Ureo Egawa

Adaptation of a novel by Nobuko Yoshiya that was serialized in "Shufu no tomo" between 1939 and 1940.

Set in the port city of Yokohama, two girls, Sunako and Dora who attend a Christian school, pledge to be friends. But when a youth named Henry appears on his motorcycle and offers to take Sunako for a ride, we know that this friendship won't last and that the lives of both girls will change in ways they are barely able to comprehend, and can do little to change.

Ryoichi and Chikako, brother and sister, live together. Chikako toils during the day and, at night, prostitutes herself to fund his college tuition.

Japanese comedy film.

Divorce

The film is a lengthy work interweaving characters from different backgrounds and social strata in a narrative centered around the experiences of its heroine, Yumie Sone. Over two hours long, Seven Seas was released theatrically in two parts, with the first part entitled "Virginity Chapter" coming out in December 1931, while the second part, "Chastity Chapter," followed in March 1932. Near the beginning of the narrative, at a garden party given by the wealthy Yagibashi family in Tokyo, Yumie meets Takehiko, the Yagibashis' playboy son and the brother of Yumie's fiancé, Yuzuru. Yumie, a young middle-class woman, lives with her ailing father, a retired ministry official, an older sister, and a younger sister still a child (played by a very young Hideko Takamine). Takehiko, who has just returned from a trip to Europe, is attracted to Yumie and contrives to have her stay overnight at his family's mansion where he takes advantage of her.

Part two of Shimizu's major silent Seven Seas, a family drama of the intertwining fates of the rich, decadent Yagibashis and the far less prosperous Sone family.

Japanese film.

Directed by Yasujirô Shimazu.

Tanuma Kandayuu is a high class samurai of the house of Nabeshima. He finds a lavish board of Go (a Chinese Board game) at Kinbei's store. He recommend Kinbei to offer it to his lord. Kinbei hesitates at first, since he knows the board has a mysterious legend surrounding it; it's believed that for every game played on the board, one death is required.

Kusuo Abe stars in this kaidan.

An aging geisha, whose angry teenage son is ashamed of her profession, works alongside a young geisha, resentful of her family for forcing her into a life of ignominy.

This pair of gentle yet witty and inventive comedies from the director of The Neighbour's Wife and Mine typify both the formal experimentation of early Japanese sound cinema and the social milieux that Shochiku tended to depict. 'Virtually plotless, and feeling more like comic sketches than fully developed stories,' writes Arthur Nolletti, Jr, 'these light comedies, or farces, take a wholly trivial matter (often a socially embarrassing situation) and use it as a springboard for a succession of gags.' Much of the films' distinction comes from the wit of Gosho's direction, the imaginative use of the new sound technology and the charm of the acting, particularly of the heroines (Kinuyo Tanaka in Bride; Hiroko Kawasaki in Groom). Yet in both films, Gosho finds room for some shrewd observation of character and environment, subtly exploring the values and assumptions of the suburban petit bourgeoisie.

When a young man inherits his father's lucrative business, he cheats the system to set up three of his college friends with jobs.

Meiji Tenno portrays the buildup to the Russo-Japan War. In addition to showing the political events that led to war, it also shows the era from the story of a farm family in rural Japan that sends their son off to war. As such, it could be considered an anti-war movie, showing how, while war is devised by governments, the people do not really understand what war is, and its combatants often do not know what they are fighting for.

Buntaro, the president of a food trading company got tired of the day-to-day routine of life. The new secretary, Nobuko, suggested her "shacho-san" (the president) run away from the job. Nobuko took Buntaro to her home and introduced him to her own family as friend, "Sachio-san"...

Japanese war film based on the true story of Yoshiko Kawashima, played by actress Miyuki Takakura in her film debut.

Japanese youth film about kendo.

Yuri is looking forward to marrying her fiancé Minoru. However, a few days before the wedding she falls victim to his brother Takehiko, and against her will, she becomes Takehiko's wife. The day after the wedding, Yuri begins her silent revenge by not talking to her husband. She retains her love for Minoru and never gives herself to Takehiko's embrace again. She also contributes large sums of money from Takehiko's fortune to charity.

Japanese war drama.

Japanese crime film.

Kotaro Shimoyama, once a government official, loses his job and separates from his wife, Sachie. He now resides with his daughter, Haruko. By chance, he apprehends a criminal and reconnects with his former colleague, Sakamoto, leading him to become a security guard at a film studio. Haruko, secretly a singer, rises to stardom within the same studio. Unbeknownst to each other, they both work there. As the studio faces turmoil, their hidden identities are unveiled...

1956 Japanese film, originally released in two parts.

影法師捕物帖

Japanese mystery thriller.

Japanese film released to commemorate the 7th anniversary of Shintoho's founding.

Japanese film, originally released in two parts.

In 1941, overpopulated Japan faces an economic boycott and its armed forces push further to the south. And despite negotiations between Japan and the U. S. A. war is declared with the attack on Pearl Harbour. Victories follow for Japan on land and sea and her forces push forward to the borders of India. But gradually the tide turns in favour of the Allies and after the atom bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan is compelled to accept the Potsdam Declaration and by the order of the Emperor agrees to unconditional surrender. Under the supervision of the occupation forces the International Military Tribunal opens in Tokyo to try the Japanese war leaders. Established in the cause of justice, and to prevent future aggressive wars the trials drag on for two and a half years. And on December 23, 1948, General Tojo and six other war leaders mount the thirteen steps to the gallows at Tokyo's Sugamo prison.

Takes place in one place, a beer hall, over the course of one evening. Uchida employs this concentration of setting and time to fashion a microcosm for a group portrait of Japan. One by one, the regulars of the bar appear: the pianist who dreams of becoming a composer but has disappeared from the music world after a knifing; a stripper who had planned to be a ballet dancer; an elderly painter trying to make a living at pachinko, and who rues his art having been used for militarist propaganda during the war; a young waitress considering elopement; a colonel turned real estate broker who attempts to rouse the crowd in military song until he realizes the tune has been transformed by marchers in the street into a leftist chant. The "twilight" is more than just a time of day; here, it is a state of being, a suspension between past and present, between the camaraderie of the saloon and the harsh world outside.

1941 Toho adaptation of Natsume's novel.

Japanese adaptation of Marcel Pagnol's play "Marius", set in early XXth century Japan.

Japanese silent film.

Ryutaro is a spy employed by the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, who is the target of assassination attempts that aim to hand power over to his younger brother Tadanaga. Before learning of these plots, Ryutaro discovers himself in a predicament of his own when he rushes to the defence of a local girl who is caught between her boyfriend and a greedy businessman. The situation results in many violent one-on-one skirmishes between Ryutaro and the businessman’s many samurai defendants, one of whom enigmatically refuses to reveal his face or use more than just the one hand. Before long, Ryutaro’s top priority is not protecting Iemitsu as it should be, but rather unearthing the true identity of the mystery samurai.

The Man Who Disappeared Yesterday

Early Japanese sound film, a remake of Josef von Sternberg’s DOCKS OF NEW YORK set in Yokohama.

Japanese drama film.

Film about the 2-26 Incident.

A young couple is harrased by an uncle.

One of Uchida’s early sound films, Unending Advance is based on a curious story by Yasujiro Ozu, in which an examination of the quotidian problems of a middle-aged salaryman and his family segues into an idyllic dream of an implausible future. The surviving print, although incomplete, offers an essential glimpse into Uchida’s prewar period, when he was associated more with realist dramas than with the period films that dominated his work after the war.

A Japanese army engineer (Hasegawa) on the mainland must put his personal feelings for a beautiful Chinese woman (Ri) aside if he is to succeed at building a highway through the "bandit"- (aka anti-Japanese militia-) infested hinterlands.

Jirocho in Disgrace

Emperor & Empress Meiji and the Sino-Japanese War

Based on a short story by Dazai Osamu, produced under the national film law. The film's hero falls in love with the youngest daughter of a family he is visiting to arrange an engagement for his friend who has been drafted to fight in the war.

Tomotaka Tasaka's A Pebble by the Wayside (Robo no Ishi), made in 1938 and taken from a Yuzo Yamamoto novel, takes place around 1902, was about a young boy brought up entirely by his mother since his drunken father is never home. An intelligent teacher wants to send him to middle school, but instead the father apprentices him to a clothing store to which he is in debt. The mother dies and the boy is forced to quit work when his father insults the store owner. Later the boy goes to Tokyo, but only to continue his hardships. First he is forced to do a maid's job at a boarding house and later is used by an old woman to steal at funerals. Finally he is rescued by the teacher, whom he meets in Tokyo.

Wataru Hirayama outwardly liberal views on marriage are severely tested when his daughter declares that she is in love with a musician and is adamant to lead life her own way, instead of agreeing to an arranged marriage. Outwitted by his female relatives, Hirayama stubbornly refuses to admit defeat.

検事とその妹

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

In a village in Manchuria, a group of Japanese settlers struggle against the elements to create wet rice paddies.

Scammer Horikawa Shinbei hopes to make a quick buck using Namie, a stripper under his control.

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.

Tadashi Imai 1946 movie

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto leads the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy to defeat the American Fleet.

A plane is forced to land at sea just off the Japanese coast. A young American boy is later befriended by a fisherman's son, with the two setting off on an unintended journey across the country.

A newly hired daily newspaper writer covering the society beat receives an assignment to cover Tokyo at night by walking and observing it. He gets into the right frame of mind by dressing the part as a vagrant with not a penny to his name. He gets into trouble ending up at the police station slammer overnight. He has no material to write about and, with his assignment unfulfilled, faces a cross editor.

Jidai-geki starring Kanjuro Arashi

Kuro-uma no danshichi

An exciting historical drama in which a beautiful woman secretly solves the family problems of the Owari clan. Hibari Misora plays two roles: a charming princess and a dashing youngster, performs songs and dances throughout the film until the big decisive battle.

Directed by Mikio Naruse. It is presumed to be lost.

A bizarre murder at a hot springs resort threatens to disrupt an Edo detective's (Hasegawa) vacation. When his hot-blooded wife (Yamada) starts snooping around, however, he finds himself reluctantly drawn in to the case.

A widowed high-school teacher tries to raise his four children alone.

Set in Qingdao, China, a Japanese company locates an office there and begins work and cooperation with a local Chinese company for business. Many Japanese engineers also move to China, with their families, for the company in order to construct a canal. There are young Chinese resisting the Japanese in this area.

1962 Japanese movie

1962 Japanese movie

1954 Japanese movie

A suspense work based on the "Miyagi Incident," an attempted coup d'etat led by some officers working for the Ministry of the Defense and the General Staff of the Konoe Division on the eve of the end of the Pacific War.

1962 Japanese movie

Japanese horror movie from1957.

As supernatural events and monster attacks rock Japan, the military and government look to be overwhelmed. Three intrepid young investigators—two pilots and a reporter—take it upon themselves to study these unexplained phenomena in order to inform and protect the public. With allies and science aiding them on their journey, the trio must separate myth from history as they explore the greater mysteries of these occurrences: are they unrelated, or is this barrage somehow a portent of even worse things to come?