Keizo Ishizu (Shuji Sano), owner of a car shop in Tokyo, meets Yasuko Ikeda (Setsuko Hara), the daughter of a former aristocratic family, on a matchmaking date arranged by Mr. Sato (Takeshi Sakamoto), a regular customer. Read More »
Tag Archives: Japan
Paradaisu byû / Paradise View (1985) Go Takamine, Kaoru Kobayashi, Jun Togawa, Haruomi Hosono, Arthouse, Fantasy
Reishu quits a job on a US military base; while mulling over his future he catches snakes, sticks numbers on ants and gets village girl Nabi pregnant. Read More »
Karayuki-san / The Making of a Prostitute (1975) Shôhei Imamura, Kurahachi Fukuda, Tora Hirano, Documentary
It is a documentary on one of the Japanese “karayuki-san,” who were women that were taken from their homes in Japan and used as prostitutes in the post-war period. Read More »
Yorokobi mo kanashimi mo ikutoshitsuki / Times of Joy and Sorrow (1957) Keisuke Kinoshita, Hideko Takamine, Keiji Sada, Takahiro Tamura, Drama
Covering the years from 1932 through 1957, this is the story of the trials and tribulations of lighthouse keeper Keiji Sada and his wife Hideko Takamine. Read More »
Kizzu ritân / Kids Return (1996) Takeshi Kitano, Ken Kaneko, Masanobu Andô, Leo Morimoto, Crime, Drama, Sport
Two buddies visit the schoolyard of the high school they used to attend, and remember their young and dumb days. They used to be the bullies in the school, until they find their own ways of life; one as a boxer, and the other as a member of the yakuza.
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Genji monogatari / The Tale of Genji (1951) Kôzaburô Yoshimura, Kazuo Hasegawa, Michiyo Kogure, Machiko Kyô, Drama
Based on the classic novel by Murasaki Shikibu, written over 1000 years ago. Genji, the son of the emperor, has gained renown among the nobility of Kyoto for his charm and good looks Read More »
Jûsan-nin renzoku bôkôma / Serial Rapist (1978) Kôji Wakamatsu, Kumiko Araki, Mayuko Hino, Kayoko Sugi, Horror, Erotic
Violent history in which a type bike dedicated to rape and kill everything that crosses your path …
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Shi no toge / The Sting of Death (1990) Kôhei Oguri, Keiko Matsuzaka, Ittoku Kishibe, Midori Kiuchi, Drama
Period drama set in the 1950’s about a couple isolating themselves from the outside world as they attempt to salvage their faltering marriage, no matter what the costs, after the husband has an affair. Read More »
The Killing Machine (1975) Noribumi Suzuki, Shin’ichi Chiba, Yutaka Nakajima, Makoto Satô, Action, Drama
Sonny Chiba plays the character referred to as “Mr Soh”, who is based on the true life founder of Shorinji Kempo, Doshin So. Mr Soh has been acting as a secret agent in Manchuria during the Japanese occupation. Read More »
Flowers of Shanghai / Hai shang hua (1998) Hsiao-Hsien Hou, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Michiko Hada, Michelle Reis, Drama
In Shanghai in the 1880s there are four elegant brothels (flower houses): each has an auntie (called madam), a courtesan in her prime, older servants, and maturing girls in training. Read More »
Kyûpora no aru machi / Foundry Town (1962) Kirio Urayama, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Mitsuo Hamada, Eijirô Tôno, Drama
Set in Kawaguchi, just north of Tokyo in the early 60s, this simple story chronicles the lives of poor foundry workers and their families Read More »
Postwar History of Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess (1970) Shôhei Imamura, Chieko Akaza, Etsuko Akaza, Tami Akaza, Documentary
The star of this documentary is a quintessential Imamura heroine: a hard-nosed, ruthless survivor, with a sense of loyalty and an earthy sense of humor. Read More »
Dokuritsu gurentai / Desperate Outpost (1959) Kihachi Okamoto, Makoto Satô, Izumi Yukimura, Misa Uehara, Drama, War, Action
When Sergeant Okubo’s brother is murdered at a Japanese outpost in Northern China during the Second World War, Okubo poses as a war correspondent and seeks out his brother’s killer. Read More »
Hadaka no shima / The Naked Island (1960) Kaneto Shindô, Nobuko Otowa, Taiji Tonoyama, Shinji Tanaka, Drama
Deals with the intolerably hard life of a family of four, the only inhabitants of a very small Japanese island in the Setonaikai archipelago. Read More »
Misuta, Misesu, Misu Ronri / Mister, Misses, Miss Lonel (1980) Tatsumi Kumashiro, Mieko Harada, Ryûdô Uzaki, Rentarô Mikuni, Drama
Two men and a woman plan to steal 1.5 Billion yen. Read More »