Ayumi Ito

Life isn't easy for a group of high school kids growing up absurd in Japan's pervasive pop/cyber culture. As they negotiate teen badlands- school bullies, parents from another planet, lurid snapshots of sex and death- these everyday rebels without a cause seek sanctuary, even salvation, through pop star savior Lily Chou-Chou, embracing her sad, dreamy songs and sharing their fears and secrets in Lilyholic chat rooms. Immersed in the speed of everyday troubles, their lives inevitably climax in a fatal collision between real and virtual identities, a final logging-off from innocence. (imdb)

Two years after Cloud & Co. saved the world from Sephiroth, the citizens of the planet begin suffering from a strange sickness called Seikon-Shoukougun (imdb)

After a young girl's mother dies, she is cared for by Glico, a brassy hooker, who gives the girl the name "Ageha" (Butterfly). Ageha goes to work for a collection of oddballs who run a junkyard and salvage business.

This film is based on the true-to-life story of the world's most renowned master of the ancient game of Go, Wu Qingyuan. (Fortissimo Films)

Crime comedy. Two young men rob a bank and stash the money in a luggage but things get complicated when a busker ends up swallowing the key to the locker. (BFI.org.uk)

Last Order explains in more detail the events that follow after the annihilation of Nibelheim. (IMDb)

Young and handsome Ryunosuke Kusunoki is a new arrival in a Hokkaido village, to which his government official father, Mr. Kusonoki, has been sent to acquire land to push through a new airport. Mr. Kusunoki must persuade the resistant farm community to do his bidding. Ryunosuke has his own problems trying to fit in at his new school. (Yahoo! Movies)

In the words of Toru, Yui is a wrestling freak, Tetsuo is a studying freak and Akira is just plain freak. After a performance by popular indies group Workaholic, Toru and his group of friends set out to start their own hip-hop group to score chicks. Toru also falls in love with Nagisa, a beautiful girl he saw swim in an aquarium. (http://omgasians.wordpress.com/2007/08/05/check-it-out-yo-chekeraccho/)

"TOKYO!," the dynamic new film by three of world cinema's great visionaries: Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, and Bong Joon-ho. A uniquely entertaining modern-day triptych, "TOKYO!" explores Japan's multifaceted capital city through three indelible stories: a Kafkaesque fable about a young woman's bizarre physical transformation; an arch-punk mini-monster-movie in which a man rises from the sewers to wreak havoc on the city; and a beguiling tale about a hermit who ventures outside in search of love. (movieweb.com)

Higashigaoka Junior High School is in turmoil as one of the pupils, Noguchi, who had been bullied, attempted suicide last term. On the first day of the new term, a substitute teacher arrives to take the second year class. When the teacher, Murauchi, introduces himself, the pupils are surprised by his stutter. Unable to speak eloquently, Murauchi faces his pupils with 'words of truth'... (AsianMediaWiki)

Shiro's struggle with his father's cancer and impending death leads to a realization that he must communicate his love and admiration for him before it's too late. A series of flashbacks reveals their relationship over time, and the trouble Shiro faced connecting to his strict father who was also his teacher and soccer coach. With a consuming secret of his own, Shiro, now in his late twenties and about to get engaged, must eventually learn how to share it with his loved ones. (Japan Society)

In the 90s there was a decade of indie rock bands in the japanese culture. Bandage tell a fictional story four boys whose friendship and musical talents are tested in the ever changing world of music industry and their experience in love and hardship in real life. (imdb)

Eight school friends innocently join together to play a game that, if played well, promised to make their greatest dreams come true. But, they soon discover that mistakes may cost them more than even their dreams could tell. (imdb)

Takashi 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. (PTP)

Seven friends gather at a party in Kyoto to celebrate Masamichi's entry to graduate school. Maki & her boyfriend Nakazawa join the party and get drunk easily after the friendship reunion. Kate has a crush on one of the cute guy who doesn't have any interests on her though. The cheerful and unforgettable night is full of joy while the whales & the thief incidents also attract the attention of them. Before the sunrise, seven friends meet again on the beach so as to witness the fade of youth days. (imdb)

A mother and her daughter discover an unusual way to make money.

The background to and depiction of a watershed battle in Japanese history, at Sekigahara in 1600, when Tokugawa Ieyasu's Army of the East defeated the Army of the West of Ishida Mitsunari.

The famous TV singing contest, "Nodo-Jiman", is coming to town! Enka singer Reiko Akagi enters the contest despite objections from her manager. Aspiring mobile yakitori shopowner Keisuke finds that his license examination clashes with the preliminary round. Schoolgirl Rika Takahashi is caught between her worried mother and her rebellious sister. "Nodo-Jiman" brings these colorful people together in a heartwarming way. (imdb)

The life of Kuro, a dog who had lived in a high school in Nagano prefecture since 1960. (filmaffinity.com)

A collection of psychic images received by general posts. Fear multiplies! Earth-bound spirits, vengeful spirits, floating spirits, guardian spirits ... full of mysterious images that can not be elucidated by science!

Yumi moves into her boyfriend's Tokyo apartment but on the night of the move, he is called away for business in New York. The couple communicates over Skype and over the course of four nights, their relationship descends into an abyss of mistrust and lies. Yumi believes there's a ghost in the room haunting her as her only connection to the outside world is Taka on the other side of the world. Taka believes she's slowly going crazy right in front of his eyes.

8-year old boy, Shinpei, who loves fishing and painting, lives with his beautiful mother, surrounded by nature. His mother, Satsuki, has a weak constitution and lost her husband years ago. She takes care of her son lovingly but sometimes strictly, on her own. Shinpei's childhood sweetheart, Sayuri, is deaf, but somehow they can understand each other and they always spend time together. One day, big news comes to their town. (imdb)