
Acting
Kimiko Ikegami (born January 16, 1959) is a Japanese actress. Born in Manhattan, New York City, she moved to Kyoto at age 3. Kimiko graduated from Horikoshi High School in Nakano, Tokyo and subsequently attended Tamagawa University. She is closely related to the Bandō Mitsugorō kabuki actors: her grandfather was the eighth, her uncle the ninth (later Bandō Minosuke VII), her cousin (Bandō Yasosuke V) the tenth to take that name. With the encouragement of that cousin, Kimiko turned to acting. Ikegami is best known for playing the lead role of Gorgeous in the 1977 film House.


A noble samurai serving the Shogun as 'Kogi Kaishaku-nin' (Official Executioner) is the target of a plot by the evil Yagyu Clan to take away his position and replace him with a member of their own family. When his wife is murdered and evidence is produced that he was plotting against the Shogun the Code of Bushido calls for him and his son to commit sepuku. Instead he defies the Shogun's orders and takes up arms against his enemies, becoming an assassin for hire.

Yokiro was the most successful Geisha house in Western Japan during the first half of the 20th century and remains open to this day. At its peak, it was home to over 200 geisha, however behind the fabulous facade, there were many battles - between family members, men and women, and with the Yakuza. Momokawa was sold to Yokiro at age 12, and despite being the top geisha, her many complicated relationships provide unending challenges throughout her glamorous but turbulent life.

Akira moved to LA with his mother when he was a child. The reason for this was the accidental death of his father who was a stuntman. after growing up, akira became a professional motocross racer and participated in the national motocross championship. but his mother suddenly dies. akira is so shocked that he leaves the world of motocross behind and retreats to his home for a while. he then decides to return to japan to seek revenge against gou, the man responsible for his father’s death.

A high school science teacher is the butt of all his students' jokes, until their bus is hijacked on a school trip. But something more sinister lurks beneath the surface: he's building an atomic bomb in his apartment.

Kanno is a Yakuza. He had to kill Matsuoka who betrayed their boss. Kanno knew Matsuoka had a 3-year-old daughter named Youko. Before he gave himself to the police, he asked his trusted man to take care of her. While in prison, Kanno kept sending letters to Youko, disguising as an uncle in Brazil. 15 years later, Kanno is released. He is determined to live legitimately, however the Yakuza has not forgotten his wicked deed!

In Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, a ronin student named Keiya leads a listless life. One day, pianist Rika arrives in Mimasaka. Keiya starts to develop a faint romantic feeling for her. However, Rika has a reason she must come to this place at all costs...

Rennyo was the key figure responsible for the restoration of Shin Buddhism in Japan, in particular the Honganji lineage that had a slump in its fortunes during the Middle Ages. According to the legend, his motivation was a pivotal childhood incident at the age of six when his mother summoned him and told him about his destiny to revive the fortunes of the Honganji school to which he was the next in line. She then mysteriously disappeared from the temple. Taking her words to heart, from a background of great poverty and hardship, at the age of 16 he set out to spread the word across the land.

Set in the Taisho era, which might be regarded as Japan's Hippie Phase, Hana no ran is a story about fashionable people without impulse control. Much of the action centers on a popular woman writer, the real-life poet Akiko Yosano, and her experiences among the literati of early 20th century Japan. Because of her independent, anti-war and often erotic poetry, she was a lightning rod for revolutionaries and other extremists, many of whom were destined to glamorous, yet ultimately pointless, deaths. The closest parallels might be the Byron/Shelley group or the people drawn to the Beat Generation.




