Yoshi Katō

In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner,...

Warlord Oda Nobunaga seeks to unite a fractured Japan. A young man trained in the arts of ninjitsu is manipulated by a ninja master into attempting...

The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even after Ueno's death.

The film tells about Masayoshi, a noble Yakuza who lives by the laws of honor and humanity, and who is bound by an oath to his brother in a conflict...

A Dead Drifter / Hyoryû shitaî

A sad love story between young Umihiko Kojima and a beautiful girl named Yukiko Shino.

Yataro Tanigawa, a one-eyed hired assassin, impresses yakuza boss Gomyo Kiyoemon with his skill. Gomyo hires Tanigawa as his bodyguard, or yojimbo,...

In 1943 Japan is facing defeat. This makes Shinkichi, a straight, selfless student-patriot, ever more restless. He can no longer stand his soft...

Successful and married with children, paper-mill owner Jihei knows better than to contradict the strict social and moral codes of 18th-century Japan....

Hashizo Okawa in the form of a courageous firefighter who confronts unscrupulous traders who make a profit even at the cost of human lives. A fireman...

1962 Japanese movie

Tokyo engineer Kariya arrives on a primitive tropical island, where he interacts with the Futori clan, to drill a well to power a sugar mill.

Kondo Isami, the “Devil” commander of the Shinsengumi was one of Japan’s greatest national heroes and a peerless swordsman who...

The basic story in Love under the Crucifix is about Ogin, daughter of a tea master, who are both Christians in feudal Japan. Ogin falls in love with...

Two Jesuit priests encounter persecution when they travel to Japan in the 17th century to spread Christianity and search for their mentor.

The great Daimyo enlists the aid of the three Shadow Hunters in ensuring the delivery of an illegal cannon in this sequel to Toshio Masuda's bloody...

The myth of the Sun Goddess who founded Japanese society is seen through the lens of a modern view of history.

A weak willed man teams up with a stripper after her stage show partner runs off with another dancer. He is obsessed with her unique inverted nipples...

Coming out of jail and hoping for a quiet life, Yokohama yakuza has to take the lead of his gang after the death of his boss. His small group is is...

A drama about relations between Japanese immigrants and the indigenous Ainu on Hokkaido, the most northerly island of Japan. From a novel by Taijun...

A suspense work based on the "Miyagi Incident," an attempted coup d'etat led by some officers working for the Ministry of the Defense and the General...

A gang plans to steal twenty billion yen by safecracking tactics; however, they discover that one of the gang members is an infiltrating cop.

Ushimatsu's father told him never to reveal his lower-caste heritage; years later, he now contemplates confiding in an activist fighting against such...

A once-powerful yakuza clan disbands as a result of a police crackdown, but one small group refuses to bow to police pressure, and launches a...

Account magistrate Wakisaka Bizen Mamoru asks Yoshibei, the chief priest of Iriya and Myohoji Temple to explore the Sado Gold Mine. They suspect that...

The sixth film of the “Truck Yaro” series. Two long-distance truckers, Momojiro and Kinzo, travel around Japan in highly decorated...

Two infantry regiments of the Imperial Japanese Army—210 men overall—tackled Mt. Hakkoda in the winter of 1902 to prepare for war with...

Tatematsu Minoru, a yakuza belonging to the Ishikawa group that runs the Shinjuku area, has a beautiful sister named Akane. He dreams of sending her...

Three robbers escape with loot from a heist before one of them kills the others. Their corpses wash up near the aftermath of a maritime calamity,...

Famous detective Kindaichi solves a series of mysterious murders in a wealthy family. An excellent blend of intrigue and betrayal, set against the...

A film adaptation of the original novel by Kazuo Dan. This exciting film, set in Asia on the eve of violent changes, tells the story of a young man...

The new head of a powerful family faces danger from an evil rival out for blood.

A Tokyo family escaping the war relocates to a Hokkaido village; their daughter is set to marry the local leader's son, but her siblings disapprove.

Two rival gangs of gangsters clash for dominance of a neighborhood.

1962 Japanese movie

A blind traveling musician is abused and oppressed wherever she goes, even as the modern world imposes change around her.

An ethical, young tax collector new to his area encounters increasingly absurd individuals and groups coping with their post-war woes.

Second part to "River Without a Bridge" (1969)

1959 Japanese movie

Hayata and his best friend Ushijima came to Tokyo to become champions. Hayata repeatedly sought to join Tamura's boxing club, but Tamura fell in love...

A college professor wants to bring the joys of sex to his frigid wife. He convinces his son in law to sleep with her because the idea arouses him,...

Third part in Tadashi Sawashima's Theater of Life trilogy.

In a small town on the Kasumigaura coast in the early Showa period, the Masukawa clan from Tokyo is trying to take away the interests of the local...

1962 Japanese movie

Just before the end of the war, Japanese soldier Kitani is released from prison, having served his term for theft. Told in flashback, viewers learn...

Hell manifests itself through the sins, shame and desires of an upper class rural family and a mother's grief from beyond the grave.

On the night the shogunate's treasury was breached, the guard Utsugi had already been taken down. His colleague Ryunosuke felt responsible and...

The film takes place in Yokohama, a night city where you can revel in the neon mood. A bartender who wants to become a singer and a beautiful married...

Hatamoto Ooka Gentaro was deeply committed to a future with a beautiful girl named Omachi, a relationship facilitated by his love of the shamisen....

Historical action film about the struggle for gold of two feudal clans in the Edo period.

As the post-war turmoil continued, Take, the boss of the waifs, stole the money of US soldiers and lived with friends. They were like children of...

A series of short stories about bizarre crimes committed by females in the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa Eras. Discover 4 famous Japanese murderers:...

Final part of epic drama about war and its effects upon human beings, follows the fortunes of the Godai family through the Sino-Japanese War through...

Tsunamune Date, the young lord of Sendai Domain, was ordered by the shogunate to stand down after being spotted in a brothel. Shortly after, four...

In Edo Japan, a kabuki actor seeks revenge against the three men who drove his parents to their deaths years ago.

1962 Japanese movie

Three Iga ninja are on a hunt for Chidoken, a Takeda ninja sent out to assasinate Lord Nobunaga.

1962 Japanese movie

Two people disappeared, engineers of the company Yamato Matsui and Koyama. The two worked overtime, and it is proven that they consumed alcohol...

A group of teenagers grow up in Okinawa amid the protests and resistance against the presence of the American base in the island.

Based on the Nobu Koito story

1962 Japanese movie

Kunihiko Date (Hiroshi Fujioka), a young criminal genius, puts a perfect crime plan into action to take revenge on the men who once drove his father...

Is it the sin of a woman's heart that casts ripples unexpectedly among peaceful people? In the bustling streets of dazzling colors, where revelry...

The fourth installment of G-men of Japan

1962 Japanese movie

1960 Toei action film.

Two child performers lose their money, but are saved by the masked avenger Kurama Tengu. When the children return the favor in foiling an attempt on...

Jiromaru (Kinnosuke Nakamura) investigates the dark "Ghost Ship" in search of his father. Meanwhile, Princess Yuki (Yumiko Hasegawa) and Chacha (Eiko...

Kakumaru (Kiyoshi Atsumi) is an unpopular manzai performer who is too good-natured but has a very bad manners. Moulin, Kakumaru's former partner,...

Private eye Bannai Tarao (Chiezo Kataoka) and his assistant Masako (Chizuru Kitagawa) investigate the mysterious murder of a baseball player who was...

Detective Tarao goes undercover to battle an evil gun smuggling business.

Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba returns as the reckless son of a private detective takes on the case of a minor league baseball pitcher who...

When bribe money from a rigged election funnels into a dam construction project, collusion, lust, greed and even murder are on the ballot.

A girl who comes to Yokohama from Tsuwano stumbles upon the solution to a mysterious series of explosions. However, when she learns this secret, evil...

The story contrasts the life of two doctors, former classmates and now both assistant professors at Naniwa University Hospital in Osaka. The...

It was five years ago when Minako spent a night with Sozo, younger brother of her ex-husband. She now lives in a local town with a rich old man who...

Suzuko, a woman in her twenties who has a brother with political problems (due to communist reprisals), lives for over five years in a love affair...

In the Meiji period, a schoolteacher tries to hide his lower-class upbringing as he supports a visiting liberal intellectual.

Young geisha Kohana scrambles to realize her dream of bringing back her grandmother’s restaurant business.

1981 Japanese film based on the novel by Naoshiro Yoshimoto.

Following a yearlong attendance upon his shogun in Edo, samurai Hikokuro makes a long-awaited return to his home and doting wife, Dane. Initially...

Japanese film.

Based on the novel by Naoki Prize-nominated author Taro Takeshita, a thriller full of black humor. A jealous husband murders his adulterous wife,...

A man with many disguises uses robotic beetles, man-made monsters and other devices to try and steal atomic power.

Fourth film in the Boy Detectives Club series.

Toshio, who works at an architectural firm, visits a fishing port to reminisce about his love with his girlfriend Kyoko, who died suddenly one year...

Swordfighting instructor Danpei works at a local theater in Tokyo, instructing the actors how to fight realistically.

Airline captain saves passengers from a brutal murderer on a plane during four hours of terror.

Third sequel to "Story of Second Class Private".

A friendly rivalry turns into romance for Yukiko, an elite female detective, and a handsome private eye named Mitamura while both are investigating...

Gisuke Hayashida is an illegal dentist during the day and a burglar by night. One night during a burglary he witnesses a train derailment. Some...

Edo Crime Book: Black Claws

Japanese comedy film.

The year is 1932, and a woman, whose tenant-farmer fiancé is fighting in China, is raped by the landowner's son, who has returned from the war...

One week into newlywed Teiko Uhara's marriage, her husband, Kenichi, leaves on a short business trip and never returns. Teiko travels across Japan to...

Based on Matsumoto Seicho's classic mystery novel of the same name, the story centers around a group of detectives who are determined to find the...

Thirsting for revenge, Jokichi rashly attempts to assassinate the evil Chogoro but ends up being captured by Yakuza. His life is spared by Boss...

Towards the end of the Second World War, a downed U.S. pilot is captured and imprisoned by rural Japanese villagers, who await official instructions...

Set in Japan during the bubble era, this unique home comedy cheerfully and humorously depicts the daily life of a strange family that works together...

A conscript from a poor background writes the Emperor asking if he can stay in the army when his service is up.

Postwar Tokyo. Pin and Toku live in the squatter area of Kappanuma. Pin and Toku are avid gamblers. They take in Tsuru, a slightly demented woman who...

Japanese "kayo" film based on the song by Tsuzuko Sugawara.

Daughter of a lumber shop in Edo strives to protect her family business from the competitor.

A comical love story between two college students — Hitomi, a strong-willed girl, and Shogo, a handsome, earnest and poverty stricken man.

Sheriff Goro goes undercover to investigate drug smugglers.

The lives of several Japanese families are shattered as the USA and the USSR move toward war, Japan finds itself caught in the middle, and Tokyo is...

Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in...

Japanese comedy film.

A man challenges a territorial fight between gangs.

Akemi is a dragon tattooed leader of the Tachibana Yakuza clan. In a duel with a rival gang Akemi slashes the eyes of an opponent and a black cat...

The film shows the bombing of Hiroshima and the horrific aftermath following the detonation of an atomic bomb on humans for the first time in history.

A touching story depicting the harsh lives of farmers in Kasumigaura. An attempt to start a fishery business to revive an ailing farming community...

Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard.

A young woman begins murdering all those responsible for her ailing father's condition. Because the girl is so outwardly sweet and innocent, the...

A documentary about the life and art of wood-block artist Katsushika Hokusai.

In this first film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, adapted from the manga by Kazuo Koike, we are told the story of the Lone Wolf and Cub's origin....

Japanese drama.

Japanese youngsters enduring hard training in Recruit Camp and then going to Iwo Jima in the last days of World War II.

Fierce war breaks out when Shujiro’s rival clan attempts to sabotage his lucrative construction business.

An innocuous comment during a weapon inspection wounds the pride of low-ranking samurai Shinpachi, leading to an argument with his superior. The...

The tragic, yet exciting story of the friendship between Nakayama Yasubei, a member of the 47 Ronin, and Tange Tenzen, a relative by marriage of the...

A chance meeting between two traveling gamblers leads to a case of mistaken identity when the farmers transporting gold to the governor think they...

Deep in the mountains of Japan a dam is scheduled to be built, thus forcing a relocation of the farmers. One of them is 78-year-old Denzo, whose son...

An investigation into a drug smuggler who is assassinated in front of an insurance building sets two detectives, Sumikawa and Akine, into a sprawling...

A horse-riding samurai fights villains.

Third film in the long-running series Daiei Studio's Woman Gambler with Kyoko Enami starring where she plays the woman gambler Ogin.

Akiyama is an intern, disgusted with the noise pollution caused by the bullet trains and the heart attacks that noise has been causing in older...

After eloping with a prostitute named Otoyo, Hishakaku takes refuge in the Kogane family’s turf. Indebted to Boss Kogane for his kindness,...

When 150 guns are stolen from Iwakuni base and two police officers are shot dead, a detective criminal tries to find out the truth.

Ichiro (Chiba) is a scrappy little sport in a big car and funny hat always looking for some fun and some extra cash on the side. He and his friends...

After a salary-man's fiancée attempts suicide, he recounts his gruesome family history which saw generations of his ancestors suffer and...

In Part I we see the young would-be swordsman setting out to achieve greatness in war, achieving nothing because fighting on the losing side, & then...

A young factory worker struggles to figure out what she wants to do with her life.

Takamura, a poet and sculptor, marries a budding artist named Chieko who dreams of becoming an oil painter. When a series of hardships befall her...

This is the story of "The Forty-Seven Ronin." Based on historical events in 1701-2, the movie tells the tale of the Asano clan's downfall and the...

Second film in the long-running series Daiei Studio's Woman Gambler with Kyoko Enami starring where she plays the woman gambler Ogin.

Military doctor Leutenant Hanada deserts during the war in the Philippines with a local girl. The officer in command orders Lieutenant Uji to shoot...

The heir to a family fortune discovers that a curse has been placed on it, put there centuries before by a band of samurai warriors. Adaptation of...

When Daisaku Hotta (Kosaburo Onogawa), the cheer leader of Tonan High School, hears that Rikiya Kudo (Saburo Shindo), the captain of the Judo team...

Yumi Ishikawa (Mari Atsumi) is nineteen and a popular geisha. Orphaned when a child, Yumi she was raised by Shizuko, the madame of a geisha house....

Story exposes free-sex among highschool students.

The eighth film in the "master detective with seven faces" series. Bannachi patrols the town in his taxi when he sees a man heading into Shiodome...

Woman private eye Emiko goes undercover to reveal the truth of a murder case.

Police beat a murder confession out of four innocent men who are then sentenced to death. Based on a true story.

The daughter of the wealthy Soga family is kidnapped and her fiance is murdered. But the kidnappers, Tatsu and Sanko are unaware that Tatsuko is the...

Young coal miner Takeda leaves Kyushu in search of a better job in Tokyo, only to fall into the lucrative yet dangerous life of a yakuza.

Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman returning home with her baby. When gangsters mistake her for Zatoichi and kill her,...

Detective Tarao investigates the deaths of police officers who were involved in solving a kidnapping case.

Japanese drama film.

Japanese drama.

A mountain man beheads his many wives to prove his love to an alluring woman he meets in an enchanted forest.

Onna Hitori Daichi wo Yuku (A Lonely Woman in a Lonely Land, Kinuta Production, 1953) was the second feature film directed by Kamei Fumio, who is...

Life and love in corrupt postwar Tokyo, as a young couple struggles against both the law and the mob.

A karate master played by Sonny Chiba is attacked and left crippled and blinded in one eye. He trains his daughter (Etsuko Shihomi) with the...

A young composer falls in love with the beautiful daughter of a wealthy company president and flies to Paris when he learns she is studying music...

Wandering samurai Nemuri Kyoshiro (Raizô Ichikawa) finds a bulls-eye on his back after befriending the shogunate's tightfisted financial...

A group of prisoners attempts to break the Abashiri prison. This film can be considered a sequel to the Abashiri Bangaichi series, written and...

The Akiba and Shimura crime families run the streets of “K City”. With the construction of new buildings and new factories underway, the...

Director Jun'ya Satô's debut film focuses on the inhuman training of recruits, the brutal drill system that reigned in the Japanese army during...

Yuichi prides himself on the fact that he is a family man but contrary to his conception of an ideal family life, at age 24, his wife has already run...

Hanjiro, a one eyed vagrant arrives in Okinoshima to save the town from a violent Yakuza group with the help of six handicapped guys.

In a time of continuous civil wars ravaging the fields of feudal Japan, the eldest son of a very poor peasant family, living alongside the bridge...

In the year 1637 in Shimabara of Tokugawa-era Japan, oppressed peasant Christians revolt against the shogunate with the aid of a charismatic...

After World War II, when Okinawa was under control of the United States, the local yakuza prospered. But when Okinawa is returned to Japan, the...

Follows the fluctuating fortunes of three ronin in feudal Japan who wander from castle to castle, selling their services to whichever lord will fill...

In the fifth film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto is challenged by five warriors, each has one fifth of Ogami's assassin fee and one...

Junai Monogatari AKA Story of Pure Love is about two poor youths, Mitsuko and Kando, rebelling against society in various ways, who are desperately...

The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect...

A tragic love story between a prostitute and a young trainee monk.

Getting an opportunity to meet with another half-Caucasian swordsman, Kyoshiro finds himself involved in a series of dangerous encounters.

On his way to Tokyo one night, a truck driver picks up a country girl and has his way with her amidst a forest. A few days later he loses his job...

When a US army sergeant is found drowned in Tokyo Bay, an investigation is launched to determine how and why he lost his life. The investigation...

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...

Based on the novel of the same name by Seichô Matsumoto.

Ryuji Oshima, a gambler, kills Saiga in self-defense, and considering himself unfit to lead men, secludes himself in a temple to atone for his...

A violent story of loyalty and revenge among the many "yakuza" or gambling groups in Japan.

A tale of two best friends in the WWII era Japan. Takao is a young man enthusiastic about joining the navy to fight for his country. He convinces his...

A court fortune-teller loses his mind after a conspiracy leads to the death of his lover. Hope appears to be on the horizon after he becomes...

Fourth Moonlight Mask theatrical film.

A run-in with the police once again puts three former reformatory inmates on the wrong side of the law. Their situation becomes increasingly...

A group of Okinawan high school girls are drafted as nurses during the American invasion of the island. As the enemy army advances further, the...

In this gritty tale of gamblers battling in the samurai era, Okawa Hashizo gives perhaps his greatest performance as a gambler returning to his home...

When the plague threatens a small town in Manchuria, a young doctor finds himself struggling to save the lives of his townspeople.

One summer day, the chief monk of the Hojuin Temple dies. Harumichi rushes back to town hearing about his brother's death and requests for a grand...

Komatsu Takioka is boss of a Yakuza group rival to Masakichi Kijima boss of the Kikuya group which supports the town vendors unlike Takioka, who will...

A young woman fails her university entrance exam and starts shoplifting.

In the midst of the warring age, a young samurai Kyonosuke defies his former lord Hojo Ujikatsu in order to avenge his parents’ deaths.

In 1919, a group of Japanese immigrants arrives in Hawaii. Among them Yoshio Inoue and his wife Kishimo and Sumi, a young woman ready to get married...

In turbulent 16th-century Japan, the leaders of a minor fief have their child taken from them as a political hostage. His mother and his clan endure...

When Sokichi stops providing his long-time lover Kikuyo enough money to pay for the care of their three young children, Kikuyo leaves the children...

A man who survived the war carries the will of his comrades in arms, walking across the country visiting the bereaved families.

Set at the end of the feudal period. A woman spends most of her early life in prison, incarcerated by political opponents of her father. When she is...

A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.

The story of a certain engineer from his youth until he retired from the Japanese National Railways after the war .

One of Japan’s most popular historical characters, former Vice-Shogun Tokugawa Mitsukuni, whose travels around the nation are legendary has...

The main character Tachibana Isaburo is released from prison and discovers that his boss is dead. He is offered to become the leader of the group,...

The shogun's vassal Harima Aoyama and a chamber maid are in love with each other, but they cannot be together due to a difference of their status....

A murdered pawnbroker found clutching a blood-soaked wedding gown, the kidnapped daughter of a Shogun vassal, mysterious robberies, brutal killings,...

Based on a 1956 television feature on Japan’s national network, NHK, this is one of Uchida’s rarest films. A socially conscious drama...

The film vividly shows the misadventures of Oishi Kuranosuke and the human dramas inside the castle, which lead to the surrender of Ako Castle after...

Students in a small rural school love their poor but unconventional teacher Mr Matsukuma although he is misunderstood by most of the villagers and is...

Based on Muneta Hiroshi's military novel. The main character, Yamaguchi Zensuke, is a military dog soldier. He joins the army and winds up sent...

After discovering a slaughtered corpse, the investigating team of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department began canvassing the area around the crime...

A movie that depicts the tragic fate of many Yokaren flight-academy pilots.

A group of kids find interest in birdwatching.

The wife Yuko Kusumon operating a pottery store was a chastal wife without complaints even though her husband is cheated with her heart. Koji Umeya,...

The son of the murdered Yakuza, Kenji, at the request of his mother, worked in a stable company. However, soon the girl Kenji Amy, who was in favor...

Shuhei, a mystery writer, is invited to a dinner party at a country house. The guests include Tanase and his wife Noriko. Next day, Tanase is shot...

Ken Takakura's screen debut, following his admission into Toei ranks via the studio's annual New Faces program, came surprisingly enough in this pair...

This is the second installment in the Shichinin no Keiji police procedural series.

A continuation of the prior film (影法師).

A touching action film about a young yakuza who becomes infected with evil because he has the ability to easily decipher the mechanism of a safe....

A film adaptation of Masatsugu Nobuhiko's novel of the same name, directed by Tasaka Tomotaka and starring Nakamura Kinnosuke. This literary epic...

1960 Toei film.

1964 Nikkatsu Theater of Life adaptation.