Frankie Sakai

A journalist reporting on the 1997 Kobe earthquake recalls a boat trip he took as a boy after WWII to bury his brother's ashes, during which his family grapples with life in occupied Japan.

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Crippled Kabuki player Tonbo is taken in by a strolling company of itinerant actors. An influential publisher notices his honest, bold art, and nurtures him despite persecution and betrayal.

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Period piece about a samurai who marries a mysterious beautiful young woman who claims to have lost her memory.

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Hikaru, an ordinary man, discovers a way to unleash the supernatural powers hidden inside his soul, allowing him to cure others with his newfound “ki” healing power.

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A young asthmatic man learns he has magical powers.

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In the 12th century, Buddhism was still a relatively new religion in Japan. At that time, one school (Shingon) offered extensive training in complex and very demanding practices which might eventually bring about spiritual purification and realization. Various Zen schools offered students a lengthy path, literally composed of a blank wall and unceasing meditation. Yet another school (Tendai) emphasized complex metaphysics and the study of philosophical systems. Basically, all of them were designed to cater to the few who were able to give up everything else in their lives and focus on liberation, such as scholars and noblemen. In this historical and biographical drama, this is the situation that the young Shinran (1173-1263) discovered when he began exploring Buddhism as an alternative to the violence and ceaseless civil wars that racked Japan at the time.

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This fairy tale depicts the heartwarming connection between a young man who has lost his memory and the gypsies.

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Remake of classic samurai film of 1932

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After her family breaks apart and she ends up behind bars, a defiant teen fights her way back into the world through rhythm and rebellion, driven by a dream to start a band and rewrite her life.

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Remake of the 1957 film "The Stormy Man".

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The world-famous woodblock artist Hokusai (1760-1849), a widower in need of a steady income, lives with his daughter Oei in the house of his friend Bakin.

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Englishman John Blackthorne, serving the Netherlands as navigator of the "Erasmus," is sailing a merchant fleet bound for uncharted Japan. In Asian waters, the fleet is caught in a violent storm and capsizes. This is a compilation of footage from the miniseries, intended for international theatrical release.

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An English navigator becomes both a player and pawn in complex political games in feudal Japan.

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Senkichi Mizuta, a pharmaceutical company employee, and Shuzo Kadokura, a war profiteer, are diametrically opposed in appearance and personality, but are best friends. Kadokura secretly loves Mizuta's wife, Tami, and both Mizuta and Tami are aware of it. The drama depicts the subtle relationship between the two men and the people around them against the backdrop of the times and customs of the early Showa period, in which both are aware of each other's love, but no one speaks of it.

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

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Tragedy about a terminally ill girl.

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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* way, that is, to settle it with a baseball game. Now, with its money and power, The Hashiden group soon recruits a group of gamblers known to be good at baseball from the whole country. So, what is the Okagen Gumi gonna do?

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When a mob boss retires under political pressure, his successor and yakuza family are tested to their limits as new alliances and enemies are formed.

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Zero Mostel plays an inspector on the trail of criminals who have captured a robot called Chatze(sp?) played by Felix Silas. The inspector has delusions that he is a great Samurai warrior and the movie flashes back and forth between present day and ancient times.

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Daisuke and Shinichi are companions who frequent girlie shows and parties until they find out they are rivals bidding for control of a major resort hotel. During the bargaining sessions each accuses the other of misconduct because of their escapades, thus getting them in trouble with their families. Shinichi's ecology group and Daisuke's wife's women's lib movement become involved.

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Shōzō, heir to a tonkatsu shop and ice hockey star, faces a series of challenges when his team’s fundraiser goes wrong. Amid rivalry, romantic tension, and an amateur rule violation, Shōzō’s determination leads him to a triumphant return to the ice with help from his girlfriend, Ayako.

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Part of the Young Guy [若大将] series.

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In front of Sagami Detention Center. Shosuke, the owner of a strip joint called "Shunpu Music," welcomes Okoma, a stripper who has been locked up for public indecency. Shosuke immediately takes the paroled Okoma to the police station to greet her, and meets a young new detective, Matsuta Obara, who has just been transferred. But the two don't get along from the moment they meet...

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A cobbler gets selected as heading his neighborhood association for measures against the impending earthquake hitting Tokyo.

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In Part I we see the young would-be swordsman setting out to achieve greatness in war, achieving nothing because fighting on the losing side, & then beginning his long period of wandering & training, with the goal always in mind of his duel with Kojiro. Part II builds toward that great duel on Ganryu Island, with considerable focus on Musashi's planning & forethought as to how to gain an advantage.

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A straight-laced police officer is reassigned to the vice squad tasked with cracking down on underground pornography rings. While investigating a blue film operation, he becomes involved with a charismatic stripper who may hold the key to the case. As the investigation deepens, the officer finds his personal life and sense of masculinity unexpectedly transformed, blurring the line between duty and desire.

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The 10th film in the travel series. The original work and screenplay is by Kazuo Funahashi, the director is Shoji Segawa, and the cinematography is by Keiji Maruyama.

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1972 Japanese movie

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Comedy of a phony doctor.

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1971 Japanese movie

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Fukuzo, Kato and Matsuko, Kato's wife, are operating the "Kurenai Sightseeing Service" in Tokyo. Fukuzo and Kato were comrades during the war. One day Fukuzo guides Harumi, an old woman, to the Yasukuni Shrine where the souls of fallen soldiers are enshrined. Finding she has no place to go, Fukuzo carries her to his shack by the sea.

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Crippled Kabuki player Tonbo is taken in by a strolling company of itinerant actors. An influential publisher notices his honest, bold art, and nurtures him despite persecution and betrayal.

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