At the strong insistence of his father, Ushimatsu Segawa conceals his origins from a “buraku” area of low-class “untouchables,” leaving his hometown to serve as an elementary school teacher where he excels and is loved by his students. But he constantly struggles with the secret of his low-birth status and is disturbed by all of the discrimination levelled upon his class. It prevents him from pursuing a romance with Shiho, whom he meets at the temple where he resides, but who descends from a samurai family.
Documentary about the photo session for the photobook "Castella", filmed in Portugal.
Based on the award-winning novel of the same name, this boldly erotic yet movingly tender portrait of a group of vulnerable, variously wounded people — a depressed housewife, her high-school-aged lover, and his best friend, who is struggling to provide for himself and his senile grandmother — whose intersecting lives yield both sorrow and a fragile, yet enduring, hope for a brighter future. (TIFF)
The film is about two fishermen who went through difficult ordeal during the shipwreck.
An experimental portrait of the North American commercial fishing industry through the lens of GoPro cameras placed on a fishing vessel off the coast of New England.
Let cool, mysterious high school student Ms. Koizumi and her girlfriends show you around the authentic ramen culture of everyday Japan in this fun food manga. The noodles, the toppings, the broth--the street stalls, restaurants, and home cooking...and yes, cup ramen too! You'll slurp down a whole new knowledge of Japan's greatest fast food that even many Japanese don't know...but Ms. Koizumi does!
A detective wonders that his sister is a murder suspect.
Haunted by bad luck, two friends learn to trust in the world again and take their destiny into their own hands.
The sea around Minamata was heavily polluted with mercury during the 1950s and 1960s from the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory. This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in the Yatsushiro Sea which, when eaten by the local populace, gave rise to Minamata disease. The disease was responsible for the deaths and disabling of thousands of residents, all around the Yatsushiro Sea. The marine ecosystem was also extensively damaged.
The story of a group of artistic people centred around a bar in Shinjuku.
A large earthquake hits Tokyo, which was predicted by a seismologist but was ignored.
Army photographers on leave in Japan take over a geisha house.
Katsutoshi is forced to flee his hometown and ends up at a rundown nightclub called "Tokyo Playboy Club." His hot-headedness gets him into further trouble, and the club's waiter Takahiro and his girlfriend Eriko also get caught up in it as their underworld predicament worsens to the point of no return.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Hata desperately needs help on her cucumber farm. Rinko' mother wants her to spend the summer helping Mrs. Hata, her life-long friend. But 12-year-old Rinko sees Mrs. Hata's traditional Japanese ways as being backward and "crazy." When she gives in to her mother's request, she discovers Mrs. Hata is kind and courageous, fighting to save her farm. Before summer ends, RInko comes to appreciate and defend "crazy" Mrs. Hata.
One day, Shiro's all-time favorite idol Mami Mitsuya suddenly appears right in front of him! Even though this meeting left him excited, his partner Kenji ends up unhappy. Moreover, the appearance of a new partner and Shiro's work situation have led to the relationship between the two changing...
When a hooded stranger appears in private eye 'Mike' Hama's office with the cryptic challenge "I want you to look for me," Hama is drawn into a string of bizarre serial murders that have Yokohama's police baffled and the city terrified.
Kazu works at "Funiculi Funicula" cafe. There is a mysterious rumour that if a customer takes a specific seat at the cafe, that customer can travel back to a time of their choice.
Based on the comic book series by Yûsuke Aoyagi.
A look at the work of Japanese woodblock printing artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849).
Yuzuru asked Touji out as a half-hearted joke, not expecting to be taken seriously. Touji accepted, and Yuzuru knew he was like the rest, the relationship begins on a Monday and ends on Sunday. What he did not expect was the feelings that went beyond friendship that emerged. It's now Friday, and the end is approaching. But is it? Yuzuru may be mourning the inevitable, but what about Touji? Friday begins the end, but Sunday reveals all.