Hideji Ōtaki
Also Known As: Hideji Otaki, おおたき ひでじ
Biography: Biography not available
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Niigata Prefecture, Japan
Adult: No
Birthday: June 06, 1925
Age: 99 years old
Gender: Male
Deathday: October 02, 2012
Popularity:
Known For:
City of Beasts
Overview: University student Arima Yasuhiro becomes acquainted with Ishihama, the president of a pharmaceutical company with a dark past, slowly but surely getting more embroiled in his dirty dealings.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-05-23
Popularity:
Aoi sanmyaku
Overview: Remake of 1949 film
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-08-09
Popularity:
Tampopo
Overview: In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1985-11-23
Popularity:
Kagemusha
Overview: Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.
Genres: Action Drama History War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-04-26
Popularity:
Kabei: Our Mother
Overview: Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.
Genres: Family Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2008-01-26
Popularity:
The Lucky General
Overview: The action takes place in a city where you can live on only 100 yen a day. The "General", who indulged in gambling with his henchmen all day, he was running his business and hitting him with a taxi turned out to be a trifle for him. A unique work, filled with tears and laughter, praising the beautiful human love that blooms at the bottom of life, focused on the genius “General” who lives in the troubled city of Kamagasaki.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-08-26
Popularity:
Spy Sorge
Overview: A foreign spy using the Sorge alias is assigned to Tokyo the capital of Japan just prior to the outbreak of World War II and in the midst of the Japanese imperial ambitions in Eastern Asia. The spy becomes acquainted with a sympathetic communist who like he is attached to the ideals of freedom and rule of the masses. Sorge is able to feed the Soviet Union useful information regarding the Axis allies and their movements in Asia and beyond.
Genres: War History Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2003-06-14
Popularity:
Maison Ikkoku - Apartment Fantasy
Overview: Travel into Japan's nuttiest apartment house and meet its volatile inhabitants: Kyoko, the beautiful and mysterious new apartment manager; Yusaku, the exam-addled college student; Mrs. Ichinose, the drunken gossip; Kentaro, her bratty son; Akemi, the boozy bar hostess; and the mooching and peeping Mr. Yotsuya.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-10-10
Popularity:
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons
Overview: In the fifth film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto is challenged by five warriors, each has one fifth of Ogami's assassin fee and one fifth of the information he needs to complete his assassination.
Genres: Action Crime Drama Thriller Adventure
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-08-11
Popularity:
The Funeral
Overview: 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 days in their home.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1984-11-17
Popularity:
Heaven and Earth
Overview: Warlords Kagetora and Takeda each wish to prevent the other from gaining hegemony in feudal Japan. The two samurai leaders pursue one another across the countryside, engaging in massive battles of cavalry and infantry. Younger and less brutal, Kagetora must find the strength to be as brutal as his opponent, but at what cost?
Genres: Drama History War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1990-11-24
Popularity:
Kita no kuni kara '92 Sudachi Part 1
Overview: There is a man who divorced his wife. He moved to rural Hokkaido from Tokyo where he lived with his family without running water or electricity. He has his son and daughter in tow and works hard for them. The folk in the area try to help. A couple of years pass and the older son moves back to Tokyo, attends school and works part-time. The daughter commutes to the city to attend school. She wants to become a nurse. To become a registered nurse she needs to study a further three years. This takes money.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1992-05-22
Popularity:
Hunter in the Dark
Overview: Yataro Tanigawa, a one-eyed hired assassin, impresses yakuza boss Gomyo Kiyoemon with his skill. Gomyo hires Tanigawa as his bodyguard, or yojimbo, to protect him during an inter-clan conflict. Tanigawa quickly rises in stature in the clan, but finds his boss's enemies almost overwhelming.
Genres: Action Adventure Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1979-06-17
Popularity:
Worst by Chance
Overview: Hidenori is a Japanese-Korean man with no sense of belonging, destination or education. He drifts around and meanders through life until a death reminds him of his heritage and so begins a journey to South Korea.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2003-09-13
Popularity:
Manhunt
Overview: A tough prosecutor is falsely accused of theft and goes on the run to clear his name. He is assisted by the beautiful daughter of a rich man.
Genres: Action Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-02-11
Popularity:
何もかも狂ってやがる
Overview: 1962 Japanese movie
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-04-18
Popularity:
Tales of a Golden Geisha
Overview: 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 her unfaithful, sometimes partner. As well as showing her relationships with the man she loves and the men who employ her, it satirizes corruption and the influence of money in Japanese politics.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1990-06-02
Popularity:
Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
Overview: The reincarnation of a 10th century Japanese general haunts 1920's Tokyo.
Genres: Mystery Fantasy Horror Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1988-01-30
Popularity:
Crocodile, Parrot and Fur Seal
Overview: A comedy farce depicting the noise that occurs when two unemployed circus participants discover a debt bond in a basket with parrots, which they received instead of pension money. At that time, Hiromi Go and Kirin Kiki, who were gaining popularity, play the main roles, demonstrating an exquisite combination.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-12-29
Popularity:
Break Down that Wall
Overview: A man is wrongfully accused of murder.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-06-23
Popularity:
Haru's Journey
Overview: Stuck in a fishing village in Hokkaido, Tadao's grand-daughter Haru is desperate to visit Tokyo, a trip Tadao is reluctant to make.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2010-05-22
Popularity:
Kaoyaku
Overview: A detective is charged with investigating a bank corruption scandal.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1971-08-12
Popularity:
Minbo, or the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion
Overview: An upscale Japanese hotel hires Mahiru Inoue, a lawyer adept at dealing with the Yakuza, to help them rid their hotel of the local gangsters so they can get a contract for a meeting of important foreign officials.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1992-05-16
Popularity:
Young People
Overview: "Young People" is a story about the lives of four brothers and a sister, Sato. After the death of his parents, the older brother, Taro, who works in construction, decides to replace them. The second brother, Jiro, is a truck driver. The third, Saburo, is a student, dreams of a better future for the whole family are connected with him, with his career. Brothers and sisters are fighting to give him a higher education. And, finally, the youngest of the brothers, Suekichi, is also going to enter the university after graduation. The life of the Sato family is complicated. Taro is kind, but limited, not always able to find a common language with his brothers and sister Orie. The girl cannot stand the despotism of her brother, leaves her home and goes to work at the factory. With her departure, everything in the house goes upside down. Suekichi fails her university entrance exams, Orie is forced to return to her family.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-12-16
Popularity:
The Great Japanese Pick-Pocket Club
Overview: A crime story (with strong elements of comedy) that pits a determined detective against a gang of pickpockets in Osaka. The detective (played by Keiju Kobayashi) and the leader of the gang (played by Norihei Miki) have an interesting wartime backstory together that fuels much of the story.
Genres: Crime Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-11-22
Popularity:
Lullaby to Kill
Overview: Kôsuke Kindaichi, a somewhat peculiar private detective, visits a remote town. He meets a police detective and they start to investigate an old unsolved murder. Then some murders happen. Kindaichi must find out about the past in order to reveal who the murderer is.
Genres: Mystery Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-04-02
Popularity:
Mount Hakkoda
Overview: Two infantry regiments of the Imperial Japanese Army—210 men overall—tackled Mt. Hakkoda in the winter of 1902 to prepare for war with Russia.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-06-04
Popularity:
Station
Overview: A detective goes out of his way to crack the case of a serial killer who specialises in murdering police officers.
Genres: Drama Thriller Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-11-07
Popularity:
Lovers Lost
Overview: A poignant love story between a 29-year-old woman, who has once been a prostitute but is now the mistress of a wealthy jewelry merchant, and a 19-year-old college student.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-06-12
Popularity:
Dearest
Overview: The posthumous wish of Eiji's wife is for her ashes to be scattered in the ocean near her hometown. Eiji also learns that his wife letter for him at the post office before she died.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2012-08-25
Popularity:
Demon
Overview: Shuji was once a feared member of the Yakuza crime syndicate, but he's reformed his ways, abandoned his old life and left the city for a small coastal fishing town where he's become an honest fisherman.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1985-08-31
Popularity:
A School Behind Bars
Overview: "A School Behind Bars" centers around Asahi Junior High School, which is located within Nagano Matsumoto Boy's prison in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture - the only public school in Japan that is located inside a prison. The school's students are all prisoners ranging in age from 20-70. The students are carefully selected after taking an entrance exam and being selected by the school's admission board.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2010-10-11
Popularity:
Girl in the Glass
Overview: The film starts with a short scene ending with shot of Sayuri Yoshinaga's character floating dead on the surface of a lake before the opening credits roll in and we find out what lead her character to this end.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-11-09
Popularity:
Gun Demon Without Form
Overview: A detective drama that realistically shows the work of an experienced detective who, under cover, pursues the organizer of the arms trade route from Kobe.
Genres: Drama Crime Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-03-04
Popularity:
Tokyo Blackout
Overview: Based on a science-fiction novel by Sakyo Komatsu. Tokyo is suddenly covered by a dome shaped electromagnetic cloud for an unknown reason and is totally blocked and isolated from other parts of the world. The temperature inside the cloud is slowly increasing. The Soviet Pacific fleet is getting closer. The U.S. is forcing Japan to form a new government. Scientists and research workers outside Tokyo have to race against time to find out how to get through the cloud in order to rescue the 12,000,000+ lives in Tokyo and the fate of the country.
Genres: Science Fiction
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1987-01-16
Popularity:
Judge and Jeopardy
Overview: It is based on the story "The Lawyer" by attorney Hiroshi Masaki and his account of Japan's "Headless Murder Case" in which a police officer beat a suspect to death during the Pacific War.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-06-08
Popularity:
The War in Space
Overview: The year is 1988, and in the midst of recovering from a near-miss with a large comet, Earth finds that there are much worse matters at hand: the sudden arrival of a strange army of aliens and their fleet of unstoppable warships.
Genres: Adventure Science Fiction Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-12-17
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
Popularity:
House of Evil Spirits
Overview: A suspense work starring Junko Natsu. One night, Saiko Ogata, a popular female DJ on a late-night radio music program, discovers a strange letter among a pile of postcards. It was a letter written in the style of a 5 or 6-year-old child, beginning with, "Mom, I am in a dark and cold world right now." Saiko is shocked. That letter was a letter from her own child, whose father was Kazuo Yamazaki, whom Saiko had fallen in love with six years ago when they were trainees at a certain theater company, and who had sprouted in Saiko's womb but passed away without being born...
Genres: Drama Mystery Horror TV Movie
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-08-20
Popularity:
Teenage Wolf
Overview: In the bustle of the city, on the corners of neon streets, the eyes of a wild beast are fixed on a young girl! A gloomy portrait of youth, in which distorted energy explodes! A unique social drama that acutely depicts the psychological conflict bubbling in the chest of detectives who are chasing a gang of scoundrels who prey on innocent girls. Adapted from the novel "Kegareta Hankachi".
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1960-03-02
Popularity:
The Resurrection of the Beast
Overview: Crime film released in 1969
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1969-12-06
Popularity:
Kikenna onna
Overview: Based on the Seichō Matsumoto's story The Woman Who Took the Local Paper.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-12-16
Popularity:
Akumyo: Notorious Dragon
Overview: About small-time gangster Asakichi's chaotic life in the 1930s. His gambling addiction means that he must not continue working in the family business. Instead he supports himself by arranging cockfights. He becomes ex-geisha Okinu's patron and lover, and falls directly into disfavor with the yakuza.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-04-24
Popularity:
As the River Flows
Overview: 2000 live-action Japanese film.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2000-04-29
Popularity:
Dora-heita
Overview: A new magistrate in the town of Horisoto—widely reputed to be the most lawless township in Japan, uses guile and his opponents' own misperceptions and prejudices to defeat his enemies and uproot corruption.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2000-05-13
Popularity:
Baby Elephant Story: The angel who descended to earth
Overview: In the winter of 1945, Sakura the elephant gave birth to a baby elephant at Tokyo Fujimi Zoo under the watchful eye of the zookeeper Shota Tanabe. Around the same time, Shota's wife, Setsuko, also gave birth to a son. Hanako, the baby elephant, grows up while deepening her bonds with elementary school students who love zoos. However, as Japan enters the Pacific War, the military orders the animals in the zoos of five major cities to be killed.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-07-26
Popularity:
Tistou the Green Thumb
Overview: When eight-year-old Tistou is sent home from school after being unable to stop falling asleep at lessons, his father decides that he will continue his education by learning from observation of real life, and where better to start than in the garden! With the gardener Mr. Moustache, Tistou discovers he has a remarkable gift—the green thumbs: everything he touches grows into beautiful plants. His next lesson is with the stern Mr. Turnbull, manager of his father's armament factory who takes Tistou to visit the town to learn about "order." Over the course of the next few days Tistou learns many new things as he visits the town prison, the slums, and the hospital, and everywhere he tries to change the world into a better place with his new extraordinary power. Finally, he learns about war, and upon visiting his father's factory, he finds out that they supply the two countries at war with their weapons...
Genres: Adventure Animation Fantasy Family
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1990-10-04
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:
北の国から 記憶 前編
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2003-08-23
Popularity:
Child of the Sun
Overview: A couple originally from Okinawa run an inexpensive restaurant in Kobe, with their grade-school daughter, Fuuchan. The movie depicts the warm interaction between her and adults that grew up with the rough history of Okinawa and discrimination from the mainland. Shots partly on location at beach of Itoman, Yogi Park and Hateruma Island. This is the movie version of the well-known novel by Kenjiro Haitani.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-09-13
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:
Ganryujima: Kojiro and Musashi
Overview: In the 16th Year of Keityo (1611), the lord of Ogura Castle in Kyushu admitted Sasaki Kojiro's because of his great sword techniques. However, a group within the feudal clan which supported to use guns considered Kojiro an obstacle in their goals and has the well-known ronin, Miyamoto Musashi, fight him. Now because of political gain and greed, two honorable men are to fight to the death on Ganryu Island.
Genres: TV Movie Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1992-01-01
Popularity:
Shag
Overview: Shiro Akitsu goes on a relentless search for his abducted 7-year-old daughter, with the aid of an Ainu dog summoned by a whistle she gave him.
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-03-31
Popularity:
Blood Type: Blue
Overview: UFOs appear on Earth, and people who actually see them suddenly find that their blood has turned blue. Soon panic and hysteria result in the new "blue-bloods" being persecuted by the rest of mankind, and eventually certain all-too-familiar measures begin to be taken against them.
Genres: Science Fiction Thriller Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-11-23
Popularity:
Lost in the Wilderness
Overview: The life and travels of adventurer Naomi Uemura, who disappeared in Alaska in 1984. A member of the first Japanese expedition to reach the summit of Mt Everest in 1970, Uemura also accomplished several "firsts". He was the first man to reach the North Pole solo, climb Denali solo, and float down the Amazon river solo. In the film, Uemura returns to Tokyo after a stint in Siorapaluk in Northern Greenland. In Tokyo, he reconnects with an old friend and, over coffee, shares his life story - from his days as a college dropout to his successful expedition to the top of Everest.
Genres: Adventure History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-06-07
Popularity:
The Sands of Kurobe
Overview: Kitagawa is an engineer charged with construction of a gigantic tunnel through the Japan Alps for the transportation of equipment in the building of the massive Kurobe Dam. The tunnel crosses an earthquake fault and Kitagawa is beleaguered not only by cave-ins and flooding, but by strife between management and the workers's union. Adding to Kitagawa's stress is the knowledge that as his attention is pulled inexorably toward the tunnel construction, his youngest daughter is dying from leukemia.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-03-01
Popularity:
Choji Snack Bar
Overview: Eiji lives a quiet life running a small Izakaya with his wife. He spends his days cooking for and serving the lively residents of his small hometown.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1983-11-12
Popularity:
K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces
Overview: In an alternate version of 1949 Japan in which World War II never happened, the Japanese capital of Teito is home to both an ultra rich upper class and the dirt poor masses. The city is thrown into a state of panic when a phantom thief called “The Kaijin (Fiend) with 20 Faces” (K-20 for short) begins to use his mysterious abilities to steal from the rich and give to the poor. One day a circus acrobat named Heikichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is framed for K-20’s crimes and becomes determined to clear his name. He teams up with K-20’s next target, a wealthy duchess named Yoko Hashiba (Takako Matsu) and her detective fiancé (Toru Nakamura), to take K-20 down once and for all.
Genres: Action Adventure Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2008-12-20
Popularity:
Outlaw Cop
Overview: A bad cop is engaged in a violent chase to catch a yakuza boss. In his absence his wife runs away with another man, who turns out to be the very same man that her husband is hunting. Once he discovers this, he loses his nerve and turns in his badge. But the chase turns into a personal vendetta where the ex-cop plans to wipe out the entire gang.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-02-04
Popularity:
MacArthur's Children
Overview: In this drama at the end of World War II, the inhabitants of a small Japanese fishing village must come to terms with their nation's defeat and the sudden occupation of General MacArthur and his troops.
Genres: War Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1984-06-23
Popularity:
Botchan
Overview: 1977 Shochiku adaptation of Natsume Soseki's novel.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-08-06
Popularity:
The Phoenix
Overview: This extraordinarily complex film is not only a send-up of every samurai film ever made, it is also an extrapolation of the value of life. The Yamatai, represented by Prince Susano-O and elderly advisor Sumuke, hire Yumihiko of Matsuro to hunt the phoenix so that Queen Himiko, sister of Susano-O can have eteranal life.
Genres: Adventure Animation Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-08-12
Popularity:
Monument to Holy Service
Overview: A rural high school takes part in a mountain-climbing exercise and are caught in a sudden typhoon.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-09-23
Popularity:
August without Emperor
Overview: Taking the Chilean coup as an example, a group of young officers plan to overthrow the Japanese government on V-J Day. They aim to abolish the post-war constitution, restore the national army and revive the traditional spirit of Japan. As the conspiracy is exposed, the coup squadrons are wiped out one by one. The remaining squadron takes over a night train bound for Tokyo.
Genres: Drama Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-09-23
Popularity:
The Longest Tunnel
Overview: After a passenger ship sinks in 1954, Go Akutsu devises a life-saving project in the form of a tunnel under the Tsugaru Strait. While working on this project Akutsu becomes involved with Tae Makimura leading to his estrangement from his wife.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-10-16
Popularity:
The Possessed
Overview: Oshima, a rich girl married Shinzo, and her cousin girl Sawa has been jealous of Oshima deeply. Sawa cursed Oshima so Shinzo could not hold her and do anything at all. Shinzo hated Oshima, and he made love with Sawa.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-10-16
Popularity:
The Last Swordsman
Overview: Personal tale of Okita Soji who fights to survive in a world without pity in the merciless era of the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-11-02
Popularity:
The Far Road
Overview: Set in the time of steam locomotives and covering a period of almost 30 years, this sensitive film tells the story of the wife of a railroad worker in the northern part of Japan. The ferocious local class restrictions work to keep her husband in his place, as does his lack of education.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-09-11
Popularity:
Samurai Justice: The Female Bodyguard
Overview: A chance encounter on the road leads to the unusual need for a female bodyguard to protect the granddaughter of an old friend of Akiyama Kohei, a wealthy merchant who plans to bypass his son-in-law as head of the company. When Daijiro’s wife Mifuyu takes on the job strange things start to happen, including the brutal slaughter of company employees. With the backing of Lord Tanuma, a chief elder on the ruling council, Kohei, Daijiro, and Mifuyu form a plan to foil the kidnappers plot and save the girl from certain death.
Genres: Action Drama History Crime TV Movie
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2006-01-30
Popularity:
A World For Two
Overview: On a passenger ship to Japan, the journalist Kawase encounters a man who claims to be a Filipino, but Kawase believes he is a murder suspect who fled Japan fifteen years ago, Hojo Shuichi. To throw Kawase off, the man talks a female passenger, Reiko, into acting as if she was his long-time friend. When the man - who is, in fact, Hojo - secretly leaves the ship, Reiko, who has fallen for him, joins up with Kawase to go looking for him. Meanwhile, Hojo, who has returned to Japan to find the true murderer before the 15-year statute of limiitations on murder expires, tracks down the man whom he believes ordered the murder he was accused of.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1966-02-25
Popularity:
Queen Bee
Overview: To solve the mystery of a murder of an old governess which takes place at a wealthy Daidoji family's country estate, family secrets and lies dating back several generations must be sorted out once and for all.
Genres: Mystery Thriller Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-02-11
Popularity:
River of Fireflies
Overview: During the winter in Toyama in 1962, Tatsuo Mizushima is fretting about his feelings for his classmate Eiko Tsujisawa while agonizing about his upcoming high school examinations. When he was little, he and Eiko had heard that in April of a year when the winter has been very harsh, any couple finding fireflies together needs to get married. However, his family's situation does not allow Tatsuo to continue his worrying about such things for very much longer.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1987-02-21
Popularity:
Children of Hiroshima
Overview: Shows the devastation caused by the atomic bomb, and by use of a fictional storyline, portrays the struggle of the ordinary Japanese people in dealing with the aftermath.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1952-08-06
Popularity:
Tree Without Leaves
Overview: Haru, an aging scriptwriter, has isolated himself somewhere in the woods of Nagano to work on his first novel. As the last surviving member of his kin, he intends to chronicle the family he grew up in.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-11-15
Popularity:
This Story of Love
Overview: Life and love stories of stunt men and women.
Genres: Drama Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1987-09-12
Popularity:
Psychic: Traveler to the Unknown
Overview: Hikaru, an ordinary man, discovers a way to unleash the supernatural powers hidden inside his soul, allowing him to cure others with his newfound “ki” healing power.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1994-06-11
Popularity:
A Tale of Ululu's Wonderful Forest
Overview: A brother and sister leave the big city to live with their veterinarian father when their mother is hospitalized. As they are adjusting to their new life filled with natural beauty, they adopt an abandoned puppy. When it is discovered that the puppy is actually a wolf, they choose to return the baby wolf to its mother in the forest rather than let it live a life in captivity.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2009-12-19
Popularity:
Brother and Sister
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-10-23
Popularity:
The Long Way 'Round
Overview: 1980 Japanese film.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-08-02
Popularity:
The International Gang of Kobe
Overview: 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 gangs.
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-10-14
Popularity:
Special Boy Soldiers of the Navy
Overview: Japanese youngsters enduring hard training in Recruit Camp and then going to Iwo Jima in the last days of World War II.
Genres: War
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-08-12
Popularity:
The Inugami Family
Overview: When a tycoon passes away, he unexpectedly leaves the family fortune to outsider Tamayo on the condition that she marries one of the grandsons, pitting blood against blood.
Genres: Horror Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-10-16
Popularity:
Internal Sleuth
Overview: When 150 guns are stolen from Iwakuni base and two police officers are shot dead, a detective criminal tries to find out the truth.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1973-04-21
Popularity:
Pro Golfer Oribe Kinjiro
Overview: Kinjiro Oribe, nicknamed Orikin, is a professional golfer who has not won a single tournament in his 17-year golf career. He arrives at the golf training course in the city center as a professional instructor, he is inspired by unique people, and he becomes obsessed with the idea of winning at least one victory on the tour, which he almost gave up...
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1993-01-15
Popularity:
Terror in the Streets
Overview: Yuri Ebara is inexplicably laid off, abandoned by her closest friend, and is suddenly asked to move out of her apartment. As she nears rock bottom, she begins to suspect someone is out to drive her insane, or worse.
Genres: Horror Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-07-04
Popularity:
Outlaw: Goro the Assassin
Overview: On a cold winter day, Goro Fujikawa (Tetsuya Watari) and Masahiko murder the mob boss of Meishin-Kai. The deed costs them time in prison, but Goro had no shred of regret. When Goro is released 2 years later, Masahiko is dying in prison hospital and entrusts his last wish; "find my sister and take care of her." Goro leaves as a free man with a mission, but soon finds that he might have been better off in jail.
Genres: Crime Action Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-11-02
Popularity:
Black Sun
Overview: Akira, a young, jazz-obsessed drifter, returns to his squat, a ruined church, and finds Gill, a wounded African-American GI, on the run after the death of a white GI. Despite terrible misunderstandings and culture clash, Akira agrees to help Gill escape towards the sea, dodging military police along the way.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-04-24
Popularity:
Island of Hell
Overview: A scruffy detective investigates the murders of three sisters on a small Japanese island in 1946.
Genres: Mystery Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-08-27
Popularity:
The Fall of Ako Castle
Overview: This is the story of "The Forty-Seven Ronin." Based on historical events in 1701-2, the movie tells the tale of the Asano clan's downfall and the revenge of its former samurai on the perpetrator of the catastrophe. Lord Asano was goaded, or tricked, into drawing his sword inside the Shogun's palace -- a crime which carried the death penalty. The newly installed Shogun was furious at Asano and ordered all his clan's assets seized, meaning some 20,000 samurai and commoners were unemployed and landless at a stroke. Forty-seven of these ronin (masterless samurai) banded together to take attempt revenge on Lord Kira, who had goaded Asano into drawing his sword.
Genres: Action Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-10-28
Popularity:
Village of Eight Gravestones
Overview: The heir to a family fortune discovers that a curse has been placed on it, put there centuries before by a band of samurai warriors. Adaptation of novel by Seishi Yokomizo
Genres: Thriller Horror Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-10-29
Popularity:
The Sorrow of Paris
Overview: Jiro Takimura, a painter, falls in love with Marie, a beautiful married woman who is studying painting abroad in France.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-02-11
Popularity:
Salaryman Senka: Tanshin Funin
Overview: Based on the long running manga of the same name by Sadao Shouji.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1996-12-28
Popularity:
Code of Wolves
Overview: In gangster-infested 1920s Yokohama, gambler Ishiguro gets in with the local gang -- but his view of life changes after the Great Kanto Earthquake.
Genres: Crime Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-10-05
Popularity:
Suddenly, Like a Storm
Overview: 21-year-old Hideo Ishida is a reckless young man. Today again, he took part in a car race with a stolen driver's license and a car belonging to the junkyard. But unfortunately, things go wrong and after a collision with another car, the seriously injured Hideo is taken to the hospital. Here he meets the nurse Yuki Kobayashi. Yuki is the opposite of Hideo. During the day she works as a nurse and in the evening she studies hard. However, Hideo's behavior leaves an unforgettable impression on Yuki and the two soon develop an intimate friendship ...
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-04-29
Popularity:
Solar Eclipse
Overview: When bribe money from a rigged election funnels into a dam construction project, collusion, lust, greed and even murder are on the ballot.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-09-06
Popularity:
Casshern
Overview: Fifty years of war between the Great Eastern Federation and Europa - now merged as Eurasia - have taken their toll on planet Earth. As a result of the use of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, much of Earth has become uninhabitable and people have become prey to new diseases. Professor Azuma's "neo-cell" project, which is supposed to be the answer to mankind's hardships, becomes a nightmare come true when mutants spawned from the experiment escape and declare war on the human race. Azuma's son Tetsuya, who was killed during the previous war, is reborn into the cyborg Casshern as mankind's last hope against the new mutant threat. This live-action sci-fi movie based on a 1973 Japanese animé of the same name.
Genres: Drama Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2004-04-24
Popularity:
New Hoodlum Soldier Story: Firing Line
Overview: The story is presented as a voiced-over narrative by Arita (Takahiro Tamura), speaking long after the events of the film. In a remote army base in Manchuria, near the Soviet border, long-serving corporal Arita hates the military and looks forward to the day he may leave. Although a university graduate, he has several times deliberately failed the exam for promotion and thus remains a corporal after four years' service.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-04-22
Popularity:
Beyond the Shining Sea
Overview: Heartbroken Ukiko takes refuge with a relative after a devastating breakup. While away, she makes a dangerous match with the husband of her frigid cousin.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-07-12
Popularity:
Izo
Overview: Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.
Genres: Action Drama Fantasy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2004-09-07
Popularity:
A Chain of Islands
Overview: When a US army sergeant is found drowned in Tokyo Bay, an investigation is launched to determine how and why he lost his life. The investigation uncovers a black market scheme involving counterfeit money, murder, and conspiracy.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1965-05-26
Popularity:
The Legend of Love & Sincerity: Conclusion
Overview: Meet Saotome Ai, a high school girl from a well-to-do family. When she was a small child, she was in an accident that resulted in a young boy being permanently scarred between his eyes while she emerged unscathed. The young boy saved her life and although she never knew who he was, she never forgot him. Meet Taiga Makoto, a young man with a scar between his eyes who has had a rough life, but has emerged as a rough, tough bully - a thug and a brawler and about as rude as they come - all of which he blames on the incident that gave him his scar. When Ai and Makoto run into each other again, Ai feels guilt for what Makoto has become and decides to intervene and rehabilitate him. But is he a diamond in the rough, or just a bully?
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-09-23
Popularity:
The Homeless
Overview: Two inmates are simultaneously released from jail, but go their separate ways, only to cross paths again in the nearest brothel. There they make the acquaintance of a would-be prostitute. They help her escape and decide to guide her on her quest for sunken contraband somewhere off the coast.
Genres: Crime Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-10-09
Popularity:
A White Ship
Overview: Shizuka (Mami Nakamura) is a young school teacher. She moves to a small village by the sea, near her own home country. The elementary school she is assigned has only 20 students. But her last assignment was not very successful and she has lost the confidence. One day, a student finds a white ship sailing on the sea, far from the school. They begin an investigation and finally identifies the ship. It's a cruiser called Rainbow Love. 'Why don't we write a letter to the captain?' Shizuka proposes. And everyone gets excited...
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-07-06
Popularity:
Proof of the Man
Overview: When an American is murdered in a Japanese inn, Tokyo police detective Munesue follows the trail of the killer to New York. There he is joined by a New York City detective named Shuftan and together they sort out the crime.
Genres: Drama Crime Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-10-08
Popularity:
Atami Murder Case
Overview: Chief Detective KIMURA Denbei, fondly referred to as Smoky Denbei, is a legendary figure at the Metropolitan Police Department. Transferred to Denbei's Criminal Investigation Division 1, Detective KUMADA Tomekichi arrives from the Toyama Prefectural Police. KUMADA is disconcerted by Denbei's position that murderers nowadays do not need a plausible motive, but gradually adapts to Denbei's unusual methods of investigation.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-06-07
Popularity:
Burning Clouds
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1967-05-03
Popularity:
Company Buggers
Overview: Hiroshi, a small-time racketeer, makes a name for himself extorting vulnerable companies and their directors for financial gain.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-08-09
Popularity:
A Taxing Woman
Overview: Intrepid tax investigator Ryoko Itakura sets her sights on the mysterious and philandering Hideki Gondo, a suspected millionaire and proprietor of a thriving chain of seedy hourly hotels, who has for years succeeded at hiding the true extent of his assets from the Japanese authorities. Itakura and Gondo soon find themselves engaged in a complicated, satirical battle of wits.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1987-02-07
Popularity:
The House of Hanging
Overview: This time, Kousuke investigates a murder in a hospital. The murderer leaves misleading evidence to divert Kousuke's attention on the case. Suspicion and doubt clouds Kousuke's mind.
Genres: Mystery Drama Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1979-05-26
Popularity:
Memories of Tomorrow
Overview: After being stricken with Alzheimer's disease in the prime of his life, a successful young businessman slips slowly away from his loving family.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2006-05-13
Popularity:
Noh Mask Murders
Overview: The patriarch of a bickering family announces his retirement, stirring competition about who will succeed him as a leading practitioner of Noh theater, his granddaughter or grandson.
Genres: Mystery Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1991-03-15
Popularity:
Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset
Overview: Tora-san arrives in Shibamata on Mitsuo's first day of school only to find that on his account, Mitsuo was embarrassed. After a fight with his family, he goes to a bar to drink, then brings home a surly old man with a sad story, whose identity will surprise everyone. Later, Tora meets Botan, a geisha.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-07-23
Popularity:
Tora-san, the Intellectual
Overview: Tora-san is inspired to pursue an education after a visit to the grave of a woman he met years ago. When he returns to Shibamata with the intent to study, he falls for Toraya's new tenant instead.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-12-27
Popularity:
Talk of the Town Tora-san
Overview: After a chance encounter with Hiroshi's father on a bus, Tora decides to get serious and reflect on the mortality of man. His plans are derailed when a beautiful lady starts working at Toraya.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-12-27
Popularity:
Lake of Illusions
Overview: A woman works as a prostitute and attendant to make a living at a bathhouse. She is athletic and is an avid runner. She has met and adopted a white dog and the two have become inseparable. It is the biggest tragedy and calamity when the dog is found dead, killed, murdered. The woman swears to find justice by finding the murderer and making things right.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-09-11
Popularity:
Departing Osaka Station at 0:00
Overview: This film is about a train departing Osaka Station at midnight to an unknown destination. The people on this train all have some difficulties in their lives, and they end up on this train. Hanoko is suicidal, Yuka has caught her boyfriend with another woman, Michiru is aimless, Mr. Wakabayashi has just been fired, and one other man just lost his wife. They take the train to Kazumachi, a small village. They decide to stay and enter a small world of discovery about themselves, courtesy of the inhabitants of the village, all of whom are engaging.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2006-10-07
Popularity:
Zatoichi in Desperation
Overview: After accidentally causing the death of an old lady, Zatoichi tries to do right by buying the lady’s daughter’s freedom from a brothel - but this causes more problems than solves them.
Genres: Adventure Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-09-02
Popularity:
The Demon
Overview: When Sokichi stops providing his long-time lover Kikuyo enough money to pay for the care of their three young children, Kikuyo leaves the children with Sokichi - and his very surprised and angry wife Oume - and disappears.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-10-07
Popularity:
My Voiceless Friends
Overview: A man who survived the war carries the will of his comrades in arms, walking across the country visiting the bereaved families.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1972-04-29
Popularity:
The Village
Overview: This appears to be a labor of love. Its about a village which is given the opportunity to put on a musical. They would have to pay the overhead and, being that they are farmers and always busy and not rich, question the wisdom and feasibility of such an idea. A spokesperson for the acting troupe Ms. Kono lays out the whole thing and they must decide. You get little slices of rural life in Japan far, at least in sentiment, from Tokyo. The best thing about this film is that it has heart. The acting is good, but it is really about the simple storyline of outing on a show. Films rarely get made with such simplistic plots these days. Enjoy this little slice of what city people call “the simple life”.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-04-12
Popularity:
Willful Murder
Overview: The president of the Japanese National Railways is found dead during a period in which train service is plagued by numerous layoffs, strikes and shutdowns. The government says that the president was murdered; the police claim it was a suicide. A quizzical reporter follows the case for years, but the basic question remains unanswered: was the victim killed by members of the burgeoning Communist movement in Japan, or was the death stage-managed by the authorities in hopes of discrediting the Communists?
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-11-07
Popularity:
City of Beasts
Overview: University student Arima Yasuhiro becomes acquainted with Ishihama, the president of a pharmaceutical company with a dark past, slowly but surely getting more embroiled in his dirty dealings.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-05-23
Popularity:
Music Box
Overview: A former yakuza returns to gangster life after an old enemy threatens his son.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1989-03-11
Popularity:
The Man Who Wipes Mirrors
Overview: Tsutomu Minagawa is set to retire; the organized business life, a perfectly normal family living in a two-story house with a garage, the once unstoppable routine is about to close down forever. However, Tsutomu's last day changes him forever, as a car accident leads to his new purpose and sets him on a mission to clean every traffic mirror in Japan in order to save lives.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2003-09-03
Popularity:
A Wandering Gambler
Overview: Koji Himuro, a brilliant gambler, was killed by his brother and lover for discovering cheating gambling. As a result, he vows never to roll the dice, but gets involved in the incident everywhere he goes. The first in the "Black Gambler Series". The feature of this series is that the existing gag was mainly created by accumulating lines and small actions, but in this series, gag is done by exaggerated gimmicks. Film critic Hideo Nishiwaki points out that it may be the influence of the 007 movie series.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1964-08-05
Popularity:
Kyukei no Koya
Overview: A film adaptation of Seicho Matsumoto's novel of the same title, starring Muga Takewaki and Yoko Shimada. Set in Japan at the end of the war, the film depicts the fate of a diplomat who abandoned his country, his wife and children, and risked everything to save his country from ruin, and the bond between father and daughter.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-06-07
Popularity:
Haha Koihi no Ki
Overview: A live-action adaptation of Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's masterpiece "Shōshō Shigemoto no Haha (Captain Shigemoto's Mother)". Set in the glorious Heian Dynasty, the TV movie decipts the story of a mother and son torn apart for an irrational reason, and how they are reunited 40 years later.
Genres: TV Movie Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2008-12-13
Popularity:
The Go Masters
Overview: Ten years before the outbreak of the Second World War in Asia, a Japanese Go master and his Chinese rival meet in China to play a game of Go (loosely described as an Asian version of chess). It soon becomes evident that the Chinese master's son is the most talented player that the Japanese master has ever encountered, and he convinces the boy's father to let him bring the child back to Japan to train him as a professional Go player. Years pass, and as the young Chinese master grows to maturity in Japan, the Japanese invasion of China forces him to choose between his triumphant career and his loyalty to his native country. His decision is complicated by his marriage to the daughter of the Japanese master, with whom he has produced a child. His choice will profoundly alter the lives of two families. Their saga serves as a reflection of the tragic relations between their two great countries, and the possibility of reconciliation and healing.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-04-01
Popularity:
Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
Overview: The reincarnation of a 10th century Japanese general haunts 1920's Tokyo.
Genres: Mystery Fantasy Horror Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1988-01-30
Popularity:
The Politicians
Overview: Who will be the next prime minister? As two candidates start to compete, political game and brutal murder ensue. And the existence of secret love letters changes the situation.
Genres: Crime Drama Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1983-10-22
Popularity:
To the Sea, See You
Overview: Team DANKAI are a group of drivers set to compete in the Paris-Dakar Rally, an off-road endurance race spanning thousands of miles and multiple continents. Prior to the event, team leader Mizuki (Nenji Kobayashi) is ordered by their sponsor to add popular celebrity Ryuichi Yoshii (Goro Ohashi) to the roster for publicity. This exacerbates DANKAI's resentments and baggage. Needing a steady hand to mediate dispute and navigate their support vehicle, Mizuki recruits legendary, retired mechanic and driver Eiji Honma (Ken Takakura) to the team. Honma soon discovers his ex-wife Kei (Ayumi Ishida) is also participating in the rally, alongside her current husband, the bullfighter Juan Vázquez (Tomas Arana). He is also accompanied by Yuko Takei (Junko Sakurada), a singer who followed Yoshii from Japan.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1988-05-18
Popularity:
Genjuro's Deadly Sword: The Return of Shinigami
Overview: Genjuro’s crime was assassination, his punishment was to survive a faked execution and lose his home, lose his identity, and emerge as Maboroshi Shinigami, the Phantom Assassin. When his wife is kidnapped and tortured to reveal his whereabouts and dragged to the executioner for crucifixion by corrupt clan officials, Genjuro faces an army of swords to save her. Evil men aim to frame Genjuro for another murder. For their scheme they need only one thing, Genjuro’s dead body. Genjuro will have to cut down their swordsmen and challenge Sarashina Gunpei, deadliest blade in Japan in a final blood-soaked battle.
Genres: Action Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2009-07-19
Popularity: