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.
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)
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!
Hanpeita Takeichi, a samurai, finds that he has travelled through time to modern-day Japan. He's taken in by an old man who runs a cram school, and begins to work as a teacher there.
Haunted by bad luck, two friends learn to trust in the world again and take their destiny into their own hands.
Nemuri Kyoshiro discovers a conspiracy centering around a band of disgruntled samurai wanting to avenge the death of their sensei, a political reformer that pushed for better provisions for the lower classes until he was assassinated by Shogunate agents. Their plot, to set fire to the oil refineries of two rich merchants and unleash a raging inferno that will hopefully burn down the Edo Castle.
The masked daughter of the Shogun wants to kill a samurai who has seen her scarred face. She sends waves of ninja warriors to kill the samurai and plots diabolical schemes / ambushes without much success.
A boy steals a knife from an old samurai, unaware of its value, setting off a strange chain of events.
A large earthquake hits Tokyo, which was predicted by a seismologist but was ignored.
Les Vendéens
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.
Though it places his own life in danger, a look-alike commoner secretly takes the place of a poisoned king to save his country from falling into chaos.
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.
A conflict arises between the people of the town and the local priest when they have to decide how to represent certain biblical episode.
Pinku distributed by Million. Rumi Tama's directorial debut.
After losing their restaurant in a fire, a husband and wife come up with a strange plan to rebuild their shattered finances: marrying the husband off to a series of lonely women and defrauding them.
Defence lawyer Emi is assigned to a particularly unusual case: a man is suspected of murdering his wealthy wife, and his only alibi is a 421-year old ghost, Rokubei. At first Emi is hesitant, but when she pursues her lead she is visited by the ghost herself. And so the fun begins in the courtroom when Prosecutor Osano starts to cross examine.
Densuke Hamazaki is an office worker at Suzuki Construction and gets transferred to the main Tokyo office. After settling in to his surrounding along with his wife Eri, Densuke befriends an elderly man named Ichinosuke Suzuki. Ichinosuke is a lonely and old man who learns to enjoy life again through his friendship with Densuke. Meanwhile, Densuke is completely unaware that Ichinosuke is the boss of his construction company. The two men become friends through their shared passion for fishing.