Memoirs of a Geisha

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

Kagemusha

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.

The Yellow Handkerchief

The story is about a convict released from prison for an old murder who is thinking about returning to his ex-wife and his former life. If she puts a yellow handkerchief on the window, it would mean that she wants him back at home.

Swallowtail Butterfly

The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan.

3.11 A Sense of Home

In memory of the Japanese earthquake on 3.11, each director presents a 3 minute and 11 second short film in tribute to those who were lost that day.

Love and Honor

A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.

Sukiyaki Western Django

A nameless gunfighter arrives in a town ripped apart by rival gangs and, though courted by both to join, chooses his own path.

Emperor

As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.

Tora-san, the Matchmaker

Tora-san helps out a runaway bride.

The Brightest Roof in the Universe

14 year-old schoolgirl Tsubame is into university student Toru. She sees him in her area and really wants to be his. She struggles with how to inform him of her love. Then her stepmother becomes pregnant and she is distracted with that development. The one reliable part of her life is the calligraphy class she attends, but then she runs into a woman.

Revival Blues

Oh Lucy!

Setsuko, a 55-year-old single 'office lady' in Tokyo, is given a blonde wig and a new identity, 'Lucy,' by her young unconventional English instructor. 'Lucy' awakens desires Setsuko never knew she had. When the instructor suddenly disappears, Setsuko must come to terms with what remains--herself.

No More Easy Life

Mariko is living the life of a typical Japanese college student in the 70's, spending far more of her time balancing boyfriends and part-time jobs than on her schoolwork. She finds herself torn between a former boyfriend who's the tough, insensitive-but-sexy, type, and a new acquaintance who's more sensitive to her feelings, but who still acts childishly selfish at times. Will she choose one of them, or decide to go her own way?

I Want To Live Once More: Shinjuku Bus Fire Incident

On the night of August 19, 1980, a bus was set on fire by the vagrant Hirofumi Maruyama at the Shinjuku West Exit Bus Terminal. In the burning flames, Mitsuko, who was exhausted by her affair, suddenly thought of suicide. As a result, she escaped too late from the bus and suffered a serious injury. From there, she was hospitalized for a long time. As she gradually recovered, the wife of her affair partner, Soroku Sugihara, died of cancer. Soroku proposed to Mitsuko again, and they lived together. Due to Soroku's mounting debt, they decided ...

Faces of a Fig Tree

Comedy about a woman who finds a new life after she loses her busband.

Greetings from Fukushima

A young German woman bonds with an elderly Japanese woman while touring the Fukushima region of Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake.

Candy Boys

In EDO, the fabulous wonderland where only men exist, the most beautiful courtesan is Shiratori Dayū. His apprentice's suicide made him desolate, and he finds love when he meets the most popular and sexy candy boy, Furimatsu, at the "Candy Shop." However, the town of EDO bans romantic relationships, and a rare disease starts to spread.

Hee

Years after she related to him the story of her parents’ death in a fire, for which – rightly or wrongly – she feels responsible, Japanese psychiatrist Dr. Sanada meets his former patient Azusa once again. Back then, she lambasted him for being wrong for the job. Back then, he let slip that she isn’t actually crazy. Now she’s a prostitute living in precarious circumstances in Los Angeles and is accused of murder, with her memories once again moving inexorably towards a fire. Sanada assesses her in the presence of an investigator who appears ...