Kumiko Akiyoshi

Based on a novel by Tomiko Miyao (Kai, Kura, Midwinter Camellia). A woman’s love is tested as she faces betrayal.Read More »

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21-year-old Hideo Ishida is a reckless young man. Today again, he took part in a car race with a stolen driver’s license and a car belonging to the junkyard. But unfortunately, things go wrong and after a collision with another car, the seriously injured Hideo is taken to the hospital. Here he meets the nurse Yuki Kobayashi. Yuki is the opposite of Hideo. During the day she works as a nurse and in the evening she studies hard. However, Hideo’s behavior leaves an unforgettable impression on Yuki and the two soon develop an intimate friendship …Read More »

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Go and Merry were members of a circus that took care of Trapeze Ladder Mochi and Ossei. The troupe that came to Hawaii for a tour went bankrupt. The only thing they received in exchange for their retirement allowance was a birdcage containing Ohm. However, the two find a loan deed with 12 million yen written on it in the birdcage. The two return to Japan and start working part-time on that day to earn money for their travel expenses, with the intention of collecting the loan after completing the deed. One day, Go meets Nanako, who seems to be a traveler, and as they go on a number of dates, he becomes attracted to her. Read More »

Harada, a detective at the Shinjuku Police Station, lives with his little sister Noriko, who attends fashion school. One day, Harada is told by senior detective Ijima that Noriko is dating Yoshiura, a street thug. She quits school and rebels against Harada’s concerns. Soon after, Yoshiura is strangled to death, and Noriko’s pendant is found at the scene.Read More »

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Life seems to be good for Shintoto, an up-and-coming rakugo artist who has just had his first sexual experience at a local brothel. Lucky for him, he gets to date the beautiful sex worker he meets that day, and a younger high school rakugo aficionado is also vying for his attention. But for clumsy, heart-on-his-sleeve Shintoto, life doesn’t stay rosy for long.Read More »

Masayuki and Sachie had little to lose when they first met each other. They were young. Their lives unscripted. It did not take long for Masayuki to quit his job and for the two to move in together. In a neighborhood where the red paper lanterns lit up the alleyways at nightfall, they keep each other warm. Love takes its toll when they find that Sachie is pregnant.Read More »

For his 23rd birthday, Shintoto receives from his fellow Shins, Rakugo colleagues and friends, a somethinggy bank: the pass towards a new friendship.Read More »

Saraba Itoshiki Daichi (Farewell to the Land) takes up the question of what happens when the balance of an extended family in rural Japan is upset. The main character blames himself for the deaths of his two sons in a boating accident and leaves his wife and parents behind. He takes on a mistress, to the shame of his family, and he pops stimulants to keep up with his work schedule as a truck driver. Growing increasingly irritable and irrational, he goes through various conflicts with his brother, his colleagues, his boss, and his wife. The film ends in an act of violence for which no explanation is given.Read More »

Harada is a successful scenario writer, and his best buddy has just announced an intention to propose to Harada’s ex-wife. Recovering from the shock, Harada indulges in melancholy, mainly on his failure as a husband and father, and goes to a ‘Rakugo’ (sit-down comedy) show, where a friendly man in the audience invites him home. Harada is puzzled at the strong resemblance of this man and his wife to his own parents, who were killed nearly 30 years ago when he was twelve. He visits the couple repeatedly, and greatly enjoys the happy atmosphere there, which was much like his childhood, and such a contrast to his current existence, which is lonely and tortured. But he is no longer alone.Read More »