Ichirō Sugai

Kogarashi Monjiro

Yamatoya

Monjiro was born into a poor farm family in Mikazuki Village, Nitta County, Ueshu, and abandoned his hometown when he was 10 years old. He has been traveling aimlessly with a long toothpick in his mouth. Monjiro avoided getting involved in anything, but wherever he went, he ended up getting involved in incidents

Ashita Koso

良二

The 8th NHK Asadora. Starring Yumiko Fujita in a family drama. The first Asadora filmed in color.

Stray Dog

Yayoi Hotel owner

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

Sansho the Bailiff

Minister of Justice

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

The Pornographers

Shinun Ogata

Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend’s obsession. Imamura’s comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems frankly ahead of its time.

Odd Obsession

Masseur

A middle-aged husband of a younger woman finds her youth intimidating to the point that he cannot become aroused. His solution involves the introduction of his daughter's lover to his wife.

Early Summer

Shukichi Mamiya

In postwar Tokyo, Noriko lives with her extended family. Although she enjoys her career and her social life, her more traditional family worries about her single marital status at the advanced age of 28. 40-year-old business associate Takako proposes, Noriko's family press her into accepting, but when her widowed childhood friend Kenkichi returns to the neighborhood, she finds her heart leading in another direction.

Sanshiro Sugata

Police Chief Mishima

A hotheaded youth in 1880s Meiji Japan apprentices to judo master Shōgorō Yano, trading brute jujutsu bravado for discipline and humility. As Sanshirō matures, he proves judo’s spirit against old-guard challengers—including a deadly duel—while falling for his vanquished opponent’s daughter. Based on the novel by Tsuneo Tomita, son of Tomita Tsunejirō, the earliest disciple of judo.

A Geisha

Saeki

Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of several petty people.

Gamera vs. Barugon

Dr. Matsushita

Gamera escapes from his rocket enclosure and makes his way back to Earth as a giant opal from New Guinea is brought back to Japan. The opal is discovered to have been an egg that births a new monster called Barugon. The creature attacks the city of Osaka by emitting a destructive rainbow ray from his back, along with a freezing spray capable of incapacitating Gamera.

Chikamatsu Monogatari

Gembei

When the wife of a 17th-century Kyoto scrollmaker is falsely accused of having an affair with his best employee, the pair flee the city and find themselves truly falling for one another.

Muchana Yakko

A comedy directed by Koji Shima about a men's game. Reckless and exciting, definitely worth watching! Miyoshi Oki was born in Hokkaido and grew up in a dirty carriage that his father owned. His dream was to have a horse with a good coat that costs 10 million yen and he set a goal for it. At the invitation of Otaki-gumi executive Iwasa, he joined Otaki-gumi while the leader Sozaburo was sick. Miyoshi's method is not to deal with the yakuza's morale and slashing, but to handle things mentally....

The Life of Oharu

Shinzaemon

During the Edo Period, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.

One Wonderful Sunday

Black-marketeer

Two broke sweethearts wander war-scarred Tokyo on a single Sunday, stretching 35 yen as they chase housing, small pleasures, and a little hope.

Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two

Yoshizo Fubiki

A few years after his breakthrough, Sanshiro resumes his path to judo mastery—testing his discipline against an American prizefighter and later facing vengeful karate brothers. As rival schools and public spectacle push him toward violence, he must reconcile strength with restraint and the true spirit of his art.

The Eagle of the Pacific

Admiral Koshirô Oikawa

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a brilliant tactician, is a loyal subject of the emperor, despite his grave misgivings about leading Japan's navy into war with the United States. He opposes the attack on Pearl Harbor, but, overruled, he leads his forces to the best of his ability.

Yakuza Law

A story of yakuza lynching during the Edo, Meiji, and Showa periods.

When We Came Back

Melodrama by Kiyoshi Saeki

Taira Clan Saga

Carpenter

Japan, 1137. The Taira family, a samurai clan, becomes involved in the disputes between Emperor Toba and the monks of Mount Hiei.

Night Drum

Following a yearlong attendance upon his shogun in Edo, samurai Hikokuro makes a long-awaited return to his home and doting wife, Dane. Initially greeted by the effusive welcome of his family, spiteful whispers also reach his ear about an adulterous affair carried on, in his long absence, between his wife and a famous drummer. With Hikokuro’s honor imperiled by rumor, his family insists on a formal investigation into the veracity of the gossip. Through the combined testimony of many witnesses, a tale unwinds around the visits of a traveling musician hired to tutor the family heir, the spurned attentions of the man who started the rumor, and the ultimate truth behind the accusations. The conclusion of events prove as much an indictment of bushidō as it is of the reluctant parties involved. Adapted from a 1706 play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon and based on a true case.