Wataru Hiranami
Directing
Biography
Wataru HIRANAMI, born in Nagano Prefecture in 1978, learned his craft from Kazuyoshi KUMAKIRI starting in 2003. After graduation, he became heavily involved in Japan's independent filmmaking scene.
Known For

Two socially awkward young women live a seemingly laid-back life in a shared house with others - when they're not working as elite assassins.
Baby Assassins Everyday!

After seeing her friend’s disturbing social media posts, Riko tries to intervene to help her but fails to prevent her from dying a mysterious, violent death. Convinced there is more to the story than a suicide, Riko dives into a world of memes, influencers, and posting for attention. As the pile of bodies grows, and Riko faces her own possible curse, she and her friends travel to Taiwan to find the source of this demonic social media killer.
The Curse

Nono loves public baths so much, each episode she will visit different public baths with her friends
Nonoyu

Kanae's husband disappeared without a trace while on a union trip. Though usually headstrong and independent, the woman becomes plagued with worry over what happened to him, and is unable to move on with her life. Thus, Kanae decides to hire a private investigator, and keeps running the public bathhouse to the best of her abilities. As he tries to figure out the truth about her husband, Kanae must deal with the stress from a work-intensive job, meddlesome neighbors, and recurring nightmares in which she is drowning.
Undercurrent

A young, temperamental Tokyo beautician struggles to navigate her relationships with lovers, friends, and family.
Desert of Namibia

It’s easy to promise ‘for better or worse’ in a wedding vow, but how many marriages can truly weather every storm? Sachi decides to study for the bar exam with her boyfriend Tamotsu as an act of solidarity. However, Sachi ends up becoming a lawyer, while Tamotsu, who fails the exam repeatedly, is relegated to stay-at-home dad.
Sato and Sato

Takagi, now grown up, revisits her middle school as a trainer. She encounters Nishikata, her former classmate she used to tease, now a PE teacher there. Their playful dynamic resumes, leading to more interactions between the two.
Teasing Master Takagi-san

A plainclothes detective travels back 10 years in time to prevent his girlfriend’s murder, using his future knowledge to confront police corruption and rewrite his destiny.
Time Loop Detective

Keisuke Isobe and Koume Satou live a rather dull life. But when Koume's crush breaks her heart, their situation becomes quite unordinary. She starts a "no-strings-attached" relationship with Keisuke, whom she had previously rejected, both finding solace in the other in order to fill the emotional voids in their lives.
A Girl on the Shore

A jaded Japanese movie star stranded in NYC without money or phone meets a passionate indie filmmaker and his crew, leading to an unexpected creative journey that could reignite her love for cinema.
I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn

A Japanese horror television drama based on the book of the same name written by Itoi Shigesato. He originally began serializing his collection of ghost stories on his website Hobonikkan Itoishinbun in 2004. Each of the ghost stories are based on real-life events experienced by real-life people. It was published as a book in August 2018, and later adapted into a television drama in August 2020. The Hobonikkan Itoishinbun website continues to add ghost stories to the Hobonichi no Kaidan. collection to this day.
Hobonichi no Kaidan

A quiet retro barbershop hides a dangerous side hustle—its unassuming owner and a sharp-tongued new assistant team up to solve clients’ problems with brute force, for a hefty fee.
We Are Bad Barbers

Koji runs a second-hand bookstore. He likes female drummer Ichihana, but, suddenly, female high school student Misaki appears in front of him and keeps confesses her feelings for him.
Love Nonetheless

Reon is a young Korean man. He avoids contact with other people and works as an apprentice shoemaker. One after, he sees a woman Sona passed out and sleeping on a bench in the park. Reon doesn't know why, but he can't get her out of his mind. Meanwhile, Kokaze works in the same shoe shop with Reon and has feelings for him.
Their Distance

On August 12, 2015, Hasegawa proposed to Ichiko. Ichiko is moved by Hasegawa's proposal and sheds tears, but the next day, she suddenly leaves home, seemingly shocked after seeing the TV news. Where did Ichiko go? Hasegawa reports the disappearance to the police, and the detective in charge of the investigation tells an unexpected story.
Ichiko

Kato, a scriptwriter, is in love with Miho—but he can never manage to muster up enough courage to make the relationship anything more than a platonic friendship. Seemingly oblivious to Kato's feelings for her, Miho is always calling him up and spilling her guts about her own love problems. She's in love with someone else, it turns out, but Kato swallows his pride—hearing about it all is almost too much to bear, but he wants to be with Miho as much as he can.
My Favorite Girl

Tamaki got disheartened when she was sent to the Percussion Division of her catholic Music School. There she overheard a Girl playing Wadaiko Drums. She was instantly captivated. So she decides to try playing them seriously.
Wadaiko Girls

Wakaba saves her classmate Koki who was being bullied. From then on, people who are involved with Wakaba are killed one after another. When the murderer is found out, Wakaba realizes what true love is.
Love Will Tear Us Apart

Professional boxer Sota Kusunoki has gained popularity for his fighting style, where he goes headlong into his opponents. However, years of fighting have taken their toll on his body, and he is forced to retire by a doctor's stoppage. He takes the opportunity of his retirement to marry his girlfriend, Sachiko, and start a new life, but he is completely useless in society and is made acutely aware of the harsh reality of his situation. One day, a mysterious man who claims to be a fan of Sota's receives an offer to fight in an underground martial arts tournament, where he will fight for a large sum of money and where his desires are thriving... The prospect of fighting once again revives his almost forgotten excitement, and his adrenaline surges as if to fill the emptiness in him. Will the madness and honesty of a man obsessed with fighting have a happy ending or a bad one?
I’m Glad to Be Alive

Compilation of the four short films in the Extraneous Matter series.