The culturally isolated, nomadic Seburi people of western Japan are the subject Read More »
Tag Archives: Ken’ichi Hagiwara
Modori River AKA Modori-gawa (1983) Tatsumi Kumashiro, Mariko Fuji, Ken’ichi Hagiwara, Mieko Harada
Gakuyo is a poet of tanka (Japanese verses comprising 31 syllables) and spends his days in the company of prostitutes. Read More »
Bitterness of Youth AKA Seishun no satetsu (1974) Tatsumi Kumashiro, Ken’ichi Hagiwara, Kaori Momoi, Fumi Dan
A footballing law student tutors an undergraduate, developing into a romance that soon enough goes awry. Read More »
Love Letter AKA Koibumi (1985) Tatsumi Kumashiro, Ken’ichi Hagiwara, Mitsuko Baishô, Keiko Takahashi
A spontaneous and youthfully careless painter and teacher Sh?ichi lives an ordinary family life Read More »
Yakuza Ladies 3 (1989) Yasuo Furuhata, Yoshiko Mita, Rino Katase, Ken’ichi Hagiwara
Upon the passing of the Sakanishi Clan’s boss, a fierce battle between his wife Hazuki and his disciple Terada breaks out. Read More »
The Petrified Forest (1973) Masahiro Shinoda, Ken’ichi Hagiwara, Sayoko Ninomiya, Masako Yagi
Based on novel by Shintaro Ishihara, this is a human drama about the complex relationship of parent and child. Read More »
Triple Cross (1992) Kinji Fukasaku, Ken’ichi Hagiwara, Kazuya Kimura, Keiko Oginome
Three old gangsters pull off one last heist to raise much-needed cash for their various debts. Read More »
Four Days of Snow and Blood (1989) Hideo Gosha, Ken’ichi Hagiwara, Tomokazu Miura, Masahiro Motoki, Action, Drama, War
Based on the “2.26 Incident”, an attempted coup d’état in Japan 1936, launched by radical ultra-nationalist parts of the military. Read More »
Yakusoku / The Rendezvous (1972) Kôichi Saitô, Keiko Kishi, Ken’ichi Hagiwara, Yoshie Minami, Drama
During a long train ride heading north of Japan, a young man addresses an older woman in front of him. At first she doesn’t respond, but he finally gets her into a conversation when he offers her lunch. Thus begins Saito Koichi’s famous romantic thriller, Le Rendezvous. The woman turns out to be a murderer on parole, whist the man a runaway accused of assault and robbery. As it happens, the two soon fall in love. The woman asks the man to wait two years until she is released from jail. And he agress.
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Matatabi / The Wanderers (1973) Kon Ichikawa, Isao Bitô, Tadao Futami, Ken’ichi Hagiwara, Drama
Follows the fluctuating fortunes of three friends in feudal Japan who are ronin: masterless warriors, who wander from castle to castle, selling their services to whichever lord will fill their rice bowls. These are not the YOJIMBO Super Samurai but rather the rank and file, the spear-carriers. The irony is that even though they use the servants’ entrance, they still feel themselves bound by the samurai code of Bushido; and this tension leads to tragedy.
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Yatsuhaka-mura / Village of Eight Gravestones (1977) Yoshitarô Nomura, Ken’ichi Hagiwara, Mayumi Ogawa, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A Tokyo man witnesses the death by poisoning of his grandfather, and travels to his hometown of Yattsu Mura to find the killer. Centuries ago, the town was the site of a massacre, and is now the stalking ground of a mysterious serial killer…
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