Chōichirō Kawarasaki

Moonlight Serenade (1997)

After the 1995 Kobe earthquake, a writer remembers travelling with his family to bury his brother after World War II. ...

Sharaku (1995)

A crippled kabuki player is taken into a strolling company of itinerant actors. An influential publisher notices his honest, bold drawings, and nurtures him despite persecution and betrayal. The film explores the eternal relationship between artist and pro ...

Sakura (1994)

The story of a bus conductor who dedicates his life to the cherished Japanese symbol. ...

Lone Wolf and Cub: The Final Conflict (1993)

A noble samurai serving the Shogun as 'Kogi Kaishaku-nin' (Official Executioner) is the target of a plot by the evil Yagyu Clan to take away his position and replace him with a member of their own family. When his wife is murdered and evidence is produced ...

Faraway Sunset (1992)

Faraway Sunset tells the story of the famed bacteriologist who is known to have discovered the agent that cause syphilis, and for his relentless search for a cure to yellow fever. As a toddler, his mother's neglect had caused an accident to his left hand, ...

The Strange Tale of Oyuki (1992)

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 ...

Rhapsody in August (1991)

An elderly Nagasaki hibakusha spends a summer caring for her four grandchildren, whose curiosity about the 1945 bombing stirs buried memories and moral questions. When an American nephew from Hawaii visits, the family confronts grief, guilt, and the possib ...

War and Youth (1991)

An auto repairman's daughter questions him about what happened to her aunt during the war, but the father remains reticent. Finally the man opens up, and the girl is able to piece together her aunt's tragic story. ...

Ningen no sabaku (1990)

Takeshi: Childhood Days (1990)

A story of childhood life during wartime Japan. Takeshi, the intelligent son of a fisherman, is the schoolyard bully. When his cousin comes to stay with his family to avoid bombing raids, Takeshi at first treats him well, then begins bullying him too. Take ...

My Phoenix (1989)

Romance story about the first female manager of the Nihon University Phoenix ...

It's Easier Than Kissing (1989)

After the death of her mother a young woman wants to meet her real father ...

Shiro and Marilyn (1988)

Based on a true story. Shiro, a dog who lives in an inn on Akajima in Okinawa, swims to the opposite shore on Zamami to see his love, a dog named Marilyn. Shiro is portrayed by the real-life Shiro. ...

There Goes Benio, the Smart Girl (1987)

Benio, a peppy tomboy, is surprised to learn that she has been secretly betrothed by her grandfather to a young officer named Shinobu Ijuin. Because of his family's noble status, Benio must first undergo rigorous training to learn how to be a proper bride ...

My Beloved Is My Husband's Boss?! (1987)

In Jimpachi Kodera's household, young samurai Keishiro Kanie arrives, captivating Jimpachi's wife, Shoko, despite his initially arrogant demeanor. Keishiro introduces himself while Shoko is cleaning, and she recalls her husband mentioning a visitor, reluct ...

Tokyo Bordello (1987)

A ruined businessman was forced to sell his daughter, Hisano, to a brothel in Yoshiwara, the largest red-light district in Tokyo. The owner of the brothel has hopes to make her a great new addition which will attract the richest of customers. But after se ...

River of Fireflies (1987)

During the winter in Toyama in 1962, Tatsuo Mizushima is fretting about his feelings for his classmate Eiko Tsujisawa while agonizing about his upcoming high school examinations. When he was little, he and Eiko had heard that in April of a year when the wi ...

A Human Promise (1986)

An old woman has died and her widower with dementia confesses to killing her. After this, the story goes back in time to show the events leading up to her death. ...

Baby Elephant Story: The angel who descended to earth (1986)

In the winter of 1945, Sakura the elephant gave birth to a baby elephant at Tokyo Fujimi Zoo under the watchful eye of the zookeeper Shota Tanabe. Around the same time, Shota's wife, Setsuko, also gave birth to a son. Hanako, the baby elephant, grows up wh ...

Gonza the Spearman (1986)

The tragic story of Gonza, a handsome ladies man, set in the Tokugawa Period, a time in which appearances are very important. Gonza competes with Bannojō for the honor to perform the tea ceremony to celebrate the birth of an heir to the lord of their clan ...

Yume-Chiyo (1985)

Yumechiyo, a geisha house madam recently diagnosed with a terminal illness, yearns to do something constructive with the little time she has left. Though her responsibility lies in taking care of her girls, she finds purpose in helping a man wrongfully acc ...

Sotsugyou -GRADUATION- (1985)

Momoko Watanabe—a student who, upon visiting a shrine in order to wish good luck on a friend of hers, witnesses a murder in the forest...and she knows the culprit! Unfortunately, she doesn't have it in her to tell anybody about it, and to make matters wo ...

Someday, Someone Will Be Killed (1984)

While trying to search for her missing father, Atsuko Moriya meets a group of outcasts that help her. Having only an encrypted disk in her possession and while being chased by unknown people, Atsuko tries to solve the mystery of her family origins. ...

Serial Killer: Coldblooded (1984)

Based on the life of Japanese serial killer and thief Kiyotaka Katsuta. ...

Dark Room (1983)

A writer haunted by the death of his wife and threatened by the imagined infidelities of his lovers uses his affairs for the subjects of his novels. ...

Manon (1981)

A story about a woman who is a research student of a theater company and the three men who are at the mercy of her. ...

This Is Noriko (1981)

Fictionalized account of 20-year-old Noriko Tsuji, a real-life victim of a severe birth defect which afflicted 8,000 Japanese, children whose mothers took the sedative thalidomide during pregnancy. Tsuji has stunted flipper-like arms amputated at the behes ...

Eijanaika (1981)

The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a ...

Child of the Sun (1980)

A couple originally from Okinawa run an inexpensive restaurant in Kobe, with their grade-school daughter, Fuuchan. The movie depicts the warm interaction between her and adults that grew up with the rough history of Okinawa and discrimination from the main ...

Heaven Sent (1979)

Sayoko is desperate to bear a child of her own, but her live-in boyfriend Shinsaku strenuously objects to the idea. One day, someone leaves behind a six-year-old child at their door, claiming that Shinsaku—or four other men—is the child's father! Sayok ...

Gassan (1979)

Akira leaves for the Mt. Gassan foothills before winter's onset, visiting the local temple and interacting with the residents all while falling for fair Fumiko. ...

Love Me Tenderly, Love Me Wildly (1979)

Yuichi prides himself on the fact that he is a family man but contrary to his conception of an ideal family life, at age 24, his wife has already run out on him. In utter confusion, he tries to reason out where he had gone amiss that such a thing should ha ...

Vengeance Is Mine (1979)

A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police. ...

Panic in High School (1978)

A high school student rallies his classmates into rebelling violently when the administration refuses to take responsibility for the suicide of one of the students. ...

Double Clutch (1978)

Hiromi Go plays a high school student who needs a role model in his life badly. He's raised by his older sister played by Keiko Matsuzaka who is a hostess at a night club. She meets a man who becomes her boyfriend. He races in a off-road car rally professi ...

Yojōhan seishun garasu-bari (1976)

A film that portrays the youth and fragile love of a transportation worker in Tokyo. ...

Let's Go, Grandma! (1975)

Let's Go, Grandma! plays like an exuberant, goofy update to Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story. Kinuyo Tanaka plays the titular Grandma, who, after selling her Hokkaido property, is apparently flush with cash but newly homeless. Her grown children take turns hosti ...

Light of Africa (1975)

Two semi-slackers with an ultra-intimate friendship work, slack and drink in a freezing Hokkaido town. ...

Invitation of Lust (1975)

Hirobe is a lonely man. After witnessing her girlfriend die with a terminal illness, he wanders through the city like a shadow. One day, he meets Masako and they begin an affair. Masako is in an unhappy marriage with Yazawa, who is also cheating on her wit ...

The Gate of Youth (1975)

Mainly the story of Shinsuke and his stepmother, ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly every aspect of the life of the characters. Shinsuke's father dies while bravely using dynamite to rescue a gro ...

My Way (1974)

Based on a true story, an elderly woman resiliently spends nine months attempting to retrieve her husband's dead body, fighting government bureaucracy and indifference all along the way. ...

Red Paper Lantern (1974)

A young and newly-married couple in Tokyo lives a hard life moving repeatedly because of their unfamiliar relationships with their surroundings. ...

Himiko (1974)

The myth of the Sun Goddess who founded Japanese society is seen through the lens of a modern view of history. ...

Long Journey into Love (1973)

A beautifully told story of a woman hardened by marriage to a man she doesn't love, after giving herself to another. She dedicates herself to her work, designing and creating plaited cords for kimono. ...

A Woman Called En (1971)

Set at the end of the feudal period. A woman spends most of her early life in prison, incarcerated by political opponents of her father. When she is released at the age of 44, the power struggles of her clan continue to disturb her life and the man whom sh ...

Follow the Girls (1971)

Comedy of an entertainment agent and strip-teasers. ...

The Gentle Japanese (1971)

A survivor of the tragic mass suicides on Tokashiki Island in 1945 falls in love with a near-mute motorcycle engineer. ...

Live Today, Die Tomorrow! (1970)

Michio Yamada, a recent school graduate, is sent to Tokyo to work as a fruit-packer in a department store as part of a government programme. He takes a gun from a house on an American base and uses it to kill several people. The scene changes to Yamada's ...

If You Were Young: Rage (1970)

If You Were Young: Rage highlights the other side of post-war Japanese prosperity, focusing on the throngs of young people who missed out on the boom. We follow a group of young men that can't seem to get ahead, despite their willingness to try. Then one h ...

Gorgeous Leopardess (1969)

The Girl I Abandoned (1969)

Tsutomu Yoshioka, a Tokyo office worker, is engaged to Mariko, the niece of his company's president. But Yoshioka has a crisis of consence when he remembers his former love Mitsu, a rural girl whom he met and later left while in college. Shimako, a former ...

Profound Desires of the Gods (1968)

Tokyo engineer Kariya arrives on a primitive tropical island, where he interacts with the Futori clan, to drill a well to power a sugar mill. ...

Clouds at Sunset (1967)

A Japanese soldier deserts his position and travels to a small town on the Sea of Japan to start over. When a young maid falls for him, he talks her into sleeping with an older man for money. ...

Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro (1965)

The fifth and final installment with the build up of the epic battle between Sasaki Kojiro and Miyamoto Musashi. With all the familiar characters making appearances: Otsu (Musashi's great love), Akemi, Matahachi (his former fellow soldier), old lady Osugi ...

Cold Rice, Osan, Chan (1965)

Three stories revolve around independence, a man searching for his wife, and a poor craftsman trying to make money. ...

The Tattooed Lord (1965)

Cruel Story of the Shogunate's Downfall (1964)

A headstrong young man seeks to join the Shinsengumi, but while his determination impresses his superiors, questions begin to arise as to his true identity and intentions. ...

Yagyu Chronicles 9: Assassin's Sword (1964)

The Yagyu Family have been teaching the Shinkage style of fencing for generations. Now a new fencing school has opened in Edo, claiming to be the true Shinkage style. Yagyu Jubei faces his biggest challenge yet when the master of the new school claims he i ...

The Ninja Hunt (1964)

Four ninja are hired to fight against the Shogunate's plot to abolish the Gamo Clan, the regional barons struggling to reinstate their young heir Tanemaru as their Lord. ...

Giant Rumble (1964)

In this gritty tale of gamblers battling in the samurai era, Okawa Hashizo gives perhaps his greatest performance as a gambler returning to his home town. Swearing allegiance to his fiancée's father, a decent boss, he had taken to the road after a gang fi ...

The Great Killing (1964)

A cynical samurai is left as the sole survivor to fulfill a plot to assassinate the puppet of a villain intent on usurping the shogunate in the 17th century. A Shogunate Elder connives to rule Japan by making his puppet, the Shogun's brother Tsunashige, t ...

Fighting Tatsu, the Rickshaw Man (1964)

Richshaw man Tatsu has wandered to Osaka from Tokyo. He has quarrels with Kimiyakko, a geisha, and throws her into the river. But later, he falls in love with her. Yasaburo, the oyabun of the Nishikawa Gang, loves her very much too. However, as he likes Ta ...

Miyamoto Musashi IV: The Duel at Ichijo-ji Temple (1964)

In the fourth installment, Musashi's potentially greatest opponent Kojiro jumps in and out of the story at the oddest and most coincidental moments. As his great love Otsu has succumbed to madness. Musashi then sets off to beat the functionaries of a treac ...

Sasuke and His Comedians (1963)

Osaka in the early 1600s, aftermath of the historical Battle of Sekigahara; a group of orphan children are wandering through the battlefield scavenging for armour when they encounter a young boy named Sasuke with magical powers he says came from a meteor t ...

13 Assassins (1963)

A sadistic Daimyo (feudal lord) rapes a woman and murders both her and her husband, but even when one of his own vassals commits suicide to bring attention to the crime, the matter is quickly hushed up. Not only will there be no punishment, but because the ...

A House in the Quarter (1963)

With her family suffering from extreme poverty, Yuko, as the eldest daughter, is sold to a successful brothel in Kyoto. There she is assigned to serve Takamatsu, one of the brothel's top customers. But while Takamatsu falls madly in love with Yuko, she fin ...

A Prisoner in Search of Daughter (1963)

Miyamoto Musashi III: Birth of Two Sword Style (1963)

In the third installment of Yoshikawa's novel Musashi, things continue from the 2nd film at the end of battle, where Miyamoto continues on a mission of learning; with the introduction of his arch-rival Sasaki Kojiro; and lastly the large cast of characters ...

Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai (1963)

After a salary-man's fiancée attempts suicide, he recounts his gruesome family history which saw generations of his ancestors suffer and sacrifice themselves for the sake of their cruel lords. ...

Castle of Owls (1963)

Movie adaptation of the 1959 ninja novel. With war against Korea looming on the horizon, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the 'Taiko' becomes the target of an assassination attempt to be carried out by the Iga Clan of ninja spies. Master spy Juzo Tsuzura (Ryutaro Otom ...

Tattoo of Love (1963)

The great Okawa Hashizo, in one of his most powerful roles risks his life and limb to help save the lovely Onaka from a terrible lifestyle. Starting out as a down on his luck gambler, Hantaro refuses to accept punishment for running up a 10 ryo debt in a c ...

Tokaido Fullhouse (1963)

When Kanbe Nagakichi has his turf taken over by Ano-Toku, the father-in-law of his sworn brother Kira Nikichi sets in motion one of the most violent gang battles in Japanese history. Forced by the situation to choose between family and yakuza honor, Nikich ...

Miyamoto Musashi: Showdown at Hannyazaka Heights (1962)

The remake of Yoshikawa's novel continues with the second installment in which Takezo, soon to be Miyamoto Musashi, emerges from the Himeji Castle after three years of intense contemplation and philosophical study and starting on his epic quest to complete ...

A Revengeful Raid (1962)

In this tale of bravery and honor among the roving gamblers of old Japan, the heroic Jirocho, Boss of the Tokaido is called upon to help a young yakuza named Eijiro after he runs afoul of the new samurai officials who have taken over his hometown. Expertly ...

The Warrior from Kishu (1962)

This is a story of a young heir to a powerful house, sent away to be raised by his nanny, so the young lord Genrokuro grew up bitter about his parents, hating his legacy and embracing everyone else from simple background. Only love can help him mature, hop ...

The Phantom Goblin (1962)

An injured Edo official is rescued by a vassal whose appearance is exactly like himself, and swears to sweep out the criminals from the town on his behalf. ...

A Carpenter and Children (1962)

A carpenter, Shigetsugu, learns a lesson of love and humanity from five orphaned children and an affectionate woman named Oritsu. It's a winning combination of drama and humor. The warm friendship that grows between the carpenter, the woman and the childr ...

The Mad Fox (1962)

A court fortune-teller loses his mind after a conspiracy leads to the death of his lover. Hope appears to be on the horizon after he becomes romantically involved with his dead lover's twin sister, but more complications arise thanks to a chance encounter ...

The Christian Revolt (1962)

In Tokugawa-era (1637) Shimabara, oppressed peasant Christians revolt against the shogunate with the aid of charismatic Christian rebel leader Shiro Amakusa. ...

In Search of Mother (1962)

Period piece about a young man who, because of his hard life alone in the world, has become a yakuza. When he hears that his mother may be living in Edo (Tokyo), he travels there, intent on finding her and leaving the swordsman's life behind. But a team of ...

Jirocho' s Days of Youth: Whirlwind on the Tokaido (1962)

Adventures of famous yakuza boss Jirocho and his disciples who settle in Kofu. ...

The Conspirator (1961)

Young lord Saburo Nobuyasu struggles to find comfort in life. His arranged marriage to Tokuhime, daughter of one-time family enemy Oda Nobunaga, provides little happiness. His manipulative mother adds further complications through her constant interference ...

The Man Who Challenged 8,000,000-Koku (1961)

A story of an orphan boy who wanted the love of parents so badly, another orphan sincerely pitied him to the point he gives his secret birthright as an illegitimate son to a Shogun as a "gift of hope" to the sad boy. As the orphan boy grew up, his loving h ...

Seven Knights Pt. 3 (1961)

Seven Knights Pt. 2 (1961)

Seven Knights Pt. 1 (1961)

Fine Man (1961)

A young son of a master of the Kuwana clan gets disowned for his rebellious behavior. After he goes from the mountains to the ocean defeating the evil, he becomes a fine man. ...

Samurai Knights (1961)

Golden Peacock Castle, Part 4 (1961)

The righteous young men, who were separated by the all-out attack of sorcery, are saved by the friendship of a young Sengoku warlord, and now launch an all-out attack on Gondayu, who has usurped the regent's position. An exciting and heated battle unfolds. ...

Golden Peacock Castle, Part 2 (1961)

The struggles of the Golden Peacock Clan continue as they seek to reclaim their home and prevent the evil Gondaiyu from taking their most prized treasures. ...

Golden Peacock Castle, Part 3 (1961)

What will become of Sakon's lover, Shiragiku, who has been abducted to the Matsunaga Danjo residence? What about Benigiku and the others, whose souls have been extracted and who are heading to Mt. Hitokoi? And when will the three treasures of Peacock Castl ...

Golden Peacock Castle, Part 1 (1961)

A group of pirates led by the evil Gondaiyu and his wizard, Genkuro, capture the Golden Peacock Castle and massacre the peaceful clan that lives there. The few survivors that manage to escape plot their revenge and wait for the right timing for an attack. ...

Lord of Steel Heart (1961)

A Tokugawa Daimyo rebels against an his lord after the battle of Sekigahara. Samurai Matabei, a famous spear fighter and warrior, is a vassal of lord Honjo. One of Honjo's most trusted under-lords is Sanzaemon. He has designs on Matabei's fief, and he plot ...