Bunji Sotoyama

Directing

Bunji Sotoyama

Born

1980-09-25 (46)

Place of birth

Prefettura di Fukuoka, Giappone

Known for

Directing

Credits

14 titles

Known for

Behind the camera

Soiree poster
7.7

Shota came to Tokyo to become an actor but has a side hustle in petty crime. On a trip back to his hometown in Wakayama he meets Takara, who is being assaulted by her father just sprung from prison. Soon they pair up and hit the road to escape.

Soiree

2020

Soiree poster
7.7

Shota came to Tokyo to become an actor but has a side hustle in petty crime. On a trip back to his hometown in Wakayama he meets Takara, who is being assaulted by her father just sprung from prison. Soon they pair up and hit the road to escape.

Soiree

2020

A List for Tomorrow poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

A List for Tomorrow

2027

Tokyo Forecast poster
NR

A collection of short films by director Bunji Sotoyama. This unique trilogy—Call My Name, Haru Urara, and Forget-me-not—is set around the concept of "a corner of light in Tokyo, 2025."

Tokyo Forecast

2025

Tea Friends poster
NR

Shigeo Tokioka (Tetsu Watanabe), a lonely man who has lost his wife, sees a three-line ad for a club in the newspaper that reads, "Tea drinking friends wanted". Mana Sasaki (Rei Okamoto) along with a group of youngsters runs the club, which is actually a prostitution business specializing in arranging appointments for call girls who are over sixty-five years old. A socially-conscious ensemble drama inspired by the news of an actual 2013 prostitution club bust involving the elderly. Directed and written by Sotoyama Bunji, who made his feature film debut with Sansan.

Tea Friends

2023

Tea Friends poster
NR

Shigeo Tokioka (Tetsu Watanabe), a lonely man who has lost his wife, sees a three-line ad for a club in the newspaper that reads, "Tea drinking friends wanted". Mana Sasaki (Rei Okamoto) along with a group of youngsters runs the club, which is actually a prostitution business specializing in arranging appointments for call girls who are over sixty-five years old. A socially-conscious ensemble drama inspired by the news of an actual 2013 prostitution club bust involving the elderly. Directed and written by Sotoyama Bunji, who made his feature film debut with Sansan.

Tea Friends

2023

A Sparkle of Life poster
9.0

Lonely after the death of her husband, whom she nursed for years, Tae decides to find a new life partner. Her family and friends try to dissuade her.

A Sparkle of Life

2013

On the way to the seaside poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

On the way to the seaside

2020

I Am Less Than Zero poster
NR

Taro, an elementary school student, uses the fact that there are no new coronavirus cases in town as an excuse to take off his mask and play around. However, his friends are hospitalized one after another, and eventually his favorite grandmother is taken away by men in protective suits.

I Am Less Than Zero

2021

名前、呼んでほしい poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

名前、呼んでほしい

2025

名前、呼んでほしい poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

名前、呼んでほしい

2025

My Life is not Sweet poster
NR

Yamano Aoi, a seventeen year old high school girl, decides to take on her mentally ill father’s sushi restaurant. Adults around her are startled by her decision and tell her it is impossible for a woman to be a sushi chef. She then reunites with her old baseball coach Shoukichi Umeda. On one snowy night, Aoi challenges Shoukichi to a baseball match. This match shines a light of hope to Aoi’s “wasabi” like life.

My Life is not Sweet

2017

My Life is not Sweet poster
NR

Yamano Aoi, a seventeen year old high school girl, decides to take on her mentally ill father’s sushi restaurant. Adults around her are startled by her decision and tell her it is impossible for a woman to be a sushi chef. She then reunites with her old baseball coach Shoukichi Umeda. On one snowy night, Aoi challenges Shoukichi to a baseball match. This match shines a light of hope to Aoi’s “wasabi” like life.

My Life is not Sweet

2017

Three Mornings poster
8.0

Three factory workers in the countryside lead ordinary lives, marked by the melancholy of everyday life and by small, meaningful gestures. A slice-of-life film about the beauty and sadness in the most inconspicuous moments.

Three Mornings

2019