Shiro Sano

Acting

Shiro Sano

Born

1955-03-04 (71)

Place of birth

Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

102 titles

Shirō Sano (born March 4, 1955, in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese actor and director. After working with several theater companies, he had his first starring film role in To Sleep so as to Dream (1986) and gained wider recognition through the television drama Zutto Anata ga Suki datta (1992). His film credits include Violent Cop (1989), Godzilla 2000 (1999), Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), and Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). He made his directorial debut with Karaoke in 1999.

Known for

AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo poster
7.5

Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.

AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo

2002

Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen poster
9.5

No synopsis available yet.

Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen

1990

Tales of the Bizarre poster
7.8

Inspired by American TV movies like "Hitchcock Theater" and "The Twilight Zone," the show features multiple works with Tamori as the storyteller and actors as the main characters. While horror and supernatural themes are predominant, a variety of genres like comedy and drama are also produced. Most episodes, however, have a bad ending.

Tales of the Bizarre

1990

CSI: Crime Scene Talks poster
7.2

Satoshi Itomura is an assistant police investigator who belongs to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Scientific Investigation Team. Reenactments, fingerprint and voice data collections, profiling... His team collects scientific evidence and pieces together fragments of information in order to help build evidences. However, Itomura often does not care about the scientific approach and instead pays a great deal of attention to the things that the victims always carried with them or treasured. And he focuses on these things because they usually carry the victim’s dying wishes, understanding that last message not only helps solve the cases but also brings closure to the depressed family of victims.

CSI: Crime Scene Talks

2011

The Ghost Writer's Wife poster
9.1

In Meiji-era Matsue, a fallen samurai’s daughter and a lonely foreign teacher connect through ghost stories and an unlikely friendship.

The Ghost Writer's Wife

2025

Kumokiri Nizaemon poster
9.0

During the Kyoho period in the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, there is a gang of thieves active not just in Edo but also the Tokaido and the Nakasendo, and all across the Kansai region, stealing large sums of money with skillful techniques. They only target the very wealthy and never kill or injure people. They appear with the clouds and disappear like the mist. On the night that the beautiful Ochiyo is to become the bride of a dry goods dealer, a large amount of money hidden inside the shop is stolen. The gang disappears without injuring anyone. It was a two-year plan to marry Ochiyo off so that she could bring them in. The leader of this gang is Kumokiri Nizaemon, the greatest bandit of all time. He keeps a rein on his highly-skilled and notorious followers Nanabake no Ochiyo, Kinezumi no Kichigoro, Subashiri no Kumagoro, Ingakozo Rokunosuke and others.

Kumokiri Nizaemon

2013

Film credits

2020s · 10 titles

Fukushima 50 poster
6.5

Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan risk their lives and stay at the nuclear power plant to prevent total destruction after the region is devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Fukushima 50

2020

Happyend poster
6.8

In a near-future Japanese city bracing for a devastating earthquake, a group of teenage friends navigate personal struggles and fractured bonds amid rising tension.

Happyend

2024

Good News poster
7.0

When hijackers seize a Japanese flight and demand to fly to Pyongyang, a mysterious mastermind hatches a zany scheme to reroute the plane to Seoul.

Good News

2025

Two Seasons, Two Strangers poster
7.1

In summer, Nagisa and Natsuo meet by the sea. Their vacant gazes reflect each other as they exchange awkward words and wade into the rain-drenched ocean. In winter, Li, a screenwriter, travels to a snow-covered village. There, she finds a guesthouse run by Benzo.

Two Seasons, Two Strangers

2025

Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction poster
7.4

The president of the Kunpusha publishing giant suddenly dies, triggering an internal power struggle over his successor. Trinity magazine editor Hayami is forced to contend with the magazine's possible termination by senior manager Tomatsu. Hayami grapples with publishing world ruffians in a struggle for the magazine's very existence.

Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction

2021

Between the White Key and the Black Key poster
7.8

In an audacious reworking of the biopic, this ensemble drama sees jazz pianist Minami Hiroshi’s memoir cleverly reinterpreted into a surreal and playful story about chasing dreams, disillusionment and the inner lives of professional artists. Closer to playing two sides of the same coin than tackling a dual role, Ikematsu Sosuke embodies two versions of Minami – the naïve upstart and the jaded pro – who magically cross paths as they become entangled with a cast of colourful characters in the seedy alleyways and jazz clubs of Ginza over a single night.

Between the White Key and the Black Key

2023

Harassment Game Akitsu VS Katoku Woman poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Harassment Game Akitsu VS Katoku Woman

2020

Stolen Identity: Final Hacking Game poster
4.8

Genius hacker and murderer Urano escaped from prison and fled to South Korea. Urano was hired by a South Korean anti-government organization to set a trap targeted for the Korea-Japan summit meeting. Sumin is assigned to watch over Urano but is intimidated by his frantic behavior. Urano distrusts her, but gradually their feelings begin to change a little.

Stolen Identity: Final Hacking Game

2024

Caution, Hazardous Wife: The Movie poster
7.2

At the end of the TV series of the same name, it is revealed that the husband works for the Public Security Bureau, and their marriage is a cover to keep her under surveillance. In spite of his mission, he falls in love with Nami and tries to convince her not to get involved in other people’s affairs. She is being monitored as a state-level security risk, and the bureau is unwilling to tolerate any more trouble from her. However, to save a friend, Nami runs out of the house and risks everything she has to confront the enemy. When she comes home, she finds her husband pointing a gun at her! A gunshot echoes through the quiet, upscale neighborhood…The movie picks up where the controversial ending of the drama series left off!!

Caution, Hazardous Wife: The Movie

2021

Living Corpse poster
5.0

Yosuke Shinkai is haunted by a past he cannot recall - and a body that is rapidly decomposing. He is a living corpse, unclear who he is or why he has been brought back to life only to suffer again a slow gruesome death. Based on the 1986 horror manga by Hideshi Hino.

Living Corpse

2026

2010s · 18 titles

My Way poster
7.9

During the invasion of Normandy the photograph of a slim Korean man in German uniform was found. It transpired that the man had served as a soldier in the Japanese, Russian and German armies. His incredible story inspired director Kang Je-Gyu to create this epic war drama.

My Way

2011

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie poster
6.8

The legendary Space Sheriff Gavan is hired to capture the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. However, Gavan himself is captured by Ashurada, a Zangyack prison chief and descendant of his old enemy Don Horror, and jailed in the worst prison in the universe. The Gokaigers resolve to rescue the sheriff from the prison and join forces with him to fight Ashurada.

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie

2012

We Are Little Zombies poster
6.6

Their parents are dead. They should be sad, but they can't cry. So they form a kick-ass band. This is the story of four 13-year-olds in search of their emotions.

We Are Little Zombies

2019

My Little Monster poster
7.6

Problem student Haru Yoshida sits next to the cold and studious Shizuku Mizutani in class. Without any other friends to turn to, both of them start to get to know each other and grow closer. Haru eventually develop feelings for Shizuku and confesses his feelings to her. Will Haru and Shizuku get their happily ever after?

My Little Monster

2018

My Little Monster poster
7.6

Problem student Haru Yoshida sits next to the cold and studious Shizuku Mizutani in class. Without any other friends to turn to, both of them start to get to know each other and grow closer. Haru eventually develop feelings for Shizuku and confesses his feelings to her. Will Haru and Shizuku get their happily ever after?

My Little Monster

2018

Tatara Samurai poster
6.7

In 16th century Japan, a young man has to choose between becoming a master steel maker like his father and grandfather before him, or becoming a samurai so that he can help protect his village from attacks by the various clans which want the high-quality steel made there.

Tatara Samurai

2017

Railways poster
7.0

A heartwarming tale about the turning point in the life of an elite business man in his fifties and a local train that has been running since 1911. Hajime is in line to be the next head of a prominent electronics company. He toils day and night over his work and has no time for his family. But one day, his mother in Shimane falls ill, and his best friend dies in an accident. Grief-stricken, Hajime returns home, where memories of his childhood dream come back to him. He had always wanted to be a train conductor and drive the local "bataden" Ichibata Electric Railway.

Railways

2010

Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legend Riders poster
7.6

As a computer virus based on Pac-Man invades Japan, a group of doctors attack Genm Corp and begin a wave of terror using stolen Proto Gashats. Ghost and Ex-Aid find themselves at the center of the fight in an effort to protect those most important to them. But they aren’t alone, as Heisei Riders from the past join them to stop Dr. Pac-Man!

Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legend Riders

2016

Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger The Movie: Time Slip! Dinosaur Panic!! poster
5.0

This is the 2019 summer movie for Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger. It is twin-billed with the summer movie for Kamen Rider Zi-Oi: Kamen Rider Zi-O: Over Quartzer!. It will feature the debut of Ryusoul Gattai Kishiryuzin.

Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger The Movie: Time Slip! Dinosaur Panic!!

2019

Snow Woman poster
6.2

One snowy night, in a mountain hut, Minokichi, a hunter, sees a snow woman killing his mentor Mosaku. “Should you tell anyone, I will take your life” she says, then drifts off. A year later, Minokichi meets and marries a beauty named Yuki. She bears him a daughter, Ume. 14 years pass and Ume blossoms into a radiant lady who befriends the sickly Mikio, the village leader’s son and Mosaku’s distant relative. Mikio soon dies in the same hut as Mosaku, with his body showing the same frostbite scars. Minokichi is reminded of that horrid night, and wonders what it was that he saw, and who Yuki really is.

Snow Woman

2016

Under the Nagasaki Sky poster
NR

Film adaptation of an original story from Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum Director and Akutagawa Prize winner Yuichi Seirai, directed by Taro Hyugaji, who made the live-action version of Grave of the Fireflies. Depicts the fateful encounter between a daughter whose mother has died and a mother whose daughter has died. Jazz pianist Makoto Ozone makes his debut as a film composer. University student Kiyomi (Kie Kitano) is wracked by guilt after her mother dies of a heart attack the night they have an argument. Meanwhile, Saori (Izumi Inamori) finds out she is pregnant, but her daughter died a year before, and she is terrified of losing another child.

Under the Nagasaki Sky

2013

Seicho Matsumoto's Black Gospel poster
5.8

In 1959, a body of a flight attendant of an international airline is found, strangled. Detective Rokuro Fujisawa takes charge of the investigation with a young detective Ichimura and his investigations lead him to Father Tolbeck as a suspect. But the police are forced to move very discreetly as the time was right after the Second World War, when a sensitive situation that involves Western people and religion is likely to become an international issue. The investigation leads to an unexpected discloser of a shadowy business behind the church that reflects the uncertainty of the time.

Seicho Matsumoto's Black Gospel

2014

The Locked Room Murders SP poster
6.8

Erika Toda joins a law firm headed by Serizawa-san, on the first case she meets Enomoto Kei of Tokyo total security who unlocks Serizawa who has accidentally been trapped in a vault. Form thereon the trio solve 10 cases related to the locked room. Enomoto always makes a small scale model and thinks technically in terms of security and locks to solve cases, while Serizawa assists by hinting some circumstantial evidences. Serizawa is always ready to take credit of new found fame.

The Locked Room Murders SP

2014

Tales of the Bizarre: 2018 Fall Special poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Tales of the Bizarre: 2018 Fall Special

2018

Les Garçons-Bonbons 2: l'Oiseau du paradis poster
6.0

Kitazawa Haku had watched a movie and dreamed he was in a parallel universe. Meanwhile, Ryū, the older brother of Haku's friend Takeru, is facing down boys' bar owner Rokujō. Then Ryū becomes fascinated with Kikiyō standing behind Rokujō. On the day of the yearly festival, Haku suddenly disappears. Takeru disappears while in search of Haku. Ryū disappears while following Kikiyō. And then Rokujō also disappears.

Les Garçons-Bonbons 2: l'Oiseau du paradis

2017

Kinki poster
3.8

A teacher is sexually involved with an underage student. She visits her father's home and discovers a boy who's been kept as a sex slave. The teacher continues harboring the boy out of fear and begins to feel sexually attracted to him.

Kinki

2014

Parks poster
6.9

Jun is a university student. She meets high school student Haru. Haru is looking for Sachiko, the ex-girlfriend of her now deceased father. Jun and Haru meet Tokio. Tokio is the grandson of Sachiko and they learn that Sachiko is now deceased. They find an open-reel tape from Sachiko's articles.

Parks

2017

I Will Never Forgive poster
4.5

A psychological drama about the consequences of a 15 year old girl's gang rape.

I Will Never Forgive

2018

2000s · 15 titles

Godzilla: Final Wars poster
7.1

Humanity finally rids themselves of Godzilla, imprisoning him in an icy tomb in the South Pole. All is peaceful until various monsters emerge to lay waste to Earth's cities. Overwhelmed, humanity is seemingly saved by a race of benevolent aliens known as Xiliens. But not all is what it seems with these bizarre visitors. If humanity wishes to survive, they must reluctantly resurrect their most hated enemy, Godzilla.

Godzilla: Final Wars

2004

Pokémon 4Ever poster
6.5

In order to escape a greedy Pokémon hunter, Celebi must use the last of its energy to travel through time to the present day. Celebi brings along Sammy, a boy who had been trying to protect it. Along with Ash, Pikachu, and the rest of the gang, Sammy and Celebi must encounter an enemy far more advanced than the hunter, with the fate of the forest hanging in the balance.

Pokémon 4Ever

2001

The Great Yokai War poster
6.3

A young boy with a troubled home life becomes "chosen," and he stumbles into the middle of a great war of yōkai (a class of mythological creatures), where he meets a group of friendly yōkai who become his companions through his journey. Now he must fight to protect his friends and free the world of the yōkai from oppression.

The Great Yokai War

2005

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack poster
7.5

Godzilla has become a distant memory for Japan when the destruction of a US submarine raises alarms for Admiral Tachibana. His estranged daughter Yuri investigates the legend of the guardian monsters, who must rise to protect Japan against the vengeful spirits within Godzilla that seek to destroy both the nation and its people for the suffering they inflicted in the Pacific conflict.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

2001

20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End poster
6.7

In 1969, Kenji, an elementary school kid and his friends built a secret base during their summer holidays. They fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world and wrote them in the Book of Prophecies. Years later in 1997, Kenji becomes a convenience store manager and leads a regular life after giving up his dreams to become a rock star. His boring life is suddenly turned upside down when his old classmate dies mysteriously and an entire family in the neighbourhood disappears. At the same time, a religious cult and its mysterious leader, Friend emerges and a strange chain of events duplicating exactly the events described in the Book of Prophecies follow. Is this the beginning of the end of the world? Who is Friend?

20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End

2008

20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End poster
6.7

In 1969, Kenji, an elementary school kid and his friends built a secret base during their summer holidays. They fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world and wrote them in the Book of Prophecies. Years later in 1997, Kenji becomes a convenience store manager and leads a regular life after giving up his dreams to become a rock star. His boring life is suddenly turned upside down when his old classmate dies mysteriously and an entire family in the neighbourhood disappears. At the same time, a religious cult and its mysterious leader, Friend emerges and a strange chain of events duplicating exactly the events described in the Book of Prophecies follow. Is this the beginning of the end of the world? Who is Friend?

20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End

2008

The Sun poster
6.7

A re-imagination of Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s final days in power as WWII draws to a close.

The Sun

2005

Infection poster
6.4

Infection takes place in a dark, isolated hospital, where one doctors mistake has led to dire consequences for a patient. In a hospital death is just a breath away.

Infection

2004

Geharha: The Dark and Long-Haired Monster poster
7.5

A fishing boat is attacked at sea by a gigantic, hairy monster. After examining the sole survivor (Kanji Tsuda), scientific adviser Dr Murakami (Shiro Sano) suspects the culprit is a “Keukegen spectre”, a shaggy supernatural beast from Japanese folklore. The announcement leads reporter Hideo Akihara (Ken Osawa) to a forest shrine dedicated to the Keukegen Geharha, where he finds several worshipers and learns that an ancient seal containing the monster has been broken.

Geharha: The Dark and Long-Haired Monster

2009

Perfect Education 6 poster
4.8

Fumiya owes 5 million yen to a female load shark for a gambling debt, while having affair an with Mrs. Hosoi who offers him 5 million to murder her husband. Fumiya has no choice but to kill Mr. Hosoi. Unfortunately he's see by a neighbor. In the escape, he meets a girl named Akiko. He hides in her house. Later on, Fumiya and Akiko fall in love and have sex. After that, he finds that the house owner Shin kidnapped Akiko whem she was a little girl and has kept her in the house for over a decade. Fumiya is determined to take her away from Shin's brutal confinement. A battle of wills between jailer, prisoner and accidental savior begins….

Perfect Education 6

2004

Aiki poster
4.8

When a promising young boxer is crippled in a car accident, he falls into a life of dissipation and depression. No boxing ring or martial arts club will take him on -- that is, until an aiki jujitsu master helps the young man develop techniques uniquely tailored to a wheelchair. What starts off as a sad film revs up into an exciting and fun series of epiphanies in which the young man realizes his situation isn't as hopeless as it seems.

Aiki

2002

Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess poster
6.2

A man arrives in the city upon news of a potential terrorist strike in Italy. He is Japanese foreign diplomat, Kosaku Kuroda, and he’s here under orders of his supervisor at the Foreign Ministry, Hiroshi Kataoka (Kiichi Nakai), to aid in the safeguarding of Japanese citizens. Kuroda’s main contacts at the Japanese embassy consist of Ambassador Kikuhara, Counselor Nishino, and fellow diplomatic envoys Haba and Tanimoto. All are busy preparing for the visit of Japanese Foreign Minister Kawagoe due to arrive for the high-profile G8 foreign minister’s meeting. Meanwhile, somewhere on the festively-lit streets of the city, a young Japanese girl has suddenly gone missing. Is it an abduction simply for ransom? Or could it be a prelude to terror?

Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess

2009

Kewaishi poster
8.5

Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka's adaptation of a manga by Shotaro Ishinomori was an official selection at the 5th Shanghai International Film Festival and won the award for Best Screenplay at the 14th Tokyo International Film Festival.

Kewaishi

2002

The Princess Blade poster
5.6

Raised by assassins, Yuki is the last of the Takemikazuchi royal bloodline. A deadly weapon in her own right, she learns the gruesome truth about the death of her beloved mother and joins forces with a mysterious rebel leader.

The Princess Blade

2001

Kitaro and the Millennium Curse poster
5.1

Young women disappear one after another in drizzling rain. They all hear the “cursed song” of the Cage Song before they vanish into thin air. Kitaro and his friends investigate these mysterious cases when they meet Kaede Hiramoto, a high school girl who finds herself involved in this mystery. With the help from the librarian of Yokai Library, they find out that the curse was caused by an evil Yokai that was released from 1,000 years of sealing. To save Kaede, they are to gather the 5 ancient musical instruments and perform the ritual to seal the evil Yokai again, which has to be done within 48 hours!

Kitaro and the Millennium Curse

2008

1990s · 11 titles

Godzilla 2000: Millennium poster
6.9

An independent group of researchers called the Godzilla Prediction Network (GPN) actively track Godzilla as he makes landfall in Nemuro. Matters are further complicated when a giant meteor is discovered in the Ibaragi Prefecture. The mysterious rock begins to levitate as it's true intentions for the world and Godzilla are revealed.

Godzilla 2000: Millennium

1999

Cat's Eye poster
4.0

Three cat burgling sisters have to go up against the police and a Chinese crime syndicate in order to rescue their kidnapped father.

Cat's Eye

1997

The Rocking Horsemen poster
7.4

It is 1965. High-school student Takeyoshi Fujiwara hears "Pipeline" by the Ventures, and is mesmerized by their unique sound. With three friends, he forms a band called "The Rocking Horsemen." A warm and comic glimpse into high-school and small-town life in Japan in the 60's.

The Rocking Horsemen

1992

The Room poster
6.3

A quiet killer is looking for a room. The real state agent, shy and expressionless, guides him through Tokyo, towards the ruins the decadent economy has left behind, in hopes of finding The Room.

The Room

1993

Sharaku poster
7.0

Crippled Kabuki player Tonbo is taken in by a strolling company of itinerant actors. An influential publisher notices his honest, bold art, and nurtures him despite persecution and betrayal.

Sharaku

1995

Discontinuous Bombing Incident poster
NR

What is the clue that connects the police dormitory bombing case & Keihin canal murder case with the corporate bombing case 17 years ago? Detective Tamori chases a mystery!

Discontinuous Bombing Incident

1991

The Trap poster
6.8

When a hooded stranger appears in private eye 'Mike' Hama's office with the cryptic challenge "I want you to look for me," Hama is drawn into a string of bizarre serial murders that have Yokohama's police baffled and the city terrified.

The Trap

1996

The Stairway to the Distant Past poster
7.2

Broke, with his vintage Nash convertible repossessed, private eye Mike Hama is reduced to combing the mean streets of the Yokohama waterfront on a borrowed bicycle. But when Lily, a beautiful stripper from out of Hama's past, returns to town, the fuse is lit on a criminal powder keg set to blow the lid off the Yokohama underworld.

The Stairway to the Distant Past

1995

Endless Waltz poster
5.0

Biopic about jazz saxophonist Kaoru Abe and his wife, noted writer Izumi Suzuki.

Endless Waltz

1995

Ultra Q The Movie: Legend of the Stars poster
8.0

A series of serial murders occurred in a historic ruins where a TV crew is shooting a documentary.

Ultra Q The Movie: Legend of the Stars

1990

Haruka, Nostalgia poster
6.5

Ayase Shinsuke, a popular writer of a series of girl novels, visits Otaru, the town he grew up in. He meets a strange boy who calls himself by the author's real name.

Haruka, Nostalgia

1993

1980s · 6 titles

Lucky Sky Diamond poster
4.0

At the clinic where her boyfriend Katayama, a young genius doctor, is the director, Yoko, a young girl who continues to suffer from eerie nightmares every day, is not getting better despite the care of her sister Sakurako and Katayama's treatment. Sakurako, the sister, is suspicious of Yoko's condition and confronts Katayama, who tells her that she suffers from a serious mental disorder and that the only way to cure it is to have brain surgery. Yoko, despite being persuaded by her sister and Katayama, agrees to the surgery, although she is skeptical...

Lucky Sky Diamond

1989

Violent Cop poster
7.2

A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and yakuza activities.

Violent Cop

1989

Four Days of Snow and Blood poster
7.3

Based on the "2.26 Incident", an attempted coup d'état in Japan 1936, launched by radical ultra-nationalist parts of the military. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly held by the insurgents before the coup was suppressed.

Four Days of Snow and Blood

1989

To Sleep So as to Dream poster
6.6

An aging silent film actress hires a private eye and his wacky but helpful assistant to track down her missing daughter, Bellflower. The two follow a succession of bizarre, obscure clues, until they track down the location of the kidnappers and the daughter.

To Sleep So as to Dream

1986

Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis poster
6.1

A demonic reincarnation of a Japanese general from the 10th century appears in the early 20th century Tokyo with a mission to destroy the blooming city.

Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis

1988

Seven Days War poster
6.3

A community is in turmoil when junior high schoolers barricade themselves in an empty factory to protest the draconian rules of parents and teachers. They're sick of heavy-handed teachers and iron-fisted parents. And now they're going to do something about it.

Seven Days War

1988

Series credits

AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo poster
7.5

Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.

AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo

2002

Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen poster
9.5

No synopsis available yet.

Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen

1990

Tales of the Bizarre poster
7.8

Inspired by American TV movies like "Hitchcock Theater" and "The Twilight Zone," the show features multiple works with Tamori as the storyteller and actors as the main characters. While horror and supernatural themes are predominant, a variety of genres like comedy and drama are also produced. Most episodes, however, have a bad ending.

Tales of the Bizarre

1990

CSI: Crime Scene Talks poster
7.2

Satoshi Itomura is an assistant police investigator who belongs to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Scientific Investigation Team. Reenactments, fingerprint and voice data collections, profiling... His team collects scientific evidence and pieces together fragments of information in order to help build evidences. However, Itomura often does not care about the scientific approach and instead pays a great deal of attention to the things that the victims always carried with them or treasured. And he focuses on these things because they usually carry the victim’s dying wishes, understanding that last message not only helps solve the cases but also brings closure to the depressed family of victims.

CSI: Crime Scene Talks

2011

The Ghost Writer's Wife poster
9.1

In Meiji-era Matsue, a fallen samurai’s daughter and a lonely foreign teacher connect through ghost stories and an unlikely friendship.

The Ghost Writer's Wife

2025

Kumokiri Nizaemon poster
9.0

During the Kyoho period in the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, there is a gang of thieves active not just in Edo but also the Tokaido and the Nakasendo, and all across the Kansai region, stealing large sums of money with skillful techniques. They only target the very wealthy and never kill or injure people. They appear with the clouds and disappear like the mist. On the night that the beautiful Ochiyo is to become the bride of a dry goods dealer, a large amount of money hidden inside the shop is stolen. The gang disappears without injuring anyone. It was a two-year plan to marry Ochiyo off so that she could bring them in. The leader of this gang is Kumokiri Nizaemon, the greatest bandit of all time. He keeps a rein on his highly-skilled and notorious followers Nanabake no Ochiyo, Kinezumi no Kichigoro, Subashiri no Kumagoro, Ingakozo Rokunosuke and others.

Kumokiri Nizaemon

2013

99.9 Criminal Lawyer poster
6.9

Hiroto Miyama is an unconventional young lawyer who dances to his own tune and gets a little obsessive. For one thing, he’s only interested in criminal cases, and he will never give up in his pursuit of the truth even if offers only a 0.1% chance of being discovered. Japan’s 99.9% criminal case conviction rate leads the world, attesting to a “highly reliable” judicial system. In other words, once a crime suspect is indicted, prosecutor arguments tend to be accepted hook, line and sinker. In the face of those 99.9% odds, there’s no money in being a defense lawyer specializing in criminal cases, but for Miyama, that’s where the interest and kernels of truth lie. From unexpected places, the mold-breaking Miyama stakes his reputation on a prayer of a chance as he clashes with hotshot lawyers who’ll go to any lengths to win in this gloriously fun, legal mystery.

99.9 Criminal Lawyer

2016

Segodon poster
8.3

Saigo Takamori, the hero of the Meiji Restoration, was born to a poor, low-ranking samurai family in the Satsuma domain (present day Kagoshima Prefecture). His simple honesty caught the attention of its charismatic feudal lord of Satsuma, Shimazu Nariakira. Nariakira’s assertion that the love of people is what will enrich and strengthen the nation captivated Saigo who took on Nariakira’s secret mission and eventually became a key person for Satsuma. Not a portrait of him survives today and much of his life is a mystery. He is a man who was twice exiled and thrice married. He overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate with exceptional bravery and action. Although he accomplished the restoration, he lost his life in a fight with the new Meiji government.

Segodon

2018

Ultraman Max poster
9.1

Ultraman Max was an Ultraman TV series which started airing on 7 July 2005, and produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting Co., Ltd.. The show tried to return to the true formula of new monsters every week and being a fast paced show like previous series with the exception of Ultraman Nexus. The show is full of homages to past series by having three of the original cast members from the first Ultraman series being featured in an episode, updated versions of classic monsters like Red King, Eleking and Pigmon among others. One unusual episode revolves around the filming of the 1964 program Ultra Q which was the predecessor to the first Ultraman show in 1966. Two actors from that show appear as themselves.

Ultraman Max

2005

S&X poster
8.3

At his clinic, sex therapist Ichito Shimotori treats diverse and intimate sexual issues with sincerity. Yet, he secretly hides a struggle of his own.

S&X

2026

Trick poster
7.2

Although 23 year old Yamada Naoko is a "super" magician, she is continously fired and constantly hounded by her landlady for the rent being late. After being fired once again, her boss shows her an ad of a physics professor, a non-believer of all things magical, offering money to anyone who can prove to him that magic is real. Desperately needing the money, Naoko accepts the challenge, which is how she comes to meet Professor Ueda. Falling prey to her simple magic tricks, Ueda is impressed, and enlists Naoko to help him uncover the tricks behind a local cult. Their hilarious antics, along with those of police officer Yabe, leads them onto further mysteries, all with tricks needing to be solved in sort of an "X-Files" meets "Scooby-Doo"...

Trick

2000

SPEC ~ First Blood poster
8.5

An eccentric genius and a demoted special forces officer team up in Tokyo's Unidentified Crimes Unit to tackle criminals with supernatural abilities.

SPEC ~ First Blood

2010

Detective Office 5: Another Story poster
NR

This anthology-style mystery series is part of the D‑5 PROJECT, centered around Detective Office 5 - a long-running private detective agency in Kawasaki. Each detective is known only by a number rather than a name (e.g., Detective 596, 532), with standalone stories featuring different characters and surreal, quirky cases.

Detective Office 5: Another Story

2005

Detective Office 5: Another Story poster
NR

This anthology-style mystery series is part of the D‑5 PROJECT, centered around Detective Office 5 - a long-running private detective agency in Kawasaki. Each detective is known only by a number rather than a name (e.g., Detective 596, 532), with standalone stories featuring different characters and surreal, quirky cases.

Detective Office 5: Another Story

2005

Detective Office 5: Another Story poster
NR

This anthology-style mystery series is part of the D‑5 PROJECT, centered around Detective Office 5 - a long-running private detective agency in Kawasaki. Each detective is known only by a number rather than a name (e.g., Detective 596, 532), with standalone stories featuring different characters and surreal, quirky cases.

Detective Office 5: Another Story

2005

MOZU poster
8.6

An explosion take place in a street of Tokyo. Many people were killed or seriously injured. One casualty is Chihiro, the wife of Public Security chief inspector Kuraki Naotake. While trying to find why his wife was being implicated in the explosion case, Kuraki comes into contact with Public Security sergeant Akeboshi Miki and Metropolitan Police Department inspector Osugi Ryota who are also investigating this case.

MOZU

2014

Ultraman Orb poster
7.7

A young man becomes the giant hero Ultraman Orb, a warrior of light, to battle monsters and aliens threatening Earth using the powers of his many predecessor guardians.

Ultraman Orb

2016

Clouds Over the Hill poster
7.7

Saka no Ue no Kumo is an NHK 21st Century special drama which was aired over three years starting from November 29, 2009. The series runs 13 episodes at 90 minutes each. The first series, with 5 episodes, was broadcast in 2009, while series two and three, each with 4 episodes, were broadcast in late 2010 and 2011. While most episodes were shot in Japan, one of the episodes in series two was shot in Latvia. The TV series is based on the novel Saka no ue no kumo by Ryōtarō Shiba and adopted by Hisashi Nozawa. The theme song of the drama series is titled "Stand Alone". It was composed by Joe Hisaishi, written by Kundo Koyama and performed by British soprano singer Sarah Brightman.

Clouds Over the Hill

2009

24 JAPAN poster
7.6

Japanese adaptation of the American TV Series "24". Genba Shido is the director of Team A in the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU). He is excellent at his job and a reasonable person, but he often has to make drastic decisions to save lives.

24 JAPAN

2020

Ultraman Teo poster
9.0

After his home planet, H12, is destroyed by space kaiju, a lone alien named Teo escapes to Earth and lives as a veterinary student. When the same threat arrives, his will to protect transforms him into a giant hero—Ultraman.

Ultraman Teo

2026

How to Get a Divorce for the Whole Family! poster
5.7

Mizuguchi Saki is an outstanding fashion magazine editor who grew up in a modern and liberal family. She meets Obara Koichi who is the ace of the Air Rescue Wing of the Air Self Defence Force. He grew up in a strict military family and is the classic straight-laced guy.

How to Get a Divorce for the Whole Family!

2021

Public Affairs Office in the Sky poster
8.2

Rika Inaba is a beautiful and strong-headed director at the Teito Television Broadcasting Company. Ever since she was young, she had dreamed of becoming the best news reporter in the business, but on into her fifth year with the TV station, she finds to her dismay she's been transferred to a lighter fare, information program where she is assigned to report on the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Meanwhile, Daisuke Sorai had just reached his long-sought goal of becoming an aerobatics pilot only to injure his leg, crushing his chances at ever becoming a member of the elite Blue Impulse flying team. He gets assigned to the force's public relations desk and subsequently finds himself attached to Rika in the role of attendant. Sorai and Rika differ on just about everything; their views, their mindset. But they share one thing: their childhood dreams have been shattered and they've hit a wall in life. From there, a mutual understanding begins to germinate, drawing them toward each other and toward the discovery of a new dream.

Public Affairs Office in the Sky

2013

The Locked Room Murders poster
7.2

Enomoto Kei is a security "otaku" working for a security firm, devoted to improving the securities system on a daily basis. He is not an easy person to familiarize oneself with, always collected and calm, unapproachable, a maniac in Physics, Science, Architecture and profound in other basic theoretical foundation. He is certain and proud of the fact that there is no key which he cannot unlock. One day, Kei is asked to help reveal a mystery behind a locked room murderer. While he lacks any interest in solving the mystery, he is inevitably intrigued by the term, "Closed Doors" and decides to take on the position. He works side by side with Aoto Junko and Serizawa Gou, who are lawyers working at a major law firm. Junko is pure and forward, acting upon her instincts while Serizawa is a prideful elitist who sees time as money, and therefore, will not take on any job that is unprofitable. Possessing a vast amount of knowledge and acute insightfulness, Kei is able to unlock the closed doors and unravel the secrets leading to the solution. Never before has there been a drama focused solely on closed doors.

The Locked Room Murders

2012

Sky High poster
5.0

Sky High is a live-action, supernatural Japanese television drama series, starring actress and model, Yumiko Shaku. It aired in Japan, first run, from 2003 to 2004, and was popular enough to spawn the 2003 feature film of the same name. Both are based on the Japanese manga, Skyhigh. Shaku stars as Izuko, the Guardian of the Gate to the afterlife. The basic premise of the television series is somewhat similar in concept to the American series, Ghost Whisperer, in which the protagonist must use her powers to guide the dead on their journey to the afterlife by helping them determine the meaning or circumstance of their death. However, in Izuko's case, no matter how hard she tries, her guidance does not always result in a happy ending.

Sky High

2003

The Confidence Man JP poster
7.3

Dako is a con woman. She stays at a suite in a luxury hotel and schemes to take money from vicious wealthy people like yakuza bosses and evil businessmen. She works with Boku-chan and Richard. Boku-chan is a sincere and timid young con man. Richard is a veteran con man. Dako is able to master knowledge from various professions in a short period of time and disguises herself as someone working in that field. Along with Boku-chan and Richard, they carry their plans using fantastic teamwork.

The Confidence Man JP

2018

Hana no Ran poster
7.0

The story takes place during the Muromachi period of Ancient Japan, in the midst of the Ōnin War. The main character in the series is Tomiko Hino, a historical figure with a bad reputation because of her actions to rebuild Kyoto after the Ōnin War.

Hana no Ran

1994

SICK'S Jo no Shou poster
9.0

Again we follow a pair of police detectives as they track down offenders with special abilities (SPEC). However, since the events of the previous chapters, MPD Public Security's special division for solving cases involving unknown circumstances (Mishou) no longer exists. Instead, there is now an exclusive special division (Tokumu) as part of the Cabinet Information Research Office that only deals with cases involving SPEC holders led by Nonomura Koutarou's younger brother, Nonomura Koujirou

SICK'S Jo no Shou

2018

Cursed in Love poster
7.2

Nao spent her formative years living at Kogetsuan, a well-established Japanese confectionery shop, where her single mother worked as a pastry chef. She is the same age as Tsubaki, heir to the store, and they become each other's first love. One morning, Tsubaki's father and head of Kogetsuan is stabbed and found covered in blood. Nao's mother is arrested based on the six-year-old Tsubaki's testimony and the little girl is kicked out of the shop. Nao's mother died while the investigation was going on, preventing the truth to emerge. Fifteen years later, the case is still shrouded in mystery. Is she really the culprit?

Cursed in Love

2020

Silver and Gold poster
6.7

Morita, a man who never succeeds in anything, takes his anger out in gambling. He meets an underworld fixer named Ginji Hirai, who introduces him to the underworld trade, where billions of yen changes hands every moment, and speculators and other influential people bet their lives for greed.

Silver and Gold

2017

The Journalist poster
7.5

A journalist known as the maverick of news media defiantly chases the truth in this series adaptation of the hit movie of the same name.

The Journalist

2022

Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy poster
10.0

Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy is a 2004 production, and the 19th installment in the Ultra Series that was broadcast in Japan in 2004. It is a sequel to Ultra Q, the first of the Ultra Series. It retains the same swirling effect for the titlecard, but with the words "Dark Fantasy" added underneath, the title also remains black and white.

Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy

2004

Rich Man, Poor Woman poster
7.3

Hyuga began his career with a website he built out of interest. Later, he developed an IT company and became a billionaire while Makoto encountered a lot of hardships in job hunting. Their personalities were radically different. Even though they faced a lot of conflicts ever since they first met, they were gradually attracted by each other and went through a lot of things together.

Rich Man, Poor Woman

2012

Keishicho Kyokohan Gakari Higuchi Akira poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Keishicho Kyokohan Gakari Higuchi Akira

2021

Food Fight poster
7.3

Ihara Mitsuru , who grew up in the orphanage "Tsukushien," is a cleaner at Miyazono General Foods, a prestigious company. However, Mitsuru has another side to him: he is a fighter in "Food Fight," a competitive eating gambling game hosted by the chairman of Miyazono General Foods and held in the company's basement, where only bigwigs from the political and business world can participate. Mitsuru anonymously donates the prize money he wins from Food Fight to Tsukushien, and his desire to do so allows his talent to blossom, leading him to reign as the unbeatable champion.

Food Fight

2000

Food Fight poster
7.3

Ihara Mitsuru , who grew up in the orphanage "Tsukushien," is a cleaner at Miyazono General Foods, a prestigious company. However, Mitsuru has another side to him: he is a fighter in "Food Fight," a competitive eating gambling game hosted by the chairman of Miyazono General Foods and held in the company's basement, where only bigwigs from the political and business world can participate. Mitsuru anonymously donates the prize money he wins from Food Fight to Tsukushien, and his desire to do so allows his talent to blossom, leading him to reign as the unbeatable champion.

Food Fight

2000

Dr. Ashura poster
5.5

A renowned heart surgeon joins Taishaku General Hospital, igniting tension and power struggles as hidden agendas surface within the institution.

Dr. Ashura

2025

The Killer Inside poster
6.0

A student fears he's becoming like his serial killer dad after a murder eerily resembles his father's signature crime.

The Killer Inside

2022

Future Diary Another World poster
6.7

This survival action series revolves around the "Future Diary," a cell phone diary that contains entries about future events. Arata Hoshino is a college student who could be the poster boy for "inertia." By chance, Arata gets his hands on a brand new type of smartphone made by the Chronos Corporation. The cell phone includes a diary application (Future Diary) that details ever-changing future events. At first, he takes advantage of the power of knowing what's going to happen in advance, but one day, the Future Diary displays the message, "Arata Hoshino dies." And thus begins a game of survival between seven people who possess the Future Diary...

Future Diary Another World

2012

Angels with Broken Wings poster
4.8

A miniseries starring famous actresses, based on the short story collection "Tsubasa no Oreta Tenshitachi" by the author Yoshi. This dark drama has a different story for each episode, as the name of the series "Angels With Broken Wings" hints, the common theme is women who have lost their way in life. The series touches subjects like prostitution, peer pressure, gambling, theft and isolation.

Angels with Broken Wings

2006

Kimi to Ita Mirai no Tame ni ~ I'll be back poster
6.5

A college senior who suddenly dies returns to life four years earlier, and, with full memory of his future, attempts to correct past mistakes and realize that previously unaccomplished goals, only to die and be reborn again and again. Though the circumstances are different each time, he encounters people who form a common connecting thread.

Kimi to Ita Mirai no Tame ni ~ I'll be back

1999

Behind the camera