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A partially-animated documentary about the preservation and restoration of the canal system in Yanagawa, Fukuoka

Blue skies, shining sunshine and mountains brimming with greenery... Enjoy your summer vacation with the slender and absolutely beautiful Mio Ishikawa. We bring you the most emotional time spent in a sparsely populated mountain village, doing something cute and a little naughty.

July 1, 2000. British 21-year-old Lucie Blackman goes missing in Tokyo, sparking an international investigation — and an unyielding quest for justice.

A look at the trial of Japanese militarists accused of war crimes; from the proceedings of the International Military Tribunal (May 1946–November 1948). It took two days to read the charges against the 100 alleged war criminals in the docket (only 28 top officials are actually in the small courtroom), and the final judgment took one week to read.

"Yoyochu" is the nick name for Tadashi Yoyogi. He is the father of Japanese adult video. Before becoming a pornographer, he was a flower arranger and a member of the mob. Here, we follow Tadashi Yoyogi as he seeks the truth behind love-making.

Although the Chinese government promised that Hong Kong would retain separate status until 2047, in recent years the Chinese state has consolidated its power over the metropolis. Large-scale protests by the populace have been brutally suppressed. This mix of documentary, fiction, and visions of the future reveals the current state of desolate depression among the people of Hong Kong. “A desperate attempt to capture the final moments of a sinking island”, as maker Chan Tze-woon himself puts it.

All recorded at National Yoyogi Stadium on June 4th, 2005.

In Japan, thousands of people disappear voluntarily every year. And there are companies ready to help those who want to disappear without a trace and start a new life somewhere else. Meet some of them in a film that soberly examines a modern phenomenon.

Dear Pyongyang is a documentary film by Zainichi Korean director Yang Yong-hi (Korean: 양영희, Hanja: 梁英姬) about her own family. It was shot in Osaka Japan (Yang's hometown) and Pyongyang, North Korea, In the 1970s, Yang's father, an ardent communist and leader of the pro-North movement in Japan, sent his three sons from Japan to North Korea under a repatriation campaign sponsored by ethnic activist organisation and de facto North Korean embassy Chongryon; as the only daughter, Yang herself remained in Japan. However, as the economic situation in the North deteriorated, the brothers became increasingly dependent for survival on the care packages sent by their parents. The film shows Yang's visits to her brothers in Pyongyang, as well as conversations with her father about his ideological faith and his regrets over breaking up his family.

Writer/Director Kaneto Shindô recounts his time spent in the Japanese Navy in WWII. He tells about the harsh training, grueling conditions, and tragic losses which are reenacted in black & white sequences.

Shifting his lens from Cantonese opera to Japanese Noh drama, documentary filmmaker Cheuk Cheung continues his exploration of complex gender issues ingrained in traditional theatres. For seven centuries, only the male body has been granted the privilege to inhabit this highly stylised art form that embraces spirituality in subtle movements. The film traces the journey of third-generation Noh performer Uzawa Hikaru, a young woman who makes her presence in the male-dominated space; yet behind the mask lies a daughter yearning to seek a resolution beyond her mother’s path – a quest to fuse body and soul in pursuit of the profoundly mysterious aesthetic.

The late French American artist Niki de Saint Phalle is remembered today for her Nanas, a highly spirited force of colorful female sculptures. These figures, as with all of Niki’s works, possess an unbridled creativity that hums with the very energy of life. Through unpublished stills and recent footage shot in Europe, America, and Japan, this documentary recalls the life and legacy of the multidisciplinary artist, whose portraits and artworks japanese director Michiko Matsumoto photographed from 1981. It introduces in intimate detail such masterworks as the Tarot Garden in Tuscany, Italy, a vast collection of large-scale works more than 20 years in the making.

A promotional video for the film “Death and Rebirth.” Released on January 25, 1997, it contains an overview of the series’ plot, cast interviews, a music video for “Soul’s Refrain,” and several trailers for the film.

A documentary about the Ghibli Museum. It features Goro Miyazaki speaking with Isao Takahata about the "charm" of the museum and its various influences. Goro tours the viewer around the museum, explaining the intricate details that his father, Hayao Miyazaki made during its construction. The documentary highlights the strong European influences in the museum's architecture, featuring footage of the medieval mountainous city of Calcata in Italy and the historic port city of Genoa, which Miyazaki had visited in the past. These trips would go on to influencing the imagery seen in Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, and Spirited Away.

Animation film celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Senba Center Building. Based on the manga "A manga in the Semba Center Building" by You Machida. One day, manga artist YOU Machida received a request to draw the Semba Center Building, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary. This is the story of a quiet dialogue between a manga artist who has suffered from depression in the past and the Senba Center Building, a generous old commercial facility that has lived for 50 years in the middle of Osaka, over a four-day period.

Ho Tzu Nyen's Hotel Aporia features a cast of historical figures from Japan's interwar period, including World War Two kamikaze pilots, philosophers of the Kyoto School, filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu, and animator Ryuichi Yokoyama. They were all caught up in the heady mix of Japan's militant nationalism, anti-modernism, and cultural propaganda. Letters and correspondence between the artist and his Japanese collaborators, the writers Tomoyuki Arai and Yoko Nose, form the narrative basis of the work. Experimenting with the epistemological and affective capacities of animation, Ho superimposes animation images of featureless faces onto found footage clips from Ozu's fiction films and Ryuichi Yokoyama's animation propaganda films. This is a single-screen cinematic presentation of Hotel Aporia. Its original form, first presented at the Aichi Trienanle, is a video installation projecting layers of animation and hybrid-animation images onto multiple screens within a heritage building.

A behind-the-scenes look at the production of Baby Assassins: Nice Days.

Fukushima's Minami-soma has a ten-centuries-long tradition of holding the Soma Nomaoi ("chasing wild horses") festival to celebrate the horse's great contribution to human society. Following the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the wake of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, local people were forced to flee the area. Rancher Shinichiro Tanaka returned to find his horses dead or starving, and refused to obey the government's orders to kill them. While many racehorses are slaughtered for horsemeat, his horses had been subjected to radiation and were inedible. Yoju Matsubayashi, whose "Fukushima: Memories of the Lost Landscape" is one of the most impressive documentaries made immediately after the disaster, spent the summer of 2011 helping Tanaka take care of his horses. In documenting their rehabilitation, he has produced a profound meditation on these animals who live as testaments to the tragic bargain human society made with nuclear power.

A look at the succession ceremony in which Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII formally inherited the storied Danjūrō name in Kabuki, Japan’s classical performing art. The film records the behind-the-scenes preparations for the actor’s name-inheritance debut performance.

Some artists have put on a spectacular performance, while others have put on an infamous one; Ben Folds Five managed to do both in one show.

Ryuichi Sakamoto shocked the world with his techno music as a member of YMO and continued to capture the hearts of many with his unique music. In his diary in his final years, he wrote about the anguish of his life fighting the disease, thinking, "It's a death sentence" and "Should I choose euthanasia?" and "Music may be the only way to stay sane," and "Music to leave behind, music to leave behind." His true feelings were engraved, including words that made him think deeply—his interaction with unknown members of YMO and the unreleased song that ended up touching his heart.

2008 Japanese film

Idol VHS tape Ryoko Hirosue released in 1997.

Through the unrelenting winter in the north of Japan, a small group of workers must brave unusual working conditions to bring to life a 2,000-year-old tradition known as sake. A cinematic documentary, The Birth of Sake is a visually immersive experience of an almost-secret world in which large sacrifices must be made for the survival of a time-honored brew.

Interview with actress Nana Komatsu on her debut film "The World of Kanako".

Taiko drummer, Hisakatsu Yokoyama, and fellow evacuees of Futaba, Fukushima fight to keep their beloved “Futaba Bon-Uta” alive after their hometown, is wiped out by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit the Töhoku region in Japan.

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.

This 150-minute documentary, directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi on the set of Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew.

I broke up with the woman I lived with for several years, A painter who lives in a room by the sea. I stayed with him for a few days, Or animals visit every few months. Sometimes a canary, Sometimes it's a frog, a chameleon, a rabbit, an owl, a winged insect... On a beautiful moonlit night, someone taught me a long time ago. The only piano song you can play When I was playing (Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 14), He notices an interesting fact. While the animals are playing the piano,Dancing a strange dance.

Drama, heritage, soul; Actor Toma Ikuta trains for his first kabuki theater performance with his long-time friend, kabuki actor Matsuya Onoe.

A documentary on Teruo Ishii, the Japanese "King of Cult".

Restored footage of a famous debate between Yukio Mishima and students at Tokyo University in 1969, just one year before the author's death.

This Japanese documentary follows Michael Jackson during his 1987 visit to Japan as part of the Bad World Tour. The program’s title, “1440 Hours,” refers to the length of his stay in the country. Broadcast on Nippon TV, the special offers unprecedented access to Jackson’s daily life and activities, capturing not only concert footage but also behind-the-scenes moments and his interactions with Japanese culture and fans.

Depicts the 2002 trip by several employees of Studio Ghibli to promote the movie Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) in North America. It was originally made as a private thank-you gift from Ghibli to John Lasseter, the Lasseter-San of the title. The show appears similar to a home movie, or private documentary. This footage includes snippets from some of Miyazaki's films, as well as some Pixar shorts. The most striking part were clips from Porco Rosso, interchanging with images of Miyazaki flying a red double-decker.

This short documentary follows director Hayao Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki as they attend two film festivals showing the film Princess Mononoke and answer questions. Miyazaki discusses his experience in LA before founding Studio Ghibli.

A historical film that portrays the fervent and violent actions of young Army and Navy officers, such as the February 26 and May 15 incidents, in a semi-documentary style.

Let’s explore Japan. A journey to a country so far away yet one that holds a growing fascination for so many Italians. The legendary tradition of the samurai, the heroes of manga and anime with whom generations of young people have grown up, the highly refined cuisine, cutting-edge technology, the delicacy of cherry blossoms, the horror of kamikaze attacks and seppuku, and the natural disasters from which to defend oneself. A narrative of the many facets of a complex, millennia-old civilization, where opposites converge to give rise to a culture unique in the world.

On July 28, 2021, the long-awaited CD debut of Naniwa Danshi was announced at Yokohama Arena during the #Naniwa Danshi Shika Katan tour, the group's first and last arena tour as Kansai Johnny's Jrs. Relive the happy, teary moment when the members were surprised with the news of their debut, not to mention their energetic performances, in this live release. "Naniwa Danshi National Championship #Oreshika Katsutan" digest is included as bonus video.

An NHK documentary about the talented actresses who have portrayed the beautiful, intelligent and resourceful heroines of the long running series. Features interviews with Kumi Mizuno, Keiko Mari, Yumiko Shaku, and Megumi Odaka. Also featured are never before seen 8mm home movies shot by producer Tomoyuki Tanaka on the sets of classic Toho films.

As glam rock's most flamboyant survivors, X Japan ignited a musical revolution in Japan during the late '80s with their melodic metal. Twenty years after their tragic dissolution, X Japan’s leader, Yoshiki, battles with physical and spiritual demons alongside prejudices of the West to bring their music to the world.

Tokyo work culture's most compelling and complex protagonist; the Salaryman. A nameless, voiceless, over-worked and under-valued cog in the labour pool, expected to compromise home and social lives. Late nights and intense drinking sessions leave many of them passed out in the city streets. This slick, incisive documentary raises questions around the ethics of our global working practices in a capitalist society.

The making of the movie "Nobody Knows" by award-winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Atsushi Sakahara, a victim of the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo's subway system, travels with Hiroshi Araki, an executive of Aleph (formerly Aum Shinrikyo), the attack's perpetrators, visiting their respective hometowns and the university they both attended. Conversations unfold, building intimacy: we learn why Araki joined the infamous organization led by Shoko Asahara and why, still, Araki remains an executive member of the cult, even though he was not directly involved in any of the crimes.The beginning of a friendship, a trip for redemption, or the confirmation that each human has to go their own way.

Trailblazing artists, activists, and everyday people from across the spectrum of gender and sexuality defy social norms and dare to live unconventional lives in this kaleidoscopic view of LGBTQ+ culture in contemporary Japan.

Since the enactment of the Anti-Boryokudan Act and Yakuza exclusion ordinances, the number of Yakuza members reduced to less than 60,000. In the past 3 years, about 20,000 members have left from Yakuza organizations. However, just numbers can’t tell you the reality. What are they thinking, how are they living now? The camera zooms in on the Yakuza world. Are there basic human rights for them?

Crowdsourced documentary sequel to Life in a Day, shot on the first anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake.

German director Wim Wenders tries to explore the Tokyo that was depicted in the films of Yasujiro Ozu and finds a very different city.

Japanese Documentary

Since childhood, Miki has had a unique relationship with calligraphy. Born left-handed, she was introduced to this art to learn how to write with her right hand, but what started as an exercise quickly became a passion. More than just a movement, each stroke is, for her, a quest for meaning, a silent dialogue with the poets and thinkers of the past. Follow Miki for a moment in a calligraphy session as she reflects on this art—not as a rigid practice, but as a living form, evolving alongside those who engage with it.

As a decades-old state-run aeronautics munitions factory in downtown Chengdu, China is being torn down for the construction of the titular luxury apartment complex, director Jia Zhangke interviews various people affiliated with it about their experiences.

Adapted from the novel "Yu-san no Nyobo ~ Mou Hitori no Ishihara Yujiro" by Muramatsu Tomomi, this NHK / BS4K one -shot drama tells a love story of a woman who continues to be the "wife" of superstar Ishihara Yujiro.

Concert documentary film containing Nana Mizuki's LIVE MUSEUM 2007 tour held at Yokohama Arena on February 12th, 2007.

This impressionistic portrait of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics pays as much attention to the crowds and workers as it does to the actual competitive events. Highlights include an epic pole-vaulting match between West Germany and America, and the final marathon race through Tokyo's streets. Two athletes are highlighted: Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila, who receives his second gold medal, and runner Ahamed Isa from Chad, representing a country younger than he is.