Acting
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Kon Ichikawa's retelling of the classic true story of Samurai honor. When a young clan lord is forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide), his loyal followers (now Ronin, masterless Samurai) dedicate their lives to avenging his death.
A pair of hard-boiled Tokyo cops are investigating a gruesome murder: after killing the victim, the murderer cut his skull open and cooked his brain in a stew. As they try to track down the killer, they discover that, quite literally, everybody is a suspect. Will they bring the terror to an end, or will they become part of it themselves?
Jack Elliot, a one-time MVP for the New York Yankees is now on the down side of his baseball career. With a falling batting average, does he have one good year left and can the manager of the Chunichi Dragons, a Japanese Central baseball league find it in him?
On an obscure Pacific Island just north of Australia, the Japanese Empire has operated a prisoner of war camp for Australian soldiers. At the close of World War II, the liberated POWs tell a gruesome tale of mass executions of over eight hundred persons as well as torture style killings of downed Australian airmen. In an attempt to bring those responsible to justice, the Australian Army establishes a War Crimes Tribunal to pass judgement on the Japanese men and officers who ran the Ambon camp. In an added twist, a high ranking Japanese admiral is implicated, and politics become involoved with justice as American authorities in Japan lobby for the Admiral's release. Written by Anthony Hughes
Jonko runs a group of high school girls involved in paid dating. Raku is a street dancer. Togo was brought up in the US, and after being back in Japan for one year, wants to escape to New York. Their contact with the world of talent scouts and yakuza places them in danger over the span of one day and night in the Shibuya district of Tokyo.
A look at the lives of two prostitutes in Tokyo: Rei, who works as an S&M dominatrix, and Ayumi, in the more straightforward profession of call girl. In addition to their working life, the film also looks at their private lives. Rei is acting in an amateur theatre company along with the receptionist from Ayumi's escort service, while Ayumi is living with her student-boyfriend as he struggles to finally get accepted to college.
A young foot soldier in the yakuza seeks revenge when his prostitute girlfriend dies after a session with a high-ranking Japanese politician with a taste for torture. He sets out on a 'kamikaze' mission to kill his bosses and the politician; along the way, he acquires the aid of a taxi driver who has recently returned to Japan after living in South America for several decades and is struggling to cope with poverty and the prejudices of native-born Japanese.
A foreign university student tries to fit in in Kyoto by reading books to the blind and finds himself falling in love.
On April 9, 2000, Suzuki Kyoko receives a phone call from the police. She learns that her 19-year-old son and his friend were killed by a drunk driver while walking along a bridge in Zama. Suzuki Kyoko lost her husband to cancer five years earlier and her world crashes down. The drunk driver was given the maximum sentence at the time 5 1/2 years. Suzuki Kyoko then spearheads a movement to increase the penalty for reckless driving. She also enrolls at Waseda University where her son died just a week after his entrance ceremony. Suzuki Kyoko also starts an exhibit to honor the victims of reckless driving.
A new student ,Eiji is forced into playing the drums for the school band by his classmate, Nanao. From the first moment he holds a drumstick in his hands, the rhythm inside Eiji is awakened and he soon becomes captive to its sonic boom. The obsessive and demanding Nanao is soon swayed by Eiji's bright character and natural kindness. Under Nanao's leadership, the band starts making waves in local competitions. Despite their success, can they survive the pressures of school, relationships, and their dreams? In Beat Kids, Director Toshi Shioya weaves a passionate rock and roll coming of age story about a teenager who uses music to turn growing pains into something extraordinary.
Drama about a young doctor.
Kinjiro, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, is a good-natured fellow who goes around the country helping farm families. At his new appointment in Usuki City, Oita Prefecture, he visits a tea-growing family he has known for a long time. There, he finds the family head's granddaughter Minori, who lost her job in Tokyo and has just returned home.