Kengo Kôra

Kenji, abandoned by his mother, scrapes out a meager existence doing odd jobs including driving bar hostesses and their customers home. Besides this he takes care of the sister of an old friend in jail and a young illegal immigrant. But his life reaches a turning point when he happens to meet Chiyoko, his long lost mother. She is now married to Mamiya, the owner of an express package delivery service. They also have a teenage son, Yusuke. (imdb)

The story follows several months in the life of Lui, a young woman who, while exploring body modification, decides to split her tongue. It follows her feelings at this time, and follows her slow spiral downwards into alcoholism. The story ends with Lui's own tragic discovery about her lover and the mysterious tattoo artist she has grown to become entranced by. (Wikipedia)

In 1975, the year before the Sex Pistols released their first album, a Japanese punk band called Gekirin recorded their single, "Fish Story" and then they broke up, never to record again. Thirty-seven years later, in 2012, their song saves the world. This is the tenth film from Yoshihiro Nakamura and we're not saying any more about it. (subwaycinema.com)

Satoko is a housewife living comfortably with her husband Hideyuki and her son Masato. One day, she receives an E-mail from a Matching Site and starts working as a prostitute. (goldview.co.jp)

Upon hearing the song "Norwegian Wood," Toru (Matsuyama) remembers back to his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend. As the two try, in very different ways, to contend with their grief, Toru forms a bond with another woman, Midori. (imdb)

Meiko Inoue is a recent college grad working as an office lady in a job she hates. Her boyfriend Naruo is permanently crashing at her apartment because his job as a freelance illustrator doesn't pay enough for rent. And her parents in the country keep sending her boxes of veggies that just rot in her fridge. Straddling the line between her years as a student and the rest of her life, Meiko struggles with the feeling that she's just not cut out to be a part of the real world. (Yellow Cinema)

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)

"Kenta to Jun to Kayo-chan no Kuni" tells the story of two men, Kenta & Jun, who grew up as almost brothers at a children's facility. Kenta & Jun now works as part of a demolition crew but become fed up with their jobs. The friends then decide to take a road trip up north to visit Kenta's brother at the Abashiri prison. (Asian Media Wiki)

Salesman Shinji (Shinichi Tsutsumi) is at the subway station on his normal daily commute when he receives words that his estranged father has been hospitalized. Shinji's strained relationship with his unscrupulous father goes back many years, and the news awakens some unhappy memories. At that moment, he sees a person resembling his brother, who passed away forty years ago, leaving the platform, and he hurriedly follows. When Shinji steps out of the station, he finds himself in 1964... (asianwiki.com)

Based on a well-known Japanese folktale. An old man makes a living by selling bamboo. One day, he finds a princess in a bamboo. The princess is only the size of a finger. Her name is Kaguya. When Kaguya grows up, 5 men from prestigious families propose to her. Kaguya asks the men to find memorable marriage gifts for her, but the 5 men are unable to find what Kaguya wants. Then, the Emperor of Japan proposes to her. (imdb)

Kanta is a 19-year-old labor worker who only went far as middle school. He's now hooked on alcohol while playing around. Kanta develops feelings for Yasuko, who works in a used bookstore, but he has never had a girlfriend or, currently, any friends. Kanta also meets Shoji who he becomes friends with. Jealousy soon threatens their friendship. (iSugoi.com)

Rookie movie director Koichi (Shun Oguri) and his crew travels to the mountain village of Yamamura to film his next movie. The villagers are eventually enlisted to help film the movie and, in particular, 60-year-old lumberjack Katsuhiko (Koji Yakusho) helps against his will. (asianwiki.com)

Two childhood friends - confident, aggressive Kabu and timid Yuki - are reunited in high school. Kabu convinces his unassuming friend to join the boxing club.

Nishimura has a passion for cooking, but never would he have imagined the task before him now: He is unexpectedly assigned to a south polar mission to serve as head chef at the Dome Fuji station. Leaving wife and daughter behind for a year, he and the other crew members experience one existential crisis after another in the icy cold. And then they run out of Ramen! (imdb)

Set in the 1980's, Yonosuke Yokomichi is a college student, with a warm heart, from the port city of Nagasaki. His girlfriend Shoko Yosano is the daughter of a company president. (asianwiki.com)

In the fictional Tokyo suburb of Mahoro, Keisuke Tada works as a "benriya" - a general problem solver for hire. One day in January, former classmate Haruhiko Gyoten appears unannounced. Back in their schooldays Haruhiko was a quiet person who rarely talked but now he is talkative. Both men are over 30 years old and divorced. Haruhiko suddenly asks to spend the night at Keisuke's home. He turns down Haruhiko, but Haruhiko is persistant and finally Keisuke allows him to sleep over for one night. (Asian Wiki)

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)

Set in 1814, Miss Hokusai focuses on O-Ei, the daughter of famed artist Tetsuzo, better known by his pen name Hokusai, as she tries to navigate the various aspects of her life. O-Ei spends the bulk of her time assisting her divorced father who cares about his art and not much else. (Jake Duke)

It's a peaceful day in Japan when a strange fountain of water erupts in the bay, causing panic to spread among government officials. At first, they suspect only volcanic activity, but one young executive dares to wonder if it may be something different - something alive. His worst nightmare comes to life when a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and begins tearing through the city, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. (wikipedia)

Starts with a death in a locked room scenario. One of the investigating detectives cannot forget the case (or it follows him) for years. Have deliberately left this as vague to withhold the plot.

A family of small-time crooks take in a child they find on the street. (imdb)

Miyuki (Kumi Takiuchi) works at the Fukushima City Hall. She lost her mother to 2011 tsunami and now lives with her father (Ken Mitsuishi) at a temporary house. On the weekends, Miyuki travels to Shibuya, Tokyo by express bus and works there as a prostitute. (AsianWiki.com)

Based on the life of Osamu Dazai, one of Japan's most celebrated novelists. (letterboxd)

Naoto was ignored by other people. During his school days, Chihiro was the first person who called his name. Naoto dreams of seeing her again and tries to find her. Finally, after 11 years, he locates her, but she is a totally different person now. Naoto becomes obsessed with her. Naoto sneaks into her house and stays under her bed. (imdb)

A girl finds an old handgun in her attic and the symbolic object conjures a mystical scene of samurai gathering within the moss-grown location of Kasosan Shrine in Tochigi Prefecture.

Set in early 20th Century Japan, the movie follows the adventures of a young man who wants to get into the movie business -- but in a job unique to his country: a dramatic narrator for silent movies known as "Katsubenshi" or just "benshi". Comedy and action ensue as he becomes entangled with competing movie theaters where the crowds are drawn mostly by the skills of the dramatic interpreters rather than the movies themselves.—Scott G.G. Haller

Based on novelist Muro Saisei's 1959 book, Bitter Honey narrates the story of a poet who informed by his physician of his impending death finds renewed flights of fantasy. He is visited by a thin and attractive girl in red who becomes a catalyst for romance. The girl has to vie with competition for the artist's attention, however, as other women work in the wings.