
Acting
Hiroko Isayama
Born
1952-08-18 (74)
Place of birth
Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
Known for
Acting
Credits
70 titles
Known for
8.9Centered around typical Japanese food, a solitary salesman travelling through the country for business purposes, eats at its various establishments and experiences the various delicacies of Japanese cuisine.
Solitary Gourmet
2012
6.8Three millennia after the first invasion of the Space Pirates Barban, a new set of Gingamen — Hyuuga, Gouki, Hayate, Hikaru, Saya — have been selected to protect the Earth. That is, unless the Barban are able to disrupt the ceremony!
Seijuu Sentai Gingaman
1998
8.3Princess Go was the youngest of the most famous three sisters in Japanese history, who each led a remarkable life in an age of turmoil and civil war. Go loses her parents in the war, marries three times, and feuds with her own sister in competing for power. Go's husband becomes the second Tokugawa Shogun and she ensures her prominence as she gives birth to a son who later becomes the third Shogun and a daughter, a wife of the Emperor. The drama describes the age of the civil war through the eyes of Princess Go, who plays a significant part in establishing the age of peace that lasts over 200 years in Japan.
Princess Go
2011
7.1In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
Silence
2016
4.9Fujisaki Aya is a young college student whose family is 150 million yen in debt after her father's corporation went bankrupt. To earn the money, she enters the Hostess Grand Prix.
Jyouou
2005
NRA generations old family business is sent into turmoil when the sudden death of the head of the family opens the door to a fierce struggle between his three powerful and privileged daughters and the young mistress of modest means pregnant with his child.
Matrilineal Family
2005
Film credits
2020s · 4 titles
7.0Adapted from a book of poems by poet Taichi Nakao, the film is a road story set in beautiful nature and tranquil landscapes about a lonely janitor who doesn't communicate well and Haru, a teenage girl who is different, who travels on Route 29, which connects Hyogo-Himeji City to Tottori City, and through their encounters with marvelous people, they gain a richness of feelings, strengthen their bonds, and become fulfilled in their hearts.
Route29
2024
5.4Atsuhisa lives with wife Natsumi and daughter Suzu. He and friend Takeda study languages to become businessmen. When Natsumi reveals an affair and wants divorce, their lives change.
All the Things We Never Said
2020
6.1Yuji Takanashi is a university philosophy professor who can't swim. Making awkward justifications to himself about the relationship between water and people, still he decides on the spur of the moment to enroll in a swimming class. There he encounters the teacher Shizuka Usuhara, who ignores his last-minute hesitation and enrolls him.
Yes, I Can't Swim
2022
8.0After his father-in-law Makoto fractures his leg, young professional Yuta travels from his home in Tokyo to a rural town in Kyushu to take care of the older man and help out in his old-fashioned photo studio.
Memorizu
2026
2010s · 5 titles
7.1In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
Silence
2016
6.7Mika works as a nurse by day; by night she entertains covetous men at a girls' bar. Shinji is blind in one eye and ekes out a living as a construction worker. Young and grown-up at the same time, they both lead a lonely existence, but somehow their paths keep miraculously crossing under the Tokyo sky.
The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue
2017
6.4A man has thrown away love and a woman has given up on love. The two souls meet in a brief summer in the northern city of Hakodate.
The Light Shines Only There
2014
7.2Majime, an eccentric man in publishing company, who has unique ability of words, joins the team that will compile a new dictionary, The Great Passage. In the eclectic team, he becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries. But the team is overwhelmed with problems.
The Great Passage
2013
6.4Set within the fictional city of Mahoro, Keisuke Tada runs a "benriya" - a general problem solver for hire. His assistant is his former high school classmate Haruhiko Gyoten. A big crisis then occurs for them.
Disconcerto
2014
2000s · 13 titles
6.8Two contract killers cross paths in the middle of the same job and realize they are childhood friends. Together they take a break from killing and visit the small island they once called home. After reflecting on their past lives they decided to team up and use their talents in killing for good... much to the upset of the crime syndicates.
Dead or Alive 2: Birds
2000
NRThe body of a 59-year-old male is found on the banks of a river. The stepson, Kazuo, confesses to his involvement but also implicates his estranged sister Nami. Two detectives, Okishima Keisuke and Kono Kaoru, then travel to the resort district of Beppu to stake out the house of Nami's ex-lover. They feel he may also be implicated in the murder and are certain that Nami will make contact. The detectives now wait.
Kanashiki Tenshi
2006
6.1Guitarist Ko-chan is a mess of sexual repression after a childhood at the mercy of two elder sisters eager to use him as a guinea pig for their make-up skills. Bassist Gaku-chan keeps a bucket in the wings for whenever his nerves get the better of him, and drummer Momo-chan is doomed to forever carrying the botched childhood attempts at self-tattooing. It's not until this foursome is forced to look for an additional guitar player after Jin's dad burns his Stratocaster, that attitude and musical ability enter into the equation. Leather-clad, shade-wearing Tani (Tamaki), inseparable from his black Les Paul, is introduced as the king of R'n'R cool and Jinnai keeps him firmly seated on his throne throughout the film, retroactively proclaiming the guitarist, rather than himself, as the band's true hero.
Rockers
2003
6.2When Bussan learns he has less than a year to live, he decides to continue his life as usual. He spends his time with his friends, a band called Kisarazu Cat's Eye. Their funny adventures range from playing gigs to solving a mystery surrounding counterfeit money, but Bussan's impending death is never far away.
Kisarazu Cat's Eye: Nihon Series
2003
6.8In a world where vendettas are officially sanctioned, the people sometimes needed help in carrying out their vengeance. Sanada Hiroyuki stars as Sukeroku the Helper, a ‘cool and rambling yakuza’ that has made a business out of helping victims carry out their revenge. When he returns to his hometown to pay a visit to his mother’s grave he meets a deadly ronin who carries a secret which eventually leads him into a vendetta of his own.
Vengeance for Sale
2002
NRTakumi, the former boss of the Black Black Black Skull Gang, is about to graduate and he chooses Taiga as his successor. During the handover, a transfer student named Monji tries to usurp the throne of the Black Skull Gang.
GACHI-BAN II
2008
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Young Thugs: Kaoru-chan's Strongest Legend EPISODE I
2001
5.0Shohei works as a doctor in a seaside hospital. One day, a new patient is admitted to the hospital with ovarian cancer. Shohei is surprised to recognize Michiko, his first love from high school. Shohei has been leading a dissolute bachelor life, paying for the company of high school girls and dating an older woman who works in a local bar, but in reality, for the last twenty years, he has not forgotten Michiko. Unfortunately though, Michiko doesn't remember him at all. Shohei becomes more and more persistent in his attempts to get her to recall their past. At first she is annoyed by his overtures, but gradually warms to the doctor. Under Shohei's kind and patient care, Michiko's condition improves and her cancer becomes operable. The operation is a success, but now Shohei himself learns that he has terminal cancer.
Sayonara Color
2005
9.02000 live-action Japanese film.
As the River Flows
2000
6.8Kaido is a professional pickpocket who works the Tokyo subway with his young foster-daughter, Rei: She lets herself be groped while Kaido relieves the groper of his wallet. More often than not they're observed by a middle-aged cop, who generally lets Kaido go free. Rei is unsettled when Kaido takes on a young street punk, Kazuki, as an apprentice -- with instructions to make Kaido stop drinking. Kazuki, however, would like to go into business with Rei.
Pickpocket
2000
6.2Aimi and her father move into an old, apartment building and learn quickly that things are not as they seem.
Tales of Terror: Haunted Apartment
2005
8.0Junji, the protagonist of FM89.3MHz, must become the principal of a nursery school in Kabukicho after the death of Okawa Clan's boss.
The Yakuza Principal
2007
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Young Thugs: Kaoru-chan's Strongest Legend Banchou Soccer
2003
1990s · 9 titles
6.2Near the end of Japanese civil war, several disgraced ronin living in Edo's red light district attempt to regain their honor by defending a brothel from a hostile militia bent on wiping out local prostitutes.
Ronin-gai
1990
7.0A middle-aged journalist looking to make her big break. After working the same beat on the "women's page", Yumiko gets promoted to editorials.
Turning Point
1994
7.0Japanese anthology follows the depressing lives of several people just trying to keep going in a nihilistic world. Movie version of Kosuke Suzuki‘s previous SOV movie by the same title.
Happy People
1997
8.5No synopsis available yet.
Inamura Jane
1990
6.4Believing his boss double-crossed him, recently released gangster Yasuo is on his way to find the betrayer, but before setting out, he asks Kenji to care for his mentally challenged sister and a mysterious black bag.
Helpless
1996
9.0No synopsis available yet.
Bakayarō! 4 You!
1991
7.0No synopsis available yet.
The Man with Two Hearts
1996
10.0A murder mystery told in one-minute clips — one for each day of the year — filmed specifically for the SEGA Dreamcast console. It tells the story of Nao Tsunoda, a 16-year-old schoolgirl who moves to Tokyo’s Grauenheim apartment complex. One day, Nao’s life turns into a nightmare when she suddenly discovers the headless corpse of her neighbor on the roof of the house — and a chain of brutal murders continues, becoming clear that a psychopath is hunting the apartment building's inhabitants.
Birdcage of Horrors
1999
NRSecond "The Story of Terror" film by Junji Inagawa.
Junji Inagawa's the Story of Terror II
1998
1980s · 7 titles
7.0Toru Hayashi is an unremarkable bachelor who lives with his mother, until one day a young woman named Rumi moves in in the apartment upstairs. Rumi is a self-proclaimed master thief, but she needs socially awkward Toru's help to actually kickstart her so-called career.
Kaito Ruby
1988
3.8A documentary compilation that shows various clips from the Roman Porno series of movies from 1971 to 1988.
That's Roman Porno: Smile of Goddesses
1988
7.2Eiji lives a quiet life running a small Izakaya with his wife. He spends his days cooking for and serving the lively residents of his small hometown.
Choji Snack Bar
1983
10.0After a passenger ship sinks in 1954, Go Akutsu devises a life-saving project in the form of a tunnel under the Tsugaru Strait. While working on this project Akutsu becomes involved with Tae Makimura leading to his estrangement from his wife.
The Longest Tunnel
1982
9.0A story about a woman who is a research student of a theater company and the three men who are at the mercy of her.
Manon
1981
7.0A young man gets thrown into detention after an episode of attempted rape. He soon meets several individuals claiming to be ministers of their own micronation…
At This Late Date, the Charleston
1981
NRNishimura Gosaku, an aspiring photographer who loves mountain scenery, meets a boy named Sada Ichiro one evening who asks to borrow train fare. For some reason, Ichiro follows Nishimura everywhere. When told to go home, Ichiro refuses, claiming he doesn't want to return because of his estranged parents. Reluctantly, Nishimura lets Ichiro stay the night. The next day, Nishimura takes photos of Ichiro by the Sumida River, and they part ways on good terms. Meanwhile, Ichiro's worried father, Shigeo and mother, Fujiko, desperately ask Ichiro's classmates and tutoring teachers for his whereabouts, but no one knows where he is. Suddenly, Shigeo receives a phone call demanding a ransom of 10 million yen.
Hariko no tora
1983
1970s · 22 titles
6.2A tough prosecutor is falsely accused of theft and goes on the run to clear his name. He is assisted by the beautiful daughter of a rich man.
Manhunt
1976
5.6Sachiko has just committed a crime. She is helped by a couple to whom she grants her confidence. Quickly this couple blackmails her and threatens to deliver her to the police. Sachiko has no other choice but to obey them.
Woods Are Wet
1973
7.1After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.
Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41
1972
7.0A detective wonders that his sister is a murder suspect.
The Perennial Weed
1975
7.5In the summer of 1947, various men and women gather at a mansion in the countryside at the invitation of Kazuma Utagawa. They are artists, novelists, poets, painters, playwrights, actresses, etc. Then the murders begin, one after another. The incident seemed to have no continuity...
Case of the Disjointed Murder
1977
7.8Yakuza Gang War is at the height in North Kyūshū Area in the summer of 1950, particularly between the Okagen Group and the rising Hashiden Gang. Now with the mediation/interference of the Americans, they decide to settle it in a peaceful, *democratic* way, that is, to settle it with a baseball game. Now, with its money and power, The Hashiden group soon recruits a group of gamblers known to be good at baseball from the whole country. So, what is the Okagen Gumi gonna do?
Dynamite Don-Don
1978
8.2After over 50 years of wandering up and down Japan, finally in the 1970s, the rough-hewn blind shamisen player and folk-song collector named Takahashi Chikuzan became a musical sensation. This biographical drama chronicles his wanderings and his life, with a particular focus on his humble beginnings as a peasant on a remote and arid island.
The Life of Chikuzan
1977
7.2In the midst of a match, Hayato, a successful boxer, has had enough of the sport. He lets himself get knocked out, and quits boxing, leaving his wife and living alone with his mangy dog. One day a young mediocre boxer knocks at the door and wants to be Hayato's apprentice.
The Boxer
1977
7.0A mountain bandit abducts a woman who demands he kill his other wives to please her, leading to a cycle of violence and madness fueled by superstition and obsession.
Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees
1975
5.8Ichijo Sayuri, once the legendary queen of Osaka strippers, has retired to run a sushi shop. She is awaiting her day in court after having been arrested for indecency at her farewell performance. While she was active, she was both the rival and the model for many young strippers. Harumi was one of them. Ichijo Sayuri was the real-life queen of Osaka strippers who was arrested on her final performance.
Ichijo's Wet Lust
1972
5.9During the military phase of the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Sentaro joins a local militia loyal to the Tokugawa Shogunate in order to fight Imperial troops. But Sentaro's friendship with a pickpocket, who switches sides whenever it suits his needs, leads to complications that could cost Sentaro his life as they infiltrate enemy lines.
Battle Cry
1975
7.7The great Daimyo enlists the aid of the three Shadow Hunters in ensuring the delivery of an illegal cannon in this sequel to Toshio Masuda's bloody adaptation of the manga by Takao Saito. Despite the Shadow Hunters's remarkable skill, this mission is no walk in the park, and in order to survive they must face a relentless army of ninjas and female warriors willing to sacrifice their lives to disrupt the delivery and claim the cannon for themselves.
Shadow Hunters 2: Echo of Destiny
1972
4.5Mejika, reputed for her iron discipline, is hired as a biology teacher at a renowned high school. But her provocative attitude starts to worry the school's administration as she reveals vice and corruption that are running rampant in the school.
Teacher Deer
1978
6.2Girl Boss Ruriko and her cellmates escape from a greedy corrupt reform school that's more interested in cheating the government out of money than reformation. Each having their own reasons for escaping, they go their separate ways. With the help of a young mechanic, who's also on the lam, Ruriko tries to realize her dream of leaving the island of Japan behind. But the authorities are always one step behind her...
Girl Boss: Escape From Reform School
1973
4.0Yukie, Koichi and Akira are rogues looking for a place to crash. They move into a house which Etsuko (Kaori Momoi) inherited from her parents. Soon after getting settled, the hippies slip into a communal lifestyle. They eat, have sex, and generally share everything together.
Sweet Scent of Eros
1973
6.0Based on the comic by Housei Hasegawa
Hakatakko Pure Heart
1978
4.7A girl falls for a pickpocketer who gets arrested, so she hooks up with his ex-girlfriend and his ex-cellmate.
Playful White Fingers
1972
4.0Life in the pep squad is all about harsh discipline. Seniors are "Gods", juniors are "Humans", sophomores are "Slaves" and freshmen are treated like "Trash". One sunny day, two freshmen are entrusted with the task to dry out the squadron's flag; the most cherished and symbolic item of the squad. When they accidentally burn a hole in the flag with a cigarette, they blame Aota. Aota attempts to take full responsibility by committing "harakiri", but changes his mind during the process – a deep stab to the stomach has inspired him with a better idea.
Ah! That Pep Squad
1976
4.2While rotting away in jail, Okamoto learns of the death of his beloved sister, Natsuko. Violently assaulted by a group of U.S. military men during a drunken joyride, she was found dead by local authorities. Haunted by the tragedy, Okamoto escapes from jail to hunt down and kill those who destroyed the life of his sister. What he uncovers during his investigation is much more horrifying than he could ever imagine...
Sex Hunter: Wet Target
1972
7.0About small-time gangster Asakichi's chaotic life in the 1930s. His gambling addiction means that he must not continue working in the family business. Instead he supports himself by arranging cockfights. He becomes ex-geisha Okinu's patron and lover, and falls directly into disfavor with the yakuza.
Akumyo: Notorious Dragon
1974
9.0The rich punk Junya has only one thing in mind: to race with the police on his motorcycle. That makes him unpopular, not only with the police, even with his Bosozoku buddies, who slowly but surely distance themselves from him. Junya falls in love with the equally speed-hungry Hiroko.
Hell Riders in Kyoto
1973
NRNo synopsis available yet.
The Fighting Rascal
1979
Series credits
8.9Centered around typical Japanese food, a solitary salesman travelling through the country for business purposes, eats at its various establishments and experiences the various delicacies of Japanese cuisine.
Solitary Gourmet
2012
6.8Three millennia after the first invasion of the Space Pirates Barban, a new set of Gingamen — Hyuuga, Gouki, Hayate, Hikaru, Saya — have been selected to protect the Earth. That is, unless the Barban are able to disrupt the ceremony!
Seijuu Sentai Gingaman
1998
8.3Princess Go was the youngest of the most famous three sisters in Japanese history, who each led a remarkable life in an age of turmoil and civil war. Go loses her parents in the war, marries three times, and feuds with her own sister in competing for power. Go's husband becomes the second Tokugawa Shogun and she ensures her prominence as she gives birth to a son who later becomes the third Shogun and a daughter, a wife of the Emperor. The drama describes the age of the civil war through the eyes of Princess Go, who plays a significant part in establishing the age of peace that lasts over 200 years in Japan.
Princess Go
2011
4.9Fujisaki Aya is a young college student whose family is 150 million yen in debt after her father's corporation went bankrupt. To earn the money, she enters the Hostess Grand Prix.
Jyouou
2005
NRA generations old family business is sent into turmoil when the sudden death of the head of the family opens the door to a fierce struggle between his three powerful and privileged daughters and the young mistress of modest means pregnant with his child.
Matrilineal Family
2005
NRYumechiyo is the madam of a geisha house in a remote hot spring in the San'in region. When Yumechiyo learns that she is dying of leukemia caused by the atomic bomb, she writes about her life in the form of a diary, which is a collection of human dramas and the joys and sorrows of her life.
Yumechiyo Nikki
1981
NRSenkichi Mizuta, a pharmaceutical company employee, and Shuzo Kadokura, a war profiteer, are diametrically opposed in appearance and personality, but are best friends. Kadokura secretly loves Mizuta's wife, Tami, and both Mizuta and Tami are aware of it. The drama depicts the subtle relationship between the two men and the people around them against the backdrop of the times and customs of the early Showa period, in which both are aware of each other's love, but no one speaks of it.
A-Un
1980
NROn her 18th birthday, Nami witnesses the brutal murder of her parents by a man with a burn on his hand. She is then falsely accused of the crime and sent to jail. Sworn to vengeance, Nami battles corrupt officials and cruel inmates to escape prison, only to search through the underbelly of Japanese society to find the man with a burn on his hand, ‘stinging’ anyone in her way.
Sasori
2004
NRJutaro Torikai is a senior detective set to uncover the truth behind an apparent double suicide.
Dots and Lines
2007
NRSeries about all-female private investigation agency.
Miracle Girl
1980
