Jun Ōtomo

First film of a trilogy following the dramatic life of Rika, a half-Japanese/half-American woman who becomes the tough-as-nails leader of an all-girl crime gang.

Nobuo Nakagawa’s two-part adaptation of San’yūtei Enchō’s classic ghost tale follows the doomed romance between Shinzaburō and Otsuyu, whose death does not end their relationship. As Otsuyu’s spirit returns night after night, the greed of their neighbour Banzō sets in motion a widening chain of betrayal, murder and supernatural revenge. In 2007, the two parts were screened together theatrically as a single 95-minute work during a repertory run at Cinema Vera Shibuya in Tokyo.

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

A group of sinners involved in interconnected tales of murder, revenge, deceit and adultery all meet at the Gates of Hell.

At the end of the Greater East Asia War, young Amada Koichi and his father were wrongfully accused as spy suspects and his father died in prison after being tortured. Ten years later, Amada seeks for revenge on the three men responsible for his father death.

Murder case and trial.

The All Girl's Rugby Team try to keep their private college from falling into the hands of Yakuza and unscrupulous businessmen.

The murder of the chief official of Kobe city's Customs triggers an investigation of a prostitution ring called the 'Yellow Line' that sells Japanese women. A hired assassin is betrayed by his organization, and kidnaps a woman who happens to be the girlfriend of a newspaper reporter.

No synopsis available yet.

Japanese war film.

Freelance reporter “Scoop” Machida is hot on the trail of a prostitution ring called the Black Line, when he is framed for the murder of a young woman. Forced to clear his own name, the handsome journalist sinks deeper into the Black Line’s rotten swamp of drugs, prostitution, and murder and finds unexpected help in Maya, a steamy female gambler familiar with the neon-lit streets, shadowy alleyways, and seedy nightclubs he must navigate. The closest film in the Line series to classic American film noir, Ishii’s Black Line is a pulpy assortment of crime film conventions including the starkly expressionistic black and white cinematography by Jûgyô Yoshida, a jazzy music score by Michiaki Watanabe, and a sleazy screenplay by Ishii and Ichirô Miyagawa.

The year is 1945, months prior to Japan's ultimate defeat in WW2, and military lieutenant Sugawa is sent on a critical mission to deliver micro-fiche war plans to Tokyo from his base in Malaysia. But while flying over Chinese waters his plane is shot down and he is taken aboard a ship bound for Shanghai to deliver its merchandise - a ship filled with Female Slaves kidnapped from Japan. Will he abandon the women to pursue his main objective? Or will he fight foes, spies and pirates to save these women against all odds?

Crime film distributed by Taiho.

Two young crooks who scam betters in the race track are employed by a yakuza gang called the Shigemori Syndicate to steal a shipment of handguns from a rival gang. Somewhere in the process they find themselves on the run from their own gang and one of them becomes himself romantically entangled with the boss's girlfriend. An ambitious underboss of the gang offers them a way out if they murder the previous boss but things don't turn out as planned (for everyone).

Second movie in the Sakura Code series.

No synopsis available yet.

Japanese crime film.

No synopsis available yet.

Rumi (Yoko Mihara) and Emi (Masayo Banri) are sisters who dance nightly at the Blue Moon cabaret, which happens be the headquarters of a drug ring. Offstage, Rumi captivates the gang boss, Iwahara (Shuntaro Emi); while Emi attracts the portly club manager, Yajima (Saburo Sawai). Meanwhile their older brother Shinichi (Ryo Kuromaru), a seaman, is unwittingly assisting Iwahara with his drug running. When Shinichi’s ship is sea-jacked by another drug gang, an outraged Iwahara suspects him of treachery and has him beaten and confined in a dungeon-like basement. Rumi and Emi try to free him, but a gang hitman discovers them - and their attempt ends in failure. Now under suspicion themselves, the girls try to escape, but luck goes against them and they are taken to an island where Iwahara and his crew plan to ambush the rival gang.

Japanese action film.

Horror film directed by Satoru Kobayashi. Kin'ya Ogawa served as Kobayashi's assistant on this film.

After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labour chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts and moves with his newlywed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

Two detectives begin a stakeout based on the slim chance of catching a murderer whom they suspect will try to reunite with an old flame.

This horror tale adapts the Japanese legend about a man who faces the consequences of betraying his wife in order to acquire wealth and power.

No synopsis available yet.

Based on the novel by proletarian writer Sunao Tokunaga. The story is about a long strike by workers at a large printing house and the strikers' steadfastness, which neither hunger nor violence could break. The heroine of this story actively participates in her colleagues' struggle against layoffs, oppression, and police brutality.

A love triangle develops between a benevolent student, his innocent girlfriend, and a cruel petty criminal, all as a point of diagnosis of a social disease that had Japan slowly succumbing to lawlessness during the post-War era.

No synopsis available yet.

The first installment of Seven-Color Mask: King Rose.

In 1941, overpopulated Japan faces an economic boycott and its armed forces push further to the south. And despite negotiations between Japan and the U. S. A. war is declared with the attack on Pearl Harbour. Victories follow for Japan on land and sea and her forces push forward to the borders of India. But gradually the tide turns in favour of the Allies and after the atom bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan is compelled to accept the Potsdam Declaration and by the order of the Emperor agrees to unconditional surrender. Under the supervision of the occupation forces the International Military Tribunal opens in Tokyo to try the Japanese war leaders. Established in the cause of justice, and to prevent future aggressive wars the trials drag on for two and a half years. And on December 23, 1948, General Tojo and six other war leaders mount the thirteen steps to the gallows at Tokyo's Sugamo prison.

War drama about army nurses.

1959 film directed by Teruo Ishii for Shintoho.

First film in Teruo Ishii's Line series.

A battle for a large sum of money unfolds on the docks near a steel mill in a foggy atmosphere. Manzo, an engineer on the verge of retirement, witnesses two men shooting each other and collapsing on the quay while his assistant Shinsuke is away.

No synopsis available yet.

Japanese spy film.

King Rose returns, unleashing terror from beyond the grave. Detective Kotaro Ran, as Seven-Color Mask, investigates eerie crimes. As he unravels the mystery, he faces deadly traps and a final battle to stop King Rose's reign.. The third and final installment of Seven-Color Mask: King Rose.

The second installment of Seven-Color Mask: King Rose.

Three sisters earn money for their bossy mother by being samisen street musicians. This means mainly playing a banjo type instrument for tips in bars...

An episodic film about life in and around a rural police station and the people it serves.