Kiichi Nakai

In the tradition of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, Warriors of Heaven and Earth weaves a thread of battle, comradeship and honor. Set in the ferocious Gobi desert, the story follows two first-class warriors and master swordsmen. (Sony Pictures Classics)

A Japanese father travels to China's Yunnan province in the place of his ailing son to film a famous folk-opera star. (imdb)

Oishi Kuranosuke, a chamberlain of the Ako-Asano Clan loses his master to Seppuku. The Asano Lord was forced to commit suicide because of his provoked attack on Lord Kira during the reception for the envoys. In the aftermath, Oishi disbands the clan publicly and at the same time recruits a crew of 47 samurai. They patiently prepare their plans for a year and a half and then storm the fortress of Lord Kira in a mission that-succeed or fail- will ultimately end in their deaths. (asianwiki)

Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them. In his search he joins a notorious clan, known as the Shinsengumi where he does as much as possible to get money... (imdb)

Masahiko Makino's willfully offensive comedy Nezu No Ban concerns a beloved comedian..who from his deathbed asks to see the private parts of a woman. The people he has worked with for years attempt to make that dream a reality, but their success has unintended consequences. Based on a traditional Japanese theatrical style that utilizes exceedingly vulgar language, the film continues onto a series of funerals as the various people who worked with the old man die themselves. (allmovie.com)

As the great military commander Nobunaga Oda was consolidating his power across Japan, one of his actions was to wipe out a clan of assassins, killing every man, woman and child he found in the village. Years later, one of the survivors has hired a young but skilled assassin to avenge the deaths of his friends and family. His mission: to sneak into the most heavily guarded castle in Japan, and kill the supreme ruler of the country. (imdb)

Renko, a girl in the sixth grade, is at first unperturbed by her parents' decision to separate. With the companionship of her boyfriend, Minoru, and Sally, a classmate in the same boat, Renko gradually realises the practical implications of divorce, and tries repeatedly to get her parents to reconcile. (imdb)

Based on a centuries-old traditional Japanese fairy tale, a country couple finds a baby girl in some bamboo and raises her as their own daughter. Not the same as the original tale, though, in which the girl was a fairy from the moon and was finally taken home. Instead, the film ends with the girl taken home by a spaceship. (imdb)

Ichikawa remake of his 1956 classic.

A young lawyer is tasked with defending a client from a murder charge and has to rely on the testimony of a 500-year-old ghost.

To combat rising crime and terrorist activities in Japan, the Japanese National Police Agency authorizes the formation of a secret motorcycle unit known as the Wild 7. The motley group consists of reformed convicts - ranging from simple thugs to former Yakuza members. The Wild 7 are tasked to take out criminals the police cannot touch - due to the criminal's connections with politicians and wily lawyers. (asianwiki.com)

Hajime Tsutsui (Kiichi Nakai) worked for the electric company and recently received a promotion. Due to his mother's illness and the death of a close friend Hajime decides to return to his hometown of Izumo, Shimane to work as a rail car driver. (asian wiki)

The environment and the movie stars at a Japanese film studio in the early '30s are recreated in this drama. Director Ogata (Ittoku Kishibe) discovers a new female star quite by accident. Koharu Tanaka (Narimi Arimori) works selling candy at a studio theater when she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. (answers.com)

Based on a novel by Fumiko Enji, "Shokutaku no nai ie" chronicles the hardships faced by the various members of a family due to a crime committed by the eldest son. (movie.goo.ne.jp (translated))

When his travels bring him to Western Japan, Tora-san decides to pay his respects to the late Hyoichiro Suwa, his sister's father-in-law. He gets drunk with the priest at the temple, falling in love with the priest's daughter in the process. When the priest is too hung-over to deliver a eulogy the next morning, Tora-san takes his place, with great success. Tora-san's sister and his brother-in-law's family show up for Hyoichiro Suwa's memorial service, and an argument breaks out over his estate.

A group of demons in the ancient Japanese capital of Heian is dismembering members of a family of Japanese nobles. (imdb)

A World War II pilot (Ken Takakura) reflects on the friendships he forged in the past. (google)

A biological weapon is smuggled aboard a high tech battleship named Aegis. Militants are determined to unleash it on Japan. But a brave Chief Petty Officer has other ideas. He and an undercover agent attempt to stop them. (imdb)

Based on the famous biography written by Yoshikawa Eiji, this year's drama boasts a list of stars that reads like a Who's Who of screen and television. Among them: Fujita Makoto, Emori Toru, Nakamura Kankuro, Nakamura Tamao, Miyazawa Rie, Watase Tsunehiko, Takashima Masanobu, Tsutsumi Shin'ichi, and Katase Rino. The younger generation is well represented too, with stars like Matsuoka Masahiro, Yonekura Ryoko, Nakama Yukie, Uchiyama Rina, and Masuda Takahisa. (mydramalist.com)

A middle-aged salaryman with a typical family, living quietly in a provincial city (Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture), wakes up one morning in the summer of 1994 to find himself the prime suspect in the biggest mass-murder case of the decade. (KG)

When an amnesiac woman walks into the household of a young samurai no one knows what to make of the mysterious newcomer. However, with her serene beauty and hard working etiquette both the master of the house, who is engaged, and the servants soon come to admire the woman whom they have named Fusa. This changes everything. Still, Fusa and her new friends and family know nothing about her circumstance prior to her arrival.

Keisuke Kuroda wakes up in a hospital bed unable to remember who he is. While sneaking out of the hospital, he sees a glimpse of the news and realizes that he is the Prime Minister of Japan. His approval rating was the lowest in the history of modern Japan. During a recent speech, a citizen had thrown a rock at him causing him to lose his memory. Keisuke Kuroda's subordinate takes him to the official residence of the prime minister where he tries to implement changes to the country.

Rica and Kengo have been living together for the past four years. It's been a very happy time for Rica; the only dark spot being an accident she caused during a shoot for a commercial in which Kengo's good friend, Shibata, nearly lost his life. The memory of this event weighs heavily on Rica's conscience. One night Kengo tells Rica that he has fallen in love with a charming but "inscrutable" woman named Hanako. Kengo moves out of their apartment and, although Rica is terribly hurt and confused,

Yuu Kamiya is an up-and-coming talent in Japanese show business. She is killed in a traffic accident. On the way to heaven, she gets a chance to transiently restore her body (to which mirrors and photos are insensitive) and comes back to this world. She starts new life as an average girl. (imdb)

In the present day, the local government of Katori City is in the process of sponsoring a taiga drama about its famous historical figure Tadataka Ino, who is known for being the first person to make a map of Japan in 1821. During the process of of making the drama series, a surprising fact is discovered about the first map. That fact is that Tadataka Ino was not the person who made the first Japanese map.

After 10 years of marriage, a couple finds itself walking on a small path in the mountains. Allowing them to discover one another.

A drama set in the world of Formula 2 motor racing in Japan adapted from Yasuhisa Ebisawa's novel.