Discoveries from Japan World Cinema

A struggling, unemployed musician living with his girlfriend looks to improve his life after he discovers how she's been paying the rent.

This most celebrated all-star movie version of the popular series features Tsukigata Ryunosuke as Mito Komon, the sage who wanders the countryside rectifying government corruption along with his faithful attendants Suke and Kaku.

After detective Natsumi Yukihira brings an end to the police hospital terrorist case, Natsumi is transferred to the Nishimonbetsu Police Station in Hokkaido. Meanwhile, a series of grotesque murders occurs in downtown Tokyo involving nails placed in the body of the victims. The fingerprint of Natsumi's ex-husband, freelancer journalist Kazuo Sato, is found on the the body of a victim and Kazuo is placed on the most wanted list. Soon after, Kazuo finds Natsumi and hands her a USB memory stick. The device contains information on a secret organization within the police department. Kazuo tells Natsumi that the series of murders are warnings and suspects become the next victims. Natsumi is then arrested as a suspect. Tokyo prosecutor Katsuaki Murakami appears at the Nishimonbetsu Police Station to investigate.

A rookie newspaper journalist, Takema Sakaki, has a strong sense of justice. In the Diet Building he gets acquainted with a library worker, Reiko Nakafuji. Reiko's father was a member of the Diet who was assassinated six years ago. Through Reiko, Takema joins Tsūkai-kai, a group of young people who respect her late father's political ideas. With the assistance of Tsukai-kai, Takema eventually uncovers the political scandal related to postwar compensation which led to the murder of Reiko's father.

Minowada, a young teacher at a National People's School, has his own theory of education and the daughter of his linguistics teacher becomes drawn to him. Kayo, a strong-willed doctor, is also attracted to him. A mediator tries to arrange a marriage but just at that point Minowada receives military call-up papers.

Noboru runs a real-estate agency in a provicial Hokkaido mountain town. He is despised by the locals for his aggressive business practices. His daughter, Nana—a high school senior—bears the brunt of their anger; and yet, she resolves to stay after graduation, even though her father wants her to leave with him for Tokyo.

Zenroku Nichigami, a charismatic con artist, is tasked with collecting a debt from the elusive Shishiro Oba. As he delves deeper, Zenroku uncovers a web of deceit involving Oba's criminal activities, leading to a series of comedic and action-packed encounters that challenge notions of honor among thieves.

Gamba, an adventurous mouse, embarks on a journey with his childhood friend Bobo. They gather experienced mice sailors at a harbor. They encounter Chuuta, a mouse who has been injured and in need of help. He appeals for Gamba and Bobo to assist him in defending the island of Yumemishima and its inhabitants from the cruel and wicked weasel Noroi.

B-Robo Kabutack: The Epic Christmas Battle!! is a special that features cameos by Blue Beet from Juukou B-Fighter and the title hero from B-Fighter Kabuto.

Thirty years after aboy's disappearance, a journalist revives interest in the case, which in turn compels the victim's brother to look for this woman's daughter in the snowy hinterlands of northern Japan. This sets off a series of events that causes the brother and the woman's daughter to glimpse the truth that has been concealed by their vague and painful memories.

The daily grind of the elderly cleaner of a Japanese bathhouse is disrupted when a young man attempts suicide.

Sugai works as a driver at a chauffeur service company at night. On the night of a full moon weekend, he is told to pair up with a newcomer Kariya. Kariya is a mysterious young guy who gives a silly quiz to Sugai while they work. Sometime later, a drag queen comes to the office and asks for Sugai, saying that someone is trying to kill him. Sugai actually has a past that he could never forget. His colleague tells him that on the night of a full moon weekend something bad would happen...

Terrace House: Closing Door is a 2015 Japanese film that acted as a continuation/ending to the Fuji Television reality show Terrace House: Boys × Girls Next Door.

Asumu Adachi imagines if he could be like Kamen Rider Hibiki, and are approached by talking Disc Animals who teach him how to be like Hibiki, eventually allowing Asumu to transform into Kamen Rider Armed Hibiki.

A jazz bandleader, falsely accused of murdering his girlfriend, tries to stay one step ahead of the police as he dives into Tokyo's sin-city in search of the real killer.

The prison guards working in penitentiaries where death row inmates are locked up are forced to spend their daily lives constantly facing death.

More super heroic sex-n-violence adventures with the world's first superhero rapist! If you liked 1 - 6 then you don't want to miss this seventh installment! Japanese sexploitation starring everybody's favorite Japanese anti-hero, RAPEMAN! Mild mannered high school teacher by day, masked, knife wielding rapist for hire by night, Rapeman rights wrongs through penetration, teaching the evil women of Tokyo respect for their elders, for society and for the ways of the culture.

As his fashion company rides a wave of post-recession success, President Kurihara seeks to expand into women’s apparel through a deepening partnership with a French firm.

Murder case and trial.

Nanaki is having a hard time with her friend Eiko, who introduces her to a part-time job. Eiko is having an affair, leaving her boyfriend to become close with Nanaki...

A Japanese-American college student travels to her grandfather's beloved homeland to see and experience the "real Japan" she has so often read and heard about. Yet when she arrives she discovers that the Japan of her dreams is so much more different from what she expected and struggles to adapt to her newfound life there.

Four young high school students who dream of being in a rock band must deal with the unexpected deaths of their friends while making concert decisions.

The Sky Pirate Fam and Millia (the princess who Fam rescued as her Turan Kingdom faced devastation) wage a battle against the Ades Federation that reduced Turan to ashes, and aim to establish a revived Turan Kingdom.

This 1932 adaptation is the earliest sound version of the ever-popular and much-filmed Chushingura story of the loyal 47 retainers who avenged their feudal lord after he was obliged to commit hara-kiri due to the machinations of a villainous courtier. As the first sound version of the classic narrative, the film was something of an event, and employed a stellar cast, who give a roster of memorable performances. Director Teinosuke Kinugasa was primarily a specialist in jidai-geki (period films), such as the internationally celebrated Gate of Hell (Jigokumon, 1953), and although he is now most famous as the maker of the avant-garde silent films A Page of Madness (Kurutta ichipeji, 1926) and Crossroads (Jujiro, 1928), Chushingura is in fact more typical of his output than those experimental works. The film ranked third in that year’s Kinema Junpo critics’ poll, and Joseph Anderson and Donald Richie noted that 'not only the sound but the quick cutting was admired by many critics.

A salesman is looking in the city of Tokyo for his lost son. But he becomes increasingly angry at the young and radical hippies, who are not the least helpful.

Ambitious Yakuza Kenji befriends harmonica-playing bartender Chuji, who moonlights as a part-time drug-dealer for the opposing gang. Their friendship is threatened by Kenji's plans for advancement, as well as by his bodyguards' growing jealousy of Chuji.

In the chaotic days of the 1960s, Misuzu, a lonely high school girl from a troubled family, finds sanctuary with her nihilistic brother, Ryo, and his friends. They pass their days hanging around a shadowy jazz cafe bar, indulging themselves in a life of sex, drugs and alcohol.

A struggling writer and his engaged buddy hit the road for California wine country.

An omnibus horror TV special where three girls encounter a beautiful rose patterned yellow one-piece dress which curses them as they try to gain the attention of a man they like in their lives.

Sakura and Kenzo are married. Both think they can live a happy marriage, despite the fact that she cannot have children and he does not want to give up her relationship with her lover Yoko.

Based on a traditional Japanese ghost story, the movie follows a man who falls deeply in love with a mysterious woman, only to find she belongs to the world of the dead.

A small yakuza gang is taken to war by a more powerful rival after a violent bar brawl involving members of both gangs. Young boss, Masaki, must decide whether to disband his dwindling gang or fight.

Yohko Mano is introduced. Yohko goes about her daily life; day dreaming about a cute guy named Hideki. Yohko learns that her family has a long history of being devil hunters. But this time the demons decide to take out the next devil hunter before she can fight back. After a failed attempt to take Yohko's virginity (so that she can't become a devil hunter), the demons decide to use Hideki as bait. Yohko must become the 108th devil hunter and rescue the man of her dreams. The English-dubbed "Special Edition" of this episode restores approximately 30 seconds of assorted footage that was cut from the final Japanese print of the film.

A history drama portraying the confrontation between the indigenous Ainu people living on Japan’s northernmost main island—then called “Ezo” and now known as “Hokkaido”—and the “sisam”, the Ainu word for ethnic Japanese.

Based on the novel “Adam Stvořitel” by Karel Čapek: angry at the world for its imperfections, Adam destroys everything except himself. God, as punishment, lets Adam rebuild the world to his whim and will.

Jinpachi Nezu who lost both his wife and daughter during a feud against the yakuza 10 years ago while he was an accountant for their organization. One day he comes across a young idol and rescues her from being kidnapped by the yakuza.

Deep in the Valley interlaces a story of young romance set in Yanaka (part of old downtown Tokyo) with a Japanese period drama based on Five-Story Pagoda, a classic literary work by Rohan Koda. In the contemporary story, Kaori, a young woman working for a non-profit organization that restores home movies, learns that there used to be a five-story pagoda in the middle of Yanaka Cemetery. It burned down in 1957, and rumor has it that someone has an 8mm film of the fire.

A nanny, played by Sayuri Yoshinaga, who lives and works in a Tokyo family, causes all kinds of waves with her outspoken personality and behavior in this charming coming-of-age blockbuster.

A Buddhist monk becomes ensnared by a seductive woman who, according to legend, transforms her lovers into beasts.

Thirteen years afterward, I wonder if those who bombed Hiroshima are looking at me and saying: 'We did it! We were able to kill another person!' They should be," murmurs Minami (played by Kumiko Aso), one of the two leading female characters in Yunagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni, as she lies dying in 1958, her life brought to a premature end by sickness resulting from her exposure to atomic bomb radiation. This is a story about those who at least initially survived the first U.S. atomic bombing of 1945 and their descendants in contemporary times. The film, based on a comic by Fumiyo Kono, jumps between the two time frames and quietly depicts the sorrow and mortification experienced through the everyday lives of laid-back and soft-spoken Hiroshima people. Only a few scenes of the bombing and the ensuing devastation are featured.

Little dark-eyed boy Kazuo. Yes, he dreamed of the sea. However, like everyone here in the village. Kazuo only wanted to study first, to finish school... But he failed. Mother died. The woman who replaced her brought with her affection, comfort, and warmth of mother's hands. It seemed that joy settled in their house again. But one day a storm caught the fishermen at sea. Father did not return... Father's friends, fishermen, tried to help the widow, who was left with two children. But the money was still not enough. And then Kazuo decided to become a fisherman. After all, he was now the eldest in the family...

The Man Who Assassinated Ryoma is a movie about a haunted blood-thirsty Bakufu officer who might have killed Ryoma Sakamoto.

The film follows a young aspiring art university student, who falls in love with the older sister of his girlfriend. The heartrending longing and the true love that the three characters pursue, is pure, but almost painful. Is the person who stands next to you, is the person that gives you true comfort and love? Can you say that you love him/her from the bottom of your heart?

The industrial revolution comes to Japan with the introduction of the railroad system. This led to clashes between boatmen, who livelihoods are threatened, and the railroad construction workers. Oryu the Red Peony returns to her home in Kumamoto to accept her position as second generation leader of the Yano Family. But the ceremony is interrupted by fighting between local boatmen and railroad works. And it seems a rival family is pulling the strings behind the clashes.

Amy and Sonny are two girls with contrasting personalities. Their "secret hideout" is an antique shop. One day, Amy falls in love at first sight with an older man named 'J'

A young lord lives against the will of his father Lord Tokugawa.

Hama-chan's supervisor is promoted after many frustrating years with his wayward, fishing-obsessed underling, and Hama-chan's new boss naively tries to retrain him. Later, Su-san and Hama-chan go on a business trip, where they meet a beautiful, warm-hearted truck driver.

Love Live! Sunshine!! Aqours EXTRA LoveLive! ~DREAMY CONCERT 2021~ was Aqours' live concert that took place at PIA ARENA MM in Yokohama on December 29 and 30, 2021.

Three girls go on a trip after a friend commits suicide and learn about friendship.

Hirotoshi Honda, a teacher of a prestigious private girl’s high school, is arrested on suspicion of violating the nuisance prevention ordinance for molestation on a train and sent to prosecutor Sakata. High school student Reina claims he touched her buttocks in the packed train but Honda denies the crime and calls it a fabrication and claims he was blackmailed by Reina on the train platform. Reina denies his allegation. Even for a misdemeanor, Sakata believes not pursuing the truth is like death as a prosecutor.

A woman from rural Japan marries a struggling cartoonist in Tokyo. Their life is difficult before he finds success, but at least they're together.

Suu is a Four Leaf Clover. Her power is unrivaled, yet all she has known her whole life is loneliness. One day, a man named Kazuhiko appears and accompanies Suu for her first and last journey, to the place where she can find happiness.

Young men endure challenging flight training in the Yokaren, a program feeding new pilots into the Army and Navy. By the time of the filming, the pressure of the war had led the government to shorten the training and expand the age range of the recruits. Yokaren was highly selective, and thus an object of great fascination and desire for boys and young men. In this Navy–sponsored film, Setsuko Hara plays the daughter of a family that often entertains recruits on their days off—a surrogate sister to many trainees. Her fragile younger brother aspires to join the program, but is rejected. With perseverance and much support from Hara and their mother, he surmounts his weaknesses and becomes a flier.

Reborn as a woman named Aiko, the soldier rises as the military leader of a new crusade, successfully unites the world, and abolishes all religion. Haunted by memories of a past life, Aiko travels backward in time and finds herself caught in an incredible battle to save the future.

Office worker comedy by Nobuo Nakagawa