Movies by Nobuko Otowa

Edo Porn

Edo Porn

The world-famous woodblock artist Hokusai (1760-1849), a widower in need of a steady income, lives with his daughter Oei in the house of his friend Bakin.

Onibaba

Onibaba

While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi. The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai.

Ten Duels of Young Shingo: Chapter 3

Ten Duels of Young Shingo: Chapter 3

The final part takes Shingo into a confrontation with his friend Yagyu Katsunoshin’s uncle in a duel that could change the destiny of Japan.

The Strange Tale of Oyuki

The Strange Tale of Oyuki

A story of Japanese writer Kafu Nagai (1879-1959), a man about sixty with a huge reputation of seducer who falls madly in love for a young geisha named Oyuki. Meticulous and smartly dressed, Nagai patiently wrote in his diary his thoughts during many years. A melancholy reflection on the passage of time and a brilliant interpretive exercise.

Immortal Love

Immortal Love

The year is 1932, and a woman, whose tenant-farmer fiancé is fighting in China, is raped by the landowner's son, who has returned from the war with a crippling injury, and then forced into marriage with him. In four more chapters, presented over three decades, their children undertake their own searches for love, while the parents try to make each other as miserable as possible.

The Approach of Autumn

The Approach of Autumn

A single mother from the country raising a 6th grade boy comes to Tokyo, leaves the boy to live with his uncle's family, runs a struggling grocery store, and works a local inn. The boy befriends a girl, the daughter of the innkeeper.

Red Lion

Red Lion

Japan, February 1868. As the Tokugawa shogunate declines and the power of Emperor Meiji grows, Gonzo, a soldier of the Restoration Army, returns to Sawando, his hometown, to announce the end of tyranny.

Tree Without Leaves

Tree Without Leaves

Haru, an aging scriptwriter, has isolated himself somewhere in the woods of Nagano to work on his first novel. As the last surviving member of his kin, he intends to chronicle the family he grew up in.

Lost in the Wilderness

Lost in the Wilderness

The life and travels of adventurer Naomi Uemura, who disappeared in Alaska in 1984. A member of the first Japanese expedition to reach the summit of Mt Everest in 1970, Uemura also accomplished several "firsts". He was the first man to reach the North Pole solo, climb Denali solo, and float down the Amazon river solo. In the film, Uemura returns to Tokyo after a stint in Siorapaluk in Northern Greenland. In Tokyo, he reconnects with an old friend and, over coffee, shares his life story - from his days as a college dropout to his successful e...

Actress

Actress

Based on Kakuko Mori's autobiography, about her life and retirement from acting due to her increasing blindness.

The Iron Crown

The Iron Crown

A woman takes revenge on her husband after he leaves her for a younger woman by harassing the couple with unwanted phone calls at night.

By Player

By Player

The film is a series of vignettes from Taiji Tonoyama's life and film clips, interspersed with a dialogue to camera by Nobuko Otowa, addressing the camera as if she is addressing Tonoyama himself, recollecting events in his life. The film focuses on Tonoyama's alcohol dependence and his various sexual relationships, as well as his film work with Shindo.

The Scent of Incense

The Scent of Incense

After her mother runs away from home, Tomoko is raised to be a geisha. One day Tomoko meets her mother in a red-light district in Tokyo and her life deeply gets in trouble.

The Beauty and the Dragon

The Beauty and the Dragon

Kabuki adaptation: A princess, a figure from the literary past who anticipates a modern woman, tempts a self-righteous priest.

The Tale of Genji

The Tale of Genji

Genji, the illegitimate offspring of a Japanese potentate, goes by the philosophy of "love 'em and leave 'em" as a matter of course. Only when his heart is broken by Awaji does Genji realizes how much pain he himself has caused.

Floating Vessel

Floating Vessel

Floating Vessel (源氏物語 浮舟 , Ukifune) is a 1957 color Japanese film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. Drawn from parts of the famous Genji monogatari by Lady Murasaki.

This Madding Crowd

This Madding Crowd

The Valley Between Love and Death

The Valley Between Love and Death

A great ambition to portray with sharp satire and humor the course of modern anxiety and love that is about to be driven to despair.

Arashi Tatsunari

Arashi Tatsunari

Can a woman love two men at the same time? Set against the backdrop of Kyoto's rich history, this story depicts a woman's difficult choice for love. Ayako, played by Yukiyo Toake, is an international conference coordinator. Torn between her childhood sweetheart (played by Kenji Sawada) and her English professor (played by Noboru Nakaya), Ayako will seek answers to love, marriage, and choice.

The Naked Island

The Naked Island

A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.