Eri Watanabe

A middle-aged workaholic's incredibly dull life takes a funny turn when he signs up for a ballroom dance class -- just to meet the sexy dance teacher. But when he finally muscles up the nerve for lessons he winds up with a different instructor and her colorfully eccentric class of beginners! And now he'll have to step lightly -- and do some fancy footwork -- if he expects to keep his new secret passion from his family and friends! (Miramax)

A Japanese drama about Alzheimer's Disease. (Eleven Arts)

Ayase plays a blind woman who roams about town with her shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese guitar), but she has exceptional sword skills with which she fights off yakuza and other villains. (imdb)

For Crest of Betrayal, Fukasaku and co-screenwriter Motomu Furuta combined the legend of the forty-seven samurai with another stalwart of Japanese folklore: the ghost story of Yotsuya. Most famously brought to the screen by Jigoku director Nobuo Nakagawa in 1959's Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan, the ghost story of Yotsuya concerns the revenge of a disfigured female ghost on her lover, who had poisoned her in order to marry a woman of better standing. (midnighteye.com)

Schoolgirl Kuniko is kidnapped by a middle-aged man Iwazono when she is jogging. He tells her that he had a failed marriage which leaves him a deep and everlasting scar in his mind. He kidnaps her in search of a perfect marriage and intends to lock her in the room and 'educate' her.

34-year-old Aya leads a humble and carefree life working part-time in a bookstore and living with a divorcee 20 years her senior, Ito-san, who works part-time in a supply center for school meals. The couple reside in a cramped old apartment tending to a small vegetable garden out back and generally leading a quiet but happy existence... until Aya's father suddenly appears at their door one day, having just been kicked out of his son's home. He moves in to turn all of their lives upside down. (cinando.com)

Based on The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart, a strange flower grants a girl magic powers. (imdb)

*** Tamamori Yuta as a down-on-his-luck college grad who lives with a holographic image of a female maid. *** Watanabe Eri as a divorcee who feels uncomfortable with her newfound friendship with a so-called... *** Nounen Rena as a high schooler who delves too much into her fantasies of Samurai warlords. *** Eikura Nana as a TV director who gets into an accident and sees her life flash before her eyes but in the form of a movie. *** Fujiki Naohito as a doctor who cannot forget a hurtful past.

Don't you want to meet with a woman who falls in love, likes to dress up, and arrests felonious offenses? What if she fights for the outrageousness of society with the sounds of the howling siren, and yet, enjoys her love life and friendship? This is what the 21st-century woman with strong will and gentleness would be like. And without a doubt, attractive women are to be surrounded by attractive guys.

First mainstream film directed by Genji Nakamura, based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1974 short story of the same title.