Ken Mitsuda

The Yoshida School (1983)

Coinciding with the LDP presidential election of the entire national public, a masterpiece depicting the reverse side of Showa political history released, superimposed cast, a group image of real politicians centered on Shigeru Yoshida and political histor ...

Professional Killers (1973)

Two assassins are hired to carry out a hit on the second wife of a candle merchant, but someone is watching... ...

Battle of the Japan Sea (1969)

Japan and Russia clash in what comes to be known as the Russo-Japanese War. An attempt by the Japanese fleet and army to take Port Arthur fails, and a Russian fleet bears down on the Sea of Japan. Admiral Heihachiro Togo sends his fleet to confront the Rus ...

Only Child (1969)

Judge and Jeopardy (1968)

It is based on the story "The Lawyer" by attorney Hiroshi Masaki and his account of Japan's "Headless Murder Case" in which a police officer beat a suspect to death during the Pacific War. ...

The House of the Sleeping Virgins (1968)

About an establishment where old men pay to sleep besides young girls that had been narcotized and happen to be naked, the sleeping beauties. The old men are expected to take sleeping pills and share the bed for a whole night with a girl without attempting ...

The Threat (1966)

Two escaped criminals who kidnapped a baby break into the house of Misawa, a man who works in an advertising agency and lives quietly with his family. They will force him to collect the child's ransom for them. ...

Red Beard (1965)

Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Bear ...

The Black Cat (1965)

Helping her mother manage a nightclub, young Emiko quickly realizes how difficult life is. ...

Revenge (1964)

An innocuous comment during a weapon inspection wounds the pride of low-ranking samurai Shinpachi, leading to an argument with his superior. The situation snowballs out of control, leading to a deadly duel and political fallout which threatens the entire c ...

Whirlpool of Flesh (1964)

During the war a university professor meets a girl and marries her. Very soon however, it is apparent that their needs are not matched. He would much rather be translating Shakespeare than attending to her, and she has a secret in her past - one that resul ...

Raised in a Palace (1964)

Set in the pleasure district of Kyoto, Tamiko (Yoshiko Mita, in her first lead role) is a young girl attending high school by day and training as a geisha at night She sees her future as an entertainer, not a prostitute, & she expects a happy marriage wit ...

The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers (1964)

Five swindle stories, taking place in five international cities: Tokyo, Japan ("Fumiko's Five Benefactors" by Hiromichi Horikawa); Amsterdam, The Netherlands ("A River of Diamonds" by Roman Polanski); Naples, Italy ("The Road Map" by Ugo Gregoretti); Paris ...

Fumiko's Five Benefactors (1964)

A greedy Japanese barmaid serves her aged escort too many noodles. ...

Manji (1964)

The four principals in a love affair collide when jealousy, blackmail and suicide enter the picture. ...

Night Scandal (1964)

Japanese Toei Production directed by Yûsuke Watanabe. ...

Dear Mr. Prime Minister (1964)

Kakumaru (Kiyoshi Atsumi) is an unpopular manzai performer who is too good-natured but has a very bad manners. Moulin, Kakumaru's former partner, gained popularity through her comedy routine with his wife Rouge, and in contrast to Kakumaru, she became a po ...

Night Scandal in Japan (1964)

The sexworker who works in Turkish baths plans to make her fortune on the stock market, open a beauty salon, and marry her boyfriend. However, her plans are turned upside down by the arrival of her half-sister, and her boyfriends unfaithfulness. ...

Cosmetic Sales Competition (1963)

A cosmetics saleswoman falls for a rival executive. ...

The Great Wall (1962)

In 221 BC, Qin Shihuangdi conquered the rest of China. Qin's great accomplishments and also his serious faults are showed in this film. Qin adopted autocratic dictatorship and led a luxurious life: abolition of feudalism and the centralization of power in ...

The Young and Bad (1962)

Not too long ago, Soichiro was considered one of the most powerful men in business. But his business had failed, his granddaughter had committed suicide. There was nothing in his life anymore that he could look forward to. Sochiro was ready to put an to it ...

Yoru no keisha (1962)

1962 Japanese movie ...

The Thinking Leaf (1962)

Based on the novel of the same name by Seichō Matsumoto. ...

Facing to the Clouds (1962)

A rookie newspaper journalist, Takema Sakaki, has a strong sense of justice. In the Diet Building he gets acquainted with a library worker, Reiko Nakafuji. Reiko's father was a member of the Diet who was assassinated six years ago. Through Reiko, Takema jo ...

Musume to watashi (1962)

The Storm over Arabia (1961)

A young man travels to Egypt and becomes embroiled in an independence movement by chance. Produced entirely on location overseas, which was groundbreaking at the time. ...

The Song of the Season (1961)

A touching love story about a heroine who loses her parents in the war and tries to keep her pure love alive despite the many difficulties she faces. ...

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 ...

A Design for Dying (1961)

Shikiko Oba is nimble with her fingers and teaches dressmaking and designing. Among her pupils are Rinko, Katsumi and Tomie. Ginshiro, who is as shrewd as the shrewdest of the older generation of dyed-in-the-wool Osaka businessmen, steps into picture and ...

Enraptured (1961)

A promising dancer asks her professor to write a libretto for a Nō play. He then introduces her to a student of classical literature, but also a classical theatre student in the hope that the latter will marry Senya.. ...

Man at the Bullfight (1960)

An unprecedented, extravagant, passionate film set in Spain and Southern Europe. It depicts the passionate Yujiro who risks his life to invite bullfighting. ...

Lord Tadanao (1960)

The False Student (1960)

A youth drama set in a Japanese university which is home to a group of active, leftist students. ...

The Bad Sleep Well (1960)

In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi. At the reception, the wedding cake is a replica of their corp ...

The Blue Beast (1960)

The ruthless and ambitious Yasuhiko uses his charm to manipulate and exploit those around him to climb the corporate social ladder. After securing a position at a prestigious firm through deceit, he callously discards the women who helped him and embezzles ...

Afraid to Die (1960)

On his release from prison a young yakuza, along with his brother, decides to turn his back on criminal life instead of taking over the position of his recently deceased father, boss of the Asahina clan. But their exit proves more difficult than planned wh ...

The Lost Alibi (1960)

Suspense drama about a married salaryman whose affair with one of his co-workers is compromised when, returning from a clandestine meeting with his lover, he runs into a neighbor who is later accused of murder. Questioned by police about the neighbor, and ...

The Wandering Princess (1960)

Pu Zhe, younger brother of the Emperor of Manchukuo, marries Ryuko, daughter of an aristocratic family. To the surprise of all, a deep love between Pu Zhe and Ryuko develops and is put to the test when Japan loses the war. ...

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)

Keiko, whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her d ...

The Spell of the Hidden Gold (1958)

Historical drama about a sleepy-eyed ronin. ...

The Invisible Wall (1958)

Based on the novel of the same name by Seichô Matsumoto. ...

Zesshou (1958)

The story of the tender love between Junki, the son of a wealthy landowner, and Kayuki, the daughter of a forester, who decided to unite their destinies against their parents' wishes. Neither war nor years of separation could kill this love. It was only cu ...

The Ballad of Narayama (1958)

In a remote village where food is scarce, elders who reach the age of 70 are carried by their children to the top of a nearby mountain to die in solitude. Orin, a vibrant 69-year-old grandmother, has accepted her fate — but struggles to prepare the rest ...

Mother (1958)

Akutoku (1958)

A movie adaptation of Funayama Kaoru's novel of the same name, which depicts the story of a modern youth who is attracted to the evil path. Saburi Shin, a well-known actor who also demonstrated his skill as a director in a bold social work, embodies a pe ...

Three O'clock in the Morning in a Big City (1958)

To avenge the death of his brother, a student shooting champion infiltrates the criminal world. An entertaining action drama and an interesting love story. ...

A Dangerous Hero (1957)

A film by Hideo Suzuki. ...

Night Butterflies (1957)

A traditional bar mistress in Kyoto clashes with her Tokyo rival. ...

Hidden Story of the Yagyu Clan (1956)

It is brother against brother in this tale of love and betrayal within the famed Yagyu clan. In one of their earliest films together, superstars Ichikawa Raizo and Katsu Shintaro are magnificent as the two finest young swordsmen in the clan. As they vie fo ...

I Live in Fear (1955)

An aging foundry patriarch, gripped by terror of nuclear annihilation, tries to uproot his family to Brazil. When they petition to have him declared incompetent, a family-court counselor witnesses his obsession slide into ruin—and asks whether ignoring t ...

Sansho the Bailiff (1954)

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho. ...

An Inlet of Muddy Water (1953)

A Japanese woman writes down three stories she has witnessed or heard of in her diary, each about the difficult situation a young woman finds herself in. ...

Youth of Heiji Senigata (1953)

White Fish (1953)

A family comprised of a man, woman and their only son is torn apart when the father, who is a doctor with his own clinic, is to go off to war. Soon the wife and the son are left without an update of his status and whether he is alive or not. With the clini ...

Zoku jūdai no seiten (1953)

Akiko Yasutomi, an 18-year-old high school student, lives in poverty with her mother Hisako, but she has feelings for her cousin, a medical student named Masato Miki, who lives upstairs. However, when Masato becomes a part-time tutor for Akiko's classmate, ...

Sunflower Girl (1953)

Young Setsuko Fujino begins a new job at Tokyo Chemical Company. She likes her boss, Ippei Hitachi, and enjoys serving him tea, despite the fact that her fellow workers think the women employees should not have to act in such a servile manner. When the wom ...

Yassamossa (1953)

The Whisper of Spring (1952)

After graduating from a high school in the Seto Inland Sea, Koji, a childhood friend of Yaeko, went to Tokyo to enter university wearing a heartfelt sweater. ...

The Wind Blows Twice (1952)

Kanae, who broke up with her husband and moved to her uncle's house, met two men when her father, a university professor, collapsed. Michihara, a wealthy man and Miyashita, a youth scholar. Kanae is attracted to Miyashita, but ... ...

Dispersed Clouds (1951)

Five women classmates from a college in Tokyo are on the first stretch of a walking tour when one of them, Masako, falls ill at a railway station. Osen, a middle-aged maid from a nearby inn, takes her in and nurses her, assisted by Dr. Minami, a young phys ...

Freedom School (1951)

Minamimura, who had always wanted to be free, suddenly quits his job. His hardworking wife is surprised and angry, and throws him out of the house. Confused by his sudden freedom, Iosuke ends up living as a vagrant under a bridge. His wife, Komako, also fi ...

A Spectacular Murder (1951)

When a theater producer Kurato is murdered in the audience on opening night, Inspector Kawano investigates the prop pistols used on stage, but all were fake. That same night, a dancer in the troupe went missing and a police officer was shot with the same c ...

Resurrection (1950)

Yotsuya Ghost Story Part 2 (1949)

Part 2 starts where the first film ended, with Iemon disposing of the bodies of his wife and Kohei, marrying upward, and being blackmailed by the evil Naosuke. ...

Yotsuya Ghost Story Part 1 (1949)

Iemon Tamiya is an impoverished masterless samurai who craves a better life, which he cannot have because of his marriage to Oiwa, who is completely devoted to her husband. ...

Great X (1948)

A 1948 Japanese film. ...

Three-Fingered Detective (1947)

Being acquainted with the bride's uncle, a famed private detective is invited to a wedding ceremony. The groom's family is moneyed and owns large tracts of land. The bride is a former teacher and was rumoured to have had an affair, which explains why the g ...

A Descendant of Urashima Taro (1946)

Reputedly based on Frank Capra's 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, A Descendant of Tarô Urashima is about a repatriated soldier who becomes populist politician in the Japanese Happiness Party. ...

Army (1944)

Though plagued by ill health all his life, a young Japanese man is obligated to fulfill his family's longstanding military tradition. ...