Writing

Yoshitaka Asama

Born

1940-06-29 (86)

Place of birth

Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

Known for

Writing

Credits

40 titles

Known for

The Twilight Samurai poster
7.8

Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?

The Twilight Samurai

2002

The Yellow Handkerchief poster
7.0

A convict, newly released from prison for murder, joins two strangers on a road trip through Hokkaido to visit his ex-wife, whom he hasn't seen in four years, knowing that if she puts a yellow handkerchief on the window, it would mean that she wants him back at home.

The Yellow Handkerchief

1977

Tora-san Plays Daddy poster
8.3

A playboy-gambler friend of Tora-san’s dies and, abandoned by his mother, his little boy suddenly turns up in Shibamata. Searching for the boy’s mother, Tora-san meets a cosmetics saleslady and the three become a surrogate family, with Tora-san as “daddy”.

Tora-san Plays Daddy

1987

Tora-san's Forget Me Not poster
8.4

On the road again, Torajiro meets a kindred spirit in Lily, a lounge singer.

Tora-san's Forget Me Not

1973

Downtown Heroes poster
8.6

The adventures and tribulations of a group of students during the years following the II World War.

Downtown Heroes

1988

A Distant Cry from Spring poster
7.4

The quiet life of a mother and her young son living on a farm in Hokkaido is changed by the arrival of a man who ignites flames of romance in the heart of the mother and shows her boy the importance of grit and kindness, but then he leaves with the autumn wind.

A Distant Cry from Spring

1980

Behind the camera

The Twilight Samurai poster
7.8

Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?

The Twilight Samurai

2002

The Yellow Handkerchief poster
7.0

A convict, newly released from prison for murder, joins two strangers on a road trip through Hokkaido to visit his ex-wife, whom he hasn't seen in four years, knowing that if she puts a yellow handkerchief on the window, it would mean that she wants him back at home.

The Yellow Handkerchief

1977

Tora-san Plays Daddy poster
8.3

A playboy-gambler friend of Tora-san’s dies and, abandoned by his mother, his little boy suddenly turns up in Shibamata. Searching for the boy’s mother, Tora-san meets a cosmetics saleslady and the three become a surrogate family, with Tora-san as “daddy”.

Tora-san Plays Daddy

1987

Tora-san's Forget Me Not poster
8.4

On the road again, Torajiro meets a kindred spirit in Lily, a lounge singer.

Tora-san's Forget Me Not

1973

Downtown Heroes poster
8.6

The adventures and tribulations of a group of students during the years following the II World War.

Downtown Heroes

1988

A Distant Cry from Spring poster
7.4

The quiet life of a mother and her young son living on a farm in Hokkaido is changed by the arrival of a man who ignites flames of romance in the heart of the mother and shows her boy the importance of grit and kindness, but then he leaves with the autumn wind.

A Distant Cry from Spring

1980

Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies poster
6.6

Director Ogata discovers a new female star in Koharu Tanaka, who works selling candy at a studio theater and she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters.

Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies

1986

Tora-san's Love in Osaka poster
9.0

When his travels bring him to Osaka, Tora-san falls in love with a local geisha. He helps her to track down her estranged brother, and informs his family that he plans to marry her. His plans are foiled when the geisha informs Tora-san that she is engaged.

Tora-san's Love in Osaka

1981

Tora-san's Song of Love poster
8.3

Tora-san returns to his family home to learn that his brother-in-law cannot go to Mitsuo's (Tora-san's nephew) athletic event. Tora-san volunteers to take his place, but gets into an argument with his brother-in-law's boss and returns to the road. He meets a young woman in Niigata who, unbeknownst to him, is a popular enka singer.

Tora-san's Song of Love

1983

Tora-san's Dream of Spring poster
8.2

Tora-san's opinions about Americans get challenged when another wandering peddler Michael Jordan stops by Shibamata.

Tora-san's Dream of Spring

1979

A Class to Remember II poster
6.4

The story follows the teacher and students of the Ryubetsu Handicapped High School.

A Class to Remember II

1996

Tora-san Goes Religious? poster
7.7

Tora-san visits brother-in-law Hiroshi's hometown to attend a memorial service for his late father. When the local temple priest becomes intoxicated, Tora-san wearing the priest's robe delivers the memorial speech, much to his family's surprise. Thinking he's found his true calling, Tora-san decides to join the order, and falls for the priest's divorced daughter.

Tora-san Goes Religious?

1983

Talk of the Town Tora-san poster
8.0

After a chance encounter with Hiroshi's father on a bus, Tora decides to get serious and reflect on the mortality of man. His plans are derailed when a beautiful lady starts working at Toraya.

Talk of the Town Tora-san

1978

A Class to Remember poster
7.4

A cantankerous but loveable high school teacher teaches a night school in a poor neighborhood for adult students on the fringes of Japanese society.

A Class to Remember

1993

Tora-san, the Good Samaritan poster
8.0

After a quarrel with his mother, Torajiro sets off to find a bride.

Tora-san, the Good Samaritan

1971

Tora-san Meets His Lordship poster
8.8

Tora-san befriends the descendant of a feudal lord. The man asks Tora to locate his deceased son's wife who resides somewhere in Tokyo.

Tora-san Meets His Lordship

1977

Our Symphony poster
9.0

One summer day, Tokujiro, who works at an ironworks in the industrial area of ​​Kawasaki, joins a choir group in order to seduce the girls who have come to Kawasaki to sing Beethoven's Ninth . Aiming for the performance in December, Tokujiro undergoes several setbacks through rigorous training and training camps, but before he knows it, he and his troupe members are working hard to make the performance a success.

Our Symphony

1979

Our Symphony poster
9.0

One summer day, Tokujiro, who works at an ironworks in the industrial area of ​​Kawasaki, joins a choir group in order to seduce the girls who have come to Kawasaki to sing Beethoven's Ninth . Aiming for the performance in December, Tokujiro undergoes several setbacks through rigorous training and training camps, but before he knows it, he and his troupe members are working hard to make the performance a success.

Our Symphony

1979

Tora-san's Salad-Day Memorial poster
8.3

In his travels through Japan, Tora-san meets and falls in love with a female doctor, however he is afraid of committing to a relationship.

Tora-san's Salad-Day Memorial

1988

Tora-san, the Matchmaker poster
8.7

Tora-san helps out a runaway bride.

Tora-san, the Matchmaker

1979

Tora-san Goes North poster
9.0

When his travels take him to rural Hokkaido, Tora-san helps a cantankerous old veterinarian (Mifune) in his relationships with his estranged daughter, and a woman in whom he is secretly interested.

Tora-san Goes North

1987

Free and Easy: Samurai Edition poster
7.2

A traveling ronin perceived as a fool impresses a samurai leader with his fishing skills and gains employment.

Free and Easy: Samurai Edition

1998

Ekisutora poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Ekisutora

1982

Ekisutora poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Ekisutora

1982

Tora-san's Forbidden Love poster
8.0

Tora-san spends several days at the home of a hard-working salaryman ("salaried worker"), who abruptly disappears. When the man's wife asks Tora-san to help find him, he falls in love with her, and secretly hopes the husband will not be found.

Tora-san's Forbidden Love

1984

Tora-san, the Expert poster
8.7

Tora-san gets into an argument with his uncle and sets out on the road again. In Kyushu he meets a young woman named Keiko and the shy zoologist Saburō, and attempts to play matchmaker between the two when they all return to Tokyo.

Tora-san, the Expert

1982

The Rainbow Seeker 2 poster
NR

Sequel to The Rainbow Seeker where Ryo meets Katsu on a small island in the south of Japan. There, he falls in love for a single mother.

The Rainbow Seeker 2

1997

Tora-san, My Uncle poster
8.2

Tora-san's nephew Mitsuo is exchanging letters with Izumi, a former classmate whose parents divorced and took her out of Tokyo.

Tora-san, My Uncle

1989

Tora-san's Matchmaker poster
9.0

After failing to find a job, Mitsuo becomes a fisherman on a small island, and develops a crush on a young nurse there. Tora-san, dispatched to bring Mitsuo back home, himself falls in love with an attractive but troubled woman visiting her father.

Tora-san's Matchmaker

1993

Tora-san's Promise poster
8.7

Tora-san returns to his family's home to attend an elementary school class reunion. After he embarrasses himself by getting drunk and insulting all his ex-classmates, he resumes his travels. In Kyushu he meets an outspoken 18-year-old girl who becomes enamored of Tora-san and follows him around. One of Tora-san's old friends is terminally ill and makes Tora-san promise him to marry his wife once he is gone.

Tora-san's Promise

1981

Tora-san's Dream-Come-True poster
8.3

When Tora-san returns to visit his family, he is surprised to find an arrogant professor occupying his room. The professor and Tora-san become rivals for the affection of Chiyo.

Tora-san's Dream-Come-True

1972

Tora-san's Lovesick poster
8.0

After Torajiro's latest attempt to find a bride goes awry, he starts traveling again and runs into Utako (last seen in Tora-san's Dear Old Home), now a widow.

Tora-san's Lovesick

1974

Tora-san's Dear Old Home poster
8.3

While Sakura and Hiroshi struggle to save funds to build a house, Torajiro befriends three young women on vacation during his travels.

Tora-san's Dear Old Home

1972

Stage-Struck Tora-san poster
8.2

Tora-san leaves Shibamata once again after an argument with his family and finds himself at an inn where he meets Tomekichi, a young man who looks up to Tora-san.

Stage-Struck Tora-san

1978

The Village poster
7.4

This appears to be a labor of love. Its about a village which is given the opportunity to put on a musical. They would have to pay the overhead and, being that they are farmers and always busy and not rich, question the wisdom and feasibility of such an idea. A spokesperson for the acting troupe Ms. Kono lays out the whole thing and they must decide. You get little slices of rural life in Japan far, at least in sentiment, from Tokyo. The best thing about this film is that it has heart. The acting is good, but it is really about the simple storyline of outing on a show. Films rarely get made with such simplistic plots these days. Enjoy this little slice of what city people call “the simple life”.

The Village

1975

A Class to Remember III: The New Voyage poster
6.6

A widow who has single-handedly raised her autistic son loses her job and begins attending a technical college to gain new qualifications. She meets others looking for a new start in life, including a former salaryman with whom she begins a furtive romance...

A Class to Remember III: The New Voyage

1998

Free and Easy 12: Big Holiday Bonus Project poster
7.2

Mr. Takano, a company employee, announces plans to take an early retirement so he can return to his home town and spend his days fishing. Su-san and Hama-chan envy his decision, and Hama-chan conspires to visit Takano, even though he has no vacation time left.

Free and Easy 12: Big Holiday Bonus Project

2001

Tora-san's Island Encounter poster
8.3

Tora-san's family's neighbor, Akemi, who had been married in Marriage Counselor Tora-san (1984), runs away from her husband, who is only interested in work. Tora-san follows her to Shikinejima, and attempts to bring her back to her home. In doing so he encounters a school-reunion group who are traveling to meet their elementary school teacher, which is a reference to the film Twenty-Four Eyes by Keisuke Kinoshita. Tora-san joins them and falls in love with the teacher.

Tora-san's Island Encounter

1985

Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset poster
8.8

Tora-san arrives in Shibamata on Mitsuo's first day of school only to find that on his account, Mitsuo was embarrassed. After a fight with his family, he goes to a bar to drink, then brings home a surly old man with a sad story, whose identity will surprise everyone. Later, Tora meets Botan, a geisha.

Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset

1976

Tora-san's Love Call poster
8.4

Taking a message from Hiroshi's father to heart, Torajiro attempts to give up his wandering ways.

Tora-san's Love Call

1971