
Acting
Akihiko Katayama
Born 1926-11-11 · Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
Acting credits
7.3The story of Ryoma Sakamoto, considered to be the architect behind the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was considered an outlaw by his own clan, hunted by his government, and was despised by supporters of the Shogun as well as the Loyalists for desiring the opening of Japan to the West in order to learn its technology, in the hopes of one day defeating the West with a modern army and navy.
The Ambitious
1970
NRDirectorial debut by Umetsugu Inoue, the famous director of Musicals
Love's Cheerleader
1952
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Asakusa monogatari
1953
7.0A teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.
Mother
1952
6.3In post-war Japan, Michiko, a disillusioned young woman trapped in a loveless marriage, confides in her younger cousin, Tsutomo, and the two become close, but decide not to consummate their affair. He instead becomes involved with the flirtatious Tomiko, who is also conducting an affair with Michiko's husband. When Michiko finds that her husband has abandoned her, she decides to take her fate into her own hands.
The Lady of Musashino
1951
7.0The common-law wife and daughter of a wealthy old man plot to murder him and steal his fortune, with the help of their male acquaintances.
The Days of Evil Women
1958
NRA young man hands in his notice at work and breaks up with his girlfriend in order to pursue his true nature and dream of shaping the world according to his own desires. Against all the odds, he manages to push through his business idea – the foundation of an airline. At the same time, his ex-girlfriend refuses to accept their separation and attempts to force her way back into his life by any means possible. He in turn feels attracted to a young woman, who turns out to be the wife of one of his airline investors and who has herself had a secret lover for several years.
Between Yesterday and Tomorrow
1954
NRA village struggles to survive when the nearby lake becomes barren of fish.
I Saw a Phantom Fish
1950
10.0One of Uchida’s early sound films, Unending Advance is based on a curious story by Yasujiro Ozu, in which an examination of the quotidian problems of a middle-aged salaryman and his family segues into an idyllic dream of an implausible future. The surviving print, although incomplete, offers an essential glimpse into Uchida’s prewar period, when he was associated more with realist dramas than with the period films that dominated his work after the war.
Unending Advance
1937
NRThis film depicts women who throw themselves into the world of call girls as an easy way to make a living and seek pleasure, only to ruin their lives through money and sex.
Kono michi akashingō
1964
10.0Saburō Takada transfers from a city to a very small school. The village children suspect that Saburō is actually Matasaburō, the wind sprite.
Kaze no Matasaburô
1940
Produced by Shochiku’s all-star cast as a commemorative film to mark the completion of the “Shochiku Kaikan” in Tsukiji, Tokyo, this movie introduces both the Shochiku Ofuna and Kyoto studios. Part One focuses on the studio’s behind-the-scenes staff: set designers, prop masters, and lighting technicians. Part Two presents a digest-style overview of the process surrounding a young woman who auditions for the “New Faces” program, from the auditions to her debut as an actress.
Shochiku Festival: All-Star Lineup – Studio Express / The Birth of an Actress
1956
NRThe Nakata family, father, mother, son Hideo, and daughters Taeko and Akiko live in the poorer section of modern Tokyo. Their troubles start when the father leaves with another woman, returns after he is rejected, and leaves again with the family's money.
Next Door to Happiness
1955
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Doyō fujin
1948
7.0After the death of his parents, railway worker Yuichiro Murofushi returns to his hometown and agrees to an arranged marriage at the insistence of his uncle and aunt. However, the arrangement soon falls through due to various circumstances.
The Journey
1967
6.4The troubled relationship between a writer and his ballet teacher wife, who has for years loved another man, finally leads to the breakup of the family.
Dancing Girl
1951
6.6Mataemon Araki, a renowned swordsman, helps a young man find vengeance.
Vendetta of a Samurai
1952
10.0On February 4th of the 16th year of the Genroku era, Yatō Uemon no Shichi reminisces while waiting his turn for seppuku at the Mizuno residence. When news of his lord, Asano Naganori, attacking Kira Yoshinaka in the palace reached Akō, Uemon no Shichi was sixteen. The family elder, Ōishi Kuranosuke, determined to avenge, gathered allies, but Uemon no Shichi's father, Chōsuke, being sickly and considered too young, was not included. Chōsuke committed suicide.
元祿美少年記
1955
9.0Kuramoto, who works for a large trading company, is a skilled employee who is well-liked by the company president. He is engaged to an employee named Nishino Etsuko, but he used her for his own career advancement and kills her so that he can marry the company president's daughter. When Kuramoto returns from his honeymoon with his new wife, Etsuko's brother shows up in search of the whereabouts of his missing sister.
The Pit of Death
1968
9.0Toshiko is the madam of a bar in Osaka who tries to keep her private life private and claims not to have a lover. However, she is in fact having a secret affair.
She Came For Love
1963
6.5The sequel to Daibosatsu tôge (1960) and the second of the trilogy follows the adventures of Ryunosuke Tsukue after he is blinded.
Satan's Sword II: The Dragon God
1960
NRThe film is about the Yamato's suicide mission to Okinawa in March 1945 to defend the homeland threatened by U.S. bombers. Adapted from Mitsuru Yoshida's 1952 book "Requiem for the Battleship Yamato".
The Battleship Yamato
1953
Hideki Yamaga runs a used bookstore in Ginza. He is a man known for his great physical strength, helping the weak and standing up to the strong, and is deeply respected and loved by the women of the city. Nicknamed “The Lone Wolf,” Hideki takes special care of street children. One morning, he rescues Kim Ono, a country girl who was standing there dazed with a single duffel bag, and asks Katsuko, the owner of a dressmaking shop he knows well, to hire her.
Lone Wolf
1950
7.0A melodramatic love story, a would-be apprenticeship between the titular bad girl and the optimistic scholar returning from the big city. It is considered to be a lost film.
Delinquent Girl
1949