Japan

Yoshihiko now lives with a couple of old friends, a married couple, Ryosuke and Aya. They share a past in several senses. It was Ryosuke who walked off with Yoshihiko’s girlfriend Aya. In doing so, he broke up with his own girlfriend, Reiko. Now they are all back together again and old feelings begin to surface. The complex relationship and history between the four gradually becomes apparent: Yoshihiko was convicted and imprisoned during the student movement.

Directorial debut of Haruhiko Arai.Read More »

Directed by Hiromichi Horikawa, this tragedy follows a terminally ill girl, featuring standout performances from Eri Ishida, Kyōko Kagawa, and Frankie Sakai — Kagawa earning a Japan Academy nomination for Best Supporting Actress.Read More »

A film adaptation of the novel of the same title written by Hiroshi Hatayama (畑山博).Read More »

imdb:
A film depicting the construction of the Kasumigaseki Building, which was the tallest building in Japan at the time in 1969.Read More »

Remake of Naruse Mikio’s 1943 film “The Song Lantern.Read More »

One of Japan’s leading female directors, Kawase Naomi first came to international attention in 1997 when she became the youngest winner of the Cannes Caméra d’Or with her debut feature Moe no Suzaku. Ten years later, she won the Grand Prix at the 30th Cannes Film Festival with her acclaimed film The Mourning Forest. Though better known for her full-length narrative films, Kawase has spent most of her filmmaking career working with documentaries, often of an autobiographical nature. Read More »

letterboxd:
The film is set in Karafuto after the radio broadcast of the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War. On August 15, 1945, Soviet forces invaded Karafuto. On August 20, the postal telegraph office in Maoka suspended operations and nine of the twelve telephone operators committed suicide by taking potassium cyanide while the city was being invaded.Read More »

Daibutsu sama to kodomotachi (Children of the Great Buddha) is the final film in Hiroshi Shimizu’s war orphan trilogy. It features the same cast of orphans from Shimizu’s orphanage, The Beehive, as tour guides in Nara. Other titles include Introspection Tower, Children of the Beehive, and Children of the Beehive: What Happened Next.Read More »

A poor samurai and a rich businessman become unlikely friends through the game of go. Yanagida is a masterless samurai who has lost his position because of false accusations, but hasn’t given up his honor. Genbei, an unscrupulous pawnbroker, ends up learning the value of honesty from Yanagida. Yanagida’s daughter Okinu and Genbei’s ward Yakichi also start to grow close. However, during a night of celebration, Yanagida receives a message summoning him to seek revenge – and Genbei loses a large amount of money, for which Yanagida is suspected.Read More »