Kaoru Kobayashi

As a labrador puppy, Quill is sent to live with a couple, Isamu (Teruyuki Kagawa) and Mitsuko Nii (Shinobu Terajima), who work as volunteers, training guide dogs (seeing eye dogs). When he grows to an adult dog, he is taken to a guide dog school, by a friendly, yet firm trainer Satoru Tawada... (imdb)

...Tokyo Tower - Mom and Me and Sometimes Dad concerns an adolescent boy, Boku - Masaya, torn between the inherited recklessness of his father Oton and the inherited responsibility, wisdom and emotional strength of his mother Okan. Following a period of intensely rebellious behavior, Boku learns that his mom has contracted cancer; suddenly, his mother comes to live with him in Tokyo the entire emotional landscape of his life is altered. (http://www.allmovie.com -Nathan Southern)

Ghiblies are back!, and we get to see the Ghibli staff eating extra hot curry for lunch and more of Nonaka's first love all in a sequel of one of Studio Ghibli's most unique set of shorts. (imdb)

''Sorekawa'' is set in Tokyo in 1909 and is based on a novel by Soseki Natsume, which was published in that year, when the modernization of Japan was well along though far from being universally accepted. Daisuke (Yusaku Matsuda), the 30-ish younger son of a rich and powerful businessman, has broken away from his family to the extent that he lives in his own modest house, though the bills for it and for his servants are paid by the older brother who runs the family business. (nytimes)

Hirai is a prison guard who looks after Kaneda, a man on death row and a model inmate. Hirai is about to marry a single mother, although he cannot afford to take time off from work to take his wife on a honeymoon and to bond with his new stepson. When Kaneda's execution order is signed, it presents Hirai with an opportunity to take time away but at an overwhelming emotional cost. (independent.com)

Kamui Gaiden..tells the side story of The Legend of Kamui,..a ninja who leaves an organization that pursues him. Through his journey as fugitive, he clearly sees the true nature of the Edo period and the discrimination that existed in the feudal system. (gigazine.net)

5 episodes in one single movie, every time new characters reveal their inner hidden true self. A good selection of Japanese directors. Most of the time, the characters meet each other, remember thing they thought lost forever, becoming friends and not least becoming aware of the power of seduction of the Other. Of course you have to be a fan of Japanese cinema in order to better perceive the selected short movies. (imdb)

The narrator, a student in his twenties, returns to Kobe for the summer vacation. During the summer, he'll catch up with his old buddy whose nickname is Rat, talk the talk with Jay the bartender, and meet a mysterious twin girl. Mixing up temporality, dreams, memories, present actions and future ones all together, the story is very close to what could be called a patch-work. Based on the novel by Haruki Murakami. (Other)

A messy bachelor's apartment is a paradise for the huge colony of cockroaches living there: no sprays, no traps, and plenty of food. When the homeowner's girlfriend moves in, however, the party comes to an abrupt end, and the roaches must quickly adapt to a life of struggling for survival. Combines animation with live actors. (imdb)

Former punk rocker Jonen, now a Buddhist priest, seems to have lost the meaning of his life. His manic depression handicaps him further. Music seems to be the only solution for him to exorcise his demons, against all obstacles and sound volume controllers. (imdb)

In the fictional Hokkaido shipbuilding town of Kaitan (played by real-life port city Hakodate), local residents find that, in addition to another harsh winter, they must also face the downsizing of the town's key industry due to depressed economic conditions. Episodic structure divides pic into five distinct tales set around New Year's Eve, capped by a deft, criss-crossing finale that adds fitting finishing touches to two earlier installments. (variety.com)

Mitsuya Majime is an unsuccessful salesman. But his love of reading and dedication, as well as a post-graduate degree in linguistics, catches the eyes of Masashi Nishioka and Kouhei Araki, dictionary editors who are seeking a replacement for Araki himself. With Majime on the editing team, the group plans to produce a new dictionary called The Great Passage which would bridge the gap between people and the sea of words and would take years to complete. (wikipedia)

Old fisherman takes a journey so he'll no longer burden his granddaughter Haru. Together they visit family in search of a new home.

Tomoko maintains a relationship with an even-tempered older married man named Shingo at the same time she's seeing an emotional younger man named Ryota. (Eigapedia)

A meek agent at the Showa Life Insurance company receives a phone call from a customer who says that she's planning to commit suicide and wants to know if her policy will pay out. Concerned about her safety, the agent visits her house only to find that her young son has hanged himself. As he investigates further, more and more people connected with this family start having "accidents," and if he's not careful, he might be next. (imdb)

Yuna lives on a remote island in Okinawa, 360 kilometres from the mainland. There is no high school on the island, which means that every teenager must leave in the spring of the year they turn 15 to attend school on the mainland. It is Yuna's turn to leave this year, and as leader of her school's traditional musical group, she is preparing to sing the customary farewell song expressing gratitude to the island and her family. (japanesefilmfestival.net)

Four women try to cope with the fact that their father, though in his 70's, has taken a lover, despite continuing to live together with their mother. In the meantime the sisters have to deal with their own relationships as well.

Two troubled young lovers - a gambler and a stripper - run off to the tranquil Japanese countryside to marry and start a new life. But their dark past follows them in the form of a veteran loan shark. (imdb)

A cook opens a restaurant that only serves from midnight till dawn. One day, he discovers an obituary urn. Follow the stories of his regulars tangled astound this urn.

When Kaoru Kanzaki was a child, her mother's restaurant went bankrupt. Her family became poor afterwards. Since graduating from middle school, Kaoru Kanzaki has worked hard and lived a thrifty life to escape poverty. As a result, she is able to save 1 million yen. Kauro though lends her colleague 1 million yen, which leads her to fall heavily in debt and her life spiral downward again. At that time, Kaoru Kanzaki happens to meet members of Koshimizu Management Consultant and becomes a member. (asianwiki.com)

Against the protestation of his strict father, Jin leaves home to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. Meanwhile, his little brother Hide accepts his father's wishes and aims to become a dentist. But none of them can escape the attraction of music. When Jin's music career hits a snag, he discovers that it is his brother, Hide, and his fellow dental students who exhibit a great natural talent for music, and he pins his hopes on them. But Hide wants to become a dentist... (imdb)

Kengo Yatabe's mother dies and his father is in a coma. He, like his father, was good at kendo. Those days are long gone and he now lofts around as a security guard and generally wastes time. Meeting the young Tooru Kengo is inspired and decides to shape up. (imdb)

Depicts the conflict between the wife and the child left behind by the man who ran for the life expectancy as long as the old lover, the friendship of the wife and the lover.

Shoji Segawa was a quiet and inconspicuous boy, but, for the first time, he is recognized by people after winning the National Middle School Shogi Tournament. At the age of 26, his dream of becoming a professional shogi player collapses due to an age restriction. After he quits playing shogi, he becomes desperate. With the support of his peers, including Yuya Suzuki, and his love of shogi, Shoji Segawa begins to play shogi again. A miracle happens to him. (themoviedb)

Kuramatsu Hitoshi, the supervisor of Kumagai Group's Kuramatsu Team, and Takiyama Kunpei, the assistant manager of Kansai Electric's Kuroyon Building Office, were the two greatest contributors to the completion of Omachi tunnel, the most challenging undertaking in the journey to finish the Kurobe Dam. (imdb)

Shinichi Sakurai is married to Kanako and they have a daughter named Kaori. Both, Shinichi and Kanako received only a middle school level education. Even though they don't have much money, they are a happy family. At work though, Shinichi experiences effects of only having a middle school education. One day, Shinichi sees Kaori's poor score for a national test. He freaks out and decides to improve Kaori's education. Thus, 41-year-old Shinichi begins studying with Kaori and instructs. (imdb)

An anthology of human relationship stories connected by the only open in the wee hours diner the characters frequent. Resolutions are often facilitated by the owner/chef. (imdb)

Midnight Diner is a tv series from Japan since 2009. It tells many stories about ordinary people eat in shinya shokudo, which means a restaurant at midnight. This small restaurant opens from 12 in the evening to 7 in the morning.

Chief Iizuka, who works at the Cultural Center, misunderstands two chorus groups with similar names and double-books the concert hall on New Year's Eve. (themoviedb.org)

A young boy, Atsu, grows up along the banks of the Shimanto River in rural (and backblocks) southern Shikoku. He comes to grips with the unfairness of life and the emotional pain involved in the loss of innocence.

A love story spanning 5 years between a man and a woman. A 22-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman both miss the last train at Meidaimae Station in Tokyo and meet there. Their relationship develops romantically.

Blamed by some, hailed as heroes by others, those involved with Fukushima Daiichi face a deadly, invisible threat an unprecedented nuclear disaster. (imdb)

Keiko Inagawa (Asami Kobayashi) pays a visit to neurologist Aizawa about her fiancé Tatsuo Tamura (Kaoru Kobayashi). A mysterious case involving the disappearance of Tatsuo’s three brothers, one after the other, is yet to be resolved and now Tatsuo, seized with the idea that he too may disappear, has had a nervous breakdown. Aizawa suggests that Tatsuo recounts his dreams as a means of solving the mystery since human beings have an instinct that foretells the near future in the form of a dream…

After learning the boss's daughter is a shape shifting pig, an Okinawa sugar cane worker aided by a forest spirit becomes a Robin Hood type getting arms for guerillas against both the US and the Japanese.

A special drama starring Masahiro Nakai of SMAP, which was aired on Fuji TV six times from 1996 to 2005. The original is a comic of the same name by Yuji Aoki. The script was written by Ryoichi Kimizuka of "Bayside Shakedown", and it is a comical and fast-paced work. Tatsuyuki Haibara, a young man who joined Naniwa's financial company, Imperial Finance, is "the best financial company in Osaka" while witnessing the sadness, thickness, and warmth of human beings who are at the mercy of money.

Set in the Heian period, Seimei Abe is a young student at Onmyoryo. The school raises students to become an onmyoji, who protect the city from curses and evil spirits. Seimei is well known as a genius in the field of magic. One day, he is asked by Noble Hiromasa Minamoto to solve a strange phenomenon that hits royal family member Yoshiko. Seimei and Hiromasa work together to unravel the strange phenomenon. (imdb)

Lord Oda Nobunaga plans to control Japan where rival warlords battle by waging war against several clans. His vassal Araki Murashige stages a rebellion and promptly disappears (imdb)

Aoki Miyako, a young woman from Hirosaki, helps her father in his Tsugaru lacquer-ware workshop. The industry is in decline, but Miyako is determined to revive it. (imdb)