Discoveries from Japan World Cinema

When a team of detectives lose the trail of a murderer, they decide to keep an eye on the suspect’s ex-lover, who is trapped in an abusive marriage.

The men who surround and torment the young protagonist (demanding teacher, owner of the company that rapes his own daughter, despotic and uncompromising father) are opposed to women (victims of men) as embodiment of salvation.

1958 Mito Kōmon film.

Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido, is the northernmost zoo in Japan. The unpopular zoo welcomes a new zoo keeper, young Yoshida (Yasuhi Nakamura), who has more affection for insects than people after years of being bullied at school when he was young. Yoshida soon realizes that Asahiyama Zoo is facing a financial crisis and the zoo director Takizawa (Toshiyuki Nishida) has been doing everything in his power to save the zoo from closing down. Moved by Takizawa's passion, Yoshida and other zoo keepers came to share the zoo director's belief that one's dreams can come true, and together they tackle this seemingly impossible task of revitalizing Asahiyama. A breakthrough arrives in the form of “Behavioral Exhibition,†a method that is pioneered by Ashiyama's zoo keepers and which eventually makes the zoo renowned throughout the world.

Story 1 "A Story That Made Akazu no Ma" Sasaki Aya, the site director of a construction shop, visited the hot spring area after being asked to renovate the banquet hall by a long-established inn, was handed a blueprint by the designer Kijima Souji. Although Aya was suspicious, she started construction, but mysterious events happened one after another at the site. Story 2 "Karaoke Shop with Translation" Oono Yohei, a karaoke clerk, was plagued by strange phenomena that often occur at work. "I want you to guide me to room 8." Yohei guides the woman to the 8th room where Yoshioka is, while feeling the atmosphere. Story 3 "Midnight Mirror Image" There was a strange rumor in the mirror in the corridor of a hospital in Hokkaido. However, for some reason, the people around him did not try to touch the topic. One day, Naoya (Kamiki Ryunosuke), who was admitted to this hospital, wanted to go to the bathroom at midnight and left the hospital room by himself.

A omnibus movie consisting of the three parts: "Kechinbo", "Yowak" and "Kōshoku".

After radical feminism and the emasculation of men have caused the downfall of civilization, the few remaining humans live in various settlements with vast lawless lands in between. One such settlement is Amazon City, where men are seen as a mere food source and as a means to harvest the sperm from their chopped-off testicles. Since heterosexual procreation is now seen as the epitome of perversion, survival of this society relies on artifical insemination. With the previous lead scientist having been assassinated by the terrorists of the Love Liberation Army, Amazon City has recruited the talents of Dr. Maki Amamiya to take her place. Little did they know that Dr. Amamiya would show up in Amazon City with her husband in tow…

Long-time friends Jinko and Motoko hear that their college friend Miki has jumped into the ocean. They are joined by Haraki, who Jinko happens to meet, and head by car on a journey to see Miki.

Akira had to transfer schools upon graduation because of her father's job. She was reluctant to move because of her secret love for Nao...

At a certain high school in Karuizawa, students relied on ordinary local trains for their commute, but with only seven trains running per day, missing one meant spending two or three hours killing time in town. This sparse train schedule on the Shinetsu Main Line

After 5 years in Tokyo, 5 part-time jobs, 5 boyfriends, Sawako's life is going nowhere. When her father gets seriously ill, she has to take over his struggling factory. Gradually she becomes the decider of her own life.

Hiroshi, a small-time racketeer, makes a name for himself extorting vulnerable companies and their directors for financial gain.

Directed by Arata Oshima, son of rebel filmmaker Nagisa Oshima, who had praised Sono's early work before his passing, this documentary gives insight into the man, the poet, the painter, the scriptwriter, the husband and the boy who will eventually grow up to be the Sion Sono. Lineage, history and the past meeting the present are themes in this film in which Oshima connects the dots in Sono's creative life by taking the camera to the site of his upbringing and following the production of his most recent film The Whispering Star.

Despite the peace efforts of Souryukai's Senior Advisor Yudai Kanou (Yudai Ishiyama), the conflict between the Souryukai and Sakata family only intensifies. Led by Executive Director Takeshi Kanzaki (Hitomi Matsuda), the Souryukai is designated under the Anti-Boryokudan Law, prompting Umezawa (Hoka Kinoshita) from the Osaka Prefectural Police to conduct a raid. Upon receiving the news, the Daitoua Union demands a response from the Fourth-Generation Sakata family. In the midst of this, the retired Third Generation head Tatsuichi Kuroki (Jiro Dan) suddenly collapses and falls into a coma. His biological son, Kanzaki, goes to see him...

The renowned Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty comic book series by Ashley Wood and Alex Garner comes to life in this motion comic, complete with stylized animation, thrilling music, explosive sound effects and full voice acting. A retelling of Hideo Kojima's video game of the same name.

True ghost stories described and/or narrated by the survivor involved and commences with the name and location of the one submitting the story. Each of the three collections begins with a series of creepy real-life photographs in which strange appendages or faces appear while a rather ominous narrator suggests you are now entering the highway to HELL. Three stories in the first TV-movie: The Lonely Girl Spiritual Flight Mystery of the Red Earring

1958 Japanese movie

Tatsuo and his daughter Haru run Takano Tofu Store in Onomichi. They begin their work before dawn every day. They carefully select beans to make their tofu. While they have peaceful days, Tatsuo worries about his daughter being alone after his death.

A dramatic film that recorded the history of Japan in the period of high economic growth. This work deals with Kashima Rinkai industrial zone development. The men who dream of making the overlooking wasteland as a big industrial area draw the courage to realize the ideal purely with the fishy desire swirling back to the coastal industrial area of Kashima Nada in Ibaraki prefecture.

Jiro, a smooth-talking, womanizing bartender, flees from a Yakuza boss to Yanagase.

Taison Maeda's Teiken High School class goes on a field trip to the Kansai region of Japan, which is where Taison is from. Taison's little brother Youkou sent a message to Taison & his older brother Fujio that their father, Monson, is sick and that they should return home to visit him. This trip back will also allow Taison to put some closure on his past regarding his friend Naoto & his ex, Haruka.

Kana is an ordinary high school student. One day, her photo is selected for a magazine and, because of this, Kana receives attention from popular student attention Rio. The attention though is not the kind Kana wanted. Kana is bullied by Rio and her friends. A rumor exists that a ghost exists in the old school building. The ghost is able to grant someone's wish, but that person will lose something important to them. The ghost is a former student named Yomi, who died in an accident 12 years ago. Kana decides to go see the ghost. The next day, Kana is a member of Rio's group, but Kana's friend Erika is now bullied. More tragedy awaits …

An abandoned temple in the mountains outside of the old capital city of Kyoto is the scene of a fated meeting between a traveling priest, two women, and a vicious killer. Bloody violence erupts whenever strangers approach the temple. Can the traveling priest bring his belief in the Buddha and rid the three temple residents of the devils that hold their souls?

Original work from director Irie Yu of Memoirs of a Murder and the "8000 MILES: SR Saitama's Rapper" series. Set in a provincial city, the story depicts men who are trapped in a vicious downward spiral. Eldest son Ichiro absconded as a youth. Second son Jiro is a city councilman. Youngest son Saburo manages a call girl service. The death of their father brings together three brothers who have pursued different paths in life, and the situation deteriorates as their inescapable fates intertwine once again.

Rei is a freelance writer embattled by personal demons. She hears voices in her head, and has sleeping problems, eating disorders and drinks excessively. On Valentine's Day, she meets truck driver Takatoshi. She joins him on a journey in his bumpy and shaky truck - which vibrates in tune with her uneasy soul.

Comedy about three soldiers, two female reporters, six prostitutes, and the wife of an officer, all stranded on a South Seas island at the end of World War II.

The fifth movie of the “Truck Yaro” series, which is comical road movies of two long-distance truckers. This time Momojiro falls in love with beautiful Minako in Sado, Niigata.

The third installment of the popular "Lesbian World" series. A young woman evades a male stalker, running to a woman who could teach her the true joys of love and sex. However, the woman's mistress takes out her knife out of jealousy...

Three female college students become involved with a land developer. When a rich client and his sons tries to take advantage of him the women hatch a plan for revenge.

Mysterious aliens and evil monsters that shouldn’t exist are attacking! Zero, Ribut, Taiga, Z, 80, Max, Mebius, Great, Powered, Grigio, and many more Ultra Heroes fight together to solve this mysterious case, which could end up affecting the whole universe. However, this is only the beginning! A conspiracy is underway – and stories are intersecting. What is the aim of the golden giant working in the shadows?! While connecting to the TV series Ultraman Z as well, a new history of Ultraman begins! This is the complete, director's cut version of the original web series with no breaks!

Takeshi Hashimoto, on the brink of turning 30, struggles with insomnia. He finds himself repeatedly dreaming the same dream. Despite seeming to have a successful career and personal life, Takeshi feels stifled and stuck in his current existence. When his close friend and colleague, Saeki, offers him some advice, Takeshi decides to try changing his approach to life. However, the next day, Saeki suddenly takes his own life, leaving Takeshi even more bewildered. Out of the blue, a girl named Sai and a mysterious man named Hōsaku—whom Sai calls her brother—appear in Takeshi's life. Their natural and intriguing presence helps Takeshi slowly reconnect with himself. One day, after receiving a promotion offer, Takeshi decides to turn it down after much thought. “I want to change the way I’m working…” he says. As he begins to notice small changes within himself, he starts to forge his own path.

Sugimoto Taeko moves in with her daughter Natsuki and granddaughter Mizuki. They begin a lively life together. In the midst of it all, Taeko sees her former self in Mizuki. The bitter taste of the first pineapple she ever ate, the disastrous score on a math test, the awakening of her acting spirit at a school performance. As Taeko recalls her elementary school days, she unleashes a dream that she had long given up on and sealed away. 'I'm going to be on stage!' Taeko immediately auditions and devotes herself to rehearsing for a Shakespeare play. But just then, the theatre where she was going to perform goes bankrupt, and she is forced to give up on her dream again!

As the Heisei era nears its end, the Shimazu Clan's second-generation boss, Yumizo Tokuma (Ryuji Katagiri), suffers a fatal stroke, triggering a power struggle. A succession battle erupts between Wakagashira Tetsuo Sakuragi (Yasukaze Motomiya) and Saiko-komon Kippei Hagiwara (Kazuyoshi Ozawa). Hagiwara's faction aligns with the Kanto-based Ichio Federation to block Sakuragi from becoming the third-generation boss. Targeted for assassination and detained by police, Sakuragi faces escalating conflict. The feud claims lives, including members of Hidetoshi Kaji's (Hitoshi Ozawa) Koga Family. Remembering Tokuma's wish to avoid internal bloodshed, Sakuragi withdraws from the race, vowing to step away. Yet, his decision may not bring an end to the turmoil...

Made-for-TV film adaptation of the 1957 novel by Seicho Matsumoto starring Takeshi Kitano and directed by Noboru Tanaka. The novel was previously adapted in 1978 film entitled “The Demon” starring Ken Ogata and directed by Yoshitaro Nomura. After a married man stops providing for his mistress, she abandons their three young children with him and his wrathful wife. Consumed by the jealousy and power struggles of their own relationships, they involve the children in their own games - with tragic results.

Amsterdam, June 12, 1942. Anne celebrates her 13th birthday and begins her diary, which she calls Kitty. Hiding for two years from the German threat, the young girl writes about her idealistic views on the world, her ambitions, her fears and her first love, Peter.

A drama depicting the new form of couple love, starring the sexy actress Yua Mikami. Shujiro Isumi and Haruka, who are in their second year of marriage, lived an ideal married life that people envy. However, one day, Shujiro spits out his accumulated desires toward Haruka.

A student at a woman's university takes a controversial action against the school's old-fashioned doctrines.

From the sensual novel series of "France Shoin Bunko", the same masterpiece based on Kaoru Kosuga is visualized. Mariko had a physical relationship with her student, Ikuo, who died in an accident and was wearing black lingerie in her mourning, but she met Ikuo with two students...

He is rejected by his sister when the brother floats the idea that their father move from his house to her apartment. The father has other ideas however and shows up unannounced at her doorstep with his belongings. She has little space, a boyfriend she lives with it and does not need a cranky father.

In the dawn of the Meiji period, the Gokumonjou, an inescapable prison, has been established in the middle of an enormous lake to counter the soaring crime rates the new era has brought. Serving as the ferrymen are the famous Kumou brothers: the eccentric family head, Tenka; the reckless but noble second son, Soramaru; and the guileless youngest, Chuutarou. In spite of their grim work, the three lead relatively peaceful lives in the ever-cloudy town of Oumi, together with their housekeeper, Shirasu Kinjou. But buried in the long history of Oumi is the legend of the terrifying "Orochi," a serpentine beast that awakens every three hundred years in a human vessel. Unbeknownst to Soramaru and Chuutarou, the actual job of the Kumou family is to seal the Orochi away before it fully revives—or the world will be plunged into destruction. Amid the monster's next resurrection, the Kumou family must find the resolve to keep laughing under the clouds.

45-year-old Rui Nakamura is a highly successful publisher. During the course of work, she encounters a 28-year-old married man named Kou Suzuki who aggressively pursues her. Unexpectedly, Rui Nakamura starts to fall in love with the younger married man Set 5 years after the ending of the NHK drama series “Second Virgin,” Rui Nakamura is transferred to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia while still taking care of Marie Suzuki.

A stage adaptation of the Korean film Parasite, which changes the setting to 1990s Japan. It ran from June 5th-July 2nd 2023 in Tokyo.

The first omnibus film starring "BiSH", also known as “The punk band that doesn’t play any instruments”. A collaboration with six different directors to create a unique experience that reveals new aspects of "BiSH", from drama to arthouse.

Though he has come from a rough background on the streets, Muraki quickly rises through the ranks by means of his well-honed blackmailing instincts. Desperate to keep rolling with his freewheeling lifestyle, Muraki sees his luck begin to crumble when he sets his sights on the business partners of a powerful gang boss.

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.

Amagi Goe, based on Seicho Matsumoto's novel, has created numerous stars through its visualizations. Erika Ikuta will take on the difficult role of the main character in this adaptation.

A Japanese cop is sent to join the London police force on a secret investigation.

Nakadai is an English teacher at a local school. He’s put-upon like the patron figure of dozens of films and televisions shows. Viewers who are especially fans of Nakadai will appreciate how the actor comically rants about here. His home life is almost disastrous, with a ditzy (but attractive) wife, three young children, a loud school nearby that’s controlled by a corrupt businessman he loathes, and frequent visits from layabout friends. And the grey-furred, green-eyed cat!

A professional voyeuristic filmmaker is hired to acquire footage of prostitutes; during the process, his camera lands on a woman with a troubled past.

A look at Genghis Khan's life, from his birth to conquests in Asia.

A surprising and humanistic drama that questions the meaning of happiness through the strange fate of one man who caused an accident. One night, a taciturn and clumsy man working at a scrap iron factory in the suburbs of Tokyo, causes an irreparable accident with his colleague. The two try to hide the incident but the man’s fate takes a turn for the worse and his colleague and family are faced with threats to their survival. A psychologial thriller that reveals the ills of Japanese society along with the darknesses of the human heart based on a script full of surprises written by the director Dai Sakō. Tomomitsu Adachi, who plays the lead role, exudes an eerie charm, and is flanked by many of Japan's best supporting actors such as Yutaka Matsushige and Shohei Uno.

After Gonta is left behind reluctantly by its family in Namie, Fukushima during the evacuation due to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster, Gonta's family rallies a rescue team to save all the pets left behind.

A serial-murderer is on the loose who just so happens to also be removing the hearts of his victims and taking them with him. His victims however, are not merely random humans as thought by the police. They are in fact, the past and present guardians of the gateway of the afterlife.On the day he is to be married, Detective Kanzaki, who happens to be on the case, discovers that his fiancé Mina has been murdered with her heart also missing. He also learns that the killers are Kudo, a geneticist, and his evil secretary Rei. The two are trying to obtain six hearts from the guardians so that they may call forth a horde of demons from the Gate of Rage and have their every desire granted. Only problem is, once they open the gate the entire world will be covered in darkness.

An ordinary salaryman named Tokichi Inaba who inadvertently becomes involved in the death of a legendary hitman. Facing bankruptcy and saddled with a 35-year mortgage, Inaba is coerced into becoming a hitman himself by the mysterious and beautiful troublemaker Chinatsu, all while trying to keep his new wife Misako in the dark about his double life.

1966 Japanese movie

Satoshi loses his eyesight completely at the age of 9 despite numerous surgeries, but grows up with cheerful spirit thanks to his mother Reiko’s unconditional love. Surrounded by affection and friendship at high school, Satoshi’s future seems bright until one day his family realizes that he is losing his hearing as well. Determined to never give up, Reiko tries everything she can to give him hope.

An expanded version of the final episode of the TV series (38) that features new animation and a longer epilogue.