Ranko Hanai

Sugata, a young man, struggles to learn the nuance and meaning of judo, and in doing so comes to learn something of the meaning of life. (imdb)

The Yagyu family's elder son sends an old, cheap-looking pot to his younger brother, ignoring that the pot contains a map showing where a treasure of a million ryo has been hidden. He tries to recover it but his brother's wife has sold it to some junk dealers. The pot ends up with Yasu, a kid whose father was killed and who Tange Sazen now looks after.

A bar hostess approaching middle age has a young child to support and an ex-husband who frequently needs money. She believes in marriage but is cynical about men. She seeks a rich patron for the faltering bar she works in but must then contend with unwelcome sexual advances. Meanwhile, she must manage her active young boy. When an attractive and kind young man enters the picture, introduced by a flirty friend, she thinks she may have found her way out of Ginza bar life. However, it is not to be. (imdb)

Character study revolving around four characters: a sock salesman, his wife and their two young lodgers.

Kiyoko, along with her husband Shinji (Keiju Kobayashi), wants to open a coffee shop and so goes to Kenkichi to ask for a loan. (Slant)

Set in the Osaka theater world, the story is dominated by a self-righteous troupe leader (Roppa Furukawa) who bravely risks his popularity by selecting only plays that support the Japanese military cause, and who decides to break up the love affair between his star actor (Kazuo Hasegawa) and a shamisen player (Isuzu Yamada) in order to purify the actor's commitment to his craft. (Dan Sallitt)

A samurai vengeance drama involving Christianity. (imdb)

Based on a screenplay by Keinosuke Kinoshita, "Koibumi" explores the wounds of war, the limits of love and the need to forgive. (imdb)

FALLEN BLOSSOMS follows the inhabitants of a Kyoto geisha house as the civil war of the Meiji Restoration rages just outside their walls. Set completely inside the house, only female characters are seen on screen. AKA: FLOWERS HAVE FALLEN.

It follows the lives of the wealthy Makioka family of Osaka from the autumn of 1936 to April 1941, focusing on the family's attempts to find a husband for the third sister, Yukiko. It depicts the decline of the family's upper-middle-class, suburban lifestyle as the specter of World War II and Allied Occupation hangs over.

1930s Japanese film based upon the novel series Daibosatsu toge by Kaizan Nakazato.

After mastering swordsmanship at the dojo of Chiba Shusaku, and being unable to serve a clan due to his illness, Hirate Miki became a ronin who wound up as bodyguard to Shigezo of Sasagawa leading up to an epic battle.

One month has passed since Japan plunged into the Pacific War, but it has not yet touched the suburban life. The state of the suburbs where you can see from the train window is relaxing. It is not much different from now. Ms. Takamine, a female student, goes hiking with some of her colleagues in the suburbs.

During the Shogunate, the government in Edo pursued a policy of curbing the powerful feudal lords. One technique was to require them to maintain a home in Edo and house their wives and children there. This kept them in the capital much of the time, and left hostages when they were absent. Denjirô Ôkôchi is one such lord; while he is gone, local power is wielded by..... call him a majordomo.

It's the waterfront in Osaka, ten years after the Meiji Restoration. Some people have made fortunes in new technologies like petroleum and steam boats. Now, however, some people are losing fortunes. The individuals will survive, but will they lead decent lives, or will they go the way of the samurai, who were trying their last rebellion against the Tokyo government at this time?

The Shogun has returned rule of Japan to the Emperor. The head of the Tokugawas is now a prince - the title would be abolished in 1946 - and their annual income cut from millions to just 700,000 ryo a year. This means they have to let most of their samurai go. They established an office to help them and their dependents start new lives in America, but the wars with the other daimyos is not ended, and so they started a military school in Numazu.

Two boys lose their fathers in a plane crash. Yukichi was the son of the pilot, Takashi the son of the engineer/co-pilot. After clashing, the two become friends, and Yukichi's mother takes in the orphaned Takashi, leading the two to grow up as brothers. Years later in 1942, the two are now grown men, with Yukichi a decorated ace fighter pilot in the midst of WWII, and Takashi a pilot in the private sector testing out new fighter planes.