Kiwako Taichi

Island of Hell

Tomoe

A scruffy detective investigates the murders of three sisters on a small Japanese island in 1946.

Zatoichi in Desperation

Nishikigi

After accidentally causing the death of an old lady, Zatoichi tries to do right by buying the lady’s daughter’s freedom from a brothel - but this causes more problems than solves them.

Kuroneko

Shige

In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost.

National Kid

Taeko Shimura/Naoko Obata

National Kid is a Japanese TV series produced by Toei Company in 1960. Created by mangaka Daiji Kazumine, it was commissioned by Panasonic, then known as Matsushita Electric, to promote the National brand. Although not very famous in Japan, the series has obtained cult status in Brazil, where it was very popular.

The Last Samurai

Ohide

The film follows the story of Sugi Toranosuke, a ronin, who returns to his home town of Edo many years after his attempted suicide as a sickly child. Rescued and adopted by a master swordsman, he has grown into a master swordsman and a very kind gentleman. The time is around 1868 the year that the nails were finally put into the coffin containing the feudal system that nurtured and sustained the samurai. Sugi is confused and unsure about what is happening but his teacher wants him out of the chaos of the multiple power struggles between the various clans.

Confessions Among Actresses

Rie

In this intricately layered Japanese film, the nature of actresses and what they gain from acting is explored. The lives of three actresses are laid bare, and scenes from their lives are woven in and out of interviews with each of them. Each of them has experienced a traumatic event which contributes to their particular enjoyment of becoming someone else in dramatic roles.

August Without Emperor

Saeko Nakagami

Taking the Chilean coup as an example, a group of young officers plan to overthrow the Japanese government on V-J Day. They aim to abolish the post-war constitution, restore the national army and revive the traditional spirit of Japan. As the conspiracy is exposed, the coup squadrons are wiped out one by one. The remaining squadron takes over a night train bound for Tokyo.

Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset

Botan

Tora-san arrives in Shibamata on Mitsuo's first day of school only to find that on his account, Mitsuo was embarrassed. After a fight with his family, he goes to a bar to drink, then brings home a surly old man with a sad story, whose identity will surprise everyone. Later, Tora meets Botan, a geisha.

Fire Festival

Kimiko

Tatsuo, a reverent lumberjack, seeks to disrupt plans to build a marine park on his family land, instead promoting his traditions in reactionary ways.

Gambling Den Heist

Shizuko

After eight years in prison, Takeshi’s mission is a big heist from his own clan’s gambling parlor.

If You Were Young: Rage

If You Were Young: Rage highlights the other side of post-war Japanese prosperity, focusing on the throngs of young people who missed out on the boom. We follow a group of young men that can't seem to get ahead, despite their willingness to try. Then one hits upon a plan - to work together to save for a dump truck and thus become independent contractors and be their own bosses at last. Ultimately life presents obstacles: jail for one, violence at the hands of the police for another, and a girlfriend and subsequent children for the third. An early Kinji Fukasaku gem that imports the freewheeling style of the French New Wave and the hip detachment of American noir.

Human Target

Okatsu

At midnight, Yamabe, a killer, escapes from prison. Two years before, bribed by a narcotic smuggler, Yamabe killed a real estate broker. As he was being arrested by detective Negoro, the detective's bullet struck Sakuko, Yamabe's girl friend who attempted to protect him, and crippled her. When Yamabe was sent to prison, Negoro cared for her and they fell in love. Sakuko asked him to marry her, but Negoro was reluctant to take the killer's sweetheart from him. Learning of the relationship of his girl friend and the detective, Yamabe had pledged revenge.

Live Today, Die Tomorrow!

Michio Yamada, a recent school graduate, is sent to Tokyo to work as a fruit-packer in a department store as part of a government programme. He takes a gun from a house on an American base and uses it to kill several people. The scene changes to Yamada's childhood. Yamada is born the child of a reprobate and a weak-willed woman. As a boy Yamada, experiences poverty and the rape of his sister at first hand.

Devil's Nursery Rhyme

Satoko Nire

1961 Toei adaptation of Yokomizo's novel.

Flower and Dragon

Kingoro Tamai moves with his wife and son to the port city of Wakamatsu. He organizes the Tamai-gumi, a stevedore group, to vie for work with two other powerful groups. Gingo is Tamai's chief rival who falls in love with the latter's wife and tries to kill Tamai.

The Phantom Goblin

An injured Edo official is rescued by a vassal whose appearance is exactly like himself, and swears to sweep out the criminals from the town on his behalf.

Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san

Daughter of a lumber shop in Edo strives to protect her family business from the competitor. Sado Masasaburo, the founder of Sado Masa, one of the oldest lumber merchants in Kiba, has recently become very old and ill, and his tomboyish daughter Nobuko, a native of Edo, cannot stand the methods of Tadayoshi, who has risen to prominence through unscrupulous business practices. In a thrilling period drama in which Hibari plays a chic and stubborn lumberyard girl who, together with her partner Takakura Ken, punishes an evil lumber merchant. A thrilling youth drama that combines familiar songs with the stubbornness and love of Hibari and Takakura.

Burning Nature

Film from 1967.

Akumyo: Notorious Dragon

About small-time gangster Asakichi's chaotic life in the 1930s. His gambling addiction means that he must not continue working in the family business. Instead he supports himself by arranging cockfights. He becomes ex-geisha Okinu's patron and lover, and falls directly into disfavor with the yakuza.

Hibari the Traveling Performer

Kimie, a traveling guitarist, performs at various inns at help out her sickly mother. One night while out with her mother, Otoshi, Kimie unexpectedly sees her father, who had abandoned the family 20 years ago. Her hopes for a happy reunion are quickly dashed as her father, having married into a wealthy family, wants nothing to do with her. Will Kimie be able to regain her father’s love?