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The Town of Iitate: No Longer Home

In March, 2011, the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant exploded, causing a large amount of radioactive effluent to leak. Iitate Village, designated by some as "one of the most beautiful villages in Japan," was more than thirty kilometers away. But because of the direction of the wind, snow, and rain, it was heavily effected by radiation. For this reason, a month after the nuclear disaster, the Japanese government ordered the municipality to evacuate entirely. As a result, approximately 6,000 residents were forced to leave their homes.

The Town of Iitate: No Longer Home

NR 2012
Sanrizuka: The Sky of May

In the mid-1970s, protests were waning across Japan after the Red Army scandal of Asama Cottage. In Sanrizuka, people were weary of the violence and the airport was well under construction. As for Ogawa Productions, they invited criticism by pulling out and moving to a quiet village in northern Japan. But when protesters back in Sanrizuka erected a tall tower at the end of one runway, they sent a crew to document what happened. This became the final film of the Sanrizuka Series.

Sanrizuka: The Sky of May

5.5 1977
The Pursuit of Perfection

Focusing on four of the leading chefs in Japan today, this documentary explores the truth behind Japan's unique and sophisticated food culture. Each takes meticulous care of their own dishes in pursuit of perfection, but their approaches are quite different, even contrasting. With different sets of roots and beliefs, some pursue spiritual cultivation or aesthetic creativity, while the others seek high-quality ingredients by building close relationships with local suppliers. How do their personalities and struggles result in their masterpieces? World-renowned food experts and gastronomists also guide the audience into the further depths of the stories behind the chefs' endless pursuit. Through these four chefs, you’ll learn that Tokyo is one of the world’s greatest food cities.

The Pursuit of Perfection

8.0 2024
Raise Your Arms and Twist! Documentary of NMB48

Launched in 2011 as a sister group to girl band behemoth AKB48, the Osaka-based NMB48 has become a musical force itself. With a string of No.1 hit singles and albums, not to mention sell-out performances, NMB48 continues Japan’s pop-music phenomena. Director Funahashi Atsushi, whose documentary work has previously chronicled such harrowing events as the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, pulls back the curtain on the life and struggles of the band members and the workings of the idol-making industry.

Raise Your Arms and Twist! Documentary of NMB48

5.6 2016
Watashi ga Watashi de Aru Basho

Japan has an estimated 24000 actors and talents working in the media, mostly playing nameless roles in independent films. A large portion of these actors are unrecognized by the general audiences and not even listed in the talent directories. This documentary provides an intimate look into the lives of these actors, the aspirations behind their dreams, and the challenges they face in the film industry. The subjects in this film are the actors who appeared and participated in the audition of Takaomi Ogata's movie "Cinderella Girl."

Watashi ga Watashi de Aru Basho

NR 2023
Women’s Testimonies - Pioneering Women in the Labor Movement

In 1982, the socialist researcher Ishidō Kiyotomo organized a round table with women activists who had participated in the rise of the labor movement, from the Taishō era (1912-1925) to the Shōwa era (1926-1989). At his request, Haneda records this meeting. Stimulated by her desire to " preserve the history of these women ", the director adds additional sequences to the recording. In the film, the discrimination and domination suffered by these activists are told in the first person.

Women’s Testimonies - Pioneering Women in the Labor Movement

NR 1996
Mikio Naruse 100th Birth Anniversary

Because his style was similar to that of Yasujiro Ozu, who was already active at Shochiku, he moved to PCL (currently Toho) in 1933, where he appeared in the talkie works "My Wife, Like a Rose" and "Tsuruhachi Tsurujiro." It got attention. There were times when he was unable to make as many films as he wanted due to wartime film regulations and post-war Toho disputes, but in 1951 he revived his career with Meshi. Since then, he has released masterpieces one after another, including "Okaasan," "Lightning," "The Couple," "Wife," "Anii Mouto," "Sounds of the Mountain," and "Bangiku." The pinnacle of his work, "Floating Clouds," is Kenji Mizoguchi's "Wife." Even director Ozu was impressed, calling it a masterpiece of Japanese cinema, on par with "The Sisters of Gion." He depicted ordinary people in everyday life with an everyday realism that was not influenced by lyricism, and he consistently sought out women as his subjects.

Mikio Naruse 100th Birth Anniversary

NR 2005
六百年の「今」を舞う~狂言師・野村萬斎

Kyogen performer Mansai Nomura is taking on the challenge of various attempts to convey the appeal of Kyogen, a traditional art form with a 600-year history, to the modern age. While carrying the weight of the Nomura family's legacy, which was spun out by his father Mansaku, a living national treasure, and others, he has been lightly expanding his field of activity to appear in films and dramas and stage productions. These various activities are nothing other than the path of Mansai Nomura, a kyogen performer who conveys the appeal of kyogen with its profound expressive power to the present day. Through the figure of Mansai, who is always creating new challenges, this programme introduces the appeal of the "traditional Japanese performing arts" in the "present".

六百年の「今」を舞う~狂言師・野村萬斎

NR 2013
SUNRISE TO SUNSET

DISK 1: SUNRISE TO SUNSET Documentary SUNRISE TO SUNSET + BLARE FEST 2020 live Song list (BLARE FEST 2020): 1. Ligarse 2. Resurrection (feat. Masato from coldrain/ Hazuki from lynch.) 3. Weight of my pride (feat. MAH from SiM) 4. Respect for the dead man (feat. Koie & Teru from Crossfaith / NAOKI & NOBUYA from ROTTENGRAFFTY) 5. Pictures (Feat AG from Noisemaker / Yosh from Survive Said The Prophet) 6. Voice (feat. Taka from ONE OK ROCK) 7. Rain 8. This life DISK 2: SUNRISE TO SUNSET INTERVIEWS (UNRELEASED FOOTAGE) DISK 3: FROM HERE TO SOMEWHERE (2013.12.30 ZEPP TOKYO) Song list: 01. Sweetest vengeance 02. Here I'm singing 03. Drive 04. Deprogrammer 05. Wallow in self pity 06. The answer is not in the tv 07. Gift 08. Weight of my pride 09. Home 10. Rain 11. Another day comes 12. This life 13. Greed 14. The sun, love and myself 15. Black sheep 16. Lose your own 17. Paralyzed ocean 18. Against the pill

SUNRISE TO SUNSET

NR 2023
A film of TAMA

A documentary featuring the band Tama who created a sensation in 1990. They enjoyed great success, but disbanded after one of the members left. All four former members are continuing with music in their own styles. The film focuses on the three former members: Ishikawa Koji, Takimoto Koji, and Chiku Toshiaki. The film carefully captures the musicians who keep creating and expressing music through their own unique lives that still mesmerizes audiences. The director Imaizumi Rikiya is a rising star whose past independent work has won many awards at Japan's film festivals. It is his first documentary and a debut for a commercial film.

A film of TAMA

NR 2010