Tomokazu Miura

A spell of time in the life of a family living in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Though her husband is busy working at an office, Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project at home. Uncle Ayano has recently arrived, looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo for several years. Meanwhile, Yoshiko's daughter Sachiko is mainly concerned with why she seems to be followed around everywhere by a giant version of herself. (imdb)

Seven girls named after their distinctive traits visit a house in a rural setting. Odd occurrences happen and are ignored, but soon peculiarities begin to accrue.

An omnibus story of nine ordinary people in Tokyo who don't usually get much attention in their daily lives. Consists of five intertwining storylines, including one involving a struggling pop singer who spends most of her time performing for geeks in Akihabara while waiting for her big break into mainstream showbiz. (Baseline StudioSystems)

Fumiya Takemura (Jô Odagiri) is over $7000 in debt. A loan shark makes him a deal where the debt will disappear if he accompanies him on a walk throughout Tokyo, at the final destination at Kasumigaseki's Police station. (whatismyname)

Young and handsome Ryunosuke Kusunoki is a new arrival in a Hokkaido village, to which his government official father, Mr. Kusonoki, has been sent to acquire land to push through a new airport. Mr. Kusunoki must persuade the resistant farm community to do his bidding. Ryunosuke has his own problems trying to fit in at his new school. (Yahoo! Movies)

Chagawa finds it increasing difficult to support his young ward Junnosuke in his store across the street from the Suzuki garage on Third Street. Unless he can provide a better life, Junnosuke's rich father, Kawabata will take him away. Chagawa focuses once again on winning the "Akutagawa-sho" literary award and the prize money coming with it. Mika, a 7-year old relative of the Suzukis is left to stay with them when her father has business reverses. (imdb)

Traveling blind masseurs Tokuichi and Fukuichi are on the go from season to season, offering their services at hot spring mountain resorts and spas. Though unable to see, Tokuichi is extremely sensitive, able to deduce intimate details about people from sounds, scents, and touch. Arriving at his latest inn, Tokuichi takes an interest in two mysterious clients - Tokyo beauty Michiho who slowly steals his heart, and Omura, also from Tokyo, who is accompanied by his bored, mischievous nephew.. (http://community.livejournal.com/smapxsmap/246363.html)

Based on the "2.26 Incident", an attempted coup d'état in Japan 1936, launched by radical ultra-nationalist parts of the military. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly held by the insurgents before the coup was suppressed.

A class of Japanese teens experience their first feelings with the opposite sex while a typhoon storm is rising. (imdb)

The story begins with Sekiuchi, boss of the Sannokai, a huge organised crime syndicate controlling the entire Kanto region, issuing a stern warning to his lieutenant Kato and right-hand man Ikemoto, head of the Ikemoto-gumi. Kato orders Ikemoto to bring the unassociated Murase-gumi gang in line, and he immediately passes the task on to his subordinate Otomo, who runs his own crew. The tricky jobs that no-one wants to do always end up in Otomo's lap...

14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty. (imdb)

Set around the worst airplane crash in Japanese history in 1985, the story follows Hajime Onchi (Ken Watanabe) and airline worker and union head who just returned to Japan after being sent away to foreign branches for ten years because of his efforts.

The film follows a young aspiring art university student who falls in love with his girlfriend's older sister. The heartrending longing and true love that the three characters pursue is pure, but almost painful. Is the person standing next to you the person that gives you true comfort and love? (myasiancinema.com)

Tetsuro is living with his young girlfriend Aki in a pleasant house in Tokyo. They both spend a lot of time at their jobs. However their routine is upset when Tetsuro brings his 8 year old son Shun to live with them, while his ex-wife recovers from a car accident. (imdb)

After a bad breakup, a young woman returns to her hometown and opens a menuless restaurant. (IMDb)

"The Dancing Girl of Izu" tells of the story between a young student who is touring the Izu Peninsula and a family of travelling dancers he meets there, including their youngest girl on the onset of puberty. The student finds the naïve girl attractive even though he eventually have to part with the family after spending memorable time together (Wikipedia)

Hard-boiled Japanese auteur Takeshi Kitano returns with the sequel to his 2010 yakuza thriller. (tiff.net)

The story began in the early summer of 1942 when 'Tatsurou' met 'Setsuko' at Karuizawa. Its love at first sight but sadly 'Setsuko' was pledged to marry a stranger by her parent. She ran away from her hometown and arrived at Tokyo in search of her love one. War erupted then and Tatsurou was summoned to service. As be set foot on a snow-capped mountain before his imminent departure, they promised to each other to press on until they meet again. But, soon she was fallen very ill to TB... (asianwiki.com)

This is a biographical film about the late Yoko Araki, who was the wife of Japan's leading photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki. (imdb)

In the year 1926, Machiko Hasegawa is a 6-year-old child and lives in Fukuoka. She is a bright girl, who enjoys playing outdoors. At home, she loves to draw. Her father is a handsome mining engineer and he loves his family more than anything else. When Machiko is 14-years-old her father passes away. The rest of her family decides to move to Tokyo. Her mother than makes a quick decision and sends 15-year-old Machiko to manga artist Tagawa as his student.

Nobuhiko Obayashi directed this 1986 film based on the novel of the same title by Yoshio Kataoka. His stylish direction uses B/W and colour photography. It stars Kiwako Harada (this marks her movie debut, and she has a nude scene which was quite a sensation when it came out). (poorafilmy.com)

Set in 19th-century Osaka, the film tells the story of a love affair between Sasuke (Miura) and blind koto teacher Shunkin (Yamaguchi), who lost her sight at the age of nine.

Obayashi captures the erratic and turbulent but sincere energy of youth with this story of a group of rebellious boys who form an uneasy alliance to save a local girl from being sold into prostitution. The film breaks with the somber and tortured critiques of wartime Japan by previous generations to present a positive and anarchic vision of resistance. (Alexander Zahlten, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard)

When Kaoru Kanzaki was a child, her mother's restaurant went bankrupt. Her family became poor afterwards. Since graduating from middle school, Kaoru Kanzaki has worked hard and lived a thrifty life to escape poverty. As a result, she is able to save 1 million yen. Kauro though lends her colleague 1 million yen, which leads her to fall heavily in debt and her life spiral downward again. At that time, Kaoru Kanzaki happens to meet members of Koshimizu Management Consultant and becomes a member. (asianwiki.com)

1989 is the 64 Shouwa year in the Japanese calendar, thus the unsolved girl kidnapping-murder case is called "64(rokuyon)" that got up in this year in Criminal Investigation Department in the Prefectural Police Department. And 14 years were over as the prefecture's police to be unsolved greatest stain, and statute of limitations approached it. (imdb)

In 2002, Yoshinobu Mikami, an ex-detective who was assigned as the investigator of the "Rokuyon" case 14years ago, moves as a Public Relations Officer in the Police Affairs Department against his will. As a newly assigned Public Relations Officer, he was troubled with the relation between the reporters, new case has occurred. And that new case traced "Rokuyon" case exactly. (letterboxd)

The Tokyo Olympics are about to open, and Rynosuke Chagawa is excited to receive a new TV set to watch the upcoming events. His wife Hiromi is pregnant and he has built a second level on his shop to provide his adopted son Junnosuke with a private space to study for entrance to Tokyo University to set up a career with a major company. He dreams of sparing Junnosuke the struggles that he has faced as a writer. The family continues to rely upon Hiromi's income from her bar. (imdb)

The director Nagasaki transports us to the remote barren wilderness of Hokkaido, the most northerly of the four main islands that make up Japan, in a powerful and compelling three and a half hour DV-shot epic based on an original novel by Natsuo Kirino that ostensibly deals with the search of a young mother for her missing five-year-old daughter... (The Movie Database)

Death follows a beautiful woman. Set in contemporary rural Japan. According to Asianwiki, based on a true incident which happened in Japan in the 1960s. Note there is an unrelated 1981 Japanese movie also titled Station to Heaven.

Favorable portrayal of Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who approved of the bombardment of Pearl Harbor, as a patriot. The film is a jingoistic defense of Japanese imperialism.

Not only is Kamakura-based Masakazu Isshiki a mystery novelist, but he is also a good detective himself. His wife Akiko and he are acquainted with all manners of creatures and gods who are of, from or passing through the town. Dealing with and tackling his cases means he can use all the help he can get. (imdb)

Junkichi is the son of a rich landlord, while Koyuki is the daughter of a poor lumber worker. The mismatched pair soon finds love, and against his father's wishes, Junkichi decides to run away with Koyuki to start a new.

Lonely youth Shinji meets Hatsue, a pretty pearl diver, on the beach and the two fall in love. But Shinji has a rival for Hatsue's affections, Yasuo. Yasuo spreads unpleasant gossip about his rival, and Hatsue's father forbids her to see Shinji. But when the boy saves the passengers on a boat owned by Hatsue's father, his luck in love begins to change. (imdb)

Kyoko met Tetsu during her trip to San Francisco. Soon they fell in love but getting married was not in his mind. They were to meet again back in Tokyo but Tetsu didn't turn up. (imdb)

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).

Haru who has relocated to Hiroshima in southern Japan comes across a rogue telephone booth in the middle of nowhere when she returns to Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. The unconnected telephone in a white booth is driven by superstition that it is a direct line to the dead. She and several locals converse and they share their stories and the different states of belief regarding the booth that is prevalent. (imdb)

While extracting water from the Martian polar ice caps, ancient carvings are uncovered describing an alien spacecraft crashing into Jupiter, postponing plans to turn Jupiter into a second Sun. (imdb)

Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on finding beauty in the world. (Avistaz)

A story of two men, one recently bereaved, the other with a wife in a coma. From the popular song.

It is the 1950s, and the protagonist, identified only as ‘I,’ has come from Tokyo to study, burdened by the high expectations of his poor family in northeastern Japan. He meets a young woman named Shino who works in a small restaurant in the Komagome area of Tokyo. They fall in love, and he takes her to his family home through the heavy snow for their wedding. He introduces Shino to his elderly parents and his sister; they spend their wedding night together listening to...

It is the second work of the Oita trilogy of Obayashi . Following " Nigori Snow ", Ise Masazo draws a song written by composers and songwriter "Farewell of 22 years old " as a motif and draws a story of love that spans two generations of mother and daughter.

Based on the comic book by Jūzō Yamasaki and Kei Sadayasu.

Film director Mario Baba meets a mysterious gentleman and realizes he is an important man from his boyhood. The two chase each other around, causing a lot of commotion.

Saeko falls into deep despair after her boyfriend Yusuke dies in a car accident. A few months later, she meets Naruse who received heart transplant from Yusuke and now he feels something for Saeko in his heart. (imdb)