Yoshihiro Katō

In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.

Maria is in need of money. Because her day-time job doesn't pay enough, she works at night at a cabaret. She needs the money so that she can pay for her sister, Nana's eyes operation. When both Maria and Nana were younger, Maria burned down the home, causing her sister's blindness and killing their father (mother survived.) Shiro is a famous concert pianist. However, he isn't happy with his marriage or his life in general. Maria and Shiro are united through a traffic accident, causing Shiro to be hospitalized. Faking amnesia and his identity, he stays at Maria's place and eventually starts to work at the cabaret as a piano player. As you will find out later on, life was not meant for Maria and Shiro to find one another.

After watching her friend fall from a building a depressed high school girl runs away from home. When she is picked up by a nice guy on a phone date she realizes too late that he has plans to use her for his own ends.

When Wabisuke's father-in-law unexpectedly dies, the family goes through a series of random events and occurrences as the funeral unfolds over three days in their home.

Intrepid tax investigator Ryoko Itakura sets her sights on the mysterious and philandering Hideki Gondo, a suspected millionaire and proprietor of a thriving chain of seedy hourly hotels, who has for years succeeded at hiding the true extent of his assets from the Japanese authorities. Itakura and Gondo soon find themselves engaged in a complicated, satirical battle of wits.

A sendup of the stereotypical Japanese family: dad is a salaryman jerk, unable to relate to anyone; mom is a hopeless housewife; the older son is a moderate academic success; but the younger son is a rebellious goof-off for whom a tutor must be hired. The tutor, played by the prototypical bad boy actor Matsuda Yusaku, proceeds to blow the entire family apart.

A homeless man suffering from memory loss is unbeatable in a fight. He becomes involved with the Yakuza. It is based on a manga by Carib Marley.

Vain, middle-aged actress Biwako is placed in witness protection while authorities investigate the brutal murder she witnessed. Under the watch of two dedicated cops, Biwako struggles to maintain her career, her public image, and her personal life as she prepares for her new role on the witness stand.

Nayoko, a good-hearted geisha, brings luck to the men she sleeps with, even though most are scoundrels who don’t deserve it.

Deaths in Tokimeki tells the story of a nondescript hitman, in a remote country villa, waiting to carry out a job: the assassination of the leader of a religious cult.

When a hard-driving copywriter (Hiroyuki Sanada) discovers his comely wife (Keiko Saito) is involved in a scintillating game of strip rock-paper-scissors with some guy clad only in a pair of boxer shorts and Mickey Mouse ears, he is less than happy. When the stranger tries to make a run for it, a fight ensues between the two men, and they accidentally tumble down several flights of a concrete stairwell. One hurried ambulance ride later, the copywriter finds himself in a private teaching hospital equipped with the latest gleaming gizmos. Meanwhile, a young internist (Hiroko Yakushimaru) girds herself for her first emergency room case -- the battered copywriter. After giving a curt bow and a nervous "Good Evening," she accidentally jams a syringe into his bloody wound. Soon the absurdity of their situation, along with their medical misery, binds the two men and their blundering nurse together.

In the year 199X, on the dark, shady streets of New Kabuki Town, the free-for-all between gangs of young delinquents and a corrupt police force is further complicated by the appearance of a mysterious girl named Asuka.

A carnivorous monster lives on the island of Sipang. A group of office ladies band together to fight it.

Ryōko Itakura returns as the tough-as-nails government taxing agent. This time she must figure out a way to expose a fanatical religious cult lead by a corrupt sociopath.

A successful Japanese movie director in his sixties becomes increasingly ill while working on his latest film. Though his family, friends, and doctor try to keep the secret of his terminal cancer from him, Buhei gradually comes to realize the truth of his condition, leading him on a journey of despair, anger, and – ultimately – acceptance.

A private detective and a college student find themselves in hot water while investigating the murder of a night club owner.

Tetsuro Haga is a troubled gangster, living under the assumed identity Ise for ten years, to escape jail for gunning down his cruel adoptive father. His life begins to unravel when a journalist following him takes an interest in the wife of a boyhood chum, and the wife of another close friend takes an interest in Ise. A couple of murders later, Ise/Haga goes on the run and also sets out for revenge.

The film opens as a jury is about to acquit a defendant -- a bar hostess who pushed her ex-husband path of an oncoming truck, supposedly in self-defense. Just as everyone seems to be in agreement over the woman's innocence, one juror voices second thoughts.

A kindergarten teacher meets a novice magician and together they travel to another city to find love.

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 expedition to the top of Everest.