Satoshi Tsumabuki

A heartbreakingly stark film, Dragon Head is a brilliant look at the end of the world, or rather, the end of the known world. (Jackass Critics)

Tomie has returned! An art student disappears after murdering his model, Tomie. Now his friends are being haunted by a resurrected Tomie. And every time she shows up, strange things begin to happen! (Amazon.com)

A boy named Ken, who want's to organize a film- and music festival to impress the prettiest girl in school. (imdb comments)

A female warrior (Shibasaki) who was raised as a man joins a young samurai's quest to recover his body parts from demons and restore his dad's natural form. (imdb)

Sabu is a simple, straight-forward friendship/love story with few surprises, very unlike Miike's more popular movies...What makes this movie better than just an average movie of the week is the direction. The opening 10 minutes are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The movie itself is worth seeing at least once, but the directing gives it replay value several times over. (imdb)

In a Japanese school, 5 adolescent geeks join the new sport teacher and take up the challenge to take part in the competition, in spite of the mockeries of the "real sportsmen". (imdb)

I opened my eyes to find myself in a locked room of a hospital. Can I get out?-- Get ready for a humorous yet suspenseful new roller coaster you won't be able to keep your eyes off of. (sensasian.com)

Yuko is 35 years old, single, out of work, and on medication from her psychiatrist to combat her manic depression. Living in Kamata Town, Yuko divides her time between a variety of men friends, each with his own peculiarities. (imdb)

The story of Tsuneo, a college student who meets a young girl named Josee with Cerebral Palsy. Despite their differences, the two develop a close relationship. But will the gap between them prove to be too wide to bridge (asiacue.com)

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

A young boy makes a promise to his dying mother to look after his abandoned step-sister at all costs. But the love between them grows so strong and profound, it threatens to tear them apart... (YesAsia)

A rookie primary school teacher suggests his students that they raise a pig and eat it as a way to teach the real connection between life and food..The students name their piglet P-Chan and learn to overcome the problems they face when taking care of it. After a year of love and devotion showered on P-Chan, it has grown big. The deadline of the project is drawing near. They have to decide the fate of P-Chan. Will they follow the initial objective of this project or... (moviexclusive.com)

Hyeong-gu (Jung-woo Ha), a young Korean, visits Japan by boat three or four times a month to help with middle-aged Bo-gyung's smuggling business. It is always Tooru (Satoshi Tsumabuki), a young Japanese man, who welcomes him there. Hyung-gu and Touru sacrifice themselves for the sake of their families, money, and friendship. One day, Bo-gyung orders them to kidnap a woman named Ji-su (Su-yeon Cha) and take her to Japan, and this changes their future in an unexpected way. (AsianMediaWiki)

A young gangster caught having an affair with the wife of his boss tries to atone by promising to recruit a notorious and feared hitman. Unfortunately he doesn't know the hitman and is forced to hire an actor to play the role instead, convincing the actor that the job is for an an actual feature film shoot rather than a dangerous underworld contract.

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)

Drama about the exploitation and abuse of children in Thai prostitution rings.

An aimless young laborer has trouble getting his life together and spends his time seducing women over the internet, but when one ends up dead suspicions abound.

A little girl named Paco (Ayaka Wilson) has a memory that only lasts one day to due a brain injury caused by a car accident which killed both her parents. While in the hospital she meets a selfish old man named Onuki (Koji Yakusho). He's mean at first, but when he learns more about her he decides to something special for her involving her picture book. (nipponcinema.com)

Stuck with a wrongly accrued yakuza debt, failed actor Kinuta (Satoshi Tsumabuki) gets a loan from a mysterious goth-Lolita banker, but in order to repay it he must work with silent tough guy Joe (Masatoshi Nagase) and his leprechaun-like sidekick, transporting sensitive items in the dead of night for shady clients with lots of yen. (Mubi.com)

A high school musical in which a delinquent named Makoto comes to Tokyo to fulfill a vow to avenge his past. Ai is the only daughter of a prominent and distinguished Tokyo family. Under normal circumstances, people from such vastly different backgrounds would never have met, but fate had different plans and the pair wind up falling in love. (imdb)

You could think of My Back Page as a (very different) companion piece to United Red Army. It's based on a reputedly autobiographical novel by Kawamoto Saburo about his days as a rookie journalist from 1969 to 1972 and specifically about his closeness to a highly charismatic radical activist who preaches violent revolution. (Tony Rayns, Vancouver Film Festival site)

Freakish events jolt Midori from the life of an ordinary schoolgirl. Mysterious soldiers appear to terrorize her, declaring her a dangerous mental patient. Her own family seems to agree. Her best friend claims to be perfectly sane, but from another dimension. Is Midori losing her mind? Or is she a Dimension Traveler, with powers that could blow the universe apart? (Amazon)

Unlike the usual GTO storylines, the film takes place as far away from the big city as possible. The setting is the rural town of Horobonai, which is located on Japan's northern-most island of Hokkaido. The local high school has a trouble class, which is mostly due to the presence of Ayano Katsuragi (Rena Tanaka), the local ice princess, whose dad ran a theme park called "Canada Land." (asianwiki.com)

Seven friends gather at a party in Kyoto to celebrate Masamichi's entry to graduate school. Maki & her boyfriend Nakazawa join the party and get drunk easily after the friendship reunion. Kate has a crush on one of the cute guy who doesn't have any interests on her though. The cheerful and unforgettable night is full of joy while the whales & the thief incidents also attract the attention of them. Before the sunrise, seven friends meet again on the beach so as to witness the fade of youth days. (imdb)

An elderly couple who have lived in a remote village for many years already, bring a visit to their three grown children in the big city of Tokyo. (imdb)

A drama set during World War II where a submarine carrying a secret weapon attempts to stop a planned third atomic bombing of Japan. Based on Harutoshi Fukui's novel Shuusen no Lorelei. (imdb)

Early 20th century Japan. Kiyoaki Matsugae, a young aristocrat falls in love with a girl he grew up with; Satoko Ayakura, who is to be married to a prince of the royal family.

A woman looks back on her family's life in Tokyo before and during WWII. (imdb)

As former detective Akikazu searches for his missing daughter, Kanako, he soon learns she has a mysterious secret life. (imdb)

Doraemon, a cat-like caretaker robot, is sent from the 22nd century to help Nobita, a clumsy boy who's behind in his studies and is picked on by his classmates. Nobita finds success with the help of Doraemon and his futuristic tools, but what happens after his new friend has to leave?

After taking the blame for another disastrous advertising campaign, Ota Kiichiro is asked by his arrogant boss Otaki Ichiro to take his place as a judge at the world's biggest advertising competition in Los Angeles.

The film is set during the mighty Tang Dynasty-period in Chinese history. Nie Yinniang returns to family after several years in exile. The mission of her order is to eliminate the tyrany of the Governors who avoid the authority of the Emperor. Now she will have to choose between sacrificing the man she loves, or break definitively with the "order of the Assassins" (Martin Matevosyan)

A family must deal with the fact that their elderly mother wants a divorce from their curmudgeonly father.

A grisly unsolved murder links three seemingly unrelated stories in three different Japanese cities. (imdb)

Magazine reporter TANAKA is granted request to investigate a year old murder case gone cold, where a "perfect" family - a successful businessman, his beautiful wife and adorable child - were brutally murdered. Tanaka interviews acquaintances of the dead but gradually finds out that the family was not exactly ideal as believed, as stories of their true nature unfold. Equally disturbing are the interviewees themselves, each letting loose their own hidden nature. (imdb)

During Japan's feudal period, a noble lord was treacherously killed by a rival. His 47 samurai retainers took their revenge on their master's killer after scattering into society for several years, so as not to be detected. Having completed their task, all 47 then committed ritual suicide. This series, of which this TV movie is the pilot, follows the adventures of one of these samurai as he patiently waits for the chance to fulfill his destiny. (The Movie Database)

In this sequel to the first It's A Wonderful Family, the characters who are still based on those in Tokyo Family (which itself was based on Tokyo Story), are a couple of years older with the father, grandfather and husband has taken up driving, albeit not without a few bumps. The family revokes his privilege, which leads to an intra-family conflict. (imdb)

At the Hirata home, three generations of their family live together. A crisis ensues when one afternoon, housewife Fumie falls asleep and wakes up to find a thief has stolen her secret money she kept hidden in the refrigerator. (imdb)

Hideki and Kana Tahara are newlyweds. Hideki is excited about his future with Kana. One day, a mysterious person visits the company where Hideki works. Hideki's colleague conveys the visitor's message to Hideki "about Chisa-san case." As soon as Hideki hears the name Chisa, he becomes stunned. His wife is pregnant and they have picked the name Chisa for their baby. Only Hideki and Kana know the name. (imdb)

Shoji Segawa was a quiet and inconspicuous boy, but, for the first time, he is recognized by people after winning the National Middle School Shogi Tournament. At the age of 26, his dream of becoming a professional shogi player collapses due to an age restriction. After he quits playing shogi, he becomes desperate. With the support of his peers, including Yuya Suzuki, and his love of shogi, Shoji Segawa begins to play shogi again. A miracle happens to him. (themoviedb)

The story centers on Naoe Kanetsugu, a loyal and devoted samurai in Echigo Province in the 16th century. Kanetsugu was trained in his early childhood by Uesugi Kenshin and after his death, served Kenshin's adopted son Kagekatsu and is known for his extreme loyalty to the Uesugi family. He also made every effort to protect the people of Echigo with a strong sense of justice and genuine sympathy toward commoners. (imdb)

In this hypnotic noir, tough guy Shima and rambunctious Makino develop an unusual bond over their mutual exile, as they separately fled Japan to Taiwan after botching jobs for the mob. The two head to the coast to lay low where they befriend fellow lonely soul Xiao En, but can they escape their criminal past? Wonderfully elusive with a spellbinding flow, the decidedly cool Paradise Next features charismatic performances, sublime cinematography, and an elegiac score by Ryuichi Sakamoto. (imdb)

Takuminokami Asano is a lord who is ordered commit harakiri [suicide] due to a scheme by Kozukenosuke Kira. Having no time to mourn his lord's death, Kuranosuke Oishi decides to take revenge on Kozukenosuke Kira. He plans an attack with the help of accountant Chosuke Yato, but they don't have enough in their budget.

A woman who's had a hard life is convicted of arson-murder and is sentenced to hang. Her childhood friends cannot believe she'd do this and rally round but, while imprisoned on Death Row, she refuses all aid. Why? Series tells her life story alternating between "now" and past incidents related to her childhood and school friends going right from childhood innocence to "today". (Personal synopsis)

A major crime occurs in Tokyo when detectives Tang Ren and Qin Feng are invited to investigate the crime by Noda Hiroshi. A battle between the strongest detectives in Asia is about to break out with bursts of laughter (IMDb).

Toko Suguri is married and they have a lovely daughter. She doesn't have any major problems in her life. One day, Toko Suguri meets her former lover, Akihiko Kurata, at a friend's wedding. They haven't seen each other in ten years. Toko Suguri indulges in a sexual relationship with Akihiko Kurata.

The life of Kuro, a dog who had lived in a high school in Nagano prefecture since 1960. (filmaffinity.com)

Masashi is a photographer. He has his parents and an older brother Yukihiro. Through the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Masashi begins to take staged photos of his family. (letterboxd.com)

Rie, devestated by a marriage breakup, is chatted up in her (?) store by a total stranger. She falls for him and he for her. She is happily (re)married for 3 odd years, having his daughter, her preteen son likes "dad" as well. One day hubby is killed in an accident. When a relative comes to mourn it's discovered that dead hubby is a complete unknown. She hires a lawyer to solve the mystery. The lawyer is dedicated but has identity problems of his own. (me)

A group of high school students and teachers are suddenly transported from the year 2002 to a post-apocalyptic 2020. As they struggle to survive, they question the meaning of fate. (imdb)

Yuuki Kai is a senior at a university studying social welfare psychology and trying to find a job. One day, he encounters a girl, Hagio Sae, playing the violin, and becomes intrigued. (imdb)

Natsumi loves lunch. By chance she starts working for "Kitchen Macaroni", posing as the fiance of the owner's eldest son, Kenichiro. Kenichiro's father Kenzo and his three younger brothers - Yujiro, Junzaburo, and Koshiro - run the restaurant, famous for its omelet. Also working at the restaurant are Mamoru, a chef, and Minoru, a live-in apprentice cook. Not everyone has a liking to Natsumi at first, but over time they will surely fall in love with her. (imdb)

Five siblings live together. They have arguments everyday and sometimes even fight with each other. Each of the siblings have their own problems like studying, finding a job, marriage, etc. There are also people connected with the siblings who either yearn for them or are their romantic interests.