Minamata (2020)
Drama
War photographer W. Eugene Smith travels back to Japan where he documents the devastating effect of mercury poisoning in coastal communities.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Jun Kunimura, Ryô Kase
Director: Andrew Levitas
Tokyo Oasis / Tôkyô oashisu (2011)
Drama
Before she even realizes, Touko starts to run away from somewhere in the city. As an actress in a fantasy world, Touko seems to have lost her grip on reality. Along her journey, she makes acquaintance with people who carry similar issues.
Starring: Satomi Kobayashi, Ryô Kase, Haru Kuroki, Tomoyo Harada
Director: Kana Matsumoto, Kayo Nakamura
To the Ends of the Earth / Tabi no Owari Sekai no Hajimari (2019)
Drama
A young Japanese woman named Yoko who finds her cautious and insular nature tested when she travels to Uzbekistan to shoot the latest episode of her travel variety show.
Starring: Atsuko Maeda, Ryô Kase, Shôta Sometani, Tokio Emoto, Adiz Rajabov
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Lying to Mom / Suzuki-ke no uso (2018)
Comedy | Drama | Family
Koichi is a son in the Suzuki family. He is a hikikomori and dies suddenly. The rest of Suzuki family, father Yukio, mother Yuko and daughter Fumi, fall into confusion. Especially the mother Yuko, who is shocked by her son's death, and loses her memory. Fumi lies to her mother and tells her "Koichi stopped being a hikikomori and now works in Argentina."
Starring: Ittoku Kishibe, Hideko Hara, Mai Kiryû, Ryo Kase, Kayoko Kishimoto
Director: Katsumi Nojiri
Outrage Beyond / Outrage 2 / Autoreiji: Biyondo (2012)
Action | Crime | Drama
As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West.
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Ryo Kase, Toshiyuki Nishida, Shun Sugata, Machiko Ono, Tomokazu Miura
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Outrage / Autoreiji (2010)
Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller
The boss of a major crime syndicate orders his lieutenant to bring a rogue gang of drug traffickers in line, a job that gets passed on to his long-suffering subordinate.
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Kippei Shîna, Ryo Kase, Tomokazu Miura, Jun Kunimura, Renji Ishibashi
Director: Takeshi Kitano
About Her Brother / Otôto (2010)
Drama | Family
Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this standard drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother. The father (Masayuki Mori) and stepmother (Kinuyo Tanaka) are not exactly an expressive, demonstrative couple, and so the brother Hekiro (Hiroshi Kawaguchi) depends on his sister Gen (Keiko Kishi) for companionship and care. The situation turns much more serious when Hekiro becomes terminally ill, yet his sister continues to provide the support he needs – leading him to reach some valuable insights.
Starring: Sayuri Yoshinaga, Tsurube Shôfukutei, Yû Aoi, Ryô Kase, Nenji Kobayashi
Director: Yôji Yamada
Our Little Sister / Umimachi Diary (2015)
Drama
A story that revolves around three sisters who live in their grandmother's home and the arrival of their 13-year-old half sister.
Starring: Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose, Ryô Kase, Ryôhei Suzuki
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Glasses / Megane (2007)
Comedy | Drama
Taeko an stressed out career woman leaves her stressed out life in the city for an island vacation. The vacation does not become what expected, as everyone on the island are rather strange.
Starring: Satomi Kobayashi, Mikako Ichikawa, Ryô Kase, Ken Mitsuishi, Masako Motai, Hiroko Yakushimaru
Director: Naoko Ogigami
Go to Hawaii / My Hawaiian Discovery / Watashi no Hawaii no arukikata (2014)
Comedy
Minori is a 26-year-old magazine editor who is tired of her work and love life. Minori's friend is about to have a wedding in Hawaii and she asks Minori to help prepare her wedding reception. In Hawaii, Minori meets Akane. Akane's dream is to marry a rich man and she attends parties nightly. Minori also meets Tsutomu, a businessman struggling to pursue his dream, and Tomoya, the son of a wealthy man. The four newly acquainted friends go around Hawaii together.
Starring: Nana Eikura, Rin Takanashi, Kôji Seto, Ryô Kase
Director: Kôji Maeda
Pecoross' Mother and Her Days / Pekorosu no haha ni ai ni iku (2013)
Comedy | Drama | Family
Yuuichi Okano is a baby boomer born and raised in Nagasaki, Japan. His bald-head looks like a pecoross, a small onion. His Mother, Mitsue has dementia that began soon after her husband, Satoru, passed away 10 years ago… The film depicts their daily life that is full of humor and sweet sorrow. The theme of this film is nursing care and dementia that take up as serious social issue in Japan; the aging of population is advancing rapidly. But the Director, Azuma Morisaki, the age of 85, he is now the oldest active film director in Japan, got through with this film as the light and heart-warming movie.
Starring: Ryô Iwamatsu, Harue Akagi, Kiwako Harada, Ryô Kase, Naoto Takenaka
Director: Azuma Morisaki
SPEC: Close~Reincarnation / SPEC: Closed – Kô no hen (2013)
Action | Comedy | Mystery | Thriller
Mysteries are revealed like the words "Simple Plan," "Third Secret of Fatima" and also the mysterious white man which are all mentioned in the movie "SPEC: Heaven".
Starring: Erika Toda, Ryô Kase, Raita Ryû, Kazuki Kitamura, Chiaki Kuriyama
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
SPEC: Close~Incarnation / SPEC: Closed – Zen no hen (2013)
Action | Comedy | Mystery | Thriller
Mysteries are revealed like the words "Simple Plan," "Third Secret of Fatima" and also the mysterious white man which are all mentioned in the movie "SPEC: Heaven".
Starring: Erika Toda, Ryô Kase, Raita Ryû, Kazuki Kitamura, Chiaki Kuriyama
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
It's Me, It's Me / Ore Ore (2013)
Comedy | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Hitoshi is an electronic store clerk who hates his job and his boss. When an annoying customer at a fast food restaurant leaves his phone behind, Hitoshi takes the cell phone and calls the man's mother, posing as her son to borrow a large sum of money. The scam works, but Hitoshi discovers that the phone's owner has transformed into someone who looks exactly like him. More "Hitoshis" begin to appear from out of nowhere, and the slacker Hitoshi decides to build an "Ore" Empire – an empire filled with Hitoshis.
Starring: Kazuya Kamenashi, Yuki Uchida, Ryô Kase
Director: Satoshi Miki
SPEC / Keizoku 2: SPEC – Keishichou kouanbu kouan daigoka mishou jiken tokubetsu taisakugakari jikenbo (TV Series 2010 )
Drama | Thriller
Like the original series, "SPEC" will revolve around a pair of police detectives as part of a special division solving difficult cases (Mishou). Touma Saya is a woman with an IQ of 201 and an inability to "read the atmosphere" in social situations. Due to a previous case, her left arm is in a sling. Her partner Sebumi Takeru used to be the star performer of the Metropolitan Police. After some incident however, he was transferred to Mishou. Those two track down offenders with special abilities(SPEC) who managed to get away with their crimes.
Starring: Erika Toda, Ryô Kase, Raita Ryû, Kasumi Arimura, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Saki Fukuda, Tetsushi Tanaka, Yu Tokui, Kohki Okada, Kazuyuki Matsuzawa, Ryuuji Sainei, Yû Shirota, Ken Yasuda, Kippei Shîna, Takeshi Itô
Creator: Yumie Nishiogi
Like Someone in Love / The End (2012)
Drama
Celebrated Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami takes the helm for this richly textured Japanese drama. Akiko (Rin Takanashi) is a young woman living and studying in Tokyo who is also moonlighting as a prostitute to make ends meet. When she meets her latest client, the shy and timid old man Takashi (Tadashi Okuno), she is surprised to find out he is merely lonely and has no interest in having sex. The two share a meal and the next morning Takashi takes Akiko to school. When an unexpected run-in with Akiko's boyfriend Noriaki (Ryo Kase) causes Takashi to lie and say he is her grandfather, it begins a relationship between the three which is based on lies but holds something much more meaningful.
Starring: Tadashi Okuno, Rin Takanashi, Ryô Kase, Denden, Reiko Mori, Kaneko Kubota
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
SPEC: Zero / SPEC: Rei (2013)
Action
High school student Saya Toma (Erika Toda) lost her parents and younger brother in an airplane accident. Detective Akio Kondo (Yu Tokui) came and told her "your family has a high possibility that they were killed by people who have spec." That was the first time she heard of "spec". 6 years later, Saya Toma, who has never forgotten what the Detective said, decides to become a detective. She returns to Japan after receiving training by the FBI in the United States. Saya Toma is assigned to work unsolved cases in the Public Security Bureau. Meanwhile, because of Satoshi Chii's (Yuu Shirota) scheme, Juichi Ninomae (Ryunosuke Kamiki) considers Saya Toma his parents' enemy and tries to push her to the edge. Satoshi Chii's scheme has also caused Saya Toma and Juichi Ninomae to forget that they are brother and sister. The siblings are headed to a life-staking fight. A girl named Maho Ueno (Umika Kawashima) becomes involved in their fight. To protect Maho Ueno, Saya Toma uses "spec".
Starring: Erika Toda, Ryo Kase
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
SPEC: Sho / SPEC: Flying / SPEC ~Keishichou Kouanbu Kouan Daigoka Mishou Jiken Tokubetsu Taisakugakari Jikenbo~ Shou (2012)
Drama | Mystery
Set on year after the fight between detectives Saya Toma (Erika Toda), Takeru Sebumi (Ryo Kase) and Satoshi Chii (Yuu Shirota). More confrontations ensues between the detectives at the Unidentified Crimes Unit of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Takeru Sebumi (Ryo Kase) returns after taking a break due to his eye problems. Kenzo Ichiyanagi (Denden) is appointed section chief, while Kotaro Nonomura (Raita Ryu) is demoted. New member Shu Yoshikawa (Kazuki Kitamura) joins the team.
Starring: Erika Toda, Ryo Kase, Saki Fukuda, Kohki Okada
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
SPEC: Heaven / Gekijouban SPEC: Ten (2012)
Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller
Saya Toma (Erika Toda) is a female detective with an IQ of 201. Takeru Sebumi (Ryo Kase) is a career detective with a distinguished background. They work on cases by postulating the "SPEC" of the unknown criminals and then deduce the criminal's unknown "SPEC" to make arrests. A mystery occurs when bodies are found on a cruiser in the ocean. Saya Toma and Ryo Kase of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department are brought in to solve the case.
Starring: Erika Toda, Ryo Kase
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Drama | History | War
Sixty-one years ago, US and Japanese armies met on Iwo Jima. Decades later, several hundred letters are unearthed from that stark island's soil. The letters give faces and voices to the men who fought there, as well as the extraordinary general who led them. The Japanese soldiers are sent to Iwo Jima knowing that in all probability they will not come back. Among them are Saigo, a baker who wants only to live to see the face of his newborn daughter; Baron Nishi, an Olympic equestrian champion known around the world for his skill and his honor; Shimizu, a young former military policeman whose idealism has not yet been tested by war; and Lieutenant Ito, a strict military man who would rather accept suicide than surrender. Leading the defense is Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, whose travels in America have revealed to him the hopeless nature of the war but also given him strategic insight into how to take on the vast American armada streaming in from across the Pacific. With little defense other than sheer will and the volcanic rock of the island itself, Gen. Kuribayashi's unprecedented tactics transform what was predicted to be a quick and bloody defeat into nearly 40 days of heroic and resourceful combat. Almost 7,000 American soldiers were killed on Iwo Jima; more than 20,000 Japanese troops perished. The black sands of Iwo Jima are stained with their blood, but their sacrifices, their struggles, their courage and their compassion live on in the letters they sent home. From Academy Award winner Clint Eastwood comes the untold story of the Japanese soldiers and their General who defended against the invading American forces on the island of Iwo Jima.
Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase, Shidou Nakamura, Ryan Carnes
Director: Clint Eastwood
