Tatsuya Mihashi

Three contemporary stories inspired by the everlasting emotions expressed by the precious dolls of Bunraku theater. Three stories delicately intertwined by the beauty of sadness. Three stories of undying love. (Palm Pictures)

An executive mortgages all he owns to stage a coup and gain control of the National Shoe Company, with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of incompetent and greedy executives. (imdb)

A dramatization of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the series of American blunders that allowed it to happen. (imdb)

July, 1945: Japan's army is on the run. A platoon in Burma sings to keep its spirit up. Inspiration comes from their self-taught lute player... (imdb)

In comic Woody Allen's film debut, he took the Japanese action film "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe. (imdb)

In Kurosawa's HAMLET-like story of corporate scandal in post-war Japan, a young man attempts to use his position at the heart of a corrupt company to expose the men responsible for his father's death. (imdb)

A young lord attempts to combat the official corruption endemic to the Shogunate, only to be placed in an impossible conflict of duties... (imdb)

A librarian is subject to a scientific experiment which goes wrong and transforms him into 'The Human Vapour'. He uses his new ability to rob banks to fund the career of his girlfriend, a beautiful dancer. The Human Vapour is ruthless in his quest for money and kills anyone who stands in his way, especially police. He soon becomes Tokyo's most wanted criminal. Can he be stopped before he kills again? (imdb)

A father with a steady home life that includes a wife and two children, is shocked to find that his friend's wife has been killed. It becomes apparent that the father was busy having an affair with his friend's wife right up until her death. While everyone is initially stumped to who the killer could be, it is slowly revealed that the aforementioned affair included kinky sex which may have led to the woman's death. (CinemaTalk)

A 1960s co-production between Japanese directors Yuzo Kawashima and Mikio Naruse

Why does Nobuchi visit the grave of his old friend Kaji? Why is he so secretive with his wife Shizu ? And how does Nobuchi's friendship with the young student Hioki - for whom the older man acts as reluctant sensei - relate to his time with Kaji? As the Meiji Era draws to a close with the emperor's death and the suicide of General Nogi, a fateful tale of tainted love, failed friendship, and redemptive honor unravels with tragic consequences. (MoC)

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)

A young out of work Japanese couple ends up in Tokyo's red light district.

Hideko Takamine is the widow of the oldest son of an extended family -- and runs the family's grocery. The upcoming threat of super-marketization is mentioned in passing -- but not followed through here. Much of the machinations here involve a marriage proposal for one of the younger daughters. (imdb)

SINCERE HEART (1953, aka MAGOKORO) was Masaki Kobayashi's second film as a director -- but as with his first, YOUTH OF THE SON, it is something of a hybrid work, influenced heavily by his longtime mentor Keisuke Kinoshita, who wrote the screenplay. The resulting film is a deeply passionate and sentimental drama about a young student (Akira Inshihama) who falls into a hopeless romantic attraction to an invalid girl (Keiko Awaji) whom he can only see from afar. (Hulu)

The handsome Yûzô Kayama plays the protagonist, a whale-hunting cannon manufacturing supervisor, whose brother, a car tester for Komatsu Motors, was killed in an accident early in the film. He investigation is joined by his college friend, now a reporter.

Haruki Murakami (Masayuki Mori), once lionized as a master painter, is now the president of a thriving camera company where his son Keikichi (Tatsuya Mihashi) is also employed as one of the department heads. His daughter Tamako (Izumi Ashikawa) has suffered from a fragile constitution ever since she contracted polio as a little girl, and spends much of the time secluded in her room where she immerses herself in her drawings. (KG)

Lt. Koji Kitami is a navigator-bombardier in Japan's Naval Air Force. He participates in the Japanese raid on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 and is welcomed with pride in his hometown on his return. As Japan racks up victory after victory in the Pacific War, Kitami is caught up in the emotion of the time and fights courageously for the standard of Japanese honor. (The Movie Database)

Former soldier, Suehiro Katsuji, fights violent gangs and powerful Chinese merchants during the post-war period in Japan. (The Movie Database)

Reporter Goro Arai covers the war for a Japanese newspaper. He follows the activities of Japan's top military leader, Hideki Tojo, and comes to view Tojo as a dangerous military tyrant. But anyone standing in Tojo's way is in danger, and so it proves for Arai. (imdb)

A family of weavers deals with an uncertain future after the father commits suicide. (imdb)

During the Second World War, Takeichi Matsuo had participated in hiding a huge cache of gold in the Phillippine mountains. Years after the war, he is kidnapped by Mitsura and Keigo Gunji, brothers who want Matsuo to lead them to the still-buried gold. (imdb)

Kitami is requested by the intelligence director, Suritai, to steal a large amount of money from the anti-government guerrillas who fund gangs from Gegen. However, once Kitami infiltrates a Gegen ship in disguise, he discovers there is no cash in the safe, only a cipher on a piece of paper. (imdb)

Sonejiro sacrifices all comfort to devote himself to research. Young housewife Yachiyo is disappointed with her husband Kappei, who is more attracted to mountain climbing and another girl. When Yachiyo's father is introduced to Sonejiro, good will turns evil, and all happiness is at stake. (imdb)

WWII is at an end. Baby boomers are in full bloom. Minister Araki is introducing a healthcare bill that aims to establish "Birth Control Consultation Centers" across Japan. As his speech echoes in the national assembly, his wife receives a different message from the doctor: She is pregnant. (mubi)

With one rickshaw and virtually no baggage, a man returns home from the Philippines. The Meiji era was coming to an end and things at home had changed drastically. Meeting his daughter, who is now four, for the first time, he desperately tries to recover the lost time with his family. (MUBI)

A continuation of Hungry Soul, from the same year. Reiko, who tolerates abuse in her marriage to a man 23 years her senior, is friends with Mayumi, a beautiful widow. Reiko meets her husband's business rival, a young, capable businessman, and falls for him. Meanwhile, Mayumi enters into a relationship with Shimotsuma, a friend of her late husband. (letterboxd)