Ryôko Hirosue

Hubert (Jean Reno) is a French policeman with very sharp methods. After being forced to take 2 months off by his boss, who doesn't share his view on working methods, he goes back to Japan, where he used to work 19 years ago, to settle the probate of his girlfriend who left him shortly after marriage without a trace. There he mets his former colleague Momo (Michel Muller) and his daughter Yumi (Ryoko Hirosue) who he did not know was ever born. Hubert eventually finds out why his girlfriend left him and the reason becomes his and his new daughters problem. (imdb)

When two best friends develop a crush on the same boy, they develop a plan to trick him into dating them. (imdb)

A railway stationmaster at a dying end-of-the-line village in Hokkaido is haunted by memories of his dead wife and daughter. When the railroad line is scheduled to be closed, he is offered a job at a hotel, but he is emotionally unable to part with his career as a railroader. His life takes a turn when he meets a young woman with an interest in trains who resembles his daughter.

Inventor Mariko Tanaka who works for Hitachi appliances accidentally re-engineers a washing machine for time travel, the Japanese government then convinces her to go back in time to prevent the collapse of the Japanese economy. However, when contact is lost after she goes back in time, the government then sends Isao Shimokawaji, who works for the Finance Ministry's Emergency Response Bureau to convince Mariko's estranged daughter Mayumi, to go back in time to investigate. (wikipedia.org)

A failed cellist connects with his inner undertaker and his rural hometown in this tonally eccentric, lushly scored, movingly funny drama. Crushed at the breakup of his Tokyo orchestra, Daigo retreats to his picturesque northern Japan hometown, with adoring wife Mika in tow, to find his true calling. (psfilmfest.org)

A collection of short films, each by a different Japanese director.

Warlord Toyotumi Hideyoshi rises to power in the late 16th century after the assassination of his lord Oda Nobunaga. In these chaotic times, chivalrous bandit Goemon rises as a hero among commoners, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. In one of his many escapades, he steals a box from a merchant, and passes it off to a street urchin. But this turns out to be no ordinary box as warlord Toyotomi's right-hand man Ishida soon sends ninja and childhood friend Saizo after Goemon. (www.yesasia.com)

This enticing period melodrama depicts a long-suffering woman's relationship with her brilliant but self-destructive writer husband in postwar Tokyo. Based on a semi-autobiographical 1947 novel by Osamu Dazai, the story centers less on the womanizing, heavy-drinking, suicidal hero than on the wife who loves him. (imdb)

Japan's master of screwball comedy Kenji Uchida returns with this cynical and hilarious tale about a failed actor who switches identities with a stranger at a bath house -- only to find himself filling the shoes of an elite assassin. (tiff.net)

A story of six women from three different generations, each living their own journeys in their respective periods, spanning decades of dramatic changes in Japan from the 1930s to the present.

Down-on-his-luck photographer Makoto (Ryuhei Matsuda) receives a letter from his old girlfriend, who, according to a friend, died a year ago in NYC. Eager to find out the truth, he sets out on a journey of self-discovery and reminisces about the time he spent with the lovely Shizuru (Ryoko Hirosue). (imdb)

Sena is a college graduate who dreams of becoming a world class pianist. He teaches piano at a local piano school. Minami is an out of work model. On her wedding day, she gets dumped by her fiance and loses all of her savings, which she gave to her fiance. Her fiance turns out to be Senna's former roommate. She rushes to Sena's apartment and finds out that her fiance has skipped town. With no money and no where to go, she moves in with Sena. Sena likes Ryoko, a college sophomore. (mydramalist.com)

Happy go lucky Hiromi gets kicked out of a Tokyo flat by his girlfriend, & heads for the seaside. Also near an out of the way beachside B&B and town is Kaito, a high flyer young businessman questioning his elite business way of life after a setback with a major client. The two fall together after the straight Kaito is intrigued by glimpses of Hiromi and his neverending struggle with his quirky tiny Renault. The two start work at a B&B run by aging surfer Masaru and his granddaughter Makoto. (imdb)

Tamako was once called a table tennis prodigy by her overbearing mother. Now a 28-year-old office worker, Tamako is dating her company's star table tennis player Ejima. Once she finds Ejima cheating on her with his table tennis doubles partner however, Tamako quits her company and returns to her hometown, joining the local table tennis club with a plan to beat her ex-boyfriend in mixed doubles.

Just when about to commit suicide after being deserted by his bride-to-be during the wedding, a man meets a university professor who is also at the point of killing himself. A woman nearby intervenes, one thing leads to another, and the three lost souls move in together. Each episode is a distinct story about the sometimes painful, sometimes warm romances between them and the people they meet while sharing an apartment. (imdb)

Sosuke Tashiro is on an elite career course at a major bank until he is transferred - or rather relegated - to a subsidiary company, where he reaches retirement age. (imdb)

***Kyouko-san (Miss Kyouko) ***Buchou OL (Manager-OL) [office lady] ***Kinou Kouen (Yesterday at the park) ***Neko ga Ongaeshi (Cat Repays a Favor) ***Kazoku Kaigi (Family Meeting)

After slipping in a bathhouse, Conan appears to have lost his memory. Worse yet, it looks like he will be used in a hit job.

A young student believes that the spirit of an alien from another planet has gone back in time and taken over his body to infiltrate and study humanity, to find the reasons why our civilization is doomed to future destruction. He replicates the spirit of another alien in a girl that he meets, and together they use their video cameras to document modern urban Japanese society. (imdb)

Detective Yuji Kudo drives his car to see his mother, who is hospitalized with a serious health condition. Yuji then accidentally hits a man with his car and that man dies. At the hospital, Yuji tries to cover up the death of the man. (imdb)