Azuma Morisaki

Directing

Azuma Morisaki

Born — Died

1927-11-19 — 2020-07-16

Place of birth

Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan

Known for

Directing

Credits

40 titles

Director and screenwriter.

Known for

Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp poster
7.8

Tora-san, an itinerant peddler who is thrown out of his father's house twenty years before but reconnects with his aunt, uncle and sister Sakura. Tora wreaks some havoc in their lives, like getting drunk and silly at a marriage meeting.

Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp

1969

Tora-san, His Tender Love poster
7.4

Traveling salesman Kuruma Torajirō falls in love with an inn manager as New Year's approaches.

Tora-san, His Tender Love

1970

Pecoross' Mother and Her Days poster
5.7

Laid-back baby boomer Yuichi (Ryo Iwamatsu) is a middle-aged manga artist and singer-songwriter when he isn't at his salaryman day job or watching out for his elderly mother. Suffering from increasing dementia since her husband's death, Mitsue (Harue Akagi) is a constant source of comic energy or annoyance for Yuichi, and he and his son must soon decide if they should put her in a home for the elderly. Jumping back in time, we see how Mitsue (played by Kiwako Harada) tracked the tumult of the latter half of the 20th century, being raised as one of 10 brothers and sisters, surviving the war, and having to push her alcoholic husband (Ryo Kase) along in life. "Pecoross" is directed by the oldest active film director in Japan, Azuma Morisaki, who creates an emotionally complex work that is only the more profound and life-affirming for its cartoonish portrayal.

Pecoross' Mother and Her Days

2013

Love Letter poster
8.0

Goro, a small-time thug who manages an adult video store, is approached with a proposal for a sham marriage. Seeing no option to refuse, he agrees to lend his family registry in exchange for money and the promise that he’d be “helping someone out.” His partner in the marriage is a Chinese woman named Bai Lan, who plans to use the money she earns after obtaining Japanese citizenship to support her family back home. Goro and Bai Lan meet only once, during her immigration screening, after which they each go their separate ways. A while later, Goro receives some unexpected news.

Love Letter

1998

Follow the Girls poster
8.0

Comedy of an entertainment agent and strip-teasers.

Follow the Girls

1971

Nuclear Gypsies poster
6.7

Barbara, a dancer, is coming home to Nagoya after a long absence. She lives above a bar in an area whose inhabitants are mainly from Okinawa. Upon her return, Barbara faces problems beyond her control. Her brother and two friends take one of their teachers hostage to extort money to go on a school trip. Miyazato, the man who loves Barbara is there, but not Aiko, her best friend. Miyazato, a yakuza and manager in a nuclear power plant has forced Aiko into prostitution for the workers of the plant. Barbara plans to help her escape from this hell. Aiko has been sent to Mihama. Without even thinking for a moment, Barbara decided to go see her friend.

Nuclear Gypsies

1985

Behind the camera

Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp poster
7.8

Tora-san, an itinerant peddler who is thrown out of his father's house twenty years before but reconnects with his aunt, uncle and sister Sakura. Tora wreaks some havoc in their lives, like getting drunk and silly at a marriage meeting.

Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp

1969

Tora-san, His Tender Love poster
7.4

Traveling salesman Kuruma Torajirō falls in love with an inn manager as New Year's approaches.

Tora-san, His Tender Love

1970

Pecoross' Mother and Her Days poster
5.7

Laid-back baby boomer Yuichi (Ryo Iwamatsu) is a middle-aged manga artist and singer-songwriter when he isn't at his salaryman day job or watching out for his elderly mother. Suffering from increasing dementia since her husband's death, Mitsue (Harue Akagi) is a constant source of comic energy or annoyance for Yuichi, and he and his son must soon decide if they should put her in a home for the elderly. Jumping back in time, we see how Mitsue (played by Kiwako Harada) tracked the tumult of the latter half of the 20th century, being raised as one of 10 brothers and sisters, surviving the war, and having to push her alcoholic husband (Ryo Kase) along in life. "Pecoross" is directed by the oldest active film director in Japan, Azuma Morisaki, who creates an emotionally complex work that is only the more profound and life-affirming for its cartoonish portrayal.

Pecoross' Mother and Her Days

2013

Love Letter poster
8.0

Goro, a small-time thug who manages an adult video store, is approached with a proposal for a sham marriage. Seeing no option to refuse, he agrees to lend his family registry in exchange for money and the promise that he’d be “helping someone out.” His partner in the marriage is a Chinese woman named Bai Lan, who plans to use the money she earns after obtaining Japanese citizenship to support her family back home. Goro and Bai Lan meet only once, during her immigration screening, after which they each go their separate ways. A while later, Goro receives some unexpected news.

Love Letter

1998

Love Letter poster
8.0

Goro, a small-time thug who manages an adult video store, is approached with a proposal for a sham marriage. Seeing no option to refuse, he agrees to lend his family registry in exchange for money and the promise that he’d be “helping someone out.” His partner in the marriage is a Chinese woman named Bai Lan, who plans to use the money she earns after obtaining Japanese citizenship to support her family back home. Goro and Bai Lan meet only once, during her immigration screening, after which they each go their separate ways. A while later, Goro receives some unexpected news.

Love Letter

1998

Follow the Girls poster
8.0

Comedy of an entertainment agent and strip-teasers.

Follow the Girls

1971

Follow the Girls poster
8.0

Comedy of an entertainment agent and strip-teasers.

Follow the Girls

1971

Nuclear Gypsies poster
6.7

Barbara, a dancer, is coming home to Nagoya after a long absence. She lives above a bar in an area whose inhabitants are mainly from Okinawa. Upon her return, Barbara faces problems beyond her control. Her brother and two friends take one of their teachers hostage to extort money to go on a school trip. Miyazato, the man who loves Barbara is there, but not Aiko, her best friend. Miyazato, a yakuza and manager in a nuclear power plant has forced Aiko into prostitution for the workers of the plant. Barbara plans to help her escape from this hell. Aiko has been sent to Mihama. Without even thinking for a moment, Barbara decided to go see her friend.

Nuclear Gypsies

1985

Nuclear Gypsies poster
6.7

Barbara, a dancer, is coming home to Nagoya after a long absence. She lives above a bar in an area whose inhabitants are mainly from Okinawa. Upon her return, Barbara faces problems beyond her control. Her brother and two friends take one of their teachers hostage to extort money to go on a school trip. Miyazato, the man who loves Barbara is there, but not Aiko, her best friend. Miyazato, a yakuza and manager in a nuclear power plant has forced Aiko into prostitution for the workers of the plant. Barbara plans to help her escape from this hell. Aiko has been sent to Mihama. Without even thinking for a moment, Barbara decided to go see her friend.

Nuclear Gypsies

1985

Pimp Heaven poster
3.5

Class-A Kyoto, a strip joint in Kyoto, is raided by the police. Shohei, a salesman who happens to be there, gets caught in the middle of it and is fired from his job. Having nowhere else to go, Shohei reluctantly becomes the manager of the place... The film is a comedy full of pathos about the connection between strippers called "special delivery" and the "pimps" who hang on to them.

Pimp Heaven

1975

Oishinbo poster
6.5

Based on the comic by Tatsu Kariya. Featuring journalist Shiro Yamaoka who works for Touzai Shimbun. He is a cynical food critic who is tasked by the newspaper's owner, along with the young Yuko Kurita, to provide recipes for the "ultimate menu".

Oishinbo

1996

The Blazing Sword poster
7.2

Set during the last days of the Tokugawa (Edo) Period, Moeyo-ken tells the story of Hijikata Toshizo and the Shinsengumi. Hijikata Toshizo is a samurai eager to test his skills and sword and make his first kill. The dojo he belongs to practices the Tennen Rishin style and teaches this to farmers. Not considered real samurai by other dojo, they receive a request for a duel by a rival dojo practicing the Kogen Itto style. Sohaku Rokusha, a teacher there, challenges them and fights with Hijikata Toshizo. The outcome of the fight creates a deadly animosity between them that lasts through the ages.

The Blazing Sword

1966

Vagabond Schemer poster
6.0

The return of a man to Japan from Borneo creates chaos in a village.

Vagabond Schemer

1969

Song of Love poster
6.5

The life in a small village in Shikoku and the love story between two young people.

Song of Love

1967

Free and Easy Special poster
7.3

Approached by a friend about a matchmaking arrangement, Su-san goes to Hama-chan's home seeking help. Hama-chan is away on a business trip, but Michiko entertains Su-san late into the night. When he gets drunk and ends up spending the night, Hama-chan, begins to question his boss's relationship with Michiko.

Free and Easy Special

1994

Scorpion poster
NR

Japanese drama film.

Scorpion

1967

Stray Dog poster
7.9

When his pistol is stolen, police detective Murakami is humiliated, especially when the gun is later implicated in a crime. Working with his superior, Chief Detective Sato, Murakami works feverishly to trace the location of his pistol, ultimately clashing with a gang of youthful Okinawans.

Stray Dog

1973

The Love and Adventures of Kuroki Taro poster
8.2

Taro Kuroki, 42, is a stuntman with a samurai's heart. He loves adventures, plays pranks with the police, tries to cure a cat lady by reversing her trauma, and finally, rescues his niece who is about to be lured into prostitution.

The Love and Adventures of Kuroki Taro

1977

The Love and Adventures of Kuroki Taro poster
8.2

Taro Kuroki, 42, is a stuntman with a samurai's heart. He loves adventures, plays pranks with the police, tries to cure a cat lady by reversing her trauma, and finally, rescues his niece who is about to be lured into prostitution.

The Love and Adventures of Kuroki Taro

1977

Deeper Than Blue poster
8.0

About a girl who marries in the middle of the Pacific War, is widowed at 18, and her unflagging struggle to survive during and after the war with her son.

Deeper Than Blue

1973

Deeper Than Blue poster
8.0

About a girl who marries in the middle of the Pacific War, is widowed at 18, and her unflagging struggle to survive during and after the war with her son.

Deeper Than Blue

1973

Location poster
8.5

The melodramatic story of a pink crew’s tragi-comedic adventures on location. A fictionalized adaptation of set photographer Ichiro Tsuda's 1980 book The Location (Za Rokēshon), an illustrated 229-page document about the cameraman’s experiences with pink cast and crew on the sets of several films produced in the late 1970's.

Location

1984

Location poster
8.5

The melodramatic story of a pink crew’s tragi-comedic adventures on location. A fictionalized adaptation of set photographer Ichiro Tsuda's 1980 book The Location (Za Rokēshon), an illustrated 229-page document about the cameraman’s experiences with pink cast and crew on the sets of several films produced in the late 1970's.

Location

1984

Women Can't Be Beaten poster
7.5

An uptight young man comes to suspect that his factory worker girlfriend has a secret involving his boorish older brother.

Women Can't Be Beaten

1969

Madcap Mixup poster
7.0

Five fellows are taken by the police for bank hold-ups.

Madcap Mixup

1969

The Mayor's Secret poster
9.0

A mayoral candidate and his love child.

The Mayor's Secret

1968

Chicken Is Barefoot poster
7.2

A disabled child of separated parents gets caught up in police espionage due to his uncanny ability to remember license plate numbers.

Chicken Is Barefoot

2004

Chicken Is Barefoot poster
7.2

A disabled child of separated parents gets caught up in police espionage due to his uncanny ability to remember license plate numbers.

Chicken Is Barefoot

2004

Chicken Is Barefoot poster
7.2

A disabled child of separated parents gets caught up in police espionage due to his uncanny ability to remember license plate numbers.

Chicken Is Barefoot

2004

Time and Tide poster
7.3

An antique shop "Jidaiya" sells time not antiques. One day a lady run into this shop with a cat.

Time and Tide

1983

Time and Tide poster
7.3

An antique shop "Jidaiya" sells time not antiques. One day a lady run into this shop with a cat.

Time and Tide

1983

Guys Who Never Learn poster
9.0

Comedy based on a book by Joji Abe, about a man in prison for the 12th time.

Guys Who Never Learn

1987

The Shy Deceiver poster
7.0

A young thug wanna-be yakuza falls in love with a country girl.

The Shy Deceiver

1968

Dream Street poster
9.0

A comedy about the lives of people living in the shopping district of Osaka.

Dream Street

1989

Inochi hateru hi made poster
NR

1966 Japanese movie

Inochi hateru hi made

1966

The Lovable Tramp poster
7.7

Saotome is a white-collar worker on the brink of a burnout who one day strikes up a friendship with Gen, a boorish drifter who approaches life one day at a time.

The Lovable Tramp

1966

The Great Department Store Robbery poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Great Department Store Robbery

1987

The Great Department Store Robbery poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Great Department Store Robbery

1987

To Dance with the White Dog poster
9.0

After the loss of his wife of 40 years, Eisuke Nakamoto finds solace in a mysterious white dog that no one else can see.

To Dance with the White Dog

2002

Onna no issho poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Onna no issho

1967