Ranko Hanai

The story of Sanshiro, a strong stubborn youth, who travels into the city in order to learn Jujutsu. However, upon his arrival he discovers a new form of self-defence: Judo. The main character is based on Shiro Saigo, a legendary judoka.

Michiyo lives in the small place Osaka and is not happy with her marriage, all she does is cook and clean for her husband.

Muntinlupa no yo wa fukete

During the Warring States era, Hozoin Kakuzenbo and Yagyu Tajima-no-kami, being best friends, spend their days acquiring skills of the spear, sword and martial arts. Hozoin loses a series of matches with master swordsman Kozumi Ise-no-kami. Bitterly ashamed, Hozoin embarks on a journey, trying to perfect his skills. A few years later, Hozoin is ready and it's time for the ultimate showdown with Ise-no-kami!

A luckless geisha struggles to make a living for herself and her young son.

Kiyoko (Takamine Hideko) and her husband want to open a coffee shop. She becomes increasingly close to the bank clerk (Mifune Toshiro) she's asked for a loan.

A university professor and his wife have two sons with infantile paralysis. Through trial and error, they struggle to open a school for disabled children at their own expense. Based on a true story, it features natural child performances under Hiroshi Shimizu’s skillful direction.

Gosho’s most celebrated film both in Japan and the West, Where Chimneys Are Seen is perhaps the most compelling example of his concern for, and insights into, the everyday lives of lower-middle-class people. Based on Rinzo Shiina’s novel of the absurd, the film depicts the lives of two couples against the backdrop of Tokyo’s growing industrialization during the 1950s.

A man gets rid of a cheap pot without knowing it contains a map to a treasure. As word spreads, many join in hunting it.

Police detective Heiji is assigned to catch the masked Maboroshi gang of robbers who have terrorized all of Edo leaving few clues as to who their leader is.

A sad and troubled man finds a new job five years after the end of WWII, where he writes love letters for other people.

The Way of Drama unfolds in the world of kabuki in Osaka, but also addresses the politics of popular culture and the rivalry between theatrical styles like those used by amateur actors to dramatise contemporary events.

Based on the novel by Kojin Shimomura. Story of a young boy and his adventures in the country. His idyllic life is shattered by the illness and death of his mother.

Japanese film.

Japanese noir.

A comedic retelling of the legend of the loyal 47 ronin.

A Fond Face from the Past is also set in a rural community, specifically a village outside Kameoka, near Kyoto. In some ways this short, thirty-six-minute film is Naruse's most moving negotiation of the militarist restrictions of the time, perhaps because it is also his most direct engagement with the culture of war. When a newsreel comes to Kameoka featuring a local man named Yoichi, it causes some excitement in the community and, of course, in Yoichi's own family. First of all his mother makes the newsreel (Nippon News, no. 14), which begins with the same marching music that opens his own film, followed by a curious baby judging context in Los Angeles featuring two hundred Japanese babies. Released in January 1941, almost a year before the pacific war begins, this “found footage” is indicative of Japanese imperialist ambitions beyond Asia long before Pearl Harbor.

1941 Toho adaptation of Natsume's novel.

Wings of Victory

In old Edo, Kakunojo (Chiezo), a dandy about town, falls in love with Oichi (Isuzu Yamada), whose merchant family is much beyond Kakunojo's status. He nevertheless pursues her until her initial disgust breaks down into fondness, then romantic feelings, inducing her to abandon her fiance on their wedding day.

The film recounts the tragedy of a young outlaw.

Snow-Flake

After mastering swordsmanship at the dojo of Chiba Shusaku, and unable to serve a clan due to his illness, Hirate Miki becomes a ronin who winds up as bodyguard to Shigezo of Sasagawa leading up to an epic battle.

1930s Japanese film.

Old Songs

Nichijô no tatakai

Kusuo Abe stars in this kaidan.

Pre-war jidaigeki film from 1936, produced by Uzumasa Hassei Eiga studios

Japanese historical film.

Jacks and Jills

As Long as I Live

Five Sisters

1948 Japanese drama film.

Under the Blossoming Peach

These Foolish Times

Exploits of Heisuke Isokawa

A man attacks the shogun, but does not succeed in his assassination attempt. He flees to the mountains and hides in a shed. There he finds an old man and a girl. The latter is the daughter of Shogun's former wife and also has revenge on her mind. The former is also connected to the castle. Separately a girl lives at the shogun's castle and believes in god.

A film dealing with the comings and goings of individuals in the immediate postwar period.

Kôfuku eno shôtai - Invitation to happiness

Set in the late Edo period of the assassination of Dairo Ii, the sword and emotional romance that depicts the murderous world. The turmoil of the end of the Edo period is depicted through the nameless Ichii people, centering on the main character of the Hatamoto collapse that is drunk by the waves of the end of the Edo period.

Japanese war movie

What is marriage? Young couple in match-making wanted to know before they decide. They visited married couples of sisters and brothers. Love comedy in 1942.

Prewar jidaigeki starring Denjiro Okochi

Set against the backdrop of an imperial victory in the civil war leading up to the Meiji Restoration, Fallen Blossoms tells the story of the sorrows of women in a geisha house in Kyoto by recounting the relationships of its inhabitants.

Gion Shigure

Jidai-geki by Kiyoshi Saeki

Jidai-geki by Nobuo Nakagawa. Most likely a star vehicle for Kanjuro Arashi

新遊侠伝

新遊侠伝　遊侠往来

Jidai-geki starring Kanjuro Arashi

1944 war movie

This is a rokyoku film of Tenjuken Ungetsu II (Hideko Itami), a popular rokyoku performer who was famous for her seven different voices for men and women of all ages.

The film tells about the life of the former vassal of the Ako clan - Fuwa Katsuemon Masatane.

A legendary pre-war comedy operetta starring Enomoto Kenichi, Hideko Takamine and Li Xianglan. The Sanzo Ikkou continues its westward journey, on a mission to prevent a demonic resurrection. As Genjo Sanzo, Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo, and Son Goku (Kenichi Enomoto) fight their way to their goal, their path is fraught with internal strife.

Set in wartime at the Yawata Steel Works in Tobata, Yawata, and Kokura cities in Fukuoka Prefecture, the film depicts people taking on the evil blast furnaces that prevent increased production. The film was shot on location at the actual Yawata Steel Works for an extended period of time, and special effects were created using a miniature blast furnace that closely reproduces the actual one.

At the residence of a feudal lord in a mountain province, a young lord, accompanied by his vassals and courtiers, listens to the rokyoku singer Toraizo at a leisurely pace. The title of the play is "Notes of Lord Mito's Travels. This play caused great turmoil in the feudal lord's house. The young lord was more impressed than anyone else by Lord Mito's benevolent management and actions, but he made the mistake of trying to follow in his footsteps...

右門捕物帖　片眼狼

Kichigoro, a firefighter from the Maeda family of the Kaga Principality, rescues Oshimo, the younger sister of Jirokichi, a city firefighter from the Ha-gumi group, from a samurai who is trying to kidnap her. Oshimo has feelings for Kichigoro. At this moment, a fire warning bell sounds in the city...