Production
When Koichi Hamanaka returns after his mysterious disappearance years earlier, journalist Asakura who befriended Hamanaka's wife during his absence, tries to piece together the reasons for his departure.
Yumiko Haruno works as a waitress at a cafe that has been around for a long time. She spends her days aimlessly and without a dream for her future. On an ordinary day at her job, Yumiko notices middle aged man Ichirou Haga looking intently at shunga (Japanese erotic paintings that were popular during the Edo period). He suddenly talks to her and asks her what shunga is to her. Yumiko becomes interested in the eccentric shunga researcher and he invites her to visit his home to learn more. After his wife passed away, Ichirou has lived a reclusive life and concentrated solely on his study of shunga. Yumiko visits his home and begins to take shunga lessons from him.
Follows the life of an Office Lady who gets through her tedious work days by dreaming of a legendary soup and soup chef she's heard of. She decides to go in search of it.
Eiji Arima is a veteran detective who is about to retire. Shoichi Sera is a young lawyer and Misuzu Haruna is a prosecutor. These three people belong to the Gohan Taisakushitsu ("Misjudgment Countermeasure Office’". Their job is to re-examine death-row convictions and check to see if anyone was falsely convicted.
After losing their restaurant in a fire, a husband and wife come up with a strange plan to rebuild their shattered finances: marrying the husband off to a series of lonely women and defrauding them.
Mizuki's husband Yusuke has been missing for three years. He suddenly comes back home as a ghost and asks Mizuki to go on a trip with him. Their trip consists of visiting the people that helped Yusuke on his previous travel.
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.
In the near future of a Japan, the ancient 'Act of Vengeance' is revived and professional executioners are permitted to kill criminals by the requests from their victims. People who are to be executed are notified of the execution time and date in advance and they are allowed to have their own guard.
Saeki works with death-row convicts as a prison chaplain. He tries to instill the prisoners with a sense of morality and help them become a better person. He is a good communicator with the death-row convicts assigned to solitary cells. Saeki agonizes over whether his words really touches the prisoners and whether he is doing the right thing. Saeki also faces his past which he wants to forget. --asianwiki
This is the story of a man living quietly under an assumed identity, when a mysterious woman suddenly appears in his life. It is the directorial debut of soundtrack composer Yoshihiro Hanno.
Shibuya Haruko is a high school student living in Tokyo. One night, she is instantly smitten by Kanagawa Kenichi, who is lying prone on a bridge. But Kenichi becomes far more interested in a girl he impulsively hits on, Mayumi, over the high-spirited Haruko.
After failing her university entrance exam, Sakuko is invited by her aunt Mikie to spend summer vacation in a beautiful seaside town. Sakuko gets to know the people of the town, including Takashi, a shy relative of her childhood friend.
Yuichiro is a college student whose sister went missing 15 years ago. That traumatic event hangs over him like a pall as he wanders Japan's S&M clubs. But his younger brother claims to be able to sense their sister with his "antenna".
Toshihide works as a doctor at a clinic located by the sea. One day, he meets Ako. She looks exactly like the woman he admires. Due to her, his heart flutters. Soon, Toshihide realizes that Ako is not his ideal woman. A case leads to Ako to begin living with Toshihide and his family. Living with the warm-hearted family, Ako slowly regains herself and becomes a person with a truthful and honest mind.
Mirai Takatsuki is a seemingly normal teenager, but when he was a child his life was saved from a terrible illness thanks to magnanimous donations from the local community that paid for his medical bills. Ongoing media attention and the pressure to excel have prompted Mirai to have suicidal tendencies.
Two children, each abandoned by their families, come together in the wake of the Sarin gas attack in Tokyo. Based on the true events of the deadly gas attacks perpetrated by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult on the Tokyo subway system.
Theatre 1 (Observational Film Series #3) is a feature length documentary, which closely depicts the world of Oriza Hirata, Japan's leading playwright and director, and his theatrical company, Seinendan. By depicting them, the film leads the audience to revisit fundamental but timely questions: What is theatre? Why do human beings act?
Former punk rocker Jonen, now a Buddhist priest, seems to have lost the meaning of his life. His manic depression handicaps him further. Music seems to be the only solution for him to exorcise his demons, against all obstacles and sound volume controllers.
Haruhiko Nakayama is vice principal at a Japanese school, where he takes care of everything and dreams of finally becoming principal. But after a teacher no longer turns up for lessons, Nakayama has to teach a primary school class again after more than 20 years. He encounters such great challenges that he soon begins to doubt his profession.
In a near future where allergies have become an epidemic, music producer Haru half-heartedly dates post office clerk and mail thief Michi. He searches for violent ways to reactivate his life, she dreams of escaping abroad; both volunteer to test a new drug which may provide a cure.
