
A bearded kendo champion has difficulties in life because of his conservative ways and his unusual beard. Read More »
Tag Archives: japanese
I Flunked, But… (1930) Yasujirô Ozu, Tatsuo Saitô, Kaoru Futaba, Kinuyo Tanaka

A story of a college student (Tatsuo Saitô) and his schoolmates trying to pass the exams by cheating. Read More »
The Inland Sea (1991) Lucille Carra

In Lucille Carra’s all too short, invigorating new film, “The Inland Sea,” as in the Donald Richie travel memoir on which it is based Read More »
Water Flower (2005) Yusuke Kinoshita, Azusa Hibino, Asuka Kurosawa, Tomi Nakaho

A portrait of the relationship between Minako, a girl in junior high deserted by her mother when she was young Read More »
Angel Dust (1994) Gakuryû Ishii, Kaho Minami, Takeshi Wakamatsu, Etsushi Toyokawa

Every Monday at 6 pm a young woman is murdered in the subway. The psychiatrist Setsuko Suma is called in to assist the police. Read More »
The Song Lantern (1943) Mikio Naruse, Shôtarô Hanayagi, Eijirô Yanagi, Ichijirô Oya

The head of an acclaimed Noh (traditional, stylised Japanese drama form) troupe has a son whom he wants to inherit the troupe/ school. Read More »
Satan’s Sword (1960) Kenji Misumi, Raizô Ichikawa, Kôjirô Hongô, Tamao Nakamura

The Dai-bosatsu toge trilogy is based on Kaizan Nakazatos unfinished long series of novels (41 books, written from 1913 to 1941). Read More »
Tattooed Life (1965) Seijun Suzuki, Hideki Takahashi, Masako Izumi, Akira Yamauchi

‘Tattooed Life’ begins with a parasol wielding Yakuza assassin attacking a rickshaw. Read More »
Hanzo the Razor: The Snare (1973) Yasuzô Masumura, Shintarô Katsu, Keiko Aikawa, Kazuko Inano, Keizô Kanie

Against the backdrop of the Edo treasury devaluing currency and driving many into poverty, Hanzo Itami enforces the law without regard to status. Read More »
One Wonderful Sunday (1947) Akira Kurosawa, Isao Numasaki, Chieko Nakakita, Atsushi Watanabe

Yuzo and his fiancée Masako spend their Sunday afternoon together, trying to have a good time on just thirty-five yen. Read More »