Shirô Sano

Godzilla faces a formidable new foe in Orga (a.k.a. Giant Alien Millennian), a gigantic and lethal creature which is slowly transmuted from a UFO believed to be dormant for 6,000 years. (Columbia Tristar)

The place is the down side of Yokohama. The atmosphere is international and the action fast. The hero is Maiku Hama - a delinquent turned private eye who operates out of the second floor of the local movie theater. (Tidepoint Pictures)

In this hard-boiled action film, Yumiko Shaku stars as the beautiful princess Yuki of the House of Takemikazuchi, a band of assassins formerly employed as the guard of the Mikado elite. (ADV Films)

Detective Azuma is a Dirty-Harry style rogue cop who often uses violence and unethical methods to get results... (imdb)

Three ancient guardian beasts awaken to protect Japan against Godzilla. (imdb)

A sword master and his group of friends; a midget, a bomb expert, a geek (with glasses), and a small rubber elephant must get a golden sword before a gang of ninjas, a rival gang of thieves does the same. The sword has magical powers and belongs to a Golden King who lives in a Golden Kingdom. (imdb comments)

INFECTION takes place in a dark, isolated hospital, where one nurse's mistake has led to dire consequences for a patient. (imdb)

As Japan nears defeat at the end of World War II, Emperor Hirohito starts his day in a bunker underneath the Imperial Palace in Toyko. A servant reads to him a list of activities for the day, including a meeting with his ministers, marine biology research, and writing his son. Hirohito muses about the impact on such schedules when the Americans arrive but is told that as long as there is a solitary Japanese person living, the Americans will not reach The Emperor... (imdb)

"Shangri-La" follows the lives of a group of homeless people in Japan who run into a man who nearly commits suicide and decide to help him out of his financial troubles. Using their various ingenious resources they embark on a complex scheme to blackmail a crooked businessman, whose bankruptcy claim has put people out of work. (imdb User Comments)

A crippled kabuki player is taken into a strolling company of itinerant actors. An influential publisher notices his honest, bold drawings, and nurtures him despite persecution and betrayal. The film explores the eternal relationship between artist and producer, and describes the emanicipation of a man who refuses to let himself become the plaything of power and money. (imdb)

Edogawa Rampo is a writer whose latest work is censored by the government, deemed too disturbing and injurious to the public to be allowed to be published. However, after burning his drafts, his publisher shows him a newspaper with an account of events just like his forbidden story. As the film progresses, fantasy and reality intermingle in a tale that draws heavily on influences from Poe and Stoker's Dracula. (imdb)

When the older brother of junior high school student Saori is arrested for murder she is separated from her family for her own protection. She ends up living with a police detective named Katsuura and his family. Katsuura has to get information from her without making her already-troubled mental state any worse. Meanwhile, his own daughter finds parallels between herself and Saori. (eiga.wikia.com)

A reporter Mizuno (Tomorowo Taguchi) has been shunted off to a small village. Hirano (Takeshi Wakamatsu), the chief priest of a local Shinto shrine, tells him that Teruko (Sarara Tsukifune), the owner of a small bar where Mizuno has been with the chief correspondent, is involved with a cult sect and she is suspected of murders for insurance money. Eager to get a scoop so that he can return to the head office, Mizuno looks into the matter and questions Teruko directly. (AsianMediaWiki)

The story of Kenji Miyazawa, the famous Japanese poet, science-fiction writer, teacher, and amateur scientist. Like "Shakespeare in Love," the movie is a rather-fictionalized account of a brief period in the authors life, culminating with the creation of his most popular work - in this case, "A Night on the Galactic Railroad." (imdb)

In an instant, Shishio's life is turned upside down. His dream house is gone, his wife may not live, and having to erect a new place to live has taken him into debt to the point where he can't pay his wrestlers anymore. A slimy TV executive named Yamaji, offers to pick up the bill on the new house, but Shishio has to agree to star in a live TV show that involves facing off against a group of rogue fighters called DDD, which take the term "deathmatch" literally. (infini-tropolis.com)

A year after the celebrated cracking of "The Glorious Team Batista" case, the talented medical staff at Tojo University Hospital once again finds itself embroiled in a web of intrigue and scandal. The scandal occurs this time in the ER when a mysterious letter arrives for Dr. Kimiko Taguichi.. The letter reads: "Chief Surgeon Hayami of the Emergency Center has a collusive relationship with a medical supplies maker. And the head nurse is in on it with him." An unimaginab (http://asianmediawiki.com/The_Triumphant_Return_of_General_Rouge)

Five short stories, each covering the same time, the genres of the horror and the comedy.

An ancient evil threatens to destroy modern-day Tokyo in this supernatural chiller based on Hiroshi Aramata's novel and featuring conceptual designs by H.R. Giger. A thousand years have passed since madman Masakado was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity, though the lingering influence of his blackened soul has haunted Tokyo ever since... (allmovie.com)

A bad night results in an unknown awakening. Strapped to a table, prepped for surgery, and not a clue as to how she got there, what is Yoko to do?

A female projectionist is haunted by the image of a small boy. Perhaps driven by insanity from a former abortion she goes on a killing spree, gutting women and removing their stomaches. Her relationship with her attractive and successful friend drives the plot deeper into insanity.

A quiet killer is looking for a room. The real state agent, shy and expressionless, guides him through Tokyo, towards the ruins the decadent economy has left behind, in hopes of finding The Room. (imdb)

Two private detectives go in search of a silent film actress trapped eternally within the frame of a scratchy old period film from 1915. Hayashi's stunning homage to the early days of cinema is a visual fest. (The Midnight Eye Guide To New Japanese Film)

Two brothers, Jinta and Wataru, are raised in a travelling circus. After an accident, Jinta decides to leave the circus and travels the countryside working as a con-man. After a run-in with a local gang of yakuza, he is invited to join their ranks, where he makes the mistake of falling for a boss's mistress. Wataru stays with the circus and works hard to regain its former glory. (imdb)

Hajime Tsutsui (Kiichi Nakai) worked for the electric company and recently received a promotion. Due to his mother's illness and the death of a close friend Hajime decides to return to his hometown of Izumo, Shimane to work as a rail car driver. (asian wiki)

GeGeGe no Kitaro is back! And this time he must solve the mystery of a 1000 year old curse exacting its toll on humans and monsters alike. In a more adult-centric episode, with a darker storyline, a myriad of creepy creatures and more mature special effects, this live-action version of Mizuki Shigeru's beloved manga character will not disappoint. This is the second live-action film directed by Motoki Katsuhide focusing on the exploits of the half-human, half-youkai Kitaro. (sarudama.com)

Two seemingly invincible fighters -- one good, one evil -- square off in this sci-fi action opus from Japan. When a four-man terrorist group known as Team Phantom begins raising havoc in downtown Tokyo, the city is in desperate need of a hero. An unexpected champion appears in the form of Lady Battle Cop, a former female tennis champion who has been transformed into a seemingly unstoppable cyborg. (rottentomatoes.com)

Detective Nami investigates a serial murderer and chases them across Japan.

Koji Wakamatsu's film about a Japanese free jazz/improvisation saxophonist named Kaoru Abe. (imdb)

Kranken Haus, an ornate entertainment club for women, is filled with handsome men costumed as vampires who serve as bartenders and escorts for females desiring company and attention. She confronts Suou, a gorgeous man working at the club as a host, whose name is on the card. He denies any involvement with her disappearance and tries to brush her off. Rion concocts an incident and starts working there too so she can keep an eye on him and the club owner. (amazon.com)

This story about a detective who has a huge appetite is adapted from a manga by Terasawa Daisuke. First of two series. (imdb)

This story about a detective who has a huge appetite is adapted from a manga by Terasawa Daisuke. (mydramalist.com)

Although certain monsters from the previous Ultra Series appear here in this series, the characters do not actually recognize them. This series does not have any direct continuity to any of the other Ultra Series. (wikipedia)

The blood of the Nakamoto's family is cursed, so their members are handsome but condemned to violently die young. Oryu, a midwife, has watched some of them growing up, living and dying. Now she's old and, talking with the animated photograph of her dead husband (a monk), she recollects the story of their tragic existence.

April 4, 1959 in the early morning Detective Fujisawa Rokuro of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was walking his dog along the banks of Tokyo's Musashino district, and found the body of a young woman. Her handbag, an express delivery envelope, and other possession were stil with her, her identity was immediately confirmed as airline stewardess Ikuta Setsuko. (dramawiki)

One snowy night, in a mountain hut, Minokichi, a hunter, sees a snow woman killing his mentor Mosaku. "Should you tell anyone, I will take your life" she says, then drifts off. A year later, Minokichi meets and marries a beauty named Yuki. She bears him a daughter, Ume. 14 years pass and Ume blossoms into a radiant lady who befriends the sickly Mikio, the village leader's son and Mosaku's distant relative. Mikio soon dies in the same hut as Mosaku, with his body showing the same... (lett

In 16th century Japan, a young man has to choose between becoming a master steel maker like his father and grandfather before him, or becoming a samurai so that he can help protect his village from attacks by the various clans which want the high-quality steel made there. (imdb)

Ryosuke Hinode moves in with relatives the Hinode family, located at Ishibashi Castle in Lake Biwa, as he enters high school. The Hinode family possesses a special power. Tanjuro s the heir of the Hinode family. He has eccentric tendencies and does odd things to Ryosuke like making him wear a red uniform to go to school. Tanjuro and Ryosuke attends the same high school. Due to an error, they both confront Hiromi Natsume, the first son in the Natsume family... (imdb)

A large earthquake strikes a part of Japan. The shaking loosens a bolt at a nuclear power plant causing coolant to begin leaking from the pipes of a pressure control tank. A man and his colleague go to tighten the bolt, but this catastrophe will act as the trigger that throws the man's life into chaos. (JFDB)

***Replay ***Inochibi (Life Force) ***Ame no Houmonsha (The Visitor in the Rain) ***Okusanya-san (The Wife Seller) ***Imakiyo-san (Mr. Imakiyo)

At very end 1999, Atsushi Horigami, 22, has heart failure & dies. Instantly, he awakens in his own room - in 1995! He's 18 with all memories up until his "death" in 1999 intact. Trapped in a never-ending loop, Atsushi is forced to re-live the same four-year period over & over but things can & do vary, by his own actions and randomly. Meets two others in same fix, one of whom has decided to take advantage of his knowledge of the future without any scruple, worse he is a clever sod. (imdb)

About the escape between a girl with a mysterious psychic and a complex up-and-coming club singer who has killed his older sister.

An anthology film based on the works of manga artist Yoshiharu Tsuge. The main character in all four segments is a fledgling cartoonist named Tsube . In the first segment, Tsube encounters a dotty old man named Ri after renting a tumble-down cottage in the country. The following day, Ri, his equally weird wife, and his two squalid children move into his house. Soon the wife is stealing the cucumbers in his garden while the two kids devour all the food in the house.

An all-star reboot of the lost classic 1934 film, The Giant Buddha Statue's Travel Through The Country, made with the cooperation of director Yoshiro Edamasa's grandson. From Japan, a modern kaiju story based on what may be the first kaiju film.

A psychological drama about the consequences of a 15-year-old girl's gang rape.

Fans of Kamaitachi no Yoru gather to shoot a film based on the game until one of the cast members is killed.

A biopic based on the production of Daiei's Giant Horde Beast Nezura, the scrapped precursor to Gamera.

Murayama Kaita, a Japanese painter, novelist and poet died in 1919 at the age of 22, leaving behind an impressive and time-defying body of work. In his most recent film, Sato Hisayasu offers a surreal, time-crossing, meta-layered essay on the artist, his originality and his legacy.

Two sisters living on a peach farm in Koori town, Fukushima Prefecture, are opposites. Haruka Miyamoto feels less beautiful than her sister Akiba Miyamoto and hates being compared to her. She finds comfort in playing a piano in a barn. A year after the Great East Japan Earthquake, she decides she wants to be a pianist. Akiba, for her part, moved to Tokyo to attend college. When she moves back to Koori, Haruka is unsettled and memories connected to the disaster she has tried to forget resurface.

A middle-aged man discovers an injured refugee woman trembling in the corner of his bar in Kabukicho. He quickly becomes aware that her life is in his hands when he learns she is hiding from the yakuza.

Computer engineer Takashi notices that a microchip is protruding from his head. He contacts a notorious hacker for help. Meanwhile, Takashi's world is turning upside down. He's robbed at knifepoint & then chased through the crowded Tokyo streets by a giant. Or maybe not. Perhaps the microchip is only making him think these things are happening. Soon he realizes there's a connection between all the bizarre traumas and a girl named Masami.

A teacher is sexually involved with an underage student. She visits her father's home and discovers a boy who's been kept as a sex slave. The teacher continues harboring the boy out of fear and begins to feel sexually attracted to him.

Hyuga Toru who run an internet website from his small room and doesn't like to socialize makes a lot of money. He then meets Sawaki Chihiro, a hardworking student who by an unexpected occurrence begins to work for Toru. (imdb)

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

At the vernissage of an exhibition of his works painter Tamura notices a forgery, meanwhile, the dead body of a woman is found at sea. As news of both incidents travels, an unexpected connection transpires. A deeply felt drama on authenticity, ageing and love. In the strictly codified world of high-society Japan, the forgery found amongst Tamura’s works triggers a range of sentiments: anger at imposture, shame of scandal, questions about ownership and quiet appreciation for the superior aesth

Typical mother, Noguchi Satsuki, spends her days trying to balance her life as a wife to her hard-working husband Kazuhiko and mother to their only son Tomoya, a seemingly withdrawn fifth-grader with whom Satsuki struggles to communicate. Seiko and Ozawa Hideaki, living in the same neighborhood as the Noguchi family, are raising a rebellious junior high school daughter, Mihoko, and their first son, Kiyotaka, a second-grader who is showered with much love and affection by his mother.