Japanese films I've watched from the 1990s
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- DirectorShinobu YaguchiStarsMasanobu AndôHikari IshidaChikara IshikuraA bullied employee has a run-in with yakuza, a shy nurse, and a stuffed suitcase. So begins his new life of excitement and adventure with the nurse.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsArata IuraErika OdaSusumu TerajimaAfter death, people have a week to choose only one memory to keep for eternity.
- DirectorYôichi SaiStarsGorô KishitaniRuby MorenoMoeko EzawaStory of everyday life and romance of a taxi driver who is a Korean resident in Japan.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsTakako MatsuSeiichi TanabeKazuhiko KatoIn spring, a young girl leaves the island of Hokkaido to attend university in Tokyo.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsToshiyuki NishidaEiko ShinyaKeiko TakeshitaAt a night school a diverse group of students ranging from teenagers to elderly, smart to under-developed and of different races have been assembled to study and finally hopefully graduate.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsHaruko SugimuraNobuko OtowaHideo KanzeYoko is a famous actress who goes to a mountain chalet for a few days rest. There, she learns a secret from her companion Toyoko.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsClaude MakiHiroko ÔshimaSabu KawaharaThe lives of a young, hearing-impaired and gloomy couple are fulfilled after the boy holds interest in surfboarding.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyo IshibashiEihi ShiinaTetsu SawakiA widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
- DirectorKatsuyuki MotohiroStarsYûji OdaToshirô YanagibaEri FukatsuAoshima, a police detective working in the Bayside Precinct, is continually frustrated by the hierarchy and red tape that plague the system. His friend Muroi is climbing the ladder of the police bureaucracy. Muroi has made a pact with Aoshima that while Aoshima looks after the streets, Muroi would make life easier for the cops on the beat. One day in Bayside, a series of events turns the small station upside down. A corpse is found in the river, then the Police Commissioner is kidnapped, leading to the Metropolitian Police Department to take over the investigation which is led by Murai. Will he be true to his pact with Aoshima and co-operate with the local police? In the meantime, the murder investigation leads to a morbid web page and a deadly chat room in cyberspace...
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoYûrei YanagiYuriko IshidaTwo disquieted junior baseball players seek revenge on the local yakuza for attacking their coach.
- DirectorMasato HaradaStarsHitomi SatôYasue SatôYukiko OkamotoThe film follows three modern Japanese schoolgirls in Tokyo as they flirt with lecherous old men and dodge the yakuza in the lucrative and sometimes dangerous practice of "enjo kosai" or "date clubs".
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsKoji YakushoHiroyuki IkeuchiRen ÔsugiA seasoned detective is called in to rescue a politician held hostage by a lunatic. In a brief moment of uncertainty, he misses the chance for action. Leaving his job and family without explanation, he makes his way to a mountain forest, where there is a peculiar tree called charisma. Should it be destroyed or protected? People stand divided over this one tree.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsMasato HagiwaraKoji YakushoTsuyoshi UjikiA frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsShô AikawaRiki TakeuchiRenji IshibashiA yakuza of Chinese descent and a Japanese cop each wage their own war against the Japanese mafia. But they are destined to meet. Their encounter will change the world.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoKayoko KishimotoRen ÔsugiNishi leaves the police in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into depression, he makes questionable decisions.
- DirectorShûsuke KanekoStarsTsuyoshi IharaAkira OnoderaShinobu NakayamaAn ornithologist investigates reports of a monstrous new species of bird just as a teenage girl is gifted an amulet found on mysterious atoll. As the creatures begin to attack, an ancient guardian with a bond to the girl emerges.
- DirectorShûsuke KanekoStarsToshiyuki NagashimaMiki MizunoTamotsu IshibashiA meteor lands in Japan and unleashes hundreds of insect-like "Legion" creatures bent on colonizing the Earth. Gamera shows up to deal with the ever-evolving space adversary but the battle may result in him losing his bond with humanity.
- DirectorShûsuke KanekoStarsShinobu NakayamaAi MaedaYukijirô HotaruGamera's ties to humanity have been severed as the Gyaos re-emerge. Nagamine and Asagi investigate as an orphaned girl named Ayana discovers a new creature. Named Iris, Ayana seeks revenge on Gamera for the death of her family.
- DirectorMasato HaradaStarsKoji YakushoKazuya TakahashiMickey CurtisA revenge-seeking man and his foolish friends plan to rob a yakuza gang.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsKen KanekoMasanobu AndôLeo MorimotoDropping out of high school, two friends at first find success, one as a up-and-coming boxer and one as a low level gangster. Yet, their life decisions still find a way of catching up with them.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoYusuke SekiguchiKayoko KishimotoA young, naive boy sets out alone on the road to find his wayward mother. Soon he finds an unlikely protector in a crotchety man and the two have a series of unexpected adventures along the way.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsTakeshi CaesarSeiji ChiharaNoriko EguchiA group of high school graduates transition into adulthood in a dangerous and violent town in Japan.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsMiho NakayamaEtsushi ToyokawaBunjaku HanWhen exchanging letters two women discover new things about a man they knew.
- DirectorHideaki AnnoStarsTadanobu AsanoMitsuru FukikoshiMegumi HayashibaraA high school girl engages in compensated dating in order to buy an expensive ring before the day ends.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsMakiko EsumiTakashi NaitôTadanobu AsanoA young woman's husband apparently commits suicide without warning or reason, leaving behind his wife and infant.
- DirectorShinji SômaiStarsKiichi NakaiJunko SakuradaTomoko TabataRenko, a girl in the sixth grade, is at first unperturbed by her parents' decision to separate. With the companionship of her boyfriend, Minoru, and Sally, a classmate in the same boat, Renko gradually realises the practical implications of divorce, and tries repeatedly to get her parents to reconcile. An old man teaches her about the need to forget the past...
- DirectorSabuStarsShin'ichi TsutsumiKeisuke HoribeRen ÔsugiA postman is mistaken for a dangerous criminal by the police.
- DirectorYasuo FuruhataStarsKen TakakuraShinobu ÔtakeRyôko HirosueThe touching reminiscing of an elderly railroad-station manager is interrupted by the sudden appearance of some good-natured girls.
- DirectorOkihiro YonedaStarsMegumi KobayashiSayaka YamaguchiAki HanoA new Mothra takes to the air and must battle Death Ghidora to save humanity.
- DirectorHideo NakataStarsNanako MatsushimaMiki NakataniYûko TakeuchiA reporter and her ex-husband investigate a cursed video tape that is rumored to kill the viewer seven days after watching it.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoAya KokumaiTetsu WatanabeSeveral yakuza from Tokyo are sent to Okinawa to help end a gang war. The war then escalates and the Tokyo drifters decide to lay low at the beach.
- DirectorMasayuki SuôStarsMasahiro MotokiMisa ShimizuNaoto TakenakaChronicling the turmoil and pandemonium that ensues at a derelict university sumo club, and the rise of some unlikely heroes.
- DirectorJûzô ItamiStarsNobuko MiyamotoMasahiko TsugawaRyûnosuke KanedaGoro's supermarket is not doing well; the rival "Bargains Galore" threatens his business. A chance encounter with Hanako, an energetic woman he knew in grade school, results in big retail and life changes.
- DirectorShinji SômaiStarsRentarô MikuniNaoki SakataYasutaka OhA delightful and moving coming-of-age story. One summer, three young boys take an increasing interest in an eccentric old man who lives alone in a house surrounded by an overgrown garden. The boys form a bond with the recluse and set about weeding and replanting the garden.
- DirectorAtaru OikawaStarsMiho KannoMami NakamuraYoriko DôguchiA traumatized young woman is trying to recover her memories with the help of a psychiatrist. During her hypnosis sessions, she repeats the name "Tomie" but is unable to recall where she knows it from.
- DirectorJûzô ItamiStarsNobuko MiyamotoMasahiko NishimuraYuji MurataA vain actress who witnessed a serious crime is guarded by 2 cops as she goes about her daily affairs.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsRentarô MikuniMasatoshi NagaseEmi WakuiTetsuo is a young man living in Tokyo, who falls in love with a deaf-mute factory girl. He has always felt jealous of his college- educated brother, but ultimately wins both the girl and his father's acceptance and support in a touching and refreshing way.
- DirectorMasato HaradaStarsKoji YakushoTatsuya NakadaiKippei ShînaWhen a major bank is caught paying off a corporate extortionist, the media and prosecutors begin to dig, breaking open a money-and-favors scandal to its core.
- DirectorJûzô ItamiStarsNobuko MiyamotoYasuo DaichiTakehiro MurataA luxury hotel extorted by yakusa assigns an ordinary accountant to handle the situation. The chaotic results cause the hotel to rethink its plan.
- DirectorTetsuya NakashimaStarsHidaka YoshitomoNagi NorikoMaki IshikawaTakashi and four of his classmates, fourth-grade students, cannot succeed in doing a back pullover around a horizontal bar. Their gym teacher warns them: they have one week to succeed; if they resign now, then, tomorrow, facing life difficulties, they will always run away and become bums. Furthermore, all five must succeed, if one of them cannot do it, then all of them fail. Takashi is really worried and wonders if he won't be always the looser who couldn't succeed in the back pullover bar exercise.
- DirectorJûzô ItamiStarsRentarô MikuniMasahiko TsugawaNobuko MiyamotoA successful Japanese movie director in his 60s becomes increasingly ill while working on his latest film. His family, friends, and doctor try to keep the secret of his terminal cancer from him, but it gradually becomes clear. Coming to terms with his own mortality is painful, and involves some major conflicts with his wife and the hospital staff. But having done so, he realizes he doesn't want to die in the hospital on a life support machine. He manages to finish his final film, and, enjoying the last days of his life as never before, he dies at home surrounded by all the people he cares about.
- DirectorJûzô ItamiStarsNobuko MiyamotoMasahiko TsugawaHiroshi OhkôchiHer childhood was hardly ideal as she was abandoned and grew up without parental love. She finds a home and a profession as a geisha who is particularly popular because she has that lucky bone in her that transmits fortune to her patrons. She meets a bank manager one day and soon enough they move in together. She gets a job out of it, but his appetite for cheap women is unabated.
- DirectorKihachi OkamotoStarsTôru KazamaHiroshi NishikawaKatsuyasu UchidaA wealthy matriarch is kidnapped by a gang of three. She is insulted by the amount of money they propose to demand as ransom, and a strange interchange of roles takes place between captors and captive, to the difficulty and eventual astonishment of the prefecture's Chief of Police.
- DirectorJun IchikawaStarsKyôzô NagatsukaKaori MomoiMitsuko BaishôHamanaka Koichi returns to the old ward in eastern Tokyo. No one knows why he disappeared and left his family behind. No one knows why he is back either. His wife is unsure whether she should be loyal to the departed man or not. His family is confused. People in the area connected to them have their own ideas and questions. Everyone seeks answers and they do not come easily.
- DirectorNobuhiro YamashitaStarsUda TeppeiHiroshi YamamotoTsutomu meets Kee outside a Pachinko hall. The two strike up an unlikely friendship.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKippei ShînaTomorô TaguchiTakeshi CaesarAmidst a Chinese and Japanese mafia war, a lawyer for the Chinese mob finds a rift forming between him and his corrupt police office brother.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsShô AikawaTeruyuki KagawaYûrei YanagiA man enlists a friend to help him identify and exact revenge upon his daughter's murderer.
- DirectorYasuo FuruhataStarsYoshiko SakumaMayumi OgawaMorio KazamaThe unexpected death of Fujishima Motoharu, president of a medium-sized firm, triggers a fierce battle over his estate inheritance among family members.
- DirectorJoji MatsuokaStarsHiroko YakushimaruEtsushi ToyokawaMichitaka TsutsuiShoko and Mutsuki get married to satisfy their worried parents, but she is well past the age at which a 'good' Japanese woman should marry, and he is in love with a young male college student. The film is less a realistic exploration of gay life than a fairy tale of three young Japanese trying to construct an alternative to the sexual and familial roles given to them by a society turning increasingly emotionally barren.L.
- DirectorHiroyuki NakanoStarsMorio KazamaMitsuru FukikoshiTomoyasu HoteiA noble young samurai searches for a thief who has stolen a precious treasure and killed one of his clansmen and meets an older samurai who tries to deter him from the violence of revenge.
- DirectorJûzô ItamiStarsMasayuki ImaiNobuko MiyamotoHinako SaekiMelodrama about the life of a mentally handicapped young man and his devoted sister after their famous novelist father and housewife mother go to Australia on a business trip.
- DirectorTatsumi KumashiroStarsEiji OkudaEiko NagashimaReiko TakashimaTanaka is a yakuza who collects 'protection money' from establishments. He has just been released from jail, where he had spent eight years, and finds out that his boss wants to get rid of him.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsHikari IshidaTomoko NakajimaToshinori OmiFollows two sisters, one clumsy and ignored, the other a perfect child. After the latter dies in an accident, she returns as a ghost to guide her little sister.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsMiyoko YoshimotoTadanobu AsanoHiroshi ÔguchiA salesman from Delta Works, a London-based computerized database, offers a one month free trial that seems uninteresting until he mentions that an operator, always selected from a group of young women in their 20's nick-named "Delta Ladies", will also be supplied in the trial period. Poo arrives at the one-man Aida Detective Agency with the Delta Mazelan 'F' Series hardware. A dragon fish has been stolen by Tetsu Tobiyama and biologist Thomas Earwing seeks its return (the Super-Red variety is worth 10 million yen). The system fails to provide info about Tetsu, but Poo worms her way into a top secret file at Delta headquarters, finding that he supplies trained assassins for use worldwide. Searching tropical fish outlets where Tobiyama shops for supplies, Poo is led to Natsuro, living alone with fish tanks, one of which contains a dragon fish. This enigmatic young man is not only mysteriously attractive to Poo, he also seems to attract the attention of hit men aimed at him.
- DirectorHisashi SaitoStarsMakiko OnoTakuji SuzukiMiako TadanoA pair of friendly coworkers at a rental video store accidentally become murders. Borrowing a station wagon, they flee with no particular destination in mind.
- DirectorTakashi KoizumiStarsAkira TeraoYoshiko MiyazakiShirô MifuneDuring a downpour, a generous ronin and his supporting wife are stranded at a country inn. The ronin comes to the attention of a lord who wants to hire him as an instructor for his men, who treat the ronin with disrespect.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsToshiyuki NishidaHidetaka YoshiokaAyumi HamasakiTwo teachers at a special high school must deal with the fact that two of their learning impaired students have just disappeared. After searching for both students everywhere, the teachers are amazed to see them flying over in the balloon.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsShinobu ÔtakeYûki KurodaNenji KobayashiA widow who has raised her autistic son alone loses her job and begins attending a technical college. She meets others looking for a new start in life, including a former salary-man with whom she begins a furtive romance.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsYumi AsôMariko FujiRenji IshibashiTadatoshi Hosokawa, feudal lord of the Higo area, dies in the spring of the 18th year of Kanei (1624-1644). Although before he died, Tadatoshi forbade his vassals to follow him in death--and the new feudal lord, his son Mitsunao, does the same--the vassals still commit seppuku one after the other. At first, Abe Yaichiemon obeys his former lord's last wish but is now being called a coward by his comrades and finally decides to follow Tadatoshi in death in order to save his family's honor. Mitsunao, upset by Yaichiemon's actions, punishes the Abe family unfairly. Objecting to this, the Abe family shut themselves up in their manor as the lord's troops move in. Based on a true story from the early Edo era.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsHiroshi MikamiCharaAyumi ItoThe struggles of a group of immigrant outcasts living in an alternative-future, xenophobic Japanese metropolis.
- DirectorRokuro MochizukiStarsYoshio HaradaShohei HinoAll KyojinBased on the novel Ukonshi Kujira by author Yamanouchi Yukio, Mochizuki Rokuro's third in his yakuza trilogy depicts a country girl falling in love with a street-level down and dirty thug whose lifestyle is outside of the conventions of class and the law.
- DirectorRokuro MochizukiStarsRyo IshibashiKazuhiko KanayamaAsami SawakiTachibana is a mob hit man, just released from 10 years in prison where he kicked his drug habit. He's dismayed to find that the code of conduct he honors no longer counts, and soon gets into trouble when he defends a call girl, Yuki, from a pimp who is connected to another gang. Running drugs is where all the action is, and Tachibana scorns junkies and pushers. Can Tachibana navigate this new world, protect Yuki and help her quit drugs, counsel his acolyte, stay true to his code, and maybe find a way out of the gang?
- DirectorGakuryû IshiiStarsMai HoshoHairi KatagiriMasashi KojimaTokyo Blood is an omnibus film of 4 short stories featuring various characters entrapped in Tokyo landscapes.
- DirectorSabuStarsShin'ichi TsutsumiHiroshi ShimizuAkira YamamotoYamazaki has spent a lot of time plotting a robbery of a local bank, but when he actually gets to the bank he finds another robber escaping with the money. Through an improbable chain of events Yamazaki gets hold of the money and during a panicked escape accidentally kills an innocent girl.
- DirectorAtaru OikawaStarsKaori ShimadaMikio ÔsawaYamato Tanaka, who attempted to murder his father in the past, used to work as a janitor in a theme park. Now unemployed, Yamato lives in a very humble apartment room. He lost his family by the crime he committed with the urge he himself couldn't and even now can explain. He has nowhere to go, and becomes isolated in the big city. His continuous job search is unsuccessful, and one day he meets a young girl Kaoru who is passing out advertisement packaged with free tissue to the crowd at a train station. He aggressively gets involved with her. The two immediately feel the mutual isolation and desperation within themselves. These are youngsters with no purpose in their lives, symbolizing the Japanese society which passed the post-war economic peak period. Yamato and Kaoru go down the road of destruction, being sucked into the deep, dark ditch of society. Filling the screen images both stark and surreal, director Ataru Oikawa draws an unadulterated portrait of youth.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsYûta YamazakiMegumi OkinaTakayuki SoritaOn the day when a fireworks display is planned, Norimichi, Yusuke, and their friends at school in a Japanese seaside town cannot agree whether or not fireworks are "flat" or "round" when they explode in the sky. With her parents divorcing, the young teenager Nazuna has more serious matters on her mind. Although unknown to the others, Nazuna's mother intends to take her away after the summer break. When Norimichi and Yusuke race 50 meters in the swimming pool, Nazuna secretly decides that the winner will accompany her when she runs away from home. Meanwhile the gang from school decides that the best way to figure out the shape of fireworks is to view them from the side, and they set out for a lighthouse above the beach from which the fireworks display will be fired.
- DirectorHaruki KadokawaStarsTakaaki EnokiMasahiko TsugawaAtsuko AsanoIn 16th century Japan, two samurai engage in massive battles across the countryside, one attempting to conquer and the other attempting to defend his land while repressing his love for a woman after taking a vow of celibacy.
- DirectorRokuro MochizukiStarsYoshio HaradaReiko KataokaShô AikawaA yakuza hitman gets out of jail and decides to start a new life, but soon his old life catches up with him.
- DirectorItsumichi IsomuraStarsRena TanakaMami ShimizuWakana ChizakiEtsuko - a typical Japanese high school student, who's unlucky in love, an academic failure, and plain bored with life. That's until one day, the view of a boat gliding gracefully in the sea inspires her to take up the oar. Since she's rejected by her school's all-male rowing team, she decides to form her own all-women team. Nothing will ever be the same again.
- DirectorJun IchikawaStarsRiho MakiseTomoko NakajimaYasuyo ShirashimaTugumi, who lives in a small seaside town, has been in delicate health from birth. Her parents spoiled her and she is rough and selfish. However, a few people are attracted by her beauty and unique character. In this summer, Tugumi loves Kyoichi Takahashi, who works in the art gallery of the town. One of Tugumi's old boy friends, the leader of bad boys, attacks Kyoichi and kills Tugumi's pet dog from jealousy. Tugumi plans revenge.
- DirectorShinobu YaguchiStarsNoboru IguchiShigeru IzumiyaMiwako KajiJunco, an agreeable but somewhat clumsy high school student, gets caught for using someone else's subway commuter pass. But that's only the beginning of her long series of increasingly absurd, bleak misadventures.
- DirectorGakuryû IshiiStarsRena KomineShinsuke AokiReiko MatsuoA teenage girl gains supernatural power after an accident and comes to understand her place in the universe.
- DirectorMasayuki SuôStarsKoji YakushoTamiyo KusakariNaoto TakenakaA successful but unhappy Japanese accountant finds the missing passion in his life when he begins to secretly take ballroom dance lessons.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsShôsuke TaniharaMiho NomotoTamaki KenmochiIn order to settle a business dispute, a mob leader murders one of his own teenage sons. The surviving son vows to avenge his brother's death, and organizes his own gang of teenage killers to destroy his father's organization.
- DirectorShun NakaharaStarsKazuyuki AijimaMichiko HayashiZen KajiharaIn a jury room, jurors deliberate on the guilt or innocence of a bar hostess accused of pushing her ex-husband into the path of an oncoming truck. Most of the jurors are nice folks unwilling to believe a women could do such an evil act. Juror #2 then takes the initiative to convince his peers.
- DirectorMasahiro KobayashiStarsSanshô ShinsuiTakeo NakaharaKazuki KitamuraA writer grieving the loss of his wife and child wanders the night in Tokyo encountering other lost souls also seeking love.
- DirectorSatoshi IsakaStarsTadanobu AsanoKeiko UnnoAkira HiraiA small and intrusive reporting crew are reporting on the actions of a man who monitors transmissions in a documentary they are filming. When suddenly a weapon is introduced the nerd and the events turn tupsy turvy and the results are not sublime.
- DirectorAmon MiyamotoStarsMark BunnellClaude MakiChristopher T. NelsonIn the 1960s Okinawa was us under American military occupation. Young Takeshi leads a passive go-with-the-flow existence, working as a bartender at a bar called Sekai where his ex-girlfriend Michi also worked. When Takeshi launches a flare bomb during a military blackout, expressing his frustration with the American military as well as himself, he encounters a mysterious boy with no name. He undergoes various changes living with him, but then an event occurs which will destroy Takeshi's identity to the very roots...
- DirectorKaizô HayashiStarsMasahiro TakashimaNarumi YasudaBengalJigoku is a samurai outlaw who is on the run with his motley bunch of followers. There's a bounty on his head with a cute female bounty hunter named Yuri The Pistol who's an ace gunslinger hot on his tail. He immediately falls for the woman due to her gutsy spirit. Jigoku is shown a map that can lead to some treasure. Dodging many booby-traps, he comes across a golden sword in a cave which is stuck in a rock. After managing to free the sword, he finds out that it is the key to reaching Zipang - a mythical City Of Gold which is full of untold riches and ruled by a Golden King. He keeps a woman all locked up in an ice prison as he despises love. The woman's lover (a near naked man who looks like a Samoan warrior) who was locked away with the sword that Jigoku has taken is released and he goes after Jigoku as well. Adding to Jigoku's woes is a Lord who orders his blue ninja army to pursue and steal the golden sword away from him. After finally arriving in Zipang, will Jigoku be able to defeat the evil Golden King?
- DirectorShinobu YaguchiStarsNaomi NishidaGô RijûTakako KatôSakiko, a young bank teller, has an unhealthy obsession with money. Thieves hold up the bank, kidnapping Sakiko in the process, but eventually crash their car, cash falling into a nearby river. Sakiko begins a quest to retrieve the money.
- DirectorToshihiro TenmaStarsMasato HagiwaraKôji TamakiIttoku KishibeA young man, Kazuo, joins a new cult religion even though he sees through the initial recruitment pretense, and participating in the activities of a new social phenomenon, some of whose members genuinely believe in the principles and practice as preached, while others have more Machiavellian motives.
- DirectorYoshimitsu MoritaStarsKyôka SuzukiShin'ichi TsutsumiIttoku KishibeMasaki Shibata Sinichi is a theater actor who murders a man and his wife. Masaki confesses the crime and alleges that the reason for it was that the woman, five months pregnant, had criticized her show. It could be a very simple case to settle if it were not for the "mitigating liability" contemplated in the criminal system of Japan. Masaki must undergo a psychological test to determine his sanity.
- DirectorTadashi ImaiStarsYûki KudôYumiko FujitaHisashi IgawaAn auto repairman's daughter questions him about what happened to her aunt during the war, but the father remains reticent. Finally the man opens up, and the girl is able to piece together her aunt's tragic story.
- DirectorNobuhiro SuwaStarsEri YuMiyuki YamamotoHidetoshi NishijimaYu, an employee at a clothing boutique, lives with Kei, an out-of-work actor who lives off of her. When one day he asks her to get married, the balance of their relationship seems to be irremediably disturbed.
- DirectorHideyuki HirayamaStarsHironobu NomuraKasumi ToyamaShiori YonezawaA young girl wanders into a wing of her elementary school that has been abandoned for years and is rumored to be haunted. When she doesn't come back, a group of her classmates go looking for her, only to find that they, too, are trapped inside. They must somehow find their way to safety, and quickly, because the rumors of ghosts are turning out to be true...
- DirectorShimako SatoStarsKimika YoshinoMiho KannoShu-MaMisa Kuroi is an adorable high-school girl who arrives at her new school when it is falling under an evil supernatural force. Trying to figure out who's behind the supernatural attack, Misa also has to deal with assumptions by her fellow classmates that believe she is the one behind it all. Misa and twelve other students are kept late after school hours one day to retake an exam. Then, after sunset, the entire school is deserted, and the students find themselves trapped inside and their teacher no where to be found. One by one, the thirteen students are picked up and disposed of in horrific and graphic fashion. It is up to Misa to try and gain the trust of her fellow students so that she can protect them and stop the evil before it's too late.
- DirectorTakashi IshiiStarsKôichi SatôMasahiro MotokiJinpachi NezuFive men plot to steal a large sum of money from the local yakuza, but everything does not go as planned and the men find themselves hunted down by contract killers.
- DirectorShimako SatoStarsKimika YoshinoWataru ShihôdôChieko ShiratoriKimika Yoshino returns in this prequel to 'Wizard of Darkness' to play Misa Kuroi before she was famous, or at least before she realized she was a witch. 'Birth of the Wizard' begins in Meiji-era Japan, in a village of former witches and wizards. I say former, because someone seems to have slaughtered them. Skip to the present day, and an archaeologist discovers a mummy from the village. Blissfully unaware that the mummy is, in fact, possessed by an evil spirit (naturally), he runs off, leaving his assistant alone. The mummy comes to life, kills her, and the evil spirit takes over her body. This evil spirit is now searching for Misa, who is protected by a survivor from the original massacre, known only as Saiga It is Misa's destiny to defeat this evil spirit, but she needs Saiga's help to do it.
- DirectorTakashi IshiiStarsKen OgataShinobu ÔtakeKimiko YoThrown together by chance during the robbery of a jewelry store by a Yakuza gang, five women take advantage of the situation to make off with the heist's loot, while a man hunts the same gang for the rape and subsequent suicide of his wife.
- DirectorKôji WakamatsuStarsLeona HirotaKou MachidaHaruko SagaraKoji Wakamatsu's biopic about a Japanese free jazz/improvisation saxophonist named Kaoru Abe.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsKyôzô NagatsukaHideyuki KasaharaJun TobaOpens with a journalist reporting on the 1997 Kobe earthquake, as he remembers a trip made as a young boy. Then, he and family took a boat trip from Awaji to Beppu in order to bury the ashes of his elder brother, killed in the just-ended WWII. The lad spends much of the trip trying to talk his elder brother out of running away. They encounter an array of characters on the journey. Most prominent among them a black marketeer who, like the elder brother, feels that the "new ways" can only benefit him, and work against the boys' father, who is strict and traditional.
- DirectorKôsaku YamashitaStarsShima IwashitaRino KataseShô AikawaTwo wives of gangsters come together to avenge the deaths of their men.
- DirectorSadao NakajimaStarsShima IwashitaRino KataseMasahiro TakashimaThe wife of a yakuza lieutenant tries to keep the peace when the clan's heir suddenly dies and a succession conflict threatens to break out.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsTetsuya FujitaYuji HoriokaKatsuhisa YamazakiBombing during World War II resulted in whole urban populations fleeing to the countryside, and this created a meeting of urban and rural cultures. Shinji (a young boy evacuated from Tokyo) and his new schoolmates (who are villagers) don't exactly know what is going on in the war. They see the B-29 bombers and the glow of cities on fire, but the problems of being separated from one's mother and surviving among one's peers loom larger than international politics.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsKiichi NakaiMayu TsurutaRiona HazukiAs the great military commander Nobunaga Oda was consolidating his power across Japan, one of his actions was to wipe out a clan of assassins, killing every man, woman and child he found in the village. Years later, one of the survivors has hired a young but skilled assassin to avenge the deaths of his friends and family. His mission: to sneak into the most heavily guarded castle in Japan, and kill the supreme ruler of the country.
- DirectorNobuhiro SuwaStarsTomokazu MiuraMakiko WatanabeRyudai TakahashiTetsuro is living with his young girlfriend Aki in a pleasant house in Tokyo. They both spend a lot of time at their jobs. However their routine is upset when Tetsuro brings his 8 year old son Shun to live with them, while his ex-wife recovers from a car accident. Aki is annoyed because she was not asked, and she knows that she will have to do the bulk of the work in caring for him. This forces Aki to reevaluate her relationship, and decide whether she is to remain a modern working woman, or become a mother.
- DirectorMitsuo YanagimachiStarsAsuka OkasakaHiroshi FujiokaQian PoLooks at the lives of Chinese people in Japan.
- DirectorRokuro MochizukiStarsHakuryûAmiko KanayaAkaji MaroHimuro is a policeman fired by his superiors as a scapegoat for his involvement in the Sokaiya racket. This cop catches a train to nowhere - "nowhere" in this case is a small town by the sea -.
- DirectorRintarô MayuzumiKazuyoshi OkuyamaStarsNaoto TakenakaMichiko HadaMasahiro MotokiEdogawa Rampo is a writer whose latest work is censored by the government, deemed too disturbing and injurious to the public to be allowed to be published. However, after burning his drafts, his publisher shows him a newspaper with an account of events just like his forbidden story. As the film progresses, fantasy and reality intermingle in a tale that draws heavily on influences from Poe and Stoker's Dracula. The film's strongly Expressionistic direction skillfully combines a variety of media (animation, computer-generated imagery, grainy black-and-white fast film stock, color negatives) for artistic effect.
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsKiichi NakaiYûko AsanoFurankî SakaiWhen an amnesiac woman walks into the household of a young samurai no one knows what to make of the mysterious newcomer. However, with her serene beauty and hard working etiquette both the master of the house, who is engaged, and the servants soon come to admire the woman whom they have named Fusa. This changes everything. Still, Fusa and her new friends and family know nothing about her circumstance prior to her arrival.