Godzilla Minus One / Gojira -1.0 (2023)
Action | Adventure | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi
Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.
Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Andô, Kuranosuke Sasaki
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Dr. Coto's Clinic / Dr. Kotô Shinryôjo (2022)
Drama
In this drama set on Shikina Island, a far-flung island of the Japanese archipelago located more than six hours from the Japanese main islands, the young physician Kensuke Goto arrives at the island and has to deal with the island's inhabitants, not eager to accept him, at a clinic lacking sufficient medical equipment. Here's a human drama showing how Dr. Coto values the dignity of human life while unflinchingly facing disease with a serious attitude.
Starring: Hidetaka Yoshioka, Kô Shibasaki, Saburô Tokitô, Nene Ôtsuka, Kaito Takahashi, Erika Ikuta
Director: Isamu Nakae
Riverside Mukolitta / Kawapperi Mukolitta (2021)
Drama | Family
Takeshi Yamada arrives in a small village in the Hokuriku region. There, he begins to work at a small factory which makes shiokara. Through the introduction of the CEO of the factory, he begins to live in at an old and cheap apartment building. One day, his apartment building neighbor Kozo Shimada visits Takeshi and asks to take a bath in his bathroom. Since then, Takeshi begins to make relations with the residents at the apartment building and he becomes friends with Kozo. Later, Kozo learns the secret on why Takeshi came to the village.
Starring: Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Tsuyoshi Muro, Hikari Mitsushima, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Noriko Eguchi, Tasuku Emoto
Director: Naoko Ogigami
The Brightest Roof in the Universe / Uchu de Ichiban Akarui Yane (2020)
Family
Fourteen-year-old schoolgirl Tsubame is into university student Toru. She seems him in her area and really wants to be his. She struggles with how to inform him of her love. Then her stepmother becomes pregnant and she is distracted with that development. The one reliable part of her life is the calligraphy class she attends, but then she runs into a woman.
Starring: Kaya Kiyohara, Kaori Momoi, Kentaro Ito, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Maki Sakai, Takashi Yamanaka
Director: Michihito Fujii
Fukushima 50 (2020)
Drama
Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan risk their lives and stay at the nuclear power plant to prevent total destruction after the region is devastated by an earthquake an tsunami in 2011.
Starring: Kôichi Satô, Ken Watanabe, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Narumi Yasuda
Director: Setsurô Wakamatsu
Tora-san, Welcome Back! / Tora-san, Wish You Were Here / Otoko wa tsurai yo 50: Okaeri Tora-san (2019)
Comedy | Drama
The 50th film in Tora-san series to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the series. The adult Mitsuo, Tora-san's nephew, who runs into Izumi, his first love, whom he had once promised to marry. The familiar faces of Kurumaya Cafe, which Tora-san's family ran in Shibamata, also return. Catching up with old friends, it is always their dearest memories of Tora-san which everyone shares on such occasions.
Starring: Kiyoshi Atsumi, Chieko Baishô, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Kumiko Goto, Gin Maeda, Chizuru Ikewaki, Mari Natsuki, Ruriko Asaoka, Jun Miho, Gajirô Satô
Director: Yôji Yamada
Tsuioku / Reminiscence / Memory (2017)
Drama | Mystery
Atsushi Shikata, Keita Tadokoro and Satoshi Kawabata spent their childhood days as friends. As adults, they meet again due to a murder case. Atsushi Shikata works as a detective, Keita Tadokoro is a suspect and Satoshi Kawabata is a victim. They come face to face with the truth of the murder case and their detested past sealed within their minds.
Starring: Jun'ichi Okada, Shun Oguri, Tasuku Emoto, Masami Nagasawa, Fumino Kimura, Sakura Andô, Hidetaka Yoshioka
Director: Yasuo Furuhata
Hachi-gatsu no rapusodî / Rhapsody in August (1991)
Drama
Three generations' responses to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
Starring: Sachiko Murase, Hisashi Igawa, Narumi Kayashima, Tomoko Ôtakara, Mitsunori Isaki, Toshie Negishi, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Chôichirô Kawarasaki, Mieko Suzuki, Richard Gere
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Fueled: The Man They Called 'Pirate' / Kaizoku to yobareta otoko (2016)
Drama | History
The grand story of Japan's post-war reconstruction is based on the actual story of an oil company's president, namely Tetsuzo Kunioka, who believed in the power of oil, as opposed to coal, to abet the country's re-emergence. He believes Japan's resurgence must be fueled by oil and not by coal. Japan is weak, in ruins and has a devastated citizenry. Foreign powers watch and the country is isolated, yet the man takes over an oil tanker on a secret mission to the oil-rich Iran.
Starring: Jun'ichi Okada, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Shôta Sometani, Tôru Nomaguchi, Ryôhei Suzuki, Pierre Taki
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
The Professor and His Beloved Equation / Hakase no aishita sûshiki (2006)
Drama | Family | Romance
This is the story between single mother housekeeper and mathematics professor,who has a brain damage.
Starring: Akira Terao, Eri Fukatsu, Takanari Saito, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Ruriko Asaoka, Hisashi Igawa
Director: Takashi Koizumi
Golden Slumber / Gôruden suranbâ (2010)
Drama | Thriller
When easy-going Aoyagi meets an old friend for a fishing trip, he ends up drugged, framed for the Prime Minister's assassination, and on the run from corrupt cops. It's only the beginning of what quickly becomes the worst, weirdest day of his life. But he'll get by with a little help from his friends, who include a famous pop diva, a rockabilly deliveryman, a crippled old gangster, and the world's most cheerful serial killer. Among the many puzzles of this twisty, clever film is how Nakamura manages to sneak a genuinely moving tribute to friendship into the madcap procession of perilous events. No matter what befalls Aoyagi, his friends and parents believe in him because of his steadfast, almost irrational pleasantness.
Starring: Masato Sakai, Yûko Takeuchi, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Gekidan Hitori, Shihori Kanjiya, Saki Aibu, Akira Emoto
Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura
Grasshopper / Gurasuhoppâ (2015)
Drama
Movie contains the stories of three people: Suzuki (Toma Ikuta), Kujira (Tadanobu Asano) and Semi (Ryosuke Yamada). Suzuki is a former middle school teacher. His girlfriend was killed, which led him to quit his job and attempt to take revenge on her murderer. To do so, Suzuki has to infiltrate the underground world of criminals. Kujira is a contract killer for hire. He makes his targets fall into confusion and eventually commit suicide. Semi is a contract killer who uses a knife to take out his targets.
Starring: Tôma Ikuta, Tadanobu Asano, Ryôsuke Yamada, Kumiko Asô, Nanao, Renji Ishibashi, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Jun Murakami
Director: Tomoyuki Takimoto
The Hidden Blade / Kakushi ken oni no tsume (2004)
Drama | Romance
An honest, low-ranking samurai, Munezo Katagiri finds himself buffeted by the confusion of old and new in mid-19th century Japan. Facing outside pressure, the Shogunate is trying to open Japan to the West and some carefully selected Western ways, while maintaining its fragile political base. Munezo, and his colleague Samon Shimada try to maintain their footing, paying heed to the demanding moral code of the samurai while also learning new military strategies, particularly the mastery of Western artillery. But Munezo also has a personal complication. He is secretly in love–so secretly, he may not even admit it to himself–with his family's maid, the sweet and beautiful country girl, Kie. His passion leads him to rescue Kie from a loveless marriage after she leaves his household; the samurai even shocks propriety by carrying away the low-caste young woman on his back. Just as Munezo starts to get his domestic situation in something to resembling order, Munezo hears devastating news. A comrade, Yaichiro Hazama, has been caught up in a plot in Edo. Their clan has sent the rebellious samurai home in the humiliating transport of a "prisoner's basket." Munezo comes under suspicion because he and Yaichiro, the clan's best swordsmen, shared a famed instructor, but Munezo refuses to cooperate with the chief retainer's witch hunt. Tension finally leads Munezo to confess his growing affection to Kie, a development that the young woman begins to hope will lead to the abandonment of caste structures. But before Munezo can realize his romantic destiny, Yaichiro escapes. Munezo is ordered to kill him, and the loyal, honorable samurai is faced with one final challenge to his principles.
Starring: Masatoshi Nagase, Takako Matsu, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Yukiyoshi Ozawa, Sachiko Mitsumoto, Tomoko Tabata
Director: Yôji Yamada
A Distant Cry from Spring / Haruka naru yama no yobigoe (1980)
Drama
In the vast expanse of an unforgiving land, Kazami Tamiko, a widow who lives only with her young son, struggles to make a living by running a small diary farm. Life is harsh, yet pleasurable when she finds a congenial companion, Tajima Kosaku. When Kosaku's mysterious past is finally revealed, Kazami resolves on a radical change…
Starring: Ken Takakura, Chieko Baishô, Hidetaka Yoshioka
Director: Yôji Yamada
The Railroader / Railroad Man / Poppoya (1999)
Drama
A solitary middle-aged station manager is haunted by troubling memories of his past when he learns the line his station is on will be decommissioned for lack of profitability. He is visited by a young woman, who mysteriously appears to cheer him up.
Starring: Ken Takakura, Shinobu Ôtake, Ryôko Hirosue, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Masanobu Andô, Ken Shimura, Tomoko Naraoka, Yoshiko Tanaka, Nenji Kobayashi
Director: Yasuo Furuhata
Buddha: The Great Departure / Tezuka Osamu no budda: Akai sabaku yo! Utsukushiku (2011)
Animation
2005 years ago in India, a boy named Siddhartha Gautama of the kingdom Shakya is born. When Siddhartha was born there was a prophecy that the boy would become a king of all the kingdoms. At that time various kingdoms were continuously raging wars with each other. When the boy attained puberty, he associated with people from the lower class like Migaila a girl who was known as a thief. Siddhartha began to have doubts about the strict class system even though he is raised in luxury as a future king. Later, the powerful kingdom of Kosala attacks the kingdom of Shakya. Both sides fight fiercely. The commander of Kosala's army is the general's son Chapra. He is thought of as the most brave soldier in the kingdom of Kosala. Chapra was actually born into slavery but hid his background. By the general's order he came all the way up into his current position. Chapra wants to make a successful career for himself and Siddhartha abondons his family's wealth to find Tao. These two opposite persons meet in the war and changes the fate of their respective kingdoms…
Starring: Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Masato Sakai, Kiyokazu Kanze, Tomoka Kurotani, Nana Mizuki, Ai Orikasa, Junko Takeuchi
Director: Kôzô Morishita
Buddha 2: The Endless Journey / Buddha 2: Tezuka Osamu no Budda – Owarinaki tabi (2014)
Animation
2500 years ago, in India, Siddhartha was born as a prince of the Shakya clan, but he gives up his position as a prince to see the world. He meets a strange boy named Assaji, who can predict the future, a monk with only one eye and Depa. Siddhartha continues traveling. Siddhartha is overwhelmed by the sufferings he witnesses around him. Meanwhile, Prince Ruri of Kosara begins his attack on the Shakya clan.
Starring: Kiyokazu Kanze, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Nana Mizuki, Tetsuo Nakanishi, Shin'ya Ohwada, Hiromasa Taguchi, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Hidetaka Yoshioka
Director: Toshiaki Komura
The Little House / Chiisai ouchi (2014)
Drama
A woman looks back on her family's life in Tokyo before and during WWII. A maid arrives from the countryside to work for an upper middle class family. She fits in well, but everyone's emotions are stirred up with the arrival of a student.
Starring: Takako Matsu, Haru Kuroki, Takatarô Kataoka, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chieko Baishô, Isao Hashizume
Director: Yôji Yamada
Always 3 chôme no yûhi '64 / Always: Sunset on Third Street '64 (2012)
Drama
The Tokyo Olympics are about to open, and Rynosuke Chagawa is excited to receive a new TV set to watch the upcoming events. His wife Hiromi is pregnant and he has built a second level on his shop to provide his adopted son Junnosuke with a private space to study for entrance to Tokyo University to set up a career with a major company. He dreams of sparing Junnosuke the struggles that he has faced as a writer. The family continues to rely upon Hiromi's income from her bar. Meanwhile a rival story, The Virus, by a new writer has appeared in the periodical that has been publishing his stories "Boy's Adventure Book" and he fears the new competition. Norifumi Suzuki also receives a new TV, but more of a deluxe model. Mutsuko Hoshino (Roku) is still the principal mechanic in the Suzuki family's auto repair shop, but she dresses up some mornings to go to a nearby street with the hope of a "chance" meeting with Dr…
Starring: Hidetaka Yoshioka, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Koyuki, Maki Horikita, Masako Motai, Tomokazu Miura, Hiroko Yakushimaru
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Always zoku san-chôme no yûhi / Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (2007)
Drama
Chagawa finds it increasing difficult to support his young ward Junnosuke in his store across the street from the Suzuki garage on Third Street. Unless he can provide a better life, Junnosuke's rich father, Kawabata will take him away. Chagawa focuses once again on winning the "Akutagawa-sho" literary award and the prize money coming with it. Mika, a 7-year old relative of the Suzukis is left to stay with them when her father has business reverses. She is accustomed to a richer life style and at first her behavior is very spoiled but is humbled when sees the menial chores that her same-aged cousin Ippei performs. Mutsuko continues to work in the family as a mechanic but has an aspiring boyfriend Takeo, who is studying cooking. Chagawa seeks to find Hiromi, who has become successful once more as the exotic dancer "Betty."
Starring: Shin'ichi Hatori, Maki Horikita, Kazuki Koshimizu, Koyuki, Tomokazu Miura, Masako Motai, Kenta Suga, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Hidetaka Yoshioka
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
