Kirin Kiki

An assassin fends off numerous attacks from her comrades, who are trying to move up in rank by killing off the competition.

The year is 2084 and the human race is fighting an alien militia to save the last remnant of civilization. A young heroine name Milly (Suzuki) escapes the war and jumps back in time to present-day Japan in an attempt to change history and prevent the demise of her people. (Destination Films)

...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)

Lazy and selfish Taro loves to eat and sleep and wrestle with the animals. With no direction in his life, a wizard appears that gives him a special potion. With this potion, he gains the strength of a hundred men - but he can only use it when he is helping others. (animenewsnetwork.com/)

A yearly reunion of a dysfunctional family.

In the words of Toru, Yui is a wrestling freak, Tetsuo is a studying freak and Akira is just plain freak. After a performance by popular indies group Workaholic, Toru and his group of friends set out to start their own hip-hop group to score chicks. Toru also falls in love with Nagisa, a beautiful girl he saw swim in an aquarium. (http://omgasians.wordpress.com/2007/08/05/check-it-out-yo-chekeraccho/)

Edogawa Rampo is a writer whose latest work is censored by the government, deemed too disturbing and injurious to the public to be allowed to be published. However, after burning his drafts, his publisher shows him a newspaper with an account of events just like his forbidden story. As the film progresses, fantasy and reality intermingle in a tale that draws heavily on influences from Poe and Stoker's Dracula. (imdb)

Former police officer Kaji killed his wife with Alzheimer disease and reported himself to the police, but he never tells the truth about where he spent two days between those incidents. Those around him, originally starting with their own agenda, eventually become sympathetic to him and the truth eventually is revealed. (hogacentral.com)

14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty. (imdb)

Three thieves approaching their twilight years team up with a reckless punk who screws them out of their winnings. Casualties result, but there are still enough men standing to exact bloody revenge. (imdb)

Twelve-year-old Koichi, who has been separated from his brother Ryunosuke due to his parents' divorce, hears a rumor that the new bullet trains will precipitate a wish-granting miracle when they pass each other at top speed.

"Chronicles Of My Mother" recounts the relationship of an author (Koji Yakusho) and his elderly parents. The author has a strained relationship with his father and his mother's (Kirin Kiki) memory grows weaker by the day. A reconciliation is attempted by the son. (asianwiki.com)

Lake of Tears (湖の琴 Mizuumi no Kin?) is a 1966 Japanese film directed by Tomotaka Tasaka. It was Japan's submission to the 39th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee. (en.wikipedia.org)

Teenage cousins Masao and Tamiko fall in love when she comes to his riverside brewery house to take care of his sickly mother. On the day of the Autumn Festival, while picking cotton in a mountain field, they accidentally embrace, affirm their love, and liken each other allegorically to flowers. Family objections ensue as Tamiko is older than Masao, and the two cannot marry in peace.

Negishi's new film "Sidecar ni Inu (Dog in a Sidecar)" -- a drama about the odd summertime friendship between a timid girl and her father's free-spirited lover, would seem to be a complete change of pace. The tone is lighter and gentler, with the story verging at times on manga-esque fantasy (though it is based on an Akutagawa Prize-winning novel by Yu Nagashima). (japan Times)

Set in 1937, this is the story of Asakichi, who is played by Shiuntaro Katsu, best known as being Zatoichi in 26 films. Asakichi has been disowned by his father for gambling, so he heads off to make his living in cockfighting. He, in quick order, wins some money, takes up with a fallen geisha and quickly comes in conflict with the yakuza. Besting their top man, Asakichi, is drawn into the life of a yakuza despite his efforts to remain outside of it. (imdb)

Tora-san discovers that his family is arranging a marriage for him. He leaves to the countryside where he falls in love with the manager of an inn. Unaware that she is involved with another man, Tora-san confesses his love on a New Year's television program.

High school student Ayumi is trained by his grandmother to act as a "tsunagu," an intermediary for people who want to reach the dead. Based on the novel "Tsunagu" by Mizuki Tsujimura. (PTP)

A story that revolves around three sisters who live in their grandmother's home and the arrival of their 13-year-old half sister. (imdb)

The "manager" of a pancake stall finds himself confronted with an odd but sympathetic elderly lady looking for work. A taste of her home-made bean jelly convinces him, starting a relationship that is about much more than just street food. (imdb)

Kosuke Kindaichi is a popular detective found in Seishi Yokomizo's novels, and this is one of several movies that have been made based on his character. Yokomizo's plots have more twists and turns than Japanese calligraphy and loudly invite parody. This film is not an RSVP to that invitation. Director Nobuhiko Obayashi has not parodied Yokomizo's style so much as imitated it. (nytimes.com)

During the Edo period, women seeking divorce or fleeing abusive husbands ran to the Tokei-ji Temple in Kamakura. Nobujiro, a young doctor and author, and his aunt Genbei, mistress of the official inn of the temple, try to help the various suffering "kakekomi" women. Based on the novel by Hisashi Inoue. (jffsf.org)

Dwelling on his past glory as a prize-winning author, Ryota wastes the money he makes as a private detective on gambling and can barely pay child support. After the death of his father, his aging mother and beautiful ex-wife seem to be moving on with their lives. Renewing contact with his initially distrusting family, Ryota struggles to take back control of his existence and to find a lasting place in the life of his young son until a stormy summer night offers them a chance to truly bond again. (imdb)

Kitano plays Kim Hui Ro, a real life Korean immigrant, who after shooting a gangster who threatened his life, took refuge at a hotel and took the guest hostages. Realizing his position, he invited the press inside and explained why he was driven to his crime, before letting himself being arrested. (The Movie Database)

Two bodies are found on the beach. One was Sayama, a government official in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who was a suspect in an ongoing bribery case and the other was Otoki, a waitress at a Tokyo ryotei restaurant. The Hakata Police determine the two had succeeded in a double suicide but Detective Torikai who's nearing retirement isn't convinced. Detective Mihara who had been investigating earlier arrives in Fukuoka. (dramawiki)

The beautiful Yumechiyo returns home with the crushing news that her atom-bomb-induced illness is leukemia. With less than 6 months to live she falls in love with a young man. (imdb)

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

Noriko is a university student. By her mother's recommendation, Noriko begins attending a Japanese tea ceremony near her house with her cousin Michiko. There, Noriko learns from Teacher Takeda. Noriko now has the Japanese tea ceremony in her life and it's there for her during moments when she is sad or happy. (imdb)

A man meets a girl in the city. He falls in love with the chick. She claims she has fallen head over heels for him. She moves in with him. Returning home one day there is a man in their room. The man is lying down. He tells them he is an insurance salesman and he has stomachache. He has made himself at home. The three become room-mates. (imdb)

Umiemon is a naniwa-bushi singer who travels with his wife to the United States in hopes of achieving fame and fortune. (imdb)

A man stricken by grief at the death of his parents returns to the family home, in an attempt to face down his demons. (imdb)

Comedy about a young man who causes pandemonium by raiding a bar patronized by his father, winning the favors of a hostess, and ends up feeling the breasts and hips of all the girls in his father's office.

Yu Miri is a writer who's just become pregnant by her married lover. When she decides to keep the baby without his help, her ex-boyfriend Yutaka, decides to help raise him.

A martial arts master/detective investigates a series of murders and helps a deaf bathhouse attendant, Hisako.

Featuring journalist Shiro Yamaoka who works for Touzai Shimbun. He is a cynical food critic who is tasked by the newspaper's owner, along with the young Yuko Kurita, to provide recipes for the "ultimate menu". Based on the comic by Tatsu Kariya.

8th film in a series of 8.