Masashi Yamamoto

Ryou, who has just settled into her apartment, becomes intrigued when the room next door reveals a female voice. The phone rings...the shower runs...then gasping... From what is exposed from the thin walls, "Neighbor Girl" reveals an unparalleled lifestyle to those who haven't watched it. Ryou, who is prone to sickness, assumes that her neighbor is in the midst of a rendezvous with her lover. However, her neighbor Satsuki becomes increasingly worried with the daily phone threats she receives. (AsianMediaWiki)

Punk rocker Kumi Ota (Kumiko Ota) leaves her son with her ex-husband and embarks on a long, strange trip through the underbelly of early 1980s Tokyo in this mishmash of narrative and documentary from indie maverick Masashi Yamamoto. Featuring a cast of locals from the Japanese punk scene, Yamamoto's cult hit is shot in gritty 16 mm black-and-white. This film was an official selection at the Berlin International Film Festival. (Netflix)

Blending widescreen cinematography with digital video, Junk Food casts an unblinking but painterly eye over the darkest, most brutal fringes of contemporary Japanese society. Junk Food depicts the hitherto unseen world of aberrant sexuality and savage violence that emerges when the sun goes down and clean, orderly Tokyo exposes its sordid underbelly. (kino.com)

Three Points is somewhat of a hybrid movie. The title refers to three locals reflecting different aspects of Japanese Society: Kyoto, Okinawa and Tokyo. In Kyoto, the focus is on several Japanese rappers. Apollo has been released after serving five years, and berates his long-suffering girlfriend Jun. Shoot recently got out of jail and is met by his friend and former rap partner Jey. Snorting coke in Jey's car results in a blackmail situation, but was it all really just a set-up? Finally there (vcinemashow.com)

Minjung, a young zainichi Korean woman, draws a small but fervent following as the puppet leader of God's Water, a cult in which she is said to communicate with a water oracle in order to heal pain of the damaged and lonely. (japansociety.org)

Outside of Tokyo, a woman's exploration leads to her moving further away from the civilization she previously left behind.

In consequence of his professional mistakes and declining career, Shuji and his family, the Sasaya's, are forced to leave the wealthy suburb of Tokyo. The move is slow, long and heartbreaking, and the two Sasaya children, an old teenager and a young adult, unwittingly turn the grieving process into an exuberant and unpredictable farewell party! (Letterboxd)

A family in Hong Kong win multiple holiday prizes at the same time. We follow the oldest son on his trip to Japan, where he meets a Japanese tour guide and an eccentric thief. They accompany him back to Hong Kong, only to discover that property developers are trying to coerce his family from their home to make way for a new skyscraper. (imdb)