Jun Hamamura

An executive mortgages all he owns to stage a coup and gain control of the National Shoe Company, with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of incompetent and greedy executives. (imdb)

July, 1945: Japan's army is on the run. A platoon in Burma sings to keep its spirit up. Inspiration comes from their self-taught lute player... (imdb)

The legendary samurai Sasuke Sarutobi tracks a the spy Nojiri, while a mysterious figure named Sakon... (imdb)

While performing in a touring kabuki troupe, leading female impersonator Yukinojo comes across the three men who drove his parents to suicide twenty years earlier (imdb)

In 18th Century in Japan, the paper merchant Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura) falls in love for the courtesan Koharu (Shima Iwashita), but he can not afford to redeem her from her master and owner of the brothel, since he spent all his money in the place with Koharu. Jihei's wife Osan tries to keep her husband with his two children and asks Koharu to leave him. The two lovers make a pact of double suicide to escape from the rigid rules of the Japanese society of 1720 and stay together after death. (imdb)

During peace in 1725, aging swordsman Isaburo is living a henpecked life when his clan lord requests that Isaburo's son marry the lord's mistress... (imdb)

Mr. Ogata lives a complicated life: he's is a pornographer making two skin flicks per day and trying to stay beneath the radar screen of the local mob (imdb)

It is the Philipines, 1945. The Japanese Imperial Army has been reduced to a ragtag mob hiding in the jungles... (imdb)

Makoto and Kiyoshi's generation follows their desires. She's in high school when a university student... (imdb)

Impersonating an Imperial Army officer by wearing a "red lion's mane", a poor servant returns to his... (imdb)

A fading baseball player is traded to a Japanese team and has trouble fitting into the society. (imdb)

In the third film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto volunteers to be tortured by Yakuza to save a prostitute, and is hired by their leader to kill an evil chamberlain. (imdb)

Zatoichi comes upon a dying man who asks him to give a bag of money to "Taichi". Zatoichi has no idea who this is but when he comes upon a small town harassed by gangsters, he finds that "Taichi" was the man's young son... (imdb)

The tragic story of Gonza, a handsome ladies man, set in the Tokagawa Period, a time in which appearences are very important... (imdb)

The Tokyo engineer Kariya arrives on a primitive tropical island to drill a well to provide water for the sugar mill. He is assisted on the island by Kametaro, from the inbred Futori family. Nekichi Futori is chained in a pit that he has to dig, in order to appease the gods for breaking island customs... (imdb)

When Sokichi stops providing his long-time lover Kikuyo enough money to pay for the care of their three young children, Kikuyo leaves the children with Sokichi - and his very surprised and angry wife Oume - and disappears. (imdb)

Told in an intricate flashback structure, Enjo dramatizes the psychological collapse of Goichi (Raizo Ichikawa), a young Buddhist acolyte from a dysfunctional family who arrives at a Kyoto temple - the Golden Pavilion - for further study. (Wikipedia)

From out of the arctic comes a gigantic flying, fire-breathing turtle that sets its sights on destroying Tokyo. (imdb)

Blind from birth, Orin, is a part of a group of blind women singers known as the Goze who devote their lives to art. When Orin is with a man she is no longer welcome and must wander alone.

Based on a novel by Kafu Nagai, this movie uses a short story of the same name, and at the same time infused it with real diary entries of Kafu's as well, making it seem like an amalgamation of his life and that pre-war story. Some however, have claimed that it's solely based on the novel, and the director Kaneto Shindo had changed the protagonist to the author himself. (imdb)

A story told through the eyes of an elder sister of her childhood with her younger brother.

A man getting on in years sets out to find a way to resurrect his flagging virility. (imdb)

A crooked Shrine Magistrate and a greedy developer scheme to evict residents from an apartment building and demolish the adjoining shrine, forcing the townspeople into submission. When the apartment owner attempts to reclaim the property, he is murdered, and a masterless samurai with deep secrets steps into the fray. The situation in the human world is definitely awry, and as in the past, the Yokai (Spirit Monsters) must take action to correct the wrongs. (Amazon)

Kazuhiko Sagawa travels to the remote country home of his girlfriend Yuko Nonomura, only to be informed by her mother that she has died in a car crash a few weeks earlier. But he thinks he sees Yuko still alive and follows her to the graveyard. But this turns out to be her ghost who turns and attacks him. Kazuhiko's sister Keiko becomes worried about not having heard from him after eight days and she and her boyfriend Hiroshi set out to the Nonomura household to investigate.

An ambitious department store worker endeavors to improve his station in life by manipulating women to get what he wants - money that is.

This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a vivid portrait of the pre-war lifestyle of the wealthy Makioka family from Osaka, and draws a parallel between their activities and the seasonal variations in Japan. (imdb)

Kaze is a philandering TV producer. His wife and nine of his mistresses conspire to kill him. However each woman would rather keep him alive, as long as she was the only woman in his life. (imdb)

A young teacher struggles to overcome prejudices in early 20th century Japan.

An aspiring writer tries to find a way to escape his life in a small village.

A black soldier flying during World War 2 is taken prisoner in a small Japanese village when his plane goes down.

Outside of a small village in Japan, a mysterious pond is inhabited by mythic creatures. Their story is of revenge, tragedy, and the power of real love. A classical tale which translates wonderfully to film. (imdb)

A poetic story about a man rendered comatose by an accident and a bar maid, where the months pass, the seasons come and go, and the man sleeps on... (movies.yahoo.com)

Yakuza drama

A pregnant couple is killed by their disgraced family, the daughter is born after her mother's death thanks to supernatural forces and years later comes back accompanied with vengeful spirits to grapple with the evil family members.

The Sun Goddess responsible for the founding of Japan is seen as conniving woman Himiko, who rules a small portion of the Japanese islands in the third century through her influence over several powerful men. When she is killed for reasons of political expediency, the film zooms back to reveal her mourners as figures in modern-day Japan. (allmovie.com)

In the third installment of this lady Zatoichi series, Oichi comes into possession of a MacGuffin scroll that contains details about a new type of foreign gunpowder. The local evil magistrate is convinced of the potential profit in selling the explosive technology, and spares no expense in trying to obtain the scroll.

Nakata, a writer, lives with the painful memory of the death of his wife, whose life was cut short a few years earlier. Was it an accident or was it suicide? Doubt persists. In order to escape his guilty conscience, Nakata gives up on marriage and fatherhood. Thus freed, he embarks on an obsessive sexual jeorney and records his adventures in a book, "The Dark Room".

A young woman fends off a series of agressive marriage proposals from a man who comitted atrocities during World War II (Hulu)

On his deathbed, a wealthy businessman announces that his fortune is to be split equally among his three illegitimate children, whose whereabouts are unknown to his family and colleagues. A bevy of lawyers and associates then begin machinations to procure the money for themselves, enlisting the aid of impostors and blackmail. (criterion.com)

When Tatsuya Terada (Kenichi Hagiwara) is finally found, he is informed by his family that he is the heir to the family's fortune, and to the ancient family curse. As soon as he hears of the curse, it immediately appears to take effect, as gruesome figures emerge from tombs in the vicinity. Policeman Kosuke Kindaichi (Kiyoshi Atsumi) has a different opinion about the curse, which is that someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to harass the young heir

Film adaptation of the novel by Hwe-Song Lee. (Filmaffinity)

Living in a small coastal village, Wakae, 15, works as a bar hostess. Her mother died and her father is an alcoholic and poor. While she has just stolen a pair of shoes she meets Saburo, who tries to help her. Though soon they will separate. (mubi.com)

Based on the novel about detective Kindaichi Kousuke by Seishi Yokomizo.

Story of Shinsuke and his stepmother, ranging from Shinsuke's infant-hood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly every aspect of the life of the characters. Shinsuke's father dies while bravely using dynamite to rescue a group of trapped Korean miners. Several older men attempt to help he and his mother cope, including a kind Korean and a Harley-riding yakuza.

Tough cop goes up against violent delinquent gang members.

AKA The Oiwa Phantom; About 1786 the doings of a demented lord results in many masterless samurai, including Iyemon who is used to luxury and cannot adjust to the hand-to-mouth conditions & piecework of umbrella making. Having hired ruffians to make him look like a superior swordsman, he arranges for himself the opportunity of a profitable marriage. He hires the half-blind masseur Takuetsu to seduce or rape his wife, so that she can be divorced or killed for adultery. (themoviedb)

A hard working salaryman takes off five days from his busy job and sets off with his wife and two children to visit his parents in his hometown for the 1991 new year holidays. He decides that they will go by car to save on expenses. Unfortunately, the long drive from Tokyo to his hometown becomes a much longer journey than expected due to traffic, sickness and other misfortunes and by the time they arrive three days later, they only have time for a short but happy visit.

There is a shooting at a small bookstore in town. When the police arrive they find three victims two of whom have already died. One of the dead uttered something strange before dying. The criminal has fled the scene. Coincidentally, one of the victims is the girlfriend of one of the policemen. (imdb)

In postwar Japan, an editor visits her old Professor who is working on a modern translation of a legend about a mummified Buddhist monk who was revived, only to turn into a sex fiend that terrorized a rural village in pre-modern Japan. The story begins to have uncanny resonances with things going on in the present.

The omnibus movie by Shindo Kaneto is separated into three parts, each one of which follows a different life problem of the Japanese citizen and their way of facing the world. The first story consists of a high school student who plays hooky and befriends a middle-aged man. The second story deals with an elderly couple who wants their daughter to have a better life. The last story is about an eleven-year-old who's abandoned by his mother and he has to take care of his two younger siblings.

In the backstreets of Ginza, the boss of a hairdressing salon is found dead, killed by strangulation. The detective on the case soon hears rumors about the murder. (letterboxd)

In a melancholic seaside town, the bodies of two lovers who apparently committed double suicide are found on the shore. A local reporter and the dead woman's pimp begin to investigate and find out that something very suspicious is going on. (IMDB).

Akira and Hiroshi are two lowlives who hang around pachinko parlors. Hiroshi tries to get Akira laid with little success but things change when Akira is informed of a 88 million yen inheritance. (imdb)

The Taisho era was a time of turbulence in Japan. From new marks of modernity to full-blown riots, a sense of revolution filled the air. The Dam Dam Group is a small anarchist organization led by Daijiro, a silver-tongued "Benshi", a performer who provides narratives for silent films, playing multiple roles. In other words, he was a master at the art of deception, a handy talent when it came to 'doing jobs' for his group. His revolutionary ideals attracted many to his squadron but among them...

Nishina Saburouta is a powerful but corrupt priest. One night, an old samurai who couldn't bear him anymore attempts to kill him, but without success. Saburouta is rescued by his niece, Keisuke at the last moment. Keisuke is a a good-for-nothing. Since that event, he always turns to his uncle when he needs money. Recently Keisuke feels his uncle isn't as generous as he used to be, he suspects that Saburouta has found out about the illicit relationship between Keisuke and his uncle's young mistre

As famous photographer, Yuta Suzumori's (Tatsuya Fuji) health is worsening he tells a childhood story of when he saw a kappa in his hometown village of Kitagawa.