Takeshi Katô

It's the year 2010 on the planet of cats, where lies Meguro City, a megalopolis entirely controlled by the super-corporation Catty & Co. The nefarious influence of this corporate empire extends malignantly across the feline galaxy. Tamala, a carefree, one-year-old kitten, decides to flee this cruel reality and boards her spaceship in search of her planet of origin.

Lured by gold, two greedy peasants escort a man and woman across enemy lines. However, they do not realize that their companions are actually a princess and her general. (imdb)

In Okayama in the mid-1930s, Kiroku attends high school and boards with a Catholic family whose daughter, Michiko, captures his heart. (imdb)

Gennosuke, a clan retainer, kills one of the clan ministers as part of a plot to achieve reform. He is pursued by his former comrades... (imdb)

Thirty years after the original monster's rampage, a new Godzilla emerges and attacks Japan. (imdb)

Itinerant masseur and master swordsman, the blind Zatoichi, is near the village of his teacher, Hikonoichi, so he decides to visit. He learns of Hikonoichi's recent robbery and murder and the imprisonment of his virginal daughter, Osayo, in a brothel... (imdb)

Samurai Koheita Mochizuki, who goes by the nickname Dora-Heita, meaning "alley cat" or "playboy," pretends to be an alcoholic magistrate but is in actuality an envoy from the daimyo sent to clean up the corrupt and lawless town. His task is complicated by the unexpected arrival of his mistress Kosei. (imdb)

The death of the Inugami Family head leaves behind a complicated series of relationships, both personal and business, that results in increased danger, some murders and deaths, and a subsequent investigation by Tokyo Private Detective, Kindaichi. (twitchfilm.net)

Teen hoodlum Kinta is excited to be given the plum job of supervising the pig pen at the local US base, for which he'll be responsible diverting the food scraps to the black market, and scoring a good income for his yakuza gang. His girlfriend Hiroku earnestly hopes he'll leave the yakuza and get an honest job, but neither is she a paragon of virtue - she is drawn into prostitution and petty thievery. (IMDB Comments)

A Wanderer's Notebook, also known as Her Lonely Lane, is director Mikio Naruse's hollow biopic of authoress Fumiko Hayashi, whose work the director often adapted for the screen. (Slant Magazine)

American and Japanese soldiers, stranded on a tiny Pacific island during World War II, must make a temporary truce and cooperate to survive various tribulations. Told through the eyes of the American and Japanese unit commanders, who must deal with an atmosphere of growing distrust and tension between their men. (imdb)

Story of a family living in overwhelming poverty in a small town just outside of Tokyo.

Several young women are killed in an isolated village, leading to an intriguing search for their killer.

The story centres on the growing relationship between 80 year-old Nippori and his new carer Narisu, who is in her early 20's. The problem is that Nippori thinks he is still 20 years old, and that he is still living in 1920's Japan. Despite being initially turned-off by the old man's behaviour, Narisu gradually becomes fond of the odd-but-kind Nippori (imdb)

Kitagawa is an engineer charged with construction of a gigantic tunnel through the Japan Alps for the transportation of equipment in the building of the massive Kurobe Dam... (imdb)

Based on a centuries-old traditional Japanese fairy tale, a country couple finds a baby girl in some bamboo and raises her as their own daughter. Not the same as the original tale, though, in which the girl was a fairy from the moon and was finally taken home. Instead, the film ends with the girl taken home by a spaceship. (imdb)

Drama about a group of rank-and-file Japanese soldiers jailed for crimes against humanity adapted from the diaries of real prisoners. (criterion.com)

Early Kaneto Shindô post-war drama starring Nobuko Otowa and featuring stunning black and white cinematography with Shindô's beautiful use of deep focus to bring depth to the imagery. (KG)

A blind assassin is targeted by a criminal mastermind. Sparks fly, and the two killers find themselves locked in a forbidden embrace. (Amazon)

Hama-chan's supervisor is promoted after many frustrating years with his wayward, fishing-obsessed underling, and Hama-chan's new boss naively tries to retrain him. Later, Su-san and Hama-chan go on a business trip, where they meet a beautiful, warm-hearted truck driver.

Su-san must give a lecture in far-off Iwate, which serves as another excuse for the company president and Hama-chan to go fishing. Once there, however, Hama-chan is mistaken for the company president and Su-san for his chauffeur! But Su-san is delighted at the mix-up: he gets to go fishing with a beautiful woman working at a local inn.

In the late Edo Period, a fishing-crazy warrior is kicked out of his clan and leads an itinerant existence with his long-suffering sister. He finds a kindred spirit in the leader of another clan.

Hama-chan and Michiko have a son, whom they name Koitaro. At the office, Su-san's nephew begins work at the construction company and becomes friends with Hama-chan. When the nephew runs off with the sister of Hama-chan's friend, he and Su-san go looking for the young lovers ? and fishing, of course.

Hama-chan gets his construction company a big contract to build a museum through one of his fishing friends. But the man proves difficult to work with, especially after the he insists on a ludicrous design that will make everyone look foolish. The contract in jeopardy, Su-san enlists Hama-chan's help.

On a fishing trip, Hama-chan and Su-san meet a beautiful lady and the three have a great time. Later, Su-san gets a toothache, and his dentist turns out to be the woman, whom he secretly takes fishing, lying to Hama-chan in the process. When the two men later run into one another, their friendship is threatened.

One of Hama-chan's shy pupils falls in love with the daughter of Su-san's friend, and the young lovers eventually get married. After the wedding Hama-chan and Su-san go fishing, but when Su-san slips and injures his leg, concerned company employees rush to their cabin and finally learn of their surprising friendship.

Su-san burnt out, and suddenly resigned as president of the company and run away. Hama-chan looked for him and finally found out him at the office building where Hama-chan used to work. Su-san got a job as a caretaker of that building.

Mr. Takano, a company employee, announces plans to take an early retirement so he can return to his home town and spend his days fishing. Su-san and Hama-chan envy his decision, and Hama-chan conspires to visit Takano, even though he has no vacation time left.

Hama-chan's construction company once again faces the prospect of downsizing in the shrinking Japanese economy. Despite this, Hama-chan goes on vacation where he meets the firm's downsizing consultant, who has doubts about her career.

Hama-chan and Michiko's son, Koitaro, is now one year old. When Michiko leaves home to attend a school reunion and Michiko's mother is unable to care for the infant, Hama-chan is forced to take Koitaro to work and the baby soon gets lost, creating all manner of havoc at the construction firm.

Set in the late 1950s, when geisha culture was threatened by moral crusades, it tells the story of Omacha (Miyamoto Maki), a young girl who sees the geisha life as a way to lift her poverty-stricken family from their hand-to-mouth existence. Through her eyes, we see the protocols and complex financial relationships which dictate the running of the geisha house.

Intrepid detective Kindaichi (Ishizaka) tracks down a triple murderer using Haiku poem clues. (Audie Bock)

Film adaptation of the novel by Hwe-Song Lee. (Filmaffinity)

The story is of two people. One is deaf, the other deaf and dumb. They marry after meeting at a school reunion, and the film follows their trials and tribulations ... and joys. (Letterboxd)

A feature-length documentary about the life and films of legendary actor Toshiro Mifune, weaving together film clips, archival stills, and interviews with such luminaries as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. Narrated by Keanu Reeves.

Private detective Kindaichi investigates a series of murders in scenic rural Japan.

Story of Shinsuke and his stepmother, ranging from Shinsuke's infant-hood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly every aspect of the life of the characters. Shinsuke's father dies while bravely using dynamite to rescue a group of trapped Korean miners. Several older men attempt to help he and his mother cope, including a kind Korean and a Harley-riding yakuza.

A diligent police detective brings a kidnapper to justice after a chase through the yakuza underworld.

Yuka is a "good-time girl" from Yokohama who is persuaded by her papa to sleep with a foreign business executive so that he can close an important deal. Nakahira presents a shrewdly observed portrait of a modern, sexually assertive woman (MUBI)

Adapted from Naoya Shiga's novel about the emotional turmoil of a man who suspects that his wife is committing adultery with his father.

There is a shooting at a small bookstore in town. When the police arrive they find three victims two of whom have already died. One of the dead uttered something strange before dying. The criminal has fled the scene. Coincidentally, one of the victims is the girlfriend of one of the policemen. (imdb)

Part one of the two part The Scent of Incense."

In this crime thriller produced by Toshiro Mifune (who has a supporting role), hard-boiled Shiro Akitsu goes on a relentless search for his abducted 7-year-old daughter, with the aid of an Ainu dog summoned by a whistle she gave him.