Naoto Yamakawa

The video is a compilation of six short stories based on Japanese folklore legends. Each story is approximately 15 minutes long and are briefly introduced by a host. "Peony Lamp" is a story of love, death and ghosts. "She Bear" tells the story of a monster lady who terrorizes passers of a city tunnel. "Yamamba" is a spirit living in the depths of the forests waiting to feed on anyone who ventures there. "Nurarihyon" tells us of a playful spirit visiting a family's restaurant. "Heartbroken trip", a young woman visits a spa not knowing what awaits her. "Lost Souls" a stop during a long car ride turns into a nightmare.

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This is the second in a new series of short horror-cinema films depicting contemporary fears, with Junji Inagawa as the storyteller. In addition to "Someone is Watching," in which Yumiko attempts suicide and is suddenly attacked by a series of mysterious events, the film includes four other stories: "Heartbreak Trip," "Mortuary," and "Soul on the Lake.

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In 1979, Yuri, an university student, begins communicating with a young man named Yuji via radio, but to her surprise, he is living in the year 2001. As the two talk about their love lives and other things, they gradually become closer.

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This video adaptation of Junji Inagawa's novel of the same title contains two episodes: "The Battle of the Women," a horror created by a feud between office workers, and "The Forgotten Item," a horror in which a girl in a kimono appears to a man and a woman living a happy life.

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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 life turns into a nightmare when she suddenly discovers the headless corpse of her neighbor on the roof of the house — and a chain of brutal murders continues, becoming clear that a psychopath is hunting the apartment building's inhabitants.

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The encounter and parting of a man and woman in Hokkaido

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In a small town, high school students in their final year try to balance their studies while also playing together in a rock band.

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Horror and Science fiction anthology from Japan

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All the protagonists move about in a Tokyo Bar that has an entire wall taken up with a black-and-white reproduction of a photo of Monument Valley. The action starts as Billy the Kid, in full living color, walks out of the photo and gets a job as a waiter. Along with him on the working staff are a samurai straight out of the history books, a G.I. from World War II, and several other anachronistic characters. The plot (as such) revolves around keeping away the brutal mobsters and thugs who dominate the city streets outside of the bar, making the tavern safe for its easily recognized facsimiles of well-known characters.

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A man ran into a woman on a street. She was not attractive, but was a perfect girl for him. After missing the chance to talk to her, he contemplates on how he should have approached her.

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Two young men are hungry, so they decide to rob a bakery. Adaptation of a short story by Haruki Murakami.

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This is Yamakawa's first feature film in 16mm. A group of university students who grew up in an era of rapid economic growth yearn for "another side" of life as they face romantic conflicts and the suicide of a fellow student.

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Short 8mm film made by Naoto Yamakawa while studying at Waseda University.

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A man returns to his hometown and waits for a woman at the train station, and the dialogue between the man and the woman is interwoven. The film stars Yamakawa regulars Muroi Shigeru and Sato Akihiro in the lead roles.

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The film begins with a morning scene in an apartment, which one might expect to be a drama about a college student living with a man and a woman, but the style takes a turn when the man and the woman, who had left for school one step ahead of the others, suddenly return home by train. What lies behind, what has passed, passes by with an indifferent face. The author's method of daring to focus on the behind is not only to tell the story through the image of the protagonist, but also through the people in the image, or through the author's own image. It is told not only through the image of the protagonist, but also through the people in the image, or through the artist's own image.

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Short 16mm film made by Naoto Yamakawa while studying at Waseda University.

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The encounter and parting of a man and woman in Hokkaido

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In a small town, high school students in their final year try to balance their studies while also playing together in a rock band.

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All the protagonists move about in a Tokyo Bar that has an entire wall taken up with a black-and-white reproduction of a photo of Monument Valley. The action starts as Billy the Kid, in full living color, walks out of the photo and gets a job as a waiter. Along with him on the working staff are a samurai straight out of the history books, a G.I. from World War II, and several other anachronistic characters. The plot (as such) revolves around keeping away the brutal mobsters and thugs who dominate the city streets outside of the bar, making the tavern safe for its easily recognized facsimiles of well-known characters.

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Two young men are hungry, so they decide to rob a bakery. Adaptation of a short story by Haruki Murakami.

Open details →

This is Yamakawa's first feature film in 16mm. A group of university students who grew up in an era of rapid economic growth yearn for "another side" of life as they face romantic conflicts and the suicide of a fellow student.

Open details →