Hiroko Isayama

Route29 (2024)

Adapted from a book of poems by poet Taichi Nakao, the film is a road story set in beautiful nature and tranquil landscapes about a lonely janitor who doesn't communicate well and Haru, a teenage girl who is different, who travels on Route 29, which connec ...

Yes, I Can't Swim (2022)

Yuji Takanashi is a university philosophy professor who can't swim. Making awkward justifications to himself about the relationship between water and people, still he decides on the spur of the moment to enroll in a swimming class. There he encounters the ...

All the Things We Never Said (2020)

Atsuhisa lives with wife Natsumi and daughter Suzu. He and friend Takeda study languages to become businessmen. When Natsumi reveals an affair and wants divorce, their lives change. ...

The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue (2017)

Mika works as a nurse by day; by night she entertains covetous men at a girls' bar. Shinji is blind in one eye and ekes out a living as a construction worker. Young and grown-up at the same time, they both lead a lonely existence, but somehow their paths k ...

Silence (2016)

In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism. ...

Disconcerto (2014)

Set within the fictional city of Mahoro, Keisuke Tada runs a "benriya" - a general problem solver for hire. His assistant is his former high school classmate Haruhiko Gyoten. A big crisis then occurs for them. ...

The Light Shines Only There (2014)

A man has thrown away love and a woman has given up on love. The two souls meet in a brief summer in the northern city of Hakodate. ...

The Great Passage (2013)

Majime, an eccentric man in publishing company, who has unique ability of words, joins the team that will compile a new dictionary, The Great Passage. In the eclectic team, he becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries. But the team is overwhelmed with ...

GACHI-BAN II (2008)

Takumi, the former boss of the Black Black Black Skull Gang, is about to graduate and he chooses Taiga as his successor. During the handover, a transfer student named Monji tries to usurp the throne of the Black Skull Gang. ...

GACHI-BAN (2008)

Takumi is a sexually frustrated high school freshman Yanki (Japanese delinquent) with an unrivaled iron fist. Along with his group of loyal friends, they plan to take over all Japanese high schools to be the top Yanki, but Takumi's first love deters him fr ...

The Yakuza Principal 2 (2007)

After successfully saving his newly acquired daycare center, "Little Chicks Family", Junji is met with yet another issue. A member of the rival yakuza family, the Yashiki, begins to work in the shadows against him. Will Junji be able to foil Yashiki's plot ...

Dots and Lines (2007)

Jutaro Torikai is a senior detective set to uncover the truth behind an apparent double suicide. ...

The Yakuza Principal (2007)

Junji, the protagonist of FM89.3MHz, must become the principal of a nursery school in Kabukicho after the death of Okawa Clan's boss. ...

FM89.3MHz (2007)

Okawa Family's yakuza, Junji, is released from prison, and is told to take over a local radio station by his boss. Junji tries to explain that it is not a yakuza's job to talk on the radio, but no one listens to him. He reluctantly goes to the radio buildi ...

Kanashiki Tenshi (2006)

The body of a 59-year-old male is found on the banks of a river. The stepson, Kazuo, confesses to his involvement but also implicates his estranged sister Nami. Two detectives, Okishima Keisuke and Kono Kaoru, then travel to the resort district of Beppu to ...

Tales of Terror: Haunted Apartment (2005)

Aimi and her father move into an old, apartment building and learn quickly that things are not as they seem. ...

Sayonara Color (2005)

Shohei works as a doctor in a seaside hospital. One day, a new patient is admitted to the hospital with ovarian cancer. Shohei is surprised to recognize Michiko, his first love from high school. Shohei has been leading a dissolute bachelor life, paying for ...

Rockers (2003)

Guitarist Ko-chan is a mess of sexual repression after a childhood at the mercy of two elder sisters eager to use him as a guinea pig for their make-up skills. Bassist Gaku-chan keeps a bucket in the wings for whenever his nerves get the better of him, and ...

Young Thugs: Kaoru-chan's Strongest Legend Banchou Soccer (2003)

Vengeance for Sale (2002)

In a world where vendettas are officially sanctioned, the people sometimes needed help in carrying out their vengeance. Sanada Hiroyuki stars as Sukeroku the Helper, a 'cool and rambling yakuza' that has made a business out of helping victims carry out the ...

Young Thugs: Kaoru-chan's Strongest Legend EPISODE I (2001)

Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000)

Two contract killers cross paths in the middle of the same job and realize they are childhood friends. Together they take a break from killing and visit the small island they once called home. After reflecting on their past lives they decided to team up an ...

Pickpocket (2000)

Kaido is a professional pickpocket who works the Tokyo subway with his young foster-daughter, Rei: She lets herself be groped while Kaido relieves the groper of his wallet. More often than not they're observed by a middle-aged cop, who generally lets Kaido ...

As the River Flows (2000)

2000 live-action Japanese film. ...

Birdcage of Horrors (1999)

A murder mystery told in one-minute clips — one for each day of the year — filmed specifically for the SEGA Dreamcast console. It tells the story of Nao Tsunoda, a 16-year-old schoolgirl who moves to Tokyo's Grauenheim apartment complex. One day, Nao's ...

Kazoku Cinema (1998)

A savage look at food and sex, helms this black comedy about Japan's sizable and often beleaguered Korean-Japanese community. Motomi Hayashi (Eri Yu), a producer who is thoroughly dedicated to her career, returns to her abode to discover that her porn star ...

Junji Inagawa's the Story of Terror II (1998)

Second "The Story of Terror" film by Junji Inagawa. ...

Happy People (1997)

Japanese anthology follows the depressing lives of several people just trying to keep going in a nihilistic world. Movie version of Kosuke Suzuki's previous SOV movie by the same title. ...

Mogura (1996)

Mogura, a shut-in former musician, falls in love with a young cellist after seeing her photo in a magazine. ...

Helpless (1996)

Yasuo is a gangster just released from jail. Believing his boss double-crossed him, enraged Yasuo is on his way to find the boss. But before setting out for the dangerous trip, Yasuo asks Kenji to take care of his mentally challenged sister, Yuri, and a my ...

The Man with Two Hearts (1996)

Mitabi no kaikyô (1995)

Turning Point (1994)

A middle-aged journalist looking to make her big break. After working the same beat on the "women's page", Yumiko gets promoted to editorials. ...

The Girl from the Darkness (1993)

A popular author becomes concerned when she learns of the unusual behavior of a man's eight-year-old daughter before her marriage to a used bookstore owner. ...

Bakayarō! 4 You! (1991)

This is a Japanese movie starring Yuen Biao ...

Inamura Jane (1990)

Ronin-gai (1990)

Near the end of Japanese civil war, several disgraced ronin living in Edo's red light district attempt to regain their honor by defending a brothel from a hostile militia bent on wiping out local prostitutes. ...

Kaito Ruby (1988)

Toru Hayashi is an unremarkable bachelor who lives with his mother, until one day a young woman named Rumi moves in in the apartment upstairs. Rumi is a self-proclaimed master thief, but she needs socially awkward Toru's help to actually kickstart her so-c ...

That's Roman Porno: Smile of Goddesses (1988)

A documentary compilation that shows various clips from the Roman Porno series of movies from 1971 to 1988. ...

Choji Snack Bar (1983)

Eiji lives a quiet life running a small Izakaya with his wife. He spends his days cooking for and serving the lively residents of his small hometown. ...

Women’s Secrets Behind Bars (1983)

After being falsely charged with murdering her husband, Nao is sent to a prison for women where her fellow inmates try to help her escape. ...

Hariko no tora (1983)

Nishimura Gosaku, an aspiring photographer who loves mountain scenery, meets a boy named Sada Ichiro one evening who asks to borrow train fare. For some reason, Ichiro follows Nishimura everywhere. When told to go home, Ichiro refuses, claiming he doesn't ...

The Longest Tunnel (1982)

After a passenger ship sinks in 1954, Go Akutsu devises a life-saving project in the form of a tunnel under the Tsugaru Strait. While working on this project Akutsu becomes involved with Tae Makimura leading to his estrangement from his wife. ...

At This Late Date, the Charleston (1981)

A young man gets thrown into detention after an episode of sexual assault; he soon meets several impostors in the same situation. ...

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. ...

The Fighting Rascal (1979)

Hakatakko Pure Heart (1978)

Based on the comic by Housei Hasegawa ...

Dynamite Don-Don (1978)

Yakuza Gang War is at the height in North Kyūshū Area in the summer of 1950, particularly between the Okagen Group and the rising Hashiden Gang. Now with the mediation/interference of the Americans, they decide to settle it in a peaceful, *democratic* wa ...

New - No Longer Human (1978)

Based on the novel by Osamu Dazai and distributed by ATG. The story of a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas. In consequence, he feels himself "disqualifie ...

Teacher Deer (1978)

Mejika, reputed for her iron discipline, is hired as a biology teacher at a renowned high school. But her provocative attitude starts to worry the school's administration as she reveals vice and corruption that are running rampant in the school. ...

Boxer (1977)

In the midst of a match, a successful boxer - Hayato, has had enough of the sport. He lets himself get knocked, quits boxing, leaving his wife and start living alone with his mangy dog. One day a young mediocre boxer knocks at the door and wants to be Haya ...

The Life of Chikuzan (1977)

After over 50 years of wandering up and down Japan, finally in the 1970s, the rough-hewn blind shamisen player and folk-song collector named Takahashi Chikuzan became a musical sensation. This biographical drama chronicles his wanderings and his life, with ...

Case of the Disjointed Murder (1977)

In the summer of 1947, various men and women gather at a mansion in the countryside at the invitation of Kazuma Utagawa. They are artists, novelists, poets, painters, playwrights, actresses, etc. Then the murders begin, one after another. The incident s ...

Kawachi Rascal Is Spurred On (1976)

Ah! That Pep Squad (1976)

Life in the pep squad is all about harsh discipline. Seniors are "Gods", juniors are "Humans", sophomores are "Slaves" and freshmen are treated like "Trash". One sunny day, two freshmen are entrusted with the task to dry out the squadron's flag; the most c ...

Manhunt (1976)

A tough prosecutor is falsely accused of theft and goes on the run to clear his name. He is assisted by the beautiful daughter of a rich man. ...

The Perennial Weed (1975)

A detective wonders that his sister is a murder suspect. ...

Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees (1975)

A mountain man beheads his many wives to prove his love to an alluring woman he meets in an enchanted forest. ...

Battle Cry (1975)

During the military phase of the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Sentaro joins a local militia loyal to the Tokugawa Shogunate in order to fight Imperial troops. But Sentaro's friendship with a pickpocket, who switches sides whenever it suits his needs, leads t ...

Akumyo: Notorious Dragon (1974)

About small-time gangster Asakichi's chaotic life in the 1930s. His gambling addiction means that he must not continue working in the family business. Instead he supports himself by arranging cockfights. He becomes ex-geisha Okinu's patron and lover, and f ...

Girl Boss: Escape From Reform School (1973)

Girl Boss Ruriko and her cellmates escape from a greedy corrupt reform school that's more interested in cheating the government out of money than reformation. Each having their own reasons for escaping, they go their separate ways. With the help of a young ...

Woods Are Wet (1973)

Sachiko has just committed a crime. She is helped by a couple to whom she grants her confidence. Quickly this couple blackmails her and threatens to deliver her to the police. Sachiko has no other choice but to obey them. ...

Hell Riders in Kyoto (1973)

The rich punk Junya has only one thing in mind: to race with the police on his motorcycle. That makes him unpopular, not only with the police, even with his Bosozoku buddies, who slowly but surely distance themselves from him. Junya falls in love with the ...

Sweet Scent of Eros (1973)

Yukie, Koichi and Akira are rogues looking for a place to crash. They move into a house which Etsuko (Kaori Momoi) inherited from her parents. Soon after getting settled, the hippies slip into a communal lifestyle. They eat, have sex, and generally share e ...

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972)

After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners. ...

Sex Hunter: Wet Target (1972)

While rotting away in jail, Okamoto learns of the death of his beloved sister, Natsuko. Violently assaulted by a group of U.S. military men during a drunken joyride, she was found dead by local authorities. Haunted by the tragedy, Okamoto escapes from jail ...

Shadow Hunters 2: Echo of Destiny (1972)

The great Daimyo enlists the aid of the three Shadow Hunters in ensuring the delivery of an illegal cannon in this sequel to Toshio Masuda's bloody adaptation of the manga by Takao Saito. Despite the Shadow Hunters's remarkable skill, this mission is no wa ...

Ichijo's Wet Lust (1972)

Ichijo Sayuri, once the legendary queen of Osaka strippers, has retired to run a sushi shop. She is awaiting her day in court after having been arrested for indecency at her farewell performance. While she was active, she was both the rival and the model f ...

Playful White Fingers (1972)

A girl falls for a pickpocketer who gets arrested, so she hooks up with his ex-girlfriend and his ex-cellmate. ...