Makiko Watanabe

A caregiver at a small retirement home takes one of her patients for drive to the country, but the two wind up stranded in a forest where they embark on an exhausting and enlightening two-day journey. (imdb)

Forced to confess his sins by his priest father, Yu devotes himself to wrongdoing and becomes a legend of sneak photography. Then he meets Yoko, and becomes involved with a mysterious religious cult... (filmex.net)

A kind-hearted psychic takes it upon herself to help a girl struggling with Multiple Personality Disorder.

An up-and-coming Japanese pop idol, at the encouragement of her manager, decides to record a song last written and performed by her long dead friend. But she also has a stalker who knows secrets about that song - and herself - who will do anything to keep her from using it.

Director Kazuo Hara tells the tale of the eponymous Chika and four different relationships she has during the turbulent political climate of the 1970s. Four different actresses play the role of Chika in order to emphasise the different ways she is perceived by her husband, a teacher, a student and an aging gangster. (imdb)

At fifteen, Sumida (Shôta Sometani) is left alone to manage the family's languishing boat-rental business and fend off his drunk and penniless father's bouts of violence. Sumida sees his simple dream for an ordinary future rapidly evapo­rating before his eyes. Sharing similarly humble but fading dreams is his classmate Keiko Chazawa (Fumi Nikaidou), who also happens to have a major crush on him, even though Sumida seems deeply annoyed by her presence. (MUBI)

Tetsuro is living with his young girlfriend Aki in a pleasant house in Tokyo. They both spend a lot of time at their jobs. However their routine is upset when Tetsuro brings his 8 year old son Shun to live with them, while his ex-wife recovers from a car accident. (imdb)

The latest pump-up of the blow-up doll subgenre (Lars and the Real Girl, Air Doll) comes as a bit of a discreet boom. The directing debut of Hirokazu Kore-eda's D.P., Yutaka Yamazaki, Torso, as the title helpfully suggests, features... a torso: a headless plastic trunk - complete with male member - that provides a measure of comfort and pleasure, soothing the urban solitude of an otherwise normal-looking (if a little easy on the eyes) woman in Tokyo. (JapanSociety.org)

Kei (Nishijima) is a struggling actor, freeloading off Yu (Eri Yu) which makes him impulsive and insecure resulting in unpredictable behavior, fits of anger, and a proposal of marriage. Yu works in a boutique as a shop assistant and seems to be playing the archetype of the abused and unappreciated Japanese woman who tackles her fate with a Zen determinism. (imdb)

A beautiful police officer is trapped at the scene of an S&M crime. Caught between the sadist and his beguiling victim, she must use her wits and her gun to escape a den of evil! (Amazon)

Coincidence and the aftermath of violence. A man's middle-school daughter has been murdered. His wife is already deceased. He tells a counselor he wants to live in anonymity, working with his hands. He moves away and gets a job in a factory. The woman who is the mother of the killer wants to apologize to the father, although she knows it would change nothing. (Written by (imdb)

On the subtropical Japanese island of Amami, traditions about nature remain eternal. During the full-moon night of traditional dances in August, 16-year-old Kaito discovers a dead body floating in the sea. His girlfriend Kyoko will attempt to help him understand this mysterious discovery. Together, Kaito and Kyoko will learn to become adults by experiencing the interwoven cycles of life, death and love. (imdb)

A timid young woman who lives with her domineering mother accepts an Adult Video scout's offer to "become somebody else" by performing in porn videos. As she rises in popularity, the boundaries between her two lives begin to disintegrate. (imdb)

Saeko and Yukako live next door in a small Tokyo apartment complex. After the March 11th earthquake, Saeko and Yukako both feel heavy unease. Saeko, whose husband has asked for a divorce, worries whether her daughter may get exposed to radiation. Yukako is also frightened of the radiation and insists to her husband that they must move. (asainwiki.com)

Hisashi Tanaka is a medical student in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. He does volunteer work and gets to know Yasuaki Kano at the hospital. Yasuaki has suffered from muscular dystrophy since he was 12 years old. Yasuaki has his eccentric ways like running out of the hospital and saying that he wants to eat a banana late at night. Hisashi thinks Yasuaki is a lovely person. Yasuaki develops a crush on rookie volunteer Misaki Ando... (imdb)

This is the story of three Japanese women in the glamourous world of adult film. There is Miho who is a house wife in her thirties and needs to do something new with herself. There is Ayako the teenage high school girl who still relies on her mother. There is Ayano who has moved to the big city of Tokyo.

Yuma is a grown woman now with the obligations and duties that come with it. Nevermind that she went 37 seconds without breathing upon birth, which resulted in her developing and living with cerebral palsy. She is disabled. She is striving to perform under duress while juggling an aspiration to become a manga artist. With the world using her, the reality that comes with her disability, she embarks on a sexual exploration in order to understand the subject matter demanded of her by an employer.

An isolated Japanese teenager seeks consolation from his problems and worries by repairing a found boat. (imdb)

Haru who has relocated to Hiroshima in southern Japan comes across a rogue telephone booth in the middle of nowhere when she returns to Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. The unconnected telephone in a white booth is driven by superstition that it is a direct line to the dead. She and several locals converse and they share their stories and the different states of belief regarding the booth that is prevalent. (imdb)

A filmmaker is constantly on the move after recently ending a relationship. As she travels alone between Beijing, Nanjing, Hong Kong and Japan, she observes and engages with her ever-changing environs while seeking an inner calm. (imdb)

An omnibus drama based on Ryo Asai's short stories, which won the 22nd Novel Subaru Rookie Award for "Kirishima, Stop Club Activities" and the 148th Naoki 35 Award for "Nanimono". Ep. 1 ("Share House Nai") Ep. 2 ("Riaju Saiban") Ep. 3 ("Tate! Kinjiro") Ep. 4 ("13.5 Moji Shika Juchu Shite Yomena") Ep. 5 ("Wakiyaku Battle Royale") A total of 6 men and women, including Jun, take part in an audition held by a famous director.

This time the five bizarre tales are the work compilation of famous manga artists including Oda Eiichiro. In the story "Gomu Gomu no Otoko", Monkey D. Luffy makes a special appearance. 1) Omote 2) Jishibarimono 3) Gomu Gomu no Otoko 4) Mushitachi no Ie 5) Jibun o Shinjita Otoko

Another psychodrama, this time revolving around an SM club.

Atomu (Shuhei Nomura) was raised by his mother in a poor environment. He is now a young adult, but he stutters and has a timid personality. To support himself, Atomu works part-time for a used junk collecting company. Atomu finds inspiration in rap music and his life changes.

Sanae is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her mother and six-year-old sister. She has not recently been able to be open with her fisherman grandfather. Sanae is awoken by the sound of hard rain one night. As she dozes, the rain changes into the flow of the river, and she finds herself lying in a fishing boat when she opens her eyes. She hears, from far away, the strains of a harmonica which her grandpa loves...

Near-future Tokyo, the threat of a catastrophic quake looms. Two friends prank their principal before graduation, leading to school surveillance installation.