Tsuneo Tomita

A brilliant collection of beautifully animated episodes based on selected masterpieces of Japanese modern literature. The aim of this series is to appeal to the viewer at large and to give him or her some idea of the variety and individuality which Japanese literature has developed over the last hundred years. The authors range from Higuchi Ichiyou (Takekurabe), Mori Ougai (The Dancing Girl) and Natsume Souseki (Botchan) to Kawabata Yasunari (The Izu Dancer), Nobel laureate of 1968, and Mishima Yukio (The Sound of Waves).

After being carried in his mother’s womb for three years, Benkei is born with long hair and teeth and the body of a small child. It is said that he immediately laughed and commented on the brightness of the outside world, leading local people in his native Kii (modern Wakayama) to proclaim that he is a devil. Abandoned on a mountainside, he is adopted by Dainagon, a Kyoto resident who rears him until age seven when he leaves to become a monk. Thrown out of the monastery for his violent behavior, Benkei wanders Japan in search of enlightenment, though only trouble seems to find him. After accidentally causing a temple to burn down, he decides to begin a quest to defeat 1,000 of the hated Heike samurai in battle and donate their swords to a temple. Obtaining the first 999 swords proves relatively easy but the final weapon belongs to Yoshitsune, a young boy whose appearance belies his great skill as a warrior.

A hotheaded youth in 1880s Meiji Japan apprentices to judo master Shōgorō Yano, trading brute jujutsu bravado for discipline and humility. As Sanshirō matures, he proves judo’s spirit against old-guard challengers—including a deadly duel—while falling for his vanquished opponent’s daughter. Based on the novel by Tsuneo Tomita, son of Tomita Tsunejirō, the earliest disciple of judo.

A few years after his breakthrough, Sanshiro resumes his path to judo mastery—testing his discipline against an American prizefighter and later facing vengeful karate brothers. As rival schools and public spectacle push him toward violence, he must reconcile strength with restraint and the true spirit of his art.

In the year 1882, Sanshirou comes to Tokyo seeking for a worthy martial arts teacher. There, he meets Yano - a judo master who single-handedly defeats 39 jujitsu practitioners. Extremely impressed by his skill, Sanshirou decides to become his disciple. Later, Sanshirou falls for Sayo Murai - a girl whose father is a martial arts instructor at the local police department; and he also has to face Higaki Gennosuke, a skilled jujitsu fighter and his greatest rival.

Remake of Akira Kurosawa's films "Sanshiro Sugata and "Sanshiro Sugata Part II". A young man, Sanshiro Sugata, troubled by personal problems, takes up judo. His teacher, Shogoro Yano, is a devout man who has aroused the enmity of the local practitioners of jujitsu, the older and more accepted of the two sports. Sugata uses his newly learned prowess to gain a measure of respect from others; however, Shogoro insists that the sport has a spiritual side, a lesson Sugata has yet to learn. Eventually, in hand-to-hand combat with the father of a young woman he loves, he comes to understand the true meaning of judo.

A young girl is rigorously trained in the feminine arts so that she can become a geisha. As she struggles through life, she learns to live not just as a woman but as a complete person.

The story of Sanshiro Sugata, a young man who wants to learn the new art of judo. A wise teacher reveals to Sanshiro that judo is not merely a means of combat nor a demonstration of physical skill, but an art which reveals the artist to himself. This is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's films "Sanshiro Sugata" and "Sanshiro Sugata Part II"

The story of Sanshiro Sugata, a young man who wants to learn the new art of judo. A wise teacher reveals to Sanshiro that judo is not merely a means of combat nor a demonstration of physical skill, but an art which reveals the artist to himself.

An early film by Kon Ichikawa

1951 Japanese movie

1962 Japanese movie

No description available.

A beautiful but sad romantic melodrama about three sisters who are uninhibited, pure and lovely, and who stand tall like the peaks of a place that has endured the winds and snow of love! Eisuke Taniguchi (Shimizu), president of Towa Electric Works, has three beautiful daughters. The eldest, Kozue (Todoroki), is an intelligent and dynamic modern girl, the second, Yoko (Otowa), is a modest girl with Japanese tastes, and the third, Hanayo (Wakayama), is a mischievous girl who has not yet lost her schoolgirl temperament. All three have feelings for Kiichiro Matsuzaki (Uehara), the president of a magazine company. He was married to Kozue, the eldest daughter, by agreement between their parents, but it was Yoko whom he loved, so he asked her to end her engagement to him.

No description available.

No description available.

At the end of the Heian period, Musashibo Benkei, a warrior monk who hated the Heike clan, was humiliated by his fellow monks and left the mountain monastery. Soon, Benkei competes with the Heike warriors on the Gojo Bridge in Kyoto and takes away their swords. One night he tried to stop a young man who had a beautiful sword on his belt and fought him, but he could not win. Knowing that this young man Ushiwakamaru (Minamoto no Yoshitsune) is looking for an opportunity to overthrow the Heike clan, Benkei asks him to let him join him.

In the end of 19th century Japan, followers of judo and jujitsu battle for supremacy in Japanese martial arts.

A story of friendship between a lone wolf judo expert and a youth.

Japanese drama film and Setsuko Miyuki's film debut.