripted by Yôko Mizuki, picked up on Japan’s aging population problem far ahead of its time.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-01-03
Popularity:
Till We Meet Again
Overview: College life starts off great for Michiko. She and her friend join the Italian Culture Research Club that performs canzone, a genre they are both in love with. The only problem is that the club doesn't have enough money to buy instruments for them to play. One day, the two come across a talent show called the "Mari Sono Look-Alike Contest" that promises the winner a cash prize. And Michiko looks a lot like the star.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-06-01
Popularity:
The Spying Sorceress
Overview: Second part of the series where sex magic skills of female and Iga ninjas clash over enourmous treasure of the Toyotomi family, discovered in connection with the plot to overthrow the shogunate.
Genres: Action Romance Fantasy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-12-12
Popularity:
The Gambling Monk
Overview: One summer day, the chief monk of the Hojuin Temple dies. Harumichi rushes back to town hearing about his brother's death and requests for a grand funeral. He had been unwilling to take over the family business and had chosen a life as a middle school teacher far away from home, but considering the circumstances, he changes his mind. As the new chief of Hojuin, Harumichi scrambles around day after day for donations. He has kept strictly to the straight and narrow, until he passes a bicycle race track where the sounds of cheering fans induce him into a new way of life...
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1963-10-13
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Burden of Love
Overview: 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 the other. - Nikkatsu
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1955-03-18
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The Gate of Youth
Overview: Mainly the story of Shinsuke and his stepmother, ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly every aspect of the life of the characters. Shinsuke's father dies while bravely using dynamite to rescue a group of trapped Korean miners. Several older men attempt to help he and his mother cope, including a kind Korean and a Harley-riding yakuza.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-02-15
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The Girl I Abandoned
Overview: Tsutomu Yoshioka, a Tokyo office worker, is engaged to Mariko, the niece of his company's president. But Yoshioka has a crisis of consence when he remembers his former love Mitsu, a rural girl whom he met and later left while in college. Shimako, a former friend, persuades Yoshioka to meet with Mitsu while she plots to blackmail Yoshioka by photographing the meeting to break up Mariko and Yoshioka.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-09-03
Popularity:
The Donkey Comes on a Tank
Overview: Sabu was once a boy soldier but people in his village disliked him. He finally broke loose when his land was taken.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-12-26
Popularity:
Free and Easy 18
Overview: Hama-chan goes to Okayama to look for Su-san when he goes missing a few days after freezing up during his inaugural speech as the company chairman.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2007-09-08
Popularity:
That Guy and I
Overview: Asada Keiko and Kurokawa Saburo are two young college students. When Keiko visits Saburo's house, she meets his father Kokichi and his mother Motoko. Motoko is a famous hair dresser, who openly flaunts her lover. When Kokichi and Motoko fight, which they do a lot, he routinely threatens to leave but never quite does. A relationship develops between Saburo and Keiko, but Saburo is shaken when his mother tells Keiko the truth about Saburo's past and the secret of his birth.
Genres: Romance Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1961-09-10
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The Love and Adventures of Kuroki Taro
Overview: Taro Kuroki, 42, is a stuntman with a samurai's heart. He loves adventures, plays pranks with the police, tries to cure a cat lady by reversing her trauma, and finally, rescues his niece who is about to be lured into prostitution.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-09-17
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Hungry Soul, Part II
Overview: A continuation of Hungry Soul, from the same year. Reiko, who tolerates abuse in her marriage to a man 23 years her senior, is friends with Mayumi, a beautiful widow. Reiko meets her husband’s business rival, a young, capable businessman, and falls for him. Meanwhile, Mayumi enters into a relationship with Shimotsuma, a friend of her late husband.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-11-28
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The Pirates of Buban
Overview: By going to the Philippines, Imamura comes to meet people living in an extreme poverty. He discovers very quickly that some communities are under the control of cruel & armed pirates. Imamura will come to meet those men in order to understand their position.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-01-01
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Twice on a Certain Night
Overview: Poor social conditions badly affect the relationship between a married couple, when the husband, who is desperately searching for work, fails to notice the terrible sacrifices made by his wife when she accepts a job at a local inn.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-06-08
Popularity:
Cat Changed Into Tiger
Overview: A life insurance agent has a drinking problem causing him to lose his company a fortune. He heads to another town to sell insurance, but to his surprise, the elderly are all healthy thanks to a special local sake. Along the way, he meets an eye-patch-wearing killer, which only confounds his misadventures.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-01-23
Popularity:
Crimson Wings
Overview: At about the same time as lwami, president of a Tokyo company is murdered by an unknown assailant, it happens that an urgent call has been received from an airline company's office on remote Hachijo Island for a special serum. A Cessna aircraft which has been chartered by a man named Ohashi takes off for the island with the serum piloted by Ishida. But when airborne, Ohashi, who is the murderer of lwami, holds up Ishida at gunpoint and orders him to land on a small island west of Hachijo where a ship is waiting to take him to Hong Kong...
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-12-28
Popularity:
Temptation
Overview: Shokichi, the owner of the clothing store, lives with his daughter Hideko and plans to open an art gallery. One day, Hideko led a handsome art student, Shohei and a poor painter, Sohei. Sohei’s painting was praised by a great printer at the completion ceremony of the art gallery. Since he became successful as a painter, but he looked quite indifferent. Around the same time, Shohei’s sister brought Sohei’s pictures to the gallery and Shokichi noticed that she was a daughter of his first love.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-09-22
Popularity:
The Shy Deceiver
Overview: A young thug wanna-be yakuza falls in love with a country girl.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-06-15
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Song of Love
Overview: The life in a small village in Shikoku and the love story between two young people.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-04-29
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The Man Who Wagers Tomorrow
Overview: 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 relative Morihiko. He said he forgot the winning lottery ticket of 2 million yen at the hotel, so he wants Daishiro to go and pick it up. Morihiko used the hotel for secret meetings, so he said he couldn't go there himself because he was afraid it would become public. When Daishiro entered the hotel, the Yakuza, who learned about the lottery from the newspaper, threaten the hotel maid Noriko, and want to rob her. Daishiro helps Noriko and safely picks up the lottery, but a message arrives from his relative Seikichi from Osaka. His missing son Kaoru is said to be a boxer in Osaka. "My son... He has the blood of a boxer in him..." Daishiro is heading to Osaka in a hurry...
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-09-02
Popularity:
Sun Above, Death Below
Overview: Suspense drama about an assassin charged with breaking up a gold smuggling ring, and the contract subsequently purchased against him and his employer.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-11-23
Popularity:
To Your Majesty, The Emperor 2
Overview: Based on Muneta Hiroshi's military novel. The main character, Yamaguchi Zensuke, is a military dog soldier. He joins the army and winds up sent overseas to China as a part of the military dog unit. He's ridiculed by others due to his inability to advance.
Genres: Comedy War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-01-01
Popularity:
Nishi Ginza Station
Overview: This short comedy concerns the extramarital affair of a drugstore owner. It is based on a popular song by the star of the film, Frank Nagai.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-07-29
Popularity:
The Tokyo Mighty Guy
Overview: Mega star Akira Kobayashi stars as Jiro in the rambunctious tale of a chef who opens a restaurant in the busy Ginza district. His culinary skills and dashing good looks bring in the women as well as unwanted trouble, while an explosive political scandal builds around his girlfriend’s business...
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-07-29
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Tōkyō no basugāru
Overview: 1958 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1958-07-22
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Color
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-06-13
Popularity:
Zoku izuko e
Overview: 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.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-04-12
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青春蛮歌
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-08-30
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Gambling Den Breakdown
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-07-12
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駿河遊侠伝 度胸がらす
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-01-21
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Frankie Bûchan no Aa gunkanki
Overview: The day has come for recruits to enlist in the Japanese Marine Corps. The recruits, who have left the free world to enter this strict military life, look nervous. Monma Santaro (Frankie Sakai), who grew up in Edo and is small but smart, and Mamada Gosaku (Toshiyuki Ichimura), who was born in Tohoku and has a strong 'zuzu' dialect, have also been called up.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1957-01-15
Popularity:
Ohana han
Overview: This is a film adaptation of a popular NHK drama that depicts a strong-willed woman, Hana, who lives a lively life while being swept up in the waves of the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-07-30
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Ohana han: Dai ni bu
Overview: A sequel to Ohana han.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-10-01
Popularity:
おヤエのママさん女中
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-03-10
Popularity:
喜劇 深夜族
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-08-27
Popularity:
Comedy: Love and Justice Among Cheaters
Overview: Ex-conman Junpei plots revenge on a corrupt corporation by leading a team of swindlers posing as politicians. A slick crime comedy of cons and payback.
Genres: Crime Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1974-05-15
Popularity: