Takao Itō

Hanagatami (2017)

Spring, 1941. Sixteen-year-old Toshihiko attends school in the coastal town of Karatsu, where his aunt cares for his ailing cousin. Immersed in the seaside's nature and culture, Toshihiko soon befriends the town's other extraordinary adolescents as they al ...

Seven Weeks (2014)

Relatives gather from afar in wintery Ashibetsu upon the death of patriarch Mitsuo. A mysterious woman named Nobuko suddenly shows up. Her appearance gradually exposes wartime secrets and Mitsuo's unknown past. ...

Nemuri Kyôshirô 2: Conspiracy in Edo Castle (1993)

Sakai Nobunari an Elder in 'Honmaru' (or the main enclosure) and Mizuno Tadakuni an Elder in 'Nishinomaru' (or the south-east enclosure) have been at odds behind the scenes over the marriage of Tokugawa Ieyoshi, heir to the Shogunate. Kyoshiro, who has co ...

Mutchan (1985)

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. ...

Suspicion (1982)

A car going at 25 mph plunges into the sea at Shinko Harbour, Toyama prefecture. Inside is the local business magnate Fukutaro Shirakawa, who perishes. Riding alongside him and surviving unhurt is his second wife, Kumako. It soon comes to light that Kumako ...

Willful Murder (1981)

The president of the Japanese National Railways is found dead during a period in which train service is plagued by numerous layoffs, strikes and shutdowns. The government says that the president was murdered; the police claim it was a suicide. A quizzical ...

Fifth Movement (1981)

When a broadcasting company takes away its financial support from a symphony orchestra, some of the members refuse to admit defeat. The first violinist returns to his home and manages to get the orchestra back together for a grandiose performance, saved at ...

The Night of Martial Law (1980)

Love and Faith (1978)

Sen Rikyu is a ceremonial tea master who advises warlord Hideyoshi in sixteenth-century feudal Japan. His daughter, the beautiful Lady Ogin, has an unrequited love for Lord Ukon, who has angered Hideyoshi by becoming a Christian convert. Ogin's father Riky ...

Belladonna of Sadness (1973)

An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband's lives. After she's eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge. ...

The Class of the Sewage Canal (1972)

The struggle of a young man and boys who try to create the environment where they can speak their minds freely. ...

Musume-tachi wa kaze ni mukatte (1972)

The Militarists (1970)

This tremendous blockbuster hit from 1970, showing the rise to power of Tojo Hideki, is perhaps the most important film to come out of Japan since the 7 Samurai! Interspersed with actual footage dating back to the 1930's and throughout the Great Pacific Wa ...

Men and War I: Prelude to Destiny (1970)

The upstart Godai family conglomerate plans to strengthen ties with the hardliners in the Kwantung Army as they plan military expansion into Manchuria. ...

City of Beasts (1970)

University student Arima Yasuhiro becomes acquainted with Ishihama, the president of a pharmaceutical company with a dark past, slowly but surely getting more embroiled in his dirty dealings. ...

Vixen (1969)

Michi's first encounter with Nobuyuki Ishida, secretary to the chairman of a private school, takes place in the drawing room, when she attempts to swindle him out of two million yen for alleged rape by his son. Akie, Ishida's wife and the chairman's daught ...

Tenchu! (1969)

A ronin desperately seeks a way out of financial straits; he allies with the Tosa clan under the ruthless leader Takechi, who quickly takes advantage. ...

The Woman Champion (1968)

Fifth film in the long-running series Daiei Studio's Woman Gambler with Kyoko Enami starring where she plays the woman gambler Ogin. ...

Good-bye Moscow (1968)

Ex-jazz pianist turned promoter finds he is successful, but empty. When an entrepreneur sends him to Moscow with a jazz combo, he falls in with the dissident youth of the city, and again finds life empty. ...

Zatoichi Challenged (1967)

Ichi is staying at an inn when a woman dies. Her dying wish is that Ichi take her son to his father, an artist living in a nearby town. After arriving in the town, Ichi finds out that the father has been forced by a local boss to create illegal pornography ...

Two Wives (1967)

After a random encounter at a bar, two couples collide. Two men, two women, embroiled in a love-and-hate drama that threatens to engulf them. The sexual anxiety between the interwoven couples tautens right up to the nearly unbearable tension of the climax. ...

Sweet Seventeen (1964)

The Gambling Samurai (1964)

The Frolic of the Beasts (1964)

The wife Yuko Kusumon operating a pottery store was a chastal wife without complaints even though her husband is cheated with her heart. Koji Umeya, who was working part-time at a shop, was able to see the unparallel rag, and brought her to the cheerful si ...

A Public Benefactor (1964)

The intense selfishness of a man brings him fame and fortune but not happiness. ...

Shutsugeki (1964)

An original warrior directed by Toshio Takagi, directed by Eisuke Takizawa of "Kiriko's Tango" by Toshio Yasumi, a comedy, cheerful widow. ...

Ningen Gari (1962)

A detective sets out on a manhunt to catch a murderer before the crime's statue of limitations runs out. ...

That Guy and I (1961)

Asada Keiko and Kurokawa Saburo are two young college students. When Keiko visits Saburo's house, she meets his father Kokichi and his mother Motoko. Motoko is a famous hair dresser, who openly flaunts her lover. When Kokichi and Motoko fight, which they d ...

A Secret Rendezvous (1959)

After witnessing a murder, a married woman and a student agree not to meet and see each other out of fear of exposing their affair. ...