Japanese Films and Music: Feature Films

A vain young doctor learns a valuable lesson from the dedicated director of a clinic for destitute patients.

In eight short narratives the director investigates images of death that were drawn from his dreams.

A century ago, inhabitants from a remote mountain village lived in constant fear of starvation. Their lives were cruel, horrible, and at best, hopeless. To survive, a number of ruthless laws were passed - one of the most brutal-taking the elderly to the distant peak of Narayama to die.

This final stand against the Allied onslaught soon becomes the bloodiest battle of the Pacific Theater, taking the horrors of war to a level never before seen, as the desperate Japanese Army tries to demonstrate to the Americans what they should expect when they assault the Japanese mainland

An Imperial Japanese Army regiment surrenders to British forces in Burma at the close of World War II and finds harmony through song. A private, thought to be dead, disguises himself as a Buddhist monk and stumbles upon spiritual enlightenment.

Master thief Lupin III, a.k.a. 'The Wolf, ' and his right-hand gunman Jigen are hot on the trail of a double-crossing couterfeiter. But when their search leads them to the secluded European country of Cagliostro, they find far more than they bargained for. Lupin unwittingly attracts the attention of the nation's mysterious monarch when he tries to help a damsel in distress escape the Count's henchmen, and in the process stumbles upon the key to finding the lost fortune of the Cagliostro clan

Their lord having been tricked into committing suicide by a corrupt elder court official, a group of 47 samurai who have been forced to become ronin nurse their anger and outrage, each becoming the personification of the samurai spirit, until the time is right to avenge their dead lord's honor.

The film follows the daily lives of a group of people barely scraping by in a slum on the outskirts of Tokyo. As desperate as their circumstances may seem, each of them, including the homeless father and son who dream of a home; the young woman hiding from the abuse she receives from her uncle; and a young boy who dreams of being a trolley conductor, find reasons to carry on.

In this third and last installment of the Samurai trilogy, the main character continues his quest for enlightenment, but turns his back on the world in disillusionment. Forced to fight again, he eventually comes face to face with his arch rival and long time enemy in a final showdown. The other films in the trilogy are Musashi Miyamoto and Duel at Ichijoji Temple.

Musashi is a wondering samurai swordsman who is honing his skills during a succession of duels. When he defeats a succession of students, he becomes marked for death and is attacked in a series of cowardly ambushes. Romantic threads are further complicated when two women meet and discover their rivalry. Musashi earns himself an archenemy who vows to defeat Musashi to make his name the finest in all of Japan. This is part two of the Samurai trilogy. The others are Musashi Miyamoto and Duel at Ganryu Island.

A young woman is transported to another world called Gaea where she is taught to master a magical suit of armor called Escaflowne

Naomi is a normal teenager who loves clubbing with her friends. One day, her mother left the family to be with her new lover. Her shattered father sends Naomi off for the summer to work at his sister's country inn. It quickly becomes apparent that she is not cut out for the service industry and her aunt asks her to tend to the aging neighbor, Mrs. Koide, who is slowly succumbing to Alzheimer's. Having fond memories of the place, Naomi agrees. Though Mrs. Koide does not remember her, Naomi enjoys her direct manner and the stories from Mrs. Koide's youth.

In the most powerful of all Japanese anti-war films, acts of cannibalism bring home the terrifying brutality of war. Japanese troops are in retreat in the Philippine. Supplies run out and discipline crumbles.

An old man's unexpected death creates hilarious havoc with his family. The traditional three-day undertaking becomes a sly comedy of manners as the younger generation struggles with the complex rituals of the Buddhist ceremony.

In a world caught in the grip of information overload, Major Kusanagi is an elite officer and heavily modified cybernetic agent on the trail of a computer-criminal who turns people into human marionettes, controlled by computer. She discovers that his true identity lies at the center of a vast and lethal political conspiracy. This is an example of Japanese anime (animated film work).

A hard-boiled ex-cop, haunted by a troubled past and pushed to the edge by the shooting of his partner, confronts his demons in a ruthless quest for justice and redemption. Combines cool violence and powerful emotions.

After an unemployed warrior is forced to commit harakiri, his father-in-law returns to the scene, seemingly to play out the same agonizing suicide ritual. Tensions grow to excruciating levels until the thrilling climax, when the elder warrior strikes out one last time against the abusive society that crafted such cruelty.

Discovering that he is in the terminal stages of cancer, a clerk spends his last months in search of the meaning to life. After his pursuit of pleasure has failed, he finds self-realization in bringing about the building of a children's playground in the slums and dies quietly fulfilled.

In a very different Tokyo from the one we know today, the totalitarian government rules with an iron fist. But a group called The Sect is staging demonstrations and challenging the government’s martial law. This animated film is an example of anime.

Key is an android with the body of a woman, but she cannot even smile.
When her creator dies, she finds that she can become human if she can win the love of
30,000 people -- and avoid those who are her enemies. This is a fine example anime

"In the industrial, tri-level world of Metropolis, Duke Red is a powerful leader with plans to unveil a highly advanced robot named Tima. But Duke Red's violent son Rock distrusts robots, and intends to find and destroy Tima. Lost in the confusing labyrinth beneath Metropolis, Tima is beginning a friendship with the young nephew of a Japanese detective. But when Duke Red separates the two innocents, Tima's life--and the fate of the universe--is dangerously at stake

A view of the life of Japan's famous postwar writer, Yukio Mishima, as a tortured modern man struggling to find his future in Japan's imperial past and who commits suicide after a doomed attempt to reverse the Westernization of Japan.

Musashi is a brash and ambitious peasant who desires frame and power as a swordsman. His dreams of glory in war sour when his army is routed and he becomes hunted by the authorities. With the help of a severe monk, he develops from a hot-tempered into a thoughtful swordsman. This is part one of the Samurai trilogy. The others are Duel at Ichijoji Temple and Duel at Ganryu Island.

Ninja Scroll [DVD] 791.433
In this animated feature film, after an entire village is decimated by a mysterious plague, a master swordsman sets out on a quest to find the evil one who plans to overthrow the Japanese government. Set in feudal Japan.

An impoverished mother and her daughter-in-law eke out a lonely, desperate existence. In order to survive in feudal Japan, they are forced to murder lost samurai and sell their belongings for grain, then dump their corpses down a deep, dark hole.

Pop singer Mima Kirigoe looks forward to a bright new career when she quits her chart-topping trio to become an actress. When she lands a role in a sexually charged murder mystery, Mima's life begins to fall apart. Reality and hallucinations merge into a terrifying netherworld where innocence is lost and dreams become nightmares.

In this excellent example of Japanese anime, Boar God curses a young prince to a slow but certain death. To find a possible cure for the curse, he travels to find a Shishi-Gami (a Deer-God). During his journey he becomes entangled in a battle between a clan of humans and the forest's animal gods led by Princess Mononoke, a young woman who was raised by a Wolf God. Set during the Muromachi era in Japan.

In 16th century Japan, an aging ruler attempts to divide his kingdom among his three sons, who turn against each other and betray their father, triggering events that ultimately shatter the kingdom, destroy the family, and drive their father insane.

Four people involved in the murder of a gentleman in feudal Japan and the seduction of his wife report differing views of what actually happened.

This is the story of Sen-no Rikyu, a Buddhist priest, who four centuries ago brought the art of the tea ceremony to perfection. Living in one of the most turbulent moments in Japanese history, Rikyu gained unexpected political influence as the confidant and cultural mentor to the powerful warlord, Hideyoshi Toyotomi. The film illustrates the classic struggle between art and politics and between the impulse to create and the impulse to destroy.

A samurai turns up in a town where nine young men are plotting to overthrow a corrupt regime. He takes charge of the group and attempts to formulate a plan to deceive the old bosses.

When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave drivers.

A 16th century Japanese village hires professional warriors to fend off bandits. When the samurai arrive, a spectacular series of battles begins.

This is a comedy about a middle-aged businessman who secretly yearns to break out of the rigid conformity of his daily life by learning ballroom dancing.

Comedy about a tireless, single-minded investigator for the Japanese Revenue Service, and her confrontation with a businessman who thinks he knows all the angles when it comes to cheating the government.

This adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth set in feudal Japan tells the story of a Samurai lord who kills his master and usurps his power in fulfillment of a witch's prophecy.

This film is an elegant, emotional chronicle of a teacher’s unwavering commitment to her students, her profession, and her sense of morality. It takes a simultaneously sober and sentimental look at the epic themes of aging, war, and death.

A schoolgirl named Shizuku, who longs to discover her true talents, meets the mysterious Seiji, a boy who is determined to follow his dreams, and The Baron, a magical cat who helps her listen to the whispers in her heart.

An amateur biologist escapes the bustle of the city by studying beetles in remote sand dunes. After missing the last bus, he accepts a villager's offer to spend the night in a widow's shack at the bottom of a deep sand pit. In the morning he finds he is trapped. At first enraged, the man's hatred for the woman soon turns to searing, erotic lust.

In the year 1860, a wandering samurai-for-hire turns the war between two clans fighting for control of a small town to his own advantage in a satire on greed, violence, paranoia and human weakness.

When two hapless electricians go out on a job, they have every reason to believe that it’ll be a job like any other. But the bumbling twosome soon finds themselves zapped into a virtual reality war zone! This zone is an artificial dimension set up by Iria, a cute, tough-as-nails bounty hunter and her super-intelligent computer, Bob, to do battle with Zeiram, a seemingly indestructible alien that’s been genetically engineered to kill.