Discoveries from Japan World Cinema

Higashigaito Yutaka is transferred to the Bangkok branch of Eastern Airlines. In three months, he will marry Michiko, a relative of the airline's founder, and though he doesn't love her, he knows he could be CEO one day if they wed. In Thailand, Yutaka meets Touko at a bar and is instantly drawn to her. His relationship with her only intensifies as the wedding date approaches. Eventually, he decides to break up with her and calls Michiko in front of her. Touko is disappointed, and the next day she leaves for New York. Yutaka and Michiko reunite in Thailand and proceed with their wedding. Twenty-five years later, Yutaka and Michiko are married with two sons. But Yutaka still harbors memories of Touko in his heart. Yutaka visits Bangkok on business and goes to the Oriental Hotel where he had stayed with Touko-and finds she is now in charge of VIP guests there. They realize their love for each other remains, but reality pulls them apart once again.

Sen Rikyu is a ceremonial tea master who advises warlord Hideyoshi in sixteenth-century feudal Japan. His daughter, the beautiful Lady Ogin, has an unrequited love for Lord Ukon, who has angered Hideyoshi by becoming a Christian convert. Ogin's father Rikyu also displeases Hideyoshi by opposing the warlord's plan to invade China and Korea. When the animalistic Hideyoshi is rejected by Ogin, he threatens her and her father with arrest and worse.

After a life of abuse, Kiko moves to a quiet seaside town. There, she meets a young boy who, like her, has also suffered domestic abuse. Through their shared pain, they also find much-needed solace

After an accident a husband becomes impotent. To help solve the problem of having a sexy wife with an overabundance of desire he invites his three best friends to help out.

A girl becomes a pawn in the game between two rival gangs gangster.

Tokyo Family Court judicial research official Akira Yamanobo is in charge of Tetsuo and Ayano Katase's divorce arbitration. Ayano, the wife, who works for a boutique company, insists her husband is involved with another woman. Supported by her employer Kotomi Saegusa, the company president, she demands a divorce as soon as possible. On the other hand, her husband Tetsuo, a trading professional, denies having a relationship with a woman. He says he will not agree to the divorce and does not plan to let his only son Kenta go, so the arbitration continues. According to Akira's investigation, Ayano gave birth to Kenta as a single mother five years ago when she was working as a hospital clerk, making him Tetsuo's stepson. Tetsuo loves Kenta as his own child, so Akira doesn't understand why Ayano is so insistent on getting a divorce. However, Tetsuo's insistence on not giving up custody of his stepson Kenta is also very unusual.

Based on the master of SM, Dan Oniroku. Another story about females getting tied up.

A naively honorable samurai comes to the bitter realization that his devotion to moral samurai principles makes him an oddity among his peers, and a very vulnerable oddity in consequence. He takes the blame for the misdeeds of others, with the understanding that he will be exiled for one year and restored to the clan's good graces after the political situation dies down. As betrayal begins to heap upon betrayal, he realizes he'll have to live out his life as a ronin, if not hunted down and killed.

“Hana-Dama”—a flower in the wasteland. This flower is a symbol of earthly desires and every human is overwhelmed by desire and their rationality collapses wherever the flower is in bloom. And even today, the “Hana-Dama” continues to blossom profusely somewhere in the world. The story is set in a film theater, the facility keeps on closing one after another during recent years. The last day has come to a film theater which has been maintained by a film-loving owner, the staff, and their unique audiences. The symbol of human desire, “Hana-Dama,” blossoms at the theater and instigates people’s erratic behavior. Upon facing its closure, tremendous chaos that will be noted in the history of Japanese film takes place within this film theater.

Animated short with an original story that was screened alongside "Sekaiichi Hatsukoi Movie: Yokozawa Takafumi no Baai."

Kenta, a young pianist who has just lost his job, is drowning his woes at a bar, when he meets a man in a Hawaiian shirt named Yamaki. He invites Kenta to work with him, and the next thing he knows, Kenta wakes up to find himself in a room he has never been in before. It is a strange room that seems to have no connection to life. He descends a staircase to find many shelves of books.

When radicals from Japan's Red Army took a woman hostage in the resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano in 1972, Officer Atsuyuki Sassa was put in charge of diffusing the situation. But the task had its challenges. Upon arriving in mountainous Nagano, Sassa had to compete with freezing winter temperatures, conflicting opinions between the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the Nagano Prefectural Police, as well as public opinion to gain entrance to the lodge that held the single woman captive.

Desperate to escape her grueling life caring for her paralyzed husband, Tamiko murders him and burns down their home to start anew. She is soon entangled in the dark web of an influential, elderly power broker, becoming his mistress and a pawn in his political schemes. As she descends further into a downward spiral of moral decay, Tamiko realizes that the freedom she sought is merely a new form of entrapment.

Akinori Kimura (Sadao Abe) and his wife Mieko (Miho Kanno) opens an apple orchard in their hometown of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture. Due to Meiko's allergic reaction to pesticides, Akinori Kimura has to grow his apples without the aid of chemicals. Because of this challenge, his family endures hardships and suffers severe financial difficulties. Akinori Kimura even contemplates suicide. A miracle then happens...

Spin-off short film to RoboGeisha, A woman infiltrates Kageno Steel Manufacturers to unravel their plot to take over Japan.

TV pilot based on an original manga by Tetsuya Chiba, about a 10-year old girl named Yuki. An orphan who's being adopted by a family.

Kouhei Aizawa is a freelance cameraman who moves from Tokyo to Karuizawa with his roommate. He starts dating Kaoru, his roommate's sister as well as Noriko, the female head of a bosozoku.

The war between Solnoids and Paranoids continues, but the conflict reaches a new height as both races complete their Planet Destroyers. This new technology wipes out several star systems leaving only the ninth star system undamaged. As both races head towards it, a Solnoid ship finds Lufy, an attacker cryogenically preserved inside an assault trooper among space debris. Reawakened, Lufy is invited to join a group of Solnoids who are set to complete the original secret mission of her former crew.

Guy is a Japanese street-brawler in New York who chooses to train under the famed boxer, Roman, with the hopes that he can raise enough money as a heavyweight to fund a life-saving operation for his father.

This is a story of love between a society girl and a yakuza boy. Mami lives an ordinary life in Tokyo, being with her friends and studying. Her biggest interest is ladies hats. She is rather well off, as her father is the ambassador of Japan in Spain. One day when she is out driving, she is attacked by a group of yakuza, but is saved by the honorable yakuza Jiro. This will change her life forever.

Teru Aoki (青木 輝) is on a train to Tokyo after a school trip. A disaster occurs which partially destroys the train and blocks a tunnel. When Teru awakes, he finds all his classmates and teachers are dead.

Zero crash-lands on the war-torn planet Amatera amidst a conflict threatening all life. With no memory of her past, Zero joins resistance leader Ring in uncovering the truth behind the relentless Gevuran invaders. Together, they unravel the mysteries of Zero’s true cosmic identity as “Galverse” and face an epic confrontation spanning space and time.

Atsuko is an office secretary who is also her family's primary source of income and caretaker in postwar Japan.

Zorori, Ishishi, and Noshishi search for a meteor that sunk in the ocean. When under attack by octopi, Zorori accidentally launches his submarine into space and land on another planet.

The team-up between Gekisou Sentai Carranger and Chouriki Sentai Ohranger.

Two teenagers get drowned in the river. To come back to life, they have to explore the spirit world and find their purpose and mission in life. Their adventure starts from hell and continues into Shambhala and beyond. Can they come back to life?

Kyo Otsuka is a shy high school student with zero confidence but he has feelings for Naoko Miki, the most popular girl in his class. Instead of putting himself forward, he watches her from afar as she hangs out with her energetic friends. This includes Hirofumi, Miki’s childhood friend and Kyo’s friend. Hirofumi is handsome and athletic and has a nice personality. When another shy student stops going to school, the feelings of everyone begin to change.

An elderly woman devoted to her foster-daughter searches for a good husband for her.

The classic tale of the shogun's illegitimate son Aoi Shingo is told in three parts as he strives to become the greatest fencer in Japan, while his father Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune seeks to reunite with his lost son. When the secrets of Shingo's birth are revealed to him, it sets off a series of events that bring him to cross swords with members of the shogun's inner circle in a series of duels that could change the destiny of Japan.

This film stays very faithful to the original down to the smallest details, save for the kangaroo-rat that suddenly appears twenty minutes into the movie and subsequently follows Aladdin around, serving no purpose in the story but fulfilling the role of token animal mascot. The story takes some illogical and confusing jumps at the point where Aladdin begins to court the princess, and the extravagant animation that had characterised Toei films of the 60s, when Toei had the best animators around, had become a thing of the past long before this point; but this is still an above-average film, in large part because of the screenplay that stays so faithful to the original. The character designs are slightly more western-looking than one is accustomed to seeing in anime.

The last remaining human soldiers of a devastated Earth fight against the machines for one last chance for their species to escape and survive.

A story of childhood life during wartime Japan. Takeshi, the intelligent son of a fisherman, is the schoolyard bully. When his cousin comes to stay with his family to avoid bombing raids, Takeshi at first treats him well, then begins bullying him too. Takeshi eventually loses his position of leadership.

Azalea has been residing on the Colony-Planet of Dinahl, and she can't recall anything about herself until she hears a voice calling her name. Then there is another voice summoning her to go to a park on top of a skyscraper. Once she arrives there, she meets up with other people who also have no recollection of who they are or what they were doing before arriving at this destination as instructed by the voice. All the people assembled there possess superhuman powers, such as Eno's psychic power, Umoth's x-ray vision, Neia's teleportation powers, Azalea's telepathy, and Locke's electrical wizardry. Who has summoned them, and what will the five super-psychics confront?

Following the destruction of the magical floating device, the Magic Academy falls to earth, but unfortunately lands on and breaks a demon seal, releasing hundreds of ancient demons into the forest around the academy. The teachers are barely keeping the demons away and are desperately searching for the pieces of the floating device, so to earn more magic stones, all of the students from Amelia's class decide to leave the academy (even though they were told not to) to find the missing pieces.

There are saints living in Tokyo, Japan: Buddha the Enlightened One, and Jesus, Son of God. After successfully bringing the previous century to a close, the two share an apartment in Tachikawa while enjoying some well-earned time off down on Earth. Buddha pinches pennies like a typical neighborhood housewife, while Jesus is prone to making impulse buys.

Miki Takaraishi is a smart and beautiful 24-year-old woman, but her personality is not as good. She falls in love with Yuga Saito who is handsome and comes from a politician family. They see each other romantically, but Yugo Saito dumps Miki Takaraishi. To get revenge on Yuga Saito, she decides to run for prime minister. For her election campaign, she hires Toshiya Kadowaki as her campaign strategist.

A made man during the height of Hiroshima's yakuza turf war must maneuver through the violence and betrayal inside the criminal underworld.

Japanese comedy film released to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Shintoho's founding.

A diver on the university team must decide which of her two childhood friends she loves, and they're both on the swim team. High school diver Ami and swimmer Keisuke don't exactly get along. Their parents run rival sweets shops and Ami is long-time friends, and maybe more, with Keisuke's freestyle rival Hiroki. Over time, however, hostile words give way to hesitant attraction, leaving Ami torn between Keisuke and Hiroki. With the national championship coming up, the young swimmers are competing for more than the title, but also their hearts.

Tells the story of three bottom-dog boxers who gets used as punching bags. Pro boxer Suenaga Akira fell off the path to greatness but still tries to crawl his way to the top. Omura Ryuta is a youngster who grew up in foster care. Miyagi Shun, a TV celebrity with famous parents, takes a shot at boxing as part of a TV show. Three underdogs with very different back stories put their pride on the line as they exchange blows.

Maki, the female bar manager, has a dark side as a "yakuza woman" who supports Tetsuya of the Uradora clan of the Kanto region. Maki's true identity is accidentally revealed to Natsumi, who works at the bar, and Natsumi's boyfriend Junichi, who has a crush on Tetsuya. Natsumi reports the incident, and the Uratora-gumi is temporarily on the verge of dissolution...

The Edo period. Once a famous swordsman, Kyutaro Madarame, aka “Madara the Devil,” is now a masterless samurai. When a white cat called Tamanojo appears before Kyutaro, the encounter changes him forever. Starring Kazuki Kitamura. This offbeat tale of samurai spirit and adorable animal antics returns to the screen on a breathtaking scale!

Kino, a traveler who journeys the world with his talking motorcycle, Hermes, arrives in a country where people live inside massive domes. There, she meets a girl named Inertia, who asks him to deliver a letter to her pen pal—a boy who lives outside the dome.

The movie starts out with Katsuhiko going to the US, with Kasumi and Yusaku seeing him off at Narita. Two years later, Katsuhiko is a professional racer, and comes back to Japan to race (and to marry Kasumi). Yusaku`s hobby is photography.

The planet Libertia was once known as “the planet of death”, until humanity built three giant mirrors and created what seemed like an ideal land. It is on this planet that Professor Grace and his granddaughter Alcia live peacefully… until their home is attacked by Guild soldiers looking for the professor and for Legaciam – a special Armor that can resist extreme heat, allowing it to go to areas where humans would not survive normally. Alcia, who was at the time piloting Legaciam in order to help her grandfather with the testing, manages to get away… barely. But the Guild is determined to get Legaciam by any means necessary...

A man’s body is found in the suburbs of Tokyo. The dead man was hit by a car and his head beaten by the reckless driver after the accident. The dead man had a wife named Noriko. She likes fancy things and she has a lover named Tsukada. It's also learned that the dead man was insured for 300 million yen. The media and the public look at Noriko and her boyfriend Tsukada with suspicion, but they have perfect alibis. Then, Detective Hibiki, who is in charge of the case, and Private Detective Kono become involved in a series of mysterious murder cases.

Captain Future and friends compete in a galactic race and end up defending themselves against aggressive competitors and evil villains out to destroy them.

In Okinawa, a down-and-out middle-aged yakuza underling named Shidara kidnaps and confines a high school girl named Yui, the daughter of a fellow yakuza’s mistress.

The creator of the world orders Hermes to defeat the evil King Minos, tyrant of Crete. With his beautiful wife, Aphrodite, by his side, he bravely responds to the challenge. A battle between good and evil rocks the heavens as Hermes fights to unite Greece!

Set in an alternate universe, the ancient capital of Kamakura is a vibrant town where fantastical creatures live alongside humans. Akiko is a cheerful publishing assistant who moves into town after marrying Masakazu, a popular mystery writer. Akiko is surprised by the unusual town but enjoys the new curiosities surrounding her. However, just as she was beginning to settle in, a trifling incident sweeps her spirit to the underworld too soon. Convinced that destiny has something else in store for his wife, Masakazu journeys into the underworld to bring back Akiko’s spirit.

Kenji is a young aspiring movie director. He falls in love with Princess Miyuki, who came from a black‐and‐white movie.

Reiko Nakamachi was kidnapped and confined by Masashi Jinbo, a police officer. Burning with a distorted sense of justice, Masashi puts an unusual plan into action. He plans to kidnap Yuki Kazama, who killed Reiko's older brother in an accident five years ago, and let her take revenge on herself. A perpetrator, a victim, and an insane rapist. Days filled with fear and lust slowly destroy the spirits of Reiko and Yuki.

The members of Girls Bar, which is also the strongest female detective agency, confront the evil, and a movie of the same name novel by Fuyuki Shindo. Women who work at the girls bar "W Lounge" at night while working as office ladies, underground idols, teachers, etc. The "W Lounge" had another face, the strongest female detective agency fighting female enemies. A university student, a bud's friend, Airi disappears while leaving a debt of 3 million yen, and Airi's debt guarantor, Bud decides to work at "W Lounge" to repay the debt. According to a survey by the manager, Mona, who heard about the situation from the buds, and colleagues in the store, Airi gets information about being in a secret club called "Ruby Soul."

In the Tokugawa Era, the clan of Lord Yagyu has hidden away three scrolls containing clan secrets which, if revealed, would cause revolution and disaster for the clan. The information is divided among the three scrolls, all of which must be possessed for the secrets to be understood. When Princess Yuhime steals the scrolls, Tasaburo, a samurai with magical powers, and his brother Senshiro are sent to retrieve them.

The story centers on a boy named Yamada Uro, and a 17-year old girl named Karon. Both work as part of the "Hero Retirement and Return to Everyday Life Assistance Agency," which takes heroes from another world back to Earth and helps them reintegrate into everyday life. Karon, a former hero herself, works under Uro as they tackle cases, and also lives with him, with Uro constantly failing to rein in Karon's hero-like behavior even as he tries to ingrain the behavior of common people into her.