Movies (fiction) by Region

Akai satsui Intentions of murder 2009

Masayuki Takagi, Jir o Tomoda, Keiji Hasebe, Sh ohei Imamura, Masumi Harukawa, Akira Nishimura, Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Yoshi Kat?o, Kazuo Kitamura, Shinsaku Himeda, Toshir o Mayuzumi, Tony Rayns, Shinji Fujiwara, James Quandt, Nikkatsu Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Sadako is a typical Imamura heroine: one who revels in the pleasures of food, labor, sex, and self-preservation. Carrying the burden of her status as a lowly, poor, prostitute-birthed commoner wife, Sadako is subjected to an escalating series of belittlement both at home and in society. 1 videodisc (153 min.)

MEDIA 10-1952

 

Akasen chitai 2008, 1956

Masaichi Nagata, Masashige Narusawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Toshiro Mayuzumi, Machiko Kyo, Ayako Wakao, Michiyo Kogure, Aiko Mimasu, Yoshiko Shibaki, Daie, Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

The final film of director Kenji Mizoguchi follows the lives of five prostitutes in the Yoshiwara region of Tokyo. Each has a different story and different plans, but they all share an uncertain future as they face the outlawing of their profession. 1 videodisc (85 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3270

 

Akira 2001

Katsuhiro Otomo, Ryohei Suzuki, Shunzo Kato, Izo Hashimoto, Mitsuo Iwata, Nozumo Sasaki, Mami Koyami, Katsuhiro Otomo, Pioneer Entertainment (USA), and Akira Committee (Firm)

A powerful psychic force known only as Akira resurfaces in Neo-Tokyo in the 21st century. Tetsuo, a young, inexperienced motorcycle biker driven beyond the boundaries of sanity by the power of Akira, is forced to conjure up demons laying dormant within his subconscious. 1 videodiscs (124 min.)

MEDIA 10-251

 

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams 2003

Hisao Kurosawa, Mike Y Inoue, Akira Kurosawa, Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baisho, Toshie Negishi, Mieko Harada, Mitsunori Isaki, Toshihiko Nakano, Yoshitaka Zushi, Hisashi Igawa, Martin Scorsese, Akira Kurosawa USA Inc, Warner Bros, and Warner Home Video (Firm)

Eight episodes exploring many aspects of humankind and man's need to harmonize with nature. Based on Akira Kurosawa's actual dreams. 1 videodisc (120 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2908

 

Audition 2009, 1999

Satoshi Fukushima, Akemi Suyama, Takashi Miike, Daisuke Tengan, Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Miyuki Matsuda, Toshie Negishi, Tetsu Sawaki, Ken Mitsuishi, Ryu Murakami, Tom Mes, Omega Project Co., Ltd, AFDF-Korea (Firm), Creators Company Connection (Firm), Body Sonic, Inc. (Firm), and Shout! Factory (Firm)

Audition is a deeply disturbing meditation on the war between the sexes masquerading as a horror film.  Aoyama is a lonely Japanese film producer and widower who lives with his teenage son.  One evening his son tells him he's starting to look old, and that he should remarry.  With the help of pal Yoshikawa he stages a film audition, ostensibly to cast a new film, but really to find a new wife.  Smitten by willowy Asami--whose résumé tells of a terrible injury that destroyed her ballet career--Aoyama falls in love and quickly proposes.  Love may be blind, but Aoyama is about to discover how dangerous blindness can be.  Aoyama failed to see that during their initial meeting, Asami was auditioning him, too.  Unfortunately, he failed the tryout. 2 videodiscs (115 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3149

 

Banshun 2006, 1949

Yasujiro Ozu, Kogo Noda, Chishu Ryu, Setsuko Hara, Yumeji Tsukioka, Haruko Sugimura, Senji Ito, Kazuo Hirotsu, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

A widowed father feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter. 1 videodisc (108 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3275

 

Botchan, parts 1&2 ; Student days Animated classics of Japanese literature: c2002

Shoji Sato, Soseki Natsume, Masao Kume, Eisuke Kondo, Akira Miyazaki, Akiko Matsushima, Shozo Matsuda, Nippon Animation Co, and Central Park Media (Firm)

Student days: Determine to enter a prestigious school, young Kenkichi sacrifices every waking hour to his studies, but at what cost? Botchan: A Tokyo teacher moves to an isolated town and is tormented by students and faculty. He struggles to adapt while learning a few lessons about himself. 1 videodisc (78 min.)

MEDIA 10-956

 

Buta to gunkan Pigs and battleships c2009

Hisashi Yamanouchi, Kano Otsuka, Sh ohei Imamura, Hiroyuki Nagato, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Y oko Minamida, Shinsaku Himeda, Toshir o Mayuzumi, Tony Rayns, Audie Bock, Nikkatsu Kabushiki Kaisha, Janus Films, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Portrays postwar Japan through the power struggles between small-time gangsters in the port town of Yokosuka, where American soliders are based. 1 videodisc (108 min.)

MEDIA 10-1950

 

Café Lumière  2005, c2003

Yo Hitoto, Tadanobu Asano, Masato Hagiwara, Komiko Yo, Nenji Kobayashi, Hideshi Miyajima, Tianwen Zhu, Xiaoxian Hou, and Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha

Yoko, a freelance writer, becomes pregnant and chooses, against tradition and her parents' wishes, to raise the baby alone. In her loneliness and confusion, Yoko befriends the owner of a second-hand bookstore, who silently falls in love with her as she contemplates the choice she has made. 1 videodisc (104 min.)

MEDIA 10-561

 

Chushingura the loyal 47 Samurai 2000?

Hiroshi Inagaki, Sanezumi Fujimoto, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Koshiro Matsumoto, Yuzo Kayama, Chusha Ichikawa, Toshiro Mifune, Yoko Tsukasa, Izumo Takeda, Shoraku Miyoshi, Senryu Namiki, East West Classics (Firm), Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, and Image Entertainment (Firm)

Set in 18th century Japan, the film tells the story of a young lord, Asano, who travels to the capital city of Edo to assume state duties.  After refusing to bribe the Grand Master of Ceremonies for teaching him official etiquette, he is goaded into drawing his sword in the Shogun's palace, a capital offense for which he is sentenced to commit harakiri suicide.  This leaves the warriors of Ako as ronin, masterless samurai with nowhere to go and no lord to serve. 1 videodisc (207 min.)

MEDIA 10-881

 

Cowboy bebop the movie 2003

Masuo Ueda, Masahiko Minami, Minoru Takanashi, Shinichiro Watanabe, Koichi Yamadera, Unsho Ishizuka, Megumi Hayashibara, Aoi Tada, Al Kobayashi, Tsutomu Isobestaff, Hajime Yadate, Destination Films, Sunrise Illustration and Computer Animation, Bones (Firm), Bandai Visual Corporation, and Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (Firm)

A terrorist explosion releases a deadly virus on the masses, and it's up the bounty-hunting Bebop crew to catch the cold-blooded culprit. 1 videodisc (115 min.)

MEDIA 10-601

 

Dans l'empire des sens In the realm of the senses c2009

Anatole Dauman, Nagisa Oshima, Koji Wakamatsu, Eiko Matsuda, Tatsuya Fuji, Hideo Ito, Minoru Miki, Janus Films, Argos Films, Oceanic (Firm), Oshima Nagisa Purodakushon, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

The story is based on the tabloid sensation of 1936, the fatal love affair of Sada Abe, a former geisha turned maid, and Kichizo Yoshida, the owner of the Tokyo ryotei (Japanese-style restaurant) at which she worked. Abandoning his wife and his business, Kichizo gives himself up to two weeks of dissipation with Sada at a nearby inn, which climaxes in sadomasochistic love games--and his strangulation and mutilation. Kichizo is tired of life, of the militarism that has everywhere suppressed Eros in favor of Thanatos, and he and Sada are escaping, protesting, testing physical and psychological limits, while resisting a social order that condemns their actions and their very being. 1 videodisc (102 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2425

 

Denshaotoko 2006

A film adaptation of a true event, a shy nerd falls hard for a girl he rescues on a commuter train. Seeking advice on how to ask her out, he turns to the internet and begins soliciting help through an online forum. 1 videodisc (102 min.)

MEDIA 10-5590

 

Dersu Uzala c2000

Tells of the friendship between Vladimir Arsenyev, a well-known Soviet explorer, and his guide, Dersu Uzala. It is the story of a man's unity with nature and of the struggle for survival in the wilderness. 1 videodisc (140 min.)

MEDIA 10-4750

 

Dora heita 1999

Kon Ichikawa, Yoshinobu Nishioka, Koji Yakusho, Yuko Asano, Bunta Sugawara, and Nikkatsu Kabushiki Kaisha

The new magistrate cleans up a corrupt town in his own comic samurai way. 1 videodisc (111 min.)

MEDIA 10-402

 

Early spring c2007

Kuniko Miyake, Kumeko Urabe, Masami Taura, Takako Fujino, Haruko Sugimura, S o Yamamura, Chish u Ry?u, Teiji Takahashi, Keiko Kishi, Ry o Ikebe, Chikage Awashima, K ogo Noda, Yasujir o Ozu, Criterion Collection (Firm), Janus Films, and Sh?ochiku Kabushiki Kaisha

A salaryman in postwar Tokyo has an illicit affair with an officemate in this moving portrait of a fragile marriage. 1 videodisc (145 min.)

MEDIA 10-2125

 

The end of summer c2007

Akira Takarada, Chish u Ry?u, Kyu Sazanka, Daisuke Kat?o, Haruko Sugimura, Reiko Dan, Chieko Naniwa, Hisaya Morishige, Masahiko Shimazu, Keiju Kobayashi, Michiyo Aratama, Y oko Tsukasa, Setsuko Hara, Ganjir o Nakamura, K ogo Noda, Tadahiro Teramoto, Masakatsu Kaneko, Masumi Fujimoto, Yasujir o Ozu, Criterion Collection (Firm), Janus Films, and T?oh?o Kabushiki Kaisha

Ozu's penultimate film tells the story of three sisters who are stunned to discover that their aging father is spending time with his old mistress. 1 videodisc (103 min.)

MEDIA 10-2133

 

Equinox flower 2007

Yasujir o Ozu, Ton Satomi, Shin Saburi, Ineko Arima, and Kinuyo Tanaka

In Ozu's first color film, a stubborn businessman, who disapproves of his daughter's fiancae, must learn to embrace modern romance. 1 videodisc (118 min.)

MEDIA 10-2127

 

Etsuraku 2010

Atsushi is blackmailed into watching over a convict's suitcase full of money while he serves his time. Knowing the consequences, Atsushi decides to spend all of the money in one libidinous rush. 1 videodisc (91 min.)

MEDIA 10-5275

 

Ghost in the shell c2004, 1995

Mamoru Oshii, Yoshimasa Mizuo, Masamune Shirow, Kodansha, Bandai Bijuaru Kabushiki Gaisha, Manga Entertainment, Inc, and Purodakushon Ai Ji, Kabushiki Kaisha

In 2029 a female cybernetic government agent and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of "The Puppet Master", a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts. Together, with her fellow agents from Section 9, they embark on a high-tech race against time to capture the omnipresent entity. 2 videodiscs (82 min.)

MEDIA 10-1604

 

Gohatto Taboo 2002

Nagisa Oshima, Takeshi Bito, Ryukei Matsuda, Shinji Takeda, Tadanobu Asano, Yoichi Sai, and Koji Matoba

Set in 1865 Kyoto, the story centers on a samurai militia unit that fiercely defends the Shogunate. Desperately in need of new recruits, the unit enlists 18-year-old Kano, a fearless warrior whose mesmerizing good looks immediately intrigue his fellow students, superiors and even his captain. 1 videodisc (100 min.)

MEDIA 10-175

 

Gohime, 1992 2003

Masaharu Fuji, Genpei Akasegawa, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Toru Takemitsu, Tatsuya Nakadai, Rie Miyazawa, Toshiya Nagasawa, Rentaro Mikuni, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Panorama Entertainment

It is a story about the relationship between a tea ceremony master Oribe, beautiful Princess Goh and the oppressive Lord Hideyoshi in late 16th century Japan. 1 videodisc (142 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3320

 

Hachigatsu no kyoshikyoku Rhapsody in August 2003, 1991

A visit from her grandchildren and the discovery of a half-American relative cause an elderly woman to relive her memories of the atomic bomb that fell on Nagasaki. 1 videodisc (98 min.)

MEDIA 10-4079

 

Hakuchæ± no tæ rima 2010

The wife and a former victim of a murderer/rapist protect him in his horrific rape and murder spree. 1 videodisc (99 min.)

MEDIA 10-5276

 

Hana-bi Fireworks 1998

Takeshi Bito, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi, Susumu Terajima, Masayuki Mori, Yasushi Tsuge, and Takio Yoshida

In this gangster film combining cool violence and powerful emotions 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. 1 videodisc (103 min.)

MEDIA 10-167

 

Hana saku minato Two con men pretending to be the brothers of a boatyard owner arrive in a seaside town in southern Kyæ±shæ± to swindle the locals, but soon they have a crisis of conscience when World War II begins. 1 videodisc (82 min.)

MEDIA 10-5584

 

Harakiri Seppuku 2005

Akira Ishihama, Masaki Kobayashi, Tatsuya Nakadai, Shima Iwashita, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha,  Criterion Collection (Firm), and Janus Films

Peace in 17th-century Japan causes the Shogunate's breakup of warrior clans, throwing thousands of samurai out of work and into poverty. An honorable end to such fate under the samurai code is ritual suicide, or hara-kiri. 2 videodiscs (133 min.)

MEDIA 10-882

 

The harp of Burma, parts 1 & 2 ; Season of the sun  Animated classics of Japanese literature:  c2002

Shoji Sato, Noboru Ishiguro, Michio Takeyama, Shintaro Ishihara, Kenji Yoshida, Shuichi Nagahara, Nippon Animation Co, and Central Park Media (Firm)

The harp of Burma / "Near the end of World War II, a soldier is missing and presumed dead by his captured comrades. A mysterious monk may hold the key to his disappearance, but the monk hides painful secrets, the revelation of which will forever change the lives of the prisoners"--Container.
Season of the sun / "A boxer and a beautiful woman share a tumultuous relationship in post WWII Japan. Will love guarantee them a happy life, or will pride tear them apart"--Container. 1 videodisc (78 min.)

MEDIA 10-951

 

Honokurai mizu no soko kara dark water 2005, 2002

Hideo Nakata, Yoshihiro Nakamura, Ken'ichi Suzuki, Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno, Mirei Oguchi, Kenji Kawai, Koji Suzuki, OZ Productions Inc, and A.D.V. Films (Firm)

Yoshimi Matsubara fights to gain legal custody of her five year-old daughter Ikuko while the two live together in a dark, sullen and musty apartment building. Already insecure and uncertain about her future with her daughter, Yoshimi is haunted by murky water dripping through the ceiling and walls, and by the almost taunting appearances of a small red bag that once belonged to a girl who had mysteriously disappeared two years prior. Though she desperately struggles to find the strength within herself for Ikuko's sake, her horror intensifies as she comes closer to discovering the connection between these events, and is completely unprepared for the truth that lies ahead. 1 videodisc (101 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3148

 

Human condition 1999

Masaki Kobayashi, Zenzo Matsuyama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, and Junpei Gomikawa

Tells the story of Kaji, who is sent to the front in the horrible final days of World War II as punishment for treating Chinese prisoners humanely. 1 videodisc (177 min.)

MEDIA 10-135

 

Human condition: I: No greater love c1999

Masaki Kobayashi, Zenzo Matsuyama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Junpei Gomikawa, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, Enterprise Bungei Production, Ninjin Club, Janus Films, and Image Entertainment (Firm)

A pacifist civilian's humane treatment of mine workers and Allied prisoners of war angers the Japanese authorities during World War II. 1 videodisc (205 min.)

MEDIA 10-134

 

Human condition: III: A soldier's prayer c1999

Masaki Kobayashi, Zenzo Matsuyama, Koichi Zinagaki, Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Junpei Gomikawa, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, Ninjin Club, Janus Films, and Image Entertainment (Firm)

Tells the story of Kaji, who awakens to a world ravaged by war. Starved and pursued by guilt and fear, he escapes into Siberia. 1 videodisc (186 min.)

MEDIA 10-136

 

Ikiru 1985, 1952

Akira Kurosawa, Takshi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Kyoko Seki, and Miki Odagiri

Tells the powerful story of a dying man's triumph. Told he has only a short time to live, a bureaucrat at first reacts with a drunken spree, only to realize that only through unselfishness can he redeem his otherwise wasted life. 1 videocassette (134 min.)

MEDIA 10-2909      2-345

 

Ikiteiru Magoroku Under pressure form neighbors, a wealthy family must decide if they want to cultivate soil that hasn't been tilled for centuries in order to aid the war effort during World War II. 1 videodisc (89 min.)

MEDIA 10-5585

 

The Izu dancer ; The dancing girl ; A ghost story Animated classics of Japanese literature: c1994

Yasunari Kawabata, Ogai Mori, Lafcadio Hearn, Shoji Sato,  Kenji Yoshida, Katsumi Takasuka, Noboru Ishiguro, Isamu Kumada, Nippon Animation Co, and Central Park Media (Firm)

The Izu dancer / "A young student falls in love with a traveling dancer. Their love is sincere, but social differences may tear them apart"--Container. The dancing girl / "A Japanese man working in turn of the century Berlin fathers a child with an impoverished dancer. Together, they strive to build a home and family, but political difficulties force the father to choose between his career and the women he loves"--Container. A ghost story / "A blind lute player chants the old legend of a great battle between the Genji and Heiki families. His music attracts the attention of the Heiki dead, whose ghosts request a performance."--Container. 1 videodisc (73 min.)

MEDIA 10-953

 

Kaette kita yopparai 2010

A trio of young men are mistaken for undocumented Koreans in Japan and find themselves on the run.  1 videodisc (80 min.)

MEDIA 10-5277

 

Kaidan 2000, 1964

Shigeru Wakatsuki, Yoko Mizuki, Masaki Kobayashi, Michiyo Aratama, Misako Watanabe, Rentaro Mikuni, Tatsuya Nakadai , Katsuo Nakamura,  Tetsuro Tanba, Kan'emon Nakamura, Osamu Takizawa, Haruko Sugimura, Lafcadio Hearn, David Ehrenstein, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, and Ninjin Kurabu

Consists of four stories of the supernatural based on Japanese folk material. In The black hair, a poor young samurai leaves his first wife to marry a rich woman. When he is unhappy in his second marriage, he returns to his first wife, who at first appears unchanged from when he last saw her. In The woman of the snow, a woodcutter is spared by a mysterious ghost-like woman in the snow, but must promise never to tell anyone what he has seen. In Hoichi, the earless, a blind musician-monk named Hoichi is commanded by a gathering of ghosts to sing the saga of their ancient deeds. The head monk paints Hoichi's body with prayer verses to protect him, but unfortunately overlooks Hoichi's ears. In In a cup of tea, a writer wonders what would happen to a person who drinks another's soul and finds out. 1 videodisc (161 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3146

 

Kakushi toride no san akunin 2001

Akira Kurosawa, Masumi Fujimoto, Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Takashi Shimura, Susumu Fujita, Janus Films, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

A princess must escape across enemy lines with the royal treasure, guarded only by a loyal general and two greedy peasants. 1 videodisc (139 min.)

MEDIA 10-581

 

Kanko no machi  As World War II escalates, the tight-knit inhabitants of a street in Tokyo must relocate from their beloved neighborhood so the government can use the space for the war effort. 1 videodisc (73 min.)

MEDIA 10-5586

 

Kaze no tani no Naushika Nausicaä of the valley of the wind 2005

Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Uma Thurman , Patrick Stewart,  Alison Lohman, Edward James Olmos, Tokuma Shoten, Hakuhodo, Sutajio Jiburi, Kabushiki Kaisha, Walt Disney Home Entertainment (Firm), and Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Firm)

Nausicaä is the princess of a rural valley that lives at peace on the edge of a deadly fungal wasteland, until a ship carrying a weapon from a bygone industrial age crashes nearby. When warriors from a far country come to retrieve the artifact, their invasion draws Nausicaä and her people into a sprawling political conflict. Set 1,000 years after a global war that nearly destroyed all life on Earth. 2 videodiscs (117 min.)

MEDIA 10-600

 

Konchæ± daisensæ 2012, 1968

A group of military personnel transporting a hydrogen bomb are left to figure out how and why swarms of killer bugs took down their plane. The answer is more deliriously nihilistic and convoluted that they imagine. 1 videodisc (84 min.)

MEDIA 10-4725

 

Kumokiri Nizaemon 2002

Shotaro Ikenami, Kaneo Ikegami, Hideo Gosha, Tatsuya Nakadai, Tetsuro Tanba, Shima Iwashita, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, Gekidan Haiyuza, Panorama Entertainment, and Panorama Distributions Company Ltd

2 videodiscs (ca. 163 min.)

MEDIA 10-883

 

Kumonosujæ c2003, 1957

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. 1 videodisc (109 min.)

MEDIA 10-4688

 

Kurutta kajitsu Crazed fruit 2005

Ko Nakahira, Takiko Mizunoe, Masahiko Tsugawa, Yujiro Ishihara, Aiko Kitahara, Janus Films, Nikkatsu Kabushiki Kaisha, Home Vision Entertainment (Firm), and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Two brothers compete for the amorous favors of a young woman during a seaside summer of gambling, boating, and drinking. A portrayal of post-war sexual revolution among Japan's young and privileged. 1 videodisc (86 min.)

MEDIA 10-599

 

Kyæ±ketsu dokuro sen 2012, 1968

"In this atmospheric tale of revenge from beyond the watery grave, a pirate-ransacked freighter's violent past comes back to haunt a young woman living in a seaside town. Mixing elements of kaidan (ghost stories), doppelg©žnger thrillers, and mad-scientist movies, Hiroshi Matsuno's The Living Skeleton is a wild and eerie work"--Container. 1 videodisc (80 min.)

MEDIA 10-4724

 

Kyæ±ketsuki Gokemidoro 2012

After an airplane is forced to crash-land in a remote area, its passengers find themselves face to face with an alien force that wants to possess them body and soul. 1 videodisc (84 min.)

MEDIA 10-4723

 

L'empire des sens In the realm of the senses c2006

Nagisa ¿ shima, Anatole Dauman, Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda, Argos Films, ¿ shima Nagisa Purodakushon, and Wellspring Media

Based on one of Japan's most notorious scandals, this erotic masterpiece is the story of an ex-prostitute who becomes involved in an obsessive love affair with the master of the household where she is employed as a servant. 1 videodisc (104 min.)

MEDIA 10-622

 

Late autumn c2007

Akako Senno, Fumio Watanabe, Koji Shigaragi, Yuriko Tashiro, Kuniko Miyake, Nobuo Nakamura, Shinichiro Mikami, Ryuji Kita, Chish u Ry?u, Masahiko Shimazu, Miyuki Kuwano, Sadako Sawamaru, Shin Saburi, Keiji Sada,  Mariko Okada, Y oko Tsukasa, Setsuko Hara, Ton Satomi, K ogo Noda, Yasujir o Ozu, Criterion Collection (Firm), Janus Films, and Sh?ochiku Kabushiki Kaisha

Ozu regular Setsuko Hara, once the marrying child in "Late Spring," becomes the parent in this poignant tale of the bonds between a mother and daughter. 1 videodisc (129 min.)

MEDIA 10-2128

 

Millennium actress 2003

Sadayuki Murai, Satoshi Kon, Taro Maki, Miyoko Shoji, Mami Koyama, Fumiko Orikasa, Shozo Izuka, Shoko Tsuda, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Hisako Kyoda, Koichi Yamadera, Masatane Tsukayama, Susumu Hirasawa, Klockworx Co, Go Fish Pictures (Firm), Chiyoko Committee (Firm), Genco Inc, and DreamWorks Home Entertainment (Firm)

Past and present collide as a film director discovers a mysterious key that unlocks the secrets of a legendary actress who vanished at the height of her career. 1 videodisc (87 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2453

 

Miyamoto Musashi c2004, 1954

Eiji Yoshikawa, Kazuo Takimura, Tokuhei Wakao, Hiroshi Inagaki, Toshiro Mifune, Rentaro Mikuni, Kaoru Yachigusa, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Legendary seventeenth-century samurai Musashi Miyamoto begins his quest for military glory. His dream ends in defeat, but the love of a woman and the cunning of a Buddhist priest set him on the samurai path. 1 videodisc (93 min.)

MEDIA 10-582

 

Miyamoto Musashi kanketsuhen ketto ganryujima = Miyamoto Musashi three : duel at Ganryu Island 2004

Kazuo Takimura, Hiroshi Inagaki, Tokuhei Wakao, Koji Tsuruta, Toshiro Mifune, Kaoru Yachigusa, Michiko Saga, Mariko Okada, Takashi Shimura, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Janus Films, Home Vision (Firm), and Image Entertainment (Firm)

Musashi is now a legendary swordsman whose latest quest is to save an isolated viallage from rampaging brigands. He also, remains haunted by his memories of Otsu. Meanwhile, the ruthless and increasingly jealous Kojiro plots his battle royal with Musashi to prove who is the finest swordsman in Japan. 1 videodisc (ca. 104 min.)

MEDIA 10-576

 

Moon child 2004

Takashi Hirano, Gackt, Takahisa Zeze, Kisyu Izuchi, Hyde, Lihong Wang, Zeny Kwok, Taro Yamomoto, Anne Suzuki, TLA Releasing (Firm), Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Moon Child Film Partners

Part futuristic science fiction and part John Woo style gunplay. Mood Child is a gothic vampire horror film from Japan. Director Takahisa Zeze brings a deliciously stylized vision to this tale of doomed friends whose gangster lifestyle becomes corrupted. 1 videodisc (119 min.)

MEDIA 10-614

 

Muri shinjæ± Nihon no natsu 2010

A group of oddball anarchists find themselves trapped in an underground hideaway together. 1 videodisc (99 min.)

MEDIA 10-5278

 

Nihon no yoru to kiri c2003

Nagisa Oshima, Toshiro Ishido, Masahiko Tsugawa, Miyuki Kuwano, Fumio Watanabe, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Panorama Entertainment

Two generations of student movement activists confront each other on their attitudes toward the Japan-United States Security Treaty at a friend's wedding ceremony. 1 videodisc (107 min.)

MEDIA 10-610

 

Nihon shunka kæ 2010

When four sexually-hungry high school boys meet up with their drunk teacher, they are sent down a less-than-academic path. 1 videodisc (103 min.)

MEDIA 10-5279

 

Nippon konch?uki The insect woman 2009, 1963

Shohei Imamura, Keiji Hasebe, Shinsaku Himeda, Toshir o Mayuzumi, Sachiko Hidari, Teruko Kishi, Sumie Sasaki, Hiroyuki Nagato, Masumi Harukawa, Tony Rayns, Dennis Lim,  Nikkatsu Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Portrays 45 years in the life of a woman and her struggles to survive. The story progresses from her life as a country girl to her years as a successful and ruthless madam in Tokyo and back again to her native village. 1 videodisc (123 min.)

MEDIA 10-1951

 

Norainu Stray dog 2004, c1949

Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Eiko Miyoshi, Noriko Sengoku, Keiko Awaji, Fumiko Honma, Asakazu Nakai, Fumio Hayasaka, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Eiga Geijusu Kyokai, Criterion Collection (Firm), and Home Vision Entertainment (Firm)

A bad day gets worse for rookie detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo's sweltering streets for the thief, whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, the cop and the criminal's lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami's own dark side. 1 videodisc (122 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2897

 

Ohayo Good morning c2000

Yasujiro Ozu, Kogo Noda, Keiji Sada, Yoshiko Kuga, Chishu Ryu, Kuniko Miyake, Haruko Sugimura, Janus Films, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Satiric comedy in which two young brothers refuse to talk until their parents agree to buy them a television set. Set in a 1950s residential suburb of Tokyo. 1 videodisc (93 min.)

MEDIA 10-481

 

Onibaba Demon woman 2004 +, 1964

Kaneto Shindo, Hisao Itoya, Setsuo Noto, Tamotsu Minato, Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Sato, Jukichi Uno, Taiji Tonoyama, Kentaro Kaji, Hosui Araya, Kindai Eiga Kyokai, Janus Films, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

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. 1 videodisc (103 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3235

 

Osaka ereji 2008, 1936

Yoshikata Yoda, Kenji Mizoguchi, Isuzu Yamada, Yōko Umemura, Chiyako Okura, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Telephone company employee Ayako agrees to enter into an affair with her married boss, after he promises to support her and her father but setting her off on an apparently irreversible downward spiral . 1 videodisc (71 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3267

 

Otoshiana Pitfall 2007, c1962

Hiroshi Teshigahara,  Tadashi Ono, Kobo Abe , Hisashi Igawa, Sumie Sasaki, Sen Yano, Hideo Kanze, Kunie Tanaka, Kei Sato, Kazuo Miyahara, Akemi Nara, Tadashi Fukuro , Kikuo Kaneuchi, Kanichi Omiya, James Quandt, Kobo Abe, Janus Films, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Sogetsu Foundation (Firm), Teshigahara Purodakushon, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

When a miner leaves his employer and treks out with his young son to become a migrant worker, he finds himself moving from one eerie landscape to another, intermittently followed (and photographed) by an enigmatic man in a clean, white suit, and eventually coming face-to-face with his inescapable destiny. 1 videodisc (97 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2497

 

Paprika 2007

Seishi Minakami, Satoshi Kon, Megumi Hayashibara, Toru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Toru Furuya, Masashi Ando, Yasutaka Tsutsui, Sony Pictures Classics (Firm), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc, Paprika Filmpartners, Madhouse, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Firm)

"Centers on a revolutionary machine that allows scientists to enter and record a subject's dream.  After it is stolen, a fearless detective and a brilliant therapist join forces to recover the device before it falls into the hands of a 'dream terrorist'" -- Container. 1 videodisc (ca. 90 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2445

 

Princess Mononoke 2000

Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett Smith, Billy Bob Thornton, Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, Miramax Films, Miramax Home Entertainment (Firm), Sutajio Jiburi, Kabushiki Kaisha, Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Firm), Tokuma Shoten, and Nihon Terebi

A young warrior searching for a cure for a deadly curse becomes entangled in a battle between a clan of humans and the forest's animal gods. 1 videodisc (ca. 134 min.)

MEDIA 10-608

 

Ran 1999

Akira Kurosawa, Serge Silberman, Katsumi Furukawa, Masato Hara, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide, Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, William Shakespeare, Jinpachi Nezru, Daisuke Ryu, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, and Takeshi Nomura

An aging ruler attempts to divide his kingdom among his three sons. They turn against each other and their father, spawning a whirlwind of chaos and leaving the old man insane, the kingdom shattered and the family destroyed. 1 videodisc (ca. 162 min.)

MEDIA 10-1

 

Rashæ mon c2012, 1950

Set in the Middle Ages, the nature of truth and subjective reality are probed in a series of flashbacks from four viewpoints to present the case history of a man's murder and the rape of his wife by a bandit. 1 videodisc (88 min.)

MEDIA 10-4748

 

Returner 2004, c2002

Akifumi Takuma, Toru Horibe, Chikahiro Ueda, Takashi Yamazaki, Kenya Hirata, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Anne Suzuki, Goro Kishitani, Kirin Kiki, Yukiko Okamoto, Mitsuru Murata, Kisuke Iida, Kazuya Chimizu, Chiharu Kawai, Kozo Shibazaki, Akira Sako, Takuya Taguchi, Akshiko Matsumoto, Anri Johjo, Robot (Firm), Returner Film Partners (Firm), and Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (Firm)

The year 2084, when humanity is decimated by a ruthless alien force, all hope lies in Millie, as she goes back in time to stop the invasion. Ending up in present-day 2002, she takes on a mysterious mercenary who has a thirst for blood. Through some coercing, Miyamoto unwillingly joins the mission, as they infiltrate the government base that holds a captured alien and its crashed spacecraft. With Mizoguchi and the Triads moving in, seeking some of the alien advanced weaponry, Miyamoto may finally get the vengeance he seeks as Millie gets closer and closer to saving the entire human race. 1 videodisc (116 min.)

MEDIA 10-607

 

Rikugun Follows the experiences of one family from Fukuoka, Japan through succesive wars: the Satsuma rebellion, the Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and the Second World War. The final part of the film focuses on a young man being shipped off to World War II, and his mother and father have different reactions. 1 videodisc (87 min.)

MEDIA 10-5587

 

Rikyu 2000, 1989

Hiroshi Teshigahara,  Rentaro Mikuni, Genpei Akasegawa, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Yoshiko Mita, Kyoko Kishida, Tanie Kitabayashi, SlingShot Entertainment (Firm), and Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha

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. 1 videodisc (116 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3321

 

Ringu c2003, 1998

Hiroshi Takahashi, Shinya Kawai, Taka Ichise, Takenori Sento, Hideo Nakata, Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani, Hiroyuki Sanada, Yuko Takeuchi, Kenji Kawai , Nobuyuki Takahashi, Jun'ichiro Hayashi, Koji Suzuki, Imagica Corp, Omega Project Co., Ltd, and DreamWorks Home Entertainment (Firm)

"A mysterious video has been linked to a number of deaths, and when an inquisitive journalist finds the tape and views it herself, she sets in motion a chain of events that puts her own life in danger."--Container. 1 videodisc (96 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3147

 

Saikaku ichidai onna 2013, 1952

In 17th-century Japan, a samurai's daughter, Oharu, falls in love with a servant. Caught together, the man is beheaded and Oharu and her family are exiled. After enduring further misfortunes as a concubine, a courtesan, wife, and prostitute, Oharu becomes a mendicant nun in her old age. A peerless chronicler of the soul who specialized in supremely emotional, visually exquisite films about the circumstances of women in Japanese society throughout its history, Kenji Mizoguchi (Ugetsu) had already been directing movies for decades when he made The Life of Oharu in 1952. 1 videodisc (136 min.)

MEDIA 10-4678

 

Samurai assassin 2005

Kihachi Okamoto, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Miwa Reiji, Jiromasa Gunji, Toshiro Mifune, Keiju Kobayashi, Michiyo Aratama, Yunosuke Ito, Koshiro Matsumoto, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, and AnimEigo, Inc

A group of men have assembled at the Sakurada Gates of the Edo Castle to carry out an assassination of a Shogunate elder.  One of those men is Niiro Tsuruchiyo, who has joined the conspiracy in the hopes that taking Elder Ii's head will win him enough renown that one of the great Samurai houses will offer him a position. 1 videodisc (122 min.)

MEDIA 10-884

 

Samurai banners Furin kazan 2005, 1969

Inagaki Hiroshi, Mifune Toshiro, Sakuma Yoshiko, Nakamura Kinnosuke, and AnimEigo, Inc

Yamamoto Kansuke is a fearsome warrior who has risen to the position of Clan Chamberlain through trickery and deceit, but he learns the meaning of honor when he and his Lord, Takeda, fall in love with the same woman. 1 videodisc (166 min.)

MEDIA 10-577

 

Sasameyuki 2011, 1983

Tomoyuki Tanaka, Kon Ichikawa, Shin'ya Hidaka, Yoshiko Sakuma, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Yuko Kotegawa, Juzo Itami, Toshiyuki Hosokawa, Koji Ishizaka, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Japan, 1938. War is looming on the horizon, but the Makioka sisters are far more concerned with their domestic troubles. The sisters have taken over their family's kimono manufacturing business in Osaka, and are well off, traveling together to view the changing of the seasons--cherry blossoms in Kyoto, brilliant leaves in the fall. Tsuruko and Sachiko, the older two, have been married for quite some time. Tradition demands that they marry in order of their birth, but marrying off the shy, conservative Yukiko is proving difficult. These challenges have been particularly frustrating for youngest sister Taeko, who is eager to marry and move on with her life. A graceful study of a family at a turning point in history, and a poignant evocation of changing times and fading customs. 1 videodisc (140 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3411

 

Seishun zankoku monogatari A teenage girl and her criminal boyfriend perform sexual shakedowns on well-to-do middle-aged men. Story portrays the disillusionment of the young generation in Japan following World War II. 1 videodisc (NTSC, 113 min.)

MEDIA 10-5368

 

Seppuku 2003

Yasuhiko Takiguchi, Shinobu Hashimoto, Masaki Kobayashi, Yoshio Miyajima, Toru Takemitsu, Tatsuya Nakadai, Shima Iwashita, Akira Ishihama, and Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha

After an unemployed samurai is forced to commit harakiri before a feudal lord, his father-in-law returns to the scene, seemingly to play out the same agonizing suicide ritual. 1 videodisc (ca. 134 min.)

MEDIA 10-470

 

Shall we dansu? 2005

A middle-aged businessman's dull life takes an interesting turn when he signs up for a ballroom dance class just to meet the beautiful dance instructor. 1 videodisc (119 min.)

MEDIA 10-5529

 

Shichinin no samurai 2006, 1954

A 16th century Japanese farming community has been victimized by bandits, year afer year. Desperate to find some means of ending the terror, the villagers hire seven unemployed samurai to help defend them. 3 videodiscs (207 min.)

MEDIA 10-4749

 

Shimotsuma monogatari Kamikaze girls 2006?

Two young Japanese women, a self-absorbed daydreamer and a rebellious biker, form an unlikely friendship. 1 videodisc (103 min.)

MEDIA 10-5528

 

Silent Ozu: Disc 1: Tokyo no korasu Tokyo chorus : three family comedies 2008

Komatsu Kitamura, K ogo Noda, Yasujir o Ozu, Tokihiko Okada, Emiko Yagumo, Hideo Sugawara, Hideko Takamine, Tatsuo Saito, Choko Iida, Takeshi Sakamoto, Reiko Tani, Kenichi Miyajima, Isamu Yamaguchi, Janus Films, Sh?ochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

His son wants a bicycle, his daughter a balloon, his wife just wants to have financial stability. Low wage-earning dad Okajima is counting on his bonus to make ends meet. His wife and children also eagerly await the additional money. But payday doesn't go exactly as planned. 1 videodisc (90 min.)

MEDIA 10-2122

 

Silent Ozu: Disc 2: Umarete wa mita keredo I was born, but-- : three family comedies 2008

James Maki, Akira Fushimi, Geibei Ibushiya , Yasujir o Ozu, Tatsuo Saito, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Hideo Sugawara, Tomio Aoki, Takeshi Sakamoto, Teruyo Hayami, Seiichi Kat?o, Shoichi Kofujita, Janus Films, Sh?ochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

For two brothers, the daily grind of bullies and mean teachers is nothing compared to the mortification they feel when they come to understand their good-natured father's low-rung social status. A blithe portrait of the financial and psychological toils of one family, from the standpoint of a couple of stubborn little boys. 1 videodisc (90 min.)

MEDIA 10-2123

 

Silent Ozu: Disc 3: Dekigokoro Passing fancy : three family comedies 2008

James Maki, Tadao Ikeda, Yasujir o Ozu, Takeshi Sakamoto, Nobuko Fushimi, Den Obinata, Choko Iida,  Tomio Aoki, Reiko Tani, Janus Films, Sh?ochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Kihachi is a day-laborer who is an endearing single dad. His relationship with his wiseacre young son is both humorous and heartfelt. The two live in a Tokyo tenement. Complications ensue when Dad finds himself part of tenous love triangle. 1 videodisc (100 min.)

MEDIA 10-2124

 

The sound of waves, parts 1&2 ; Growing up  Animated classics of Japanese literature:  c1994

Yukio Mishima, Ichiyo Higuchi, Shoji Sato, Hidehito Ueda, Isamu Kumada, Ryuzo Nakanish, Chisako Kuki, Nippon Animation Co, and Central Park Media (Firm)

The sound of waves / A poor fisherman falls in love with the daughter of the most powerful man in his village. To win her he must provehis bravery at sea. Growing up / Two friends are torn apart when one joins a gang. 1 videodisc (ca. 75 min.)

MEDIA 10-955

 

Suna no onna Woman in the dunes 2007; 1964

Kiichi Ichikawa, Tadashi Ono, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Eiji Okada, Kyoko Kishida, Kobo Abe, Janus Films, Sogetsu Foundation (Firm),  Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Teshigahara Purodakushon, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

An amateur entomologist leaves Tokyo to study an unclassified species of beetle that resides in a remote, vast desert. When he misses his bus back to civilization, he is persuaded to spend the night in the home of a young widow who lives in a hut at the bottom of a sand dune. 1 videodisc (148 min.) :

MEDIAFeature Films Japan// 10-2498

 

Tanin no kao The face of another 2007

Hiroshi Teshigahara,  Tatsuya Nakadai, Mikijiro Hira, Kyoko Kishida, Miki Irie, Eiji Okada, Machiko Kyo, Kobo Abe, Janus Films, Sogetsu Foundation (Firm), Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Teshigahara Purodakushon, Tokyo Eiga Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Okuyama, after being burned and disfigured in an industrial accident and estranged from his family and friends, agrees to his psychiatrist's radical experiment: a face transplant, created from the mold of a stranger. As Okuyama is thus further alienated from the world around him, he finds himself giving in to his darker temptations. 1 videodisc (124 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2499

 

Three films by Hiroshi Teshigahara the supplements 2007; 1953, 1956, 1958, 1964

Hiroshi Teshigahara,  Janus Films, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Sogetsu Foundation (Firm), and Criterion Collection (Firm)

"Teshigahara and Abe" is about the collaboration between director Hiroshi Teshigahara and author/screenwriter Kobo Abe, which includes exclusive video interviews with film programmer and professor Richard Peńa, Japanese-film scholars Donald Richie and Tadao Sato, set designer Arata Isozaki, screenwriter John Nathan, and producer Noriko Nomura ; "Hokusai" explores the work of wood-block artist Katsushika Hokusai ; "Ikebana" is a documentary about the Sogetsu School, originally renowned for its instruction in the art of flower arranging, and its founder and grand master, his father, Sofu Teshigahara ; "Tokyo 1958" is a portrait of the people and culture ;  "Ako,", a film depicting one night in the life of a young girl and her rowdy friends, was commissioned by the National Film Board of Canada. 1 videodisc (152 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2500

 

Tokyo godfathers 2004

Satoshi Kon, Keiko Nobumoto, Toru Emori, Yoshiaki Umegaki, Aya Okamoto, Shozo Izuka, Seizo Kato,  Hiroya Ishimaru, Ry uji Saikachi, Yusaku Yara, Kyoko Terase, Katsutoshi Sugai, Kenichi Konishi, Nobutaka Ike, Keiichi Suzuki, Mad House Inc, and Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (Firm)

The story takes place on Christmas Eve in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Middle-aged has-been Gin, aging transvestite Hana, and teenage runaway Miyuki are homeless friends who have formed a makeshift family structure bond. That bond is tested when they find an abandoned baby while searching for food in a trash dumpster. They try to care for the infant themselves, and travel throughout the city in search of the baby's parents. 1 videodisc (91 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2464

 

Tokyo monogatari c2003

Yasujiro Ozu, Kogo Noda, Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Kyoko Kagawa, Haruko Sugimura, Takeshi Yamamoto, Yuharu Atsuta, Takanori Saito, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Critereon Collection

An elderly couple visit their grown-up children in Toyko, but find themselves a burden to the family. They return home, and the mother dies, leaving the father to face the future alone. 2 videodiscs (136 min.)

MEDIA 10-485

 

Tokyo twilight c2007

Nobuo Nakamura, Kamatari Fujiwara, Kinzo Shin, S o Yamamura, Haruko Sugimura, Masami Taura, Teiji Takahashi, Isuzu Yamada, Chish u Ry?u, Ineko Arima, Setsuko Hara, K ogo Noda, Shizuo Yamauchi, Yasujir o Ozu, Criterion Collection (Firm), Janus Films, and Sh?ochiku Kabushiki Kaisha

In the dead of winter, past and present traumas afflict two sisters and their aging father in this, one of Ozu's most heartbreaking and powerful works. 1 videodisc (141 min.)

MEDIA 10-2126

 

Ton ± Takitani c2005

A lonely illustrator falls in love with a beautiful woman, and her expensive tastes create problems for them both. 1 videodisc (75 min.)

MEDIA 10-5527

 

Tsubaki Sanjuro Sanjuro 1999

Tomoyuki Tanaka, Ryuzo Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yuzo Kayama, Reiko Dan, and Shugoro Yamamoto

A skilled but slovenly ronin comes to the aid of a group of naive young warriors fighting their corrupt clan leaders and manages to keep them out of trouble and alive in spite of their high ideals. 1 videodisc (ca. 99 min.)

MEDIA 10-52

 

The twilight samurai 2004

Shuhei Fujisawa, Yoji Yamada, Yoshitaka Asama, Hiroshi Fukazawa, Shigehiro Nakagawa, Ichiro Yamamoto, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, and Empire Pictures (Firm)

Set during the Bakumatsu period (mid 19th century) a low-ranking samurai is forced to choose service over love. 1 videodisc (129 min.)

MEDIA 10-372

 

Uchæ± daikaijæ± Girara 2012, 1967

When a crew of scientists return from Mars with a sample of the space spores that contaminated their ship, they inadvertently bring about a nightmarish Earth invasion. 1 videodisc (88 min.)

MEDIA 10-4722

 

Ugetsu 1993?

Kenji Mizoguchi, Akinari Ueda, Akinari Ueda, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Kinuyo Tanaka, Mitsuko Mito, and Masaichi Nagata

A tale of greed, ambition, and enchantment set in sixteenth century Japan. A potter and his neighbor abandon their wives in order to seek their fortunes from war. Their wives, however, suffer the consquences of their husbands' ambitions. 1 videocassette (94 min.)

DANA  MEDIA 324    2-185  10-2167

 

Ukigusa Floating weeds c1988

Yasujiro Ozu, Masaichi Nagata, Ganjiro Nakamura, Machiko Kyo, Ayako Wakao, Daie, Kabushiki Kaisha, Public Media Home Vision, and Janus Films

A traveling troupe of actors visits a small town, and the chief actor renews his contact with a woman who bore him a son years ago. The son thinks his father is dead, and falls in love with one of the actresses, his father's current mistress. 1 videocassette (119 min.)

MEDIA 2-7036, 10-469

 

The wind rises  2014

Jiro dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes, inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni. Nearsighted from a young age and unable to be a pilot, Jiro joins a major Japanese engineering company in 1927 and becomes one of the world's most innovative and accomplished airplane designers. Jiro meets and falls in love with Nahoko, and grows and cherishes his friendship with his colleague Honjo. The film chronicles much of his life, depicting key historical events. 2 videodiscs (127 min.)

MEDIA 10-5526

 

Woman demon human 2004, 1987

Quan'gen Li, Shuqin Huang, China Century Entertainment, and Knight Mediacom

A powerful opera film: Born into the world of the Beijing Opera Company and with her personal world marked by trauma, a young professional actress submerges herself into her stage roles. Yet she dreams of more: she wants to play the major 'male' roles. 1 videodisc (115 min.)

MEDIA 10-468

 

Yabu no naka no kuroneko 2011, 1968

Kaneto Shindo, Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Sato, Rokko Tora, Kiwako Taichi, Taiji Tonoyama, Hideo Kanze, Nobuyo Horiba, Setsuo Noto, Kazuo Kuwahara, Hikaru Hayashi, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Kindai Eiga Kyokai, Nippon Eiga Shinsha, Ltd, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

In medieval Japan, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero, to quell what is evidently a ghost. He encounters the two beautiful women, in an eery, beautiful scene. After spiritual purification, he meets the demon in a thrilling fight. 1 videodisc (99 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3145

 

Yojimbo The bodyguard 1999

Akira Kurosawa, Ryuzo Kikushima, Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Eijiro Tono, Ikio Sawamura, Seizaburo Kawazu, Kamatari Fujiwara, Isuzu Yamada, Atsushi Watanabe, Kiji Sazanka, Yoko Tsukasa, Daisuke Kato, and Tatsuya Nakadai

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. A satire on greed, violence, paranoia and human weakness. Includes theatrical trailer. 1 videodisc (110 min.)

MEDIA 10-49

 

Yoru no onnatachi 2008, 1948

Yoshikata Yoda, Kenji Mizoguchi, Hisato Osawa, Kinuyo Tanaka, Sanae Takasugi, Eijiro Hisaita, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm) 

Filmed on location in Osaka, Women of the night concerns two sisters, Fusako and Natsuko, one a war widow and the other in an affair with a drug dealer. Along with their younger friend Kumiko they fall into prostitution and moral chaos and a life of gangs and gangsters, trapped by their city's postwar desperation and devastation. 1 videodisc (74 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3269

 

Zoku Miyamoto Musashi Ichijoji no ketto = Miyamoto Musashi two : duel at Ichijoji Temple 1998, c1955

Kazuo Takimura, Hiroshi Inagaki, Tokuhei Wakao, Toshiro Mifune, Koji Tsuruta, Mariko Okada, Kaoru Yachigusa, Michiyo Kogure, Mitsuko Mito, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Janus Films, Home Vision (Firm), and Image Entertainment (Firm)

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. 1 videodisc (103 min.)

MEDIA 10-575

 

æ sone-ke no asa Filmed after Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945, this family drama functions as an angry indictment of Japanese imperialism. Fusako, a widow, is enjoying Christmas with her three sons and daughter. But the family's happiness is destroyed by several bad events: Fusako's daughter's fiance is drafted for war service and her eldest son is arrested for his political beliefs. An uncle who is a general in the army begins to dominate the family and Fusako faces increasing sadness as the war continues and finally ends. 1 videodisc (81 min.)

MEDIA 10-5588

After life a film by Kore-eda Hirokazu  1998, 2000

Hirokazu Koreeda, Hiroshi Arata, Oda Erika, Susuma Terajima, and Naito Takashi

In Kore-eda's thought-provoking vision; the newly deceased find themselves in a way station somewhere between Heaven and Earth.  With the help of dedicated caseworkers, each soul is given three days to choose one cherished memory for their life that they will relive for eternity. As the film reveals, recognizing happiness and finding a life's worth of meaning in a single event is no simple task. 1 videocassette (118 mins.) :

MEDIA 2-5184

 

Akahige Red Beard 199-?

Akira Kurosawa, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Ryuzo Kikushima, Toshiro Mifune, Yuzo Kayama, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Shugoro Yamamoto, Home Vision (Firm), Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Public Media Home Vision, and Janus Films

In 19th-century Japan an ambitious medical intern begins work in a clinic whose impoverished conditions initially disgust him. Under the guidance of the clinic director he develops compassion and maturity, learning to cherish the lives of his destitute patients. 2 videocassettes (179 min.)

MEDIA 2-7050, 2-7051

 

Akira 2001

Katsuhiro Otomo, Ryohei Suzuki, Shunzo Kato, Izo Hashimoto, Mitsuo Iwata, Nozumo Sasaki, Mami Koyami, Katsuhiro Otomo, Pioneer Entertainment (USA), and Akira Committee (Firm)

A powerful psychic force known only as Akira resurfaces in Neo-Tokyo in the 21st century. Tetsuo, a young, inexperienced motorcycle biker driven beyond the boundaries of sanity by the power of Akira, is forced to conjure up demons laying dormant within his subconscious. 1 videodiscs (124 min.)

MEDIA 10-251

 

Akira Kurosawa's dreams 1991

Akira Kurosawa, Hisao Kurosawa, Mike Y Inoue, Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baisho, Toshie Negishi, Mieko Harada, and Martin Scorsese

Explores the costs of war, the perils of nuclear power and especially humankind's need to harmonize with nature. 1 videocassette (120 min.) :

DANA 507

 

Bad boys 199-?

Susumu Hani, Yukio Yamada, Hirokaza Yoshitake, and Koichiro Yamazaki

The film follows a young man who drifts into petty crime, is arrested, imprisoned, reformed and released. 1 videocassette (90 min.) :

DANA 508

 

The bad sleep well  c1998

Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Akira Nishimura, Takeshi Kato, Takashi Shimura, Ed McBain, Janus Films, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Kurosawa Purodakushon, and Public Media Incorporated (Wilmette, Ill.)

A grieving son seeks revenge for his father's murder as he infiltrates the corrupt construction company that was responsible for his father's death. He marries his boss's daughter, but he falls in love with her and his plans for revenge fall apart. 1 videocassette (151 min.)

MEDIA 2-7293

 

The Ballad of Narayama 1988

Shohei Imamura, Shichiro Fukasawa, Ken Ogata, Sumiko Sakamoto, Jiro Tomoda, and Tompei Hidari

"The story of a loving son in an impoverished region who must follow the cruel custom of abandoming his mother to the mountain gods as she turns seventy."--Container. 1 videocassette (129 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2650

 

Banshun Late spring 1994

Yasujiro Ozu, Kazuo Hirotsu, Kogo Noda, Setsuko Hara, and Chishu Ryu

A widowed father forces his adult daughter to begin her own life by fooling her into believing he will remarry. 1 videocassette (108 min.) :

DANA 506

 

The Battle of China 1985

Anatole Litvak

Depicts Japanese aggression against China during World War II and describes Japan's plans for world conquest. Recalls Chinese development of the compass, printing, astronomy, gunpower, and porcelain. 1 videocassette (67 min.) :

MEDIA 2-113

 

Biruma no tategoto Ba ma  co`  = The Burmese harp 1994?

Kon Ichikawa, Masayuki Takaki, Shoji Yasui, Rentaro Mikuni, Tatsuya Minhashi, and Michio Takeyama

Following the actions of a young Japanese officer separated from his battalion at the close of the Pacific War in Burma, the film shows one man's journey from the comforts of companionship in adversity to a solitary confrontation with, and the eventual grasp of, mass death in the name of patriotism. 1 videocassette (116 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6050

 

Botchan, parts 1&2 ; Student days Animated classics of Japanese literature: c2002

Shoji Sato, Soseki Natsume, Masao Kume, Eisuke Kondo, Akira Miyazaki, Akiko Matsushima, Shozo Matsuda, Nippon Animation Co, and Central Park Media (Firm)

Student days: Determine to enter a prestigious school, young Kenkichi sacrifices every waking hour to his studies, but at what cost? Botchan: A Tokyo teacher moves to an isolated town and is tormented by students and faculty. He struggles to adapt while learning a few lessons about himself. 1 videodisc (78 min.) :

MEDIA 10-956

 

Café Lumière  2005, c2003

Yo Hitoto, Tadanobu Asano, Masato Hagiwara, Komiko Yo, Nenji Kobayashi, Hideshi Miyajima, Tianwen Zhu, Xiaoxian Hou, and Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha

Yoko, a freelance writer, becomes pregnant and chooses, against tradition and her parents' wishes, to raise the baby alone. In her loneliness and confusion, Yoko befriends the owner of a second-hand bookstore, who silently falls in love with her as she contemplates the choice she has made. 1 videodisc (104 min.)

MEDIA 10-561

 

Chushingura the loyal 47 Samurai 2000?

Hiroshi Inagaki, Sanezumi Fujimoto, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Koshiro Matsumoto, Yuzo Kayama, Chusha Ichikawa, Toshiro Mifune, Yoko Tsukasa, Izumo Takeda, Shoraku Miyoshi, Senryu Namiki, East West Classics (Firm), Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, and Image Entertainment (Firm)

Set in 18th century Japan, the film tells the story of a young lord, Asano, who travels to the capital city of Edo to assume state duties.  After refusing to bribe the Grand Master of Ceremonies for teaching him official etiquette, he is goaded into drawing his sword in the Shogun's palace, a capital offense for which he is sentenced to commit harakiri suicide.  This leaves the warriors of Ako as ronin, masterless samurai with nowhere to go and no lord to serve. 1 videodisc (207 min.) :

MEDIA 10-881

 

Cowboy bebop the movie 2003

Masuo Ueda, Masahiko Minami, Minoru Takanashi, Shinichiro Watanabe, Koichi Yamadera, Unsho Ishizuka, Megumi Hayashibara, Aoi Tada, Al Kobayashi, Tsutomu Isobestaff, Hajime Yadate, Destination Films, Sunrise Illustration and Computer Animation, Bones (Firm), Bandai Visual Corporation, and Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (Firm)

A terrorist explosion releases a deadly virus on the masses, and it's up the bounty-hunting Bebop crew to catch the cold-blooded culprit. 1 videodisc (115 min.)

MEDIA 10-601

 

Dersu Uzala Dersou Ouzala 1994

Akira Kurosawa, IU Solomin, Maksim Monguzhukovich Munzuk, Gerald J Rappoport, and V. K Arsen ev

An enthralling tale of an eccentric Mongolian frontiersman who is taken on as a guide by a Soviet surveying crew. At first perceived a naive and comical relic of an uncivilized age, he quickly proves himself otherwise with displays of ingenuity and bravery. 1 videocassette (140 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6008

 

Dodes 'Ka-den 1986

Akira Kurosawa, Yoshitaka Zushi, and Shugoro Yamamoto

The story concerns a group of Tokyo slum dwellers who huddle together on the desolate fringes of the city. Some are drunk; some physically handicapped. All have been cheated by life. They survive on illusion and imagination. 1 videocassette (VHS) (140 min.) :

MEDIA 2-342

 

Dora heita 1999

Kon Ichikawa, Yoshinobu Nishioka, Koji Yakusho, Yuko Asano, Bunta Sugawara, and Nikkatsu Kabushiki Kaisha

The new magistrate cleans up a corrupt town in his own comic samurai way. 1 videodisc (111 min.)

MEDIA 10-402

 

Double suicide 1988

Masahiro Shinoda, Kichiemon Nakamura, Shima Iwashita, and Monzaemon Chikamatsu

The story of the ill-fated love affair between a prostitute and a merchant. 1 videocassette (105 min.) :

MEDIA 2-909

 

Dr. Akagi Kanzo sensei 1999

Shohei Imamura, Hisa Iino, Koji Matsuda, Shinsha Tohoku, Akira Emoto, Kumiko Aso, Jacques Gamblin, Ango Sakaguchi, Kadokawa Shoten, Toei Kabushiki Kaisha, and Kino International Corporation

Set on a small Japanese island near the end of World War II, this is the story of a doctor's obsession to retain his decency and stamp out a deadly disease. 1 videocassette (130 min.)

MEDIA 2-7205

 

Dragon Drive: vol. 1: Amazing transformation c2004

Bandai Entertainment, Inc and Terebi Tokyo, Kabushiki Kaisha

Reiji Ozora is no longer another junior high loser after he meets Chibi, a dragon living in a virtual world called D-Zone, who helps him battle against other players with their dragons. 1 videodisc (100 min.)

DANA 216

 

Early summer 1988

Yasujiro Ozu, Setsuko Hara, and Chishu Ryu 

The story of Noriko, a young woman who refuses to give up her job to get married because of her age. 1 videocassette (135 min.) :

MEDIA 2-906

 

Equinox flower Higanbana 1992

Yasujiro Ozu, Ton Satomi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Shin Saburi, Ineko Arima, and Yoshiko Kuga

In this comedy of reconciliation between parent and child, a successful Tokyo businessman is sympathetic and encouraging when his friends' children choose not to follow the traditional Japanese marriage arrangement. However, when his own daughter gets engaged without consulting him, he refuses to attend the wedding. 1 videocassette  (118 min.) :

DANA 516

 

Face of another 1988

Hiroshi Teshigara, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kobo Abe, and Mikiro Hira

A psychological study of a scientist who assumes a false identity whose face has beem destroyed in an industrial explosion. 1 videocassette (124 min.) :

MEDIA 2-910

 

The Family game 1988

Yoshimitsu Morita, Yusaku Matsuda, Saori Yuki, Juzo Itami, and Yohei Honma

Pokes fun at contemporary Japanese ideals, portraying a middle-class family as it battles against the Japanese educational system. 1 videocassette (107 min.) :

MEDIA 2-908

 

Fires on the plain 1987

Shohei Ooka, Eiji Funakoshi, and Osamu Takizawa

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 Philippines. Supplies run out and discipline crumbles. 1 videocassette (VHS) (105 min.) :

MEDIA 2-330

 

Floating weeds Ukigusa 1988, 1959

Yasujiro Ozu, Masaichi Nagata, Haruko Sugimura, Ganjiro Nakamura, Machiko Kyo, and Hiroshi Kawaguchi

Tells the story of an aging actor who returns with his troupe to a provincial town. There he is reunited with his former lover and with his illegitimate son, who believes the actor is his uncle. The actor's desire to be with his long-lost family enrages his present mistress, who spins an elaborate web of deceit that leads to heartbreak for them all. 1 videocassette (119 min.) :

DANA 278

 

Fruits basket: A great transformation?  2003, c2002

Noriko Kobayashi, Tatsuji Yamazsaki, Kazunori Noguchi, Mamiko Ikeda, Akitaroh Daichi, Laura Bailey, Eric Vale, Jerry Jewell, John Burgmeier, Parisa Fakhri, Daphne Gere, Terebi Tokyo, Kabushiki Kaisha, NAS/Fruba Project (Firm), and FUNimation Productions, Ltd

The Sohma family is cursed. When a member of the family is embraced by a person of the opposite gender, they transform into an animal of the Chinese Zodiak. The Sohma family has kept this curse private for generations, but when a young girl stumbles upon their secret, life at the Sohma house changes forever. 1 videodisc (143 min.)

DANA 218

 

Gate of Hell c1994

Teinosuke Kinugasa, Masaichi Nagata, Machiko Kyo, Kazuo Hasegawa, Isao Yamagata, Hiroshi Kikuchi, Janus Films, Daiei Film Production, and Public Media Home Vision

A twelfth-century Japanese married noblewoman prefers death to dishonor when she is claimed as a prize of war by a soldier. 1 videocassette (86 min.)

MEDIA 2-7048

 

Ghost in the shell c2004, 1995

Mamoru Oshii, Yoshimasa Mizuo, Masamune Shirow, Kodansha, Bandai Bijuaru Kabushiki Gaisha, Manga Entertainment, Inc, and Purodakushon Ai Ji, Kabushiki Kaisha

In 2029 a female cybernetic government agent and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of "The Puppet Master", a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts. Together, with her fellow agents from Section 9, they embark on a high-tech race against time to capture the omnipresent entity. 2 videodiscs (82 min.) :

MEDIA 10-1604

 

Gion no shimai Sisters of Gion c1997

Isuzu Yamada, Yôko Umemura, Benkei Shiganoya, Eitaro Shindo, Kenji Mizoguchi, A. I Kuprin, Janus Films, Shockiku Company, Ltd, Dai-ichi Eiga, Public Media Incorporated (Wilmette, Ill.), and Home Vision (Firm)

This story of two geisha sister illuminates the plight of women in Japan. 1 videocassette (66 min.)

MEDIA 2-7117

 

Gohatto Taboo 2002

Nagisa Oshima, Takeshi Bito, Ryukei Matsuda, Shinji Takeda, Tadanobu Asano, Yoichi Sai, and Koji Matoba

Set in 1865 Kyoto, the story centers on a samurai militia unit that fiercely defends the Shogunate. Desperately in need of new recruits, the unit enlists 18-year-old Kano, a fearless warrior whose mesmerizing good looks immediately intrigue his fellow students, superiors and even his captain. 1 videodisc (100 min.) :

MEDIA 10-175

 

Hachigatsu no kyoshikyoku Rhapsody in August  c1998

Akira Kurosawa, Hisao Kurosawa, Sachiko Murase, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Tomoko Ontakaro, Richard Gere, Kiyoko Murata, Kurosawa Purodakushon, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, Feature Film Enterprise 2, Orion Home Video (Firm), and MGM/UA Home Video (Firm)

A visit from her grandchildren and the discovery of a half-American relative cause an elderly woman to relive her memories of the atomic bomb that fell on Nagasaki. 1 videocassette (100 min.)

MEDIA 2-7142

 

Hana-bi Fireworks 1998

Takeshi Bito, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi, Susumu Terajima, Masayuki Mori, Yasushi Tsuge, and Takio Yoshida

In this gangster film combining cool violence and powerful emotions 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. 1 videodisc (103 min.) :

MEDIA 10-167

 

Harakiri Seppuku 2005

Akira Ishihama, Masaki Kobayashi, Tatsuya Nakadai, Shima Iwashita, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha,  Criterion Collection (Firm), and Janus Films

Peace in 17th-century Japan causes the Shogunate's breakup of warrior clans, throwing thousands of samurai out of work and into poverty. An honorable end to such fate under the samurai code is ritual suicide, or hara-kiri. 2 videodiscs (133 min.) :

MEDIA 10-882

 

The harp of Burma, parts 1 & 2 ; Season of the sun  Animated classics of Japanese literature:  c2002

Shoji Sato, Noboru Ishiguro, Michio Takeyama, Shintaro Ishihara, Kenji Yoshida, Shuichi Nagahara, Nippon Animation Co, and Central Park Media (Firm)

The harp of Burma / "Near the end of World War II, a soldier is missing and presumed dead by his captured comrades. A mysterious monk may hold the key to his disappearance, but the monk hides painful secrets, the revelation of which will forever change the lives of the prisoners"--Container. Season of the sun / "A boxer and a beautiful woman share a tumultuous relationship in post WWII Japan. Will love guarantee them a happy life, or will pride tear them apart"--Container. 1 videodisc (78 min.) :

MEDIA 10-951

 

Human condition 1999

Masaki Kobayashi, Zenzo Matsuyama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, and Junpei Gomikawa

Tells the story of Kaji, who is sent to the front in the horrible final days of World War II as punishment for treating Chinese prisoners humanely. 1 videodisc (177 min.) :

MEDIA 10-135

 

Human condition: I: No greater love c1999

Masaki Kobayashi, Zenzo Matsuyama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Junpei Gomikawa, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, Enterprise Bungei Production, Ninjin Club, Janus Films, and Image Entertainment (Firm)

A pacifist civilian's humane treatment of mine workers and Allied prisoners of war angers the Japanese authorities during World War II. 1 videodisc (205 min.)

MEDIA 10-134

 

Human condition: III: A soldier's prayer c1999

Masaki Kobayashi, Zenzo Matsuyama, Koichi Zinagaki, Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Junpei Gomikawa, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, Ninjin Club, Janus Films, and Image Entertainment (Firm)

Tells the story of Kaji, who awakens to a world ravaged by war. Starved and pursued by guilt and fear, he escapes into Siberia. 1 videodisc (186 min.)

MEDIA 10-136

 

I was born, but-- c1999

Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Fushimi, Hideo Sugawara, Tomio Aoki, Tatsuo Saito, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Takeshi Sakamoto, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, New Yorker Video (Firm), and New Yorker Films

A young father's promotion brings his family to his boss's neighborhood in the suburbs. But it is less rewarding to his sons who are bullied by neighborhood ruffians and feel humiliated by their father's public submission to his boss. 1 videocassette (89 min.)

MEDIA 2-7412

 

The Idiot 1992, 1951

Akira Kurosawa, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Eijiro Hisaita, Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, and Setsuko Hara

Dostoyevsky's tale of madness and jealousy set in postwar Japan. 1 videocassette (166 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 515 2-3691

 

Ikiru 1985, 1952

Akira Kurosawa, Takshi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Kyoko Seki, and Miki Odagiri

Tells the powerful story of a dying man's triumph. Told he has only a short time to live, a bureaucrat at first reacts with a drunken spree, only to realize that only through unselfishness can he redeem his otherwise wasted life. 1 videocassette (134 min.) :

MEDIA 2-345

 

The Island Hodaka no shima 1981

Kaneto Shindo, Nobuko Otowa, Taiji Tonoyama, Shinji Tanaka, and Masanori Horimoto

The quiet tenor of life for the only family inhabiting a tiny island is eventually broken by illness and death. 1 videocassette (96 min.) :

DANA 514

 

The Izu dancer ; The dancing girl ; A ghost story Animated classics of Japanese literature: c1994

Yasunari Kawabata, Ogai Mori, Lafcadio Hearn, Shoji Sato,  Kenji Yoshida, Katsumi Takasuka, Noboru Ishiguro, Isamu Kumada, Nippon Animation Co, and Central Park Media (Firm)

The Izu dancer / "A young student falls in love with a traveling dancer. Their love is sincere, but social differences may tear them apart"--Container. The dancing girl / "A Japanese man working in turn of the century Berlin fathers a child with an impoverished dancer. Together, they strive to build a home and family, but political difficulties force the father to choose between his career and the women he loves"--Container. A ghost story / "A blind lute player chants the old legend of a great battle between the Genji and Heiki families. His music attracts the attention of the Heiki dead, whose ghosts request a performance."--Container. 1 videodisc (73 min.) :

MEDIA 10-953

 

Kagemusha The shadow warrior 1990

Akira Kurosawa, Masato Ide, and Tomoyuki Tanaka

1 videocassette (160 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 344 2-2259

 

Kakushi toride no san akunin 2001

Akira Kurosawa, Masumi Fujimoto, Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Takashi Shimura, Susumu Fujita, Janus Films, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, and Criterion Collection (Firm)

A princess must escape across enemy lines with the royal treasure, guarded only by a loyal general and two greedy peasants. 1 videodisc (139 min.)

MEDIA 10-581

 

Kanojo to kare She and he c1998

Susumu Hani, Eiji Okada, Kikuji Yamashita, Sachiko Hiodari, and New York Film Annex

A woman becomes discontent with the empty life she and her husband are leading. She attempts to reach out to the outside world and express her inner feelings with unexpected consequences. 1 videocassette (115 min.)

MEDIA 2-7291

 

Kaze no tani no Naushika Nausicaä of the valley of the wind 2005

Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Uma Thurman , Patrick Stewart,  Alison Lohman, Edward James Olmos, Tokuma Shoten, Hakuhodo, Sutajio Jiburi, Kabushiki Kaisha, Walt Disney Home Entertainment (Firm), and Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Firm)

Nausicaä is the princess of a rural valley that lives at peace on the edge of a deadly fungal wasteland, until a ship carrying a weapon from a bygone industrial age crashes nearby. When warriors from a far country come to retrieve the artifact, their invasion draws Nausicaä and her people into a sprawling political conflict. Set 1,000 years after a global war that nearly destroyed all life on Earth. 2 videodiscs (117 min.)

MEDIA 10-600

 

Kumokiri Nizaemon 2002

Shotaro Ikenami, Kaneo Ikegami, Hideo Gosha, Tatsuya Nakadai, Tetsuro Tanba, Shima Iwashita, Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha, Gekidan Haiyuza, Panorama Entertainment, and Panorama Distributions Company Ltd

2 videodiscs (ca. 163 min.) :

MEDIA 10-883

 

Kurutta kajitsu Crazed fruit 2005

Ko Nakahira, Takiko Mizunoe, Masahiko Tsugawa, Yujiro Ishihara, Aiko Kitahara, Janus Films, Nikkatsu Kabushiki Kaisha, Home Vision Entertainment (Firm), and Criterion Collection (Firm)

Two brothers compete for the amorous favors of a young woman during a seaside summer of gambling, boating, and drinking. A portrayal of post-war sexual revolution among Japan's young and privileged. 1 videodisc (86 min.)

MEDIA 10-599

 

Kwaidan 2000

Shigeru Wakatsuki, Masaki Kobayashi, Michiyo Aratama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Katsuo Nakamura, Kan'emon Nakamura, Lafcadio Hearn, Toho Kabushiki Kaisha, Ninjin Club, Home Vision (Firm), Bungei Pro, and Janus Films

Four tales of the supernatural adapted from the works of Lafcadio Hearn: The black hair -- The woman of the snow -- Hoichi, the earless -- In a cup of tea. 1 videocassette (161 min.)

MEDIA 2-7007

 

L'empire des sens In the realm of the senses c2006

Nagisa ¿ shima, Anatole Dauman, Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda, Argos Films, ¿ shima Nagisa Purodakushon, and Wellspring Media

Based on one of Japan's most notorious scandals, this erotic masterpiece is the story of an ex-prostitute who becomes involved in an obsessive love affair with the master of the household where she is employed as a servant. 1 videodisc (104 min.)

MEDIA 10-622

 

The Lower depths Donzoko 1989

Akira Kurosawa, Maksim Gorky, Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yameda, Kyoko Kagawa, and Hideo Oguni

The story of a group of social outcasts living together in a filthy rooming house, some trying to escape, some attempting to adjust, and others hoping to maintain their illusions. 1 videocassette (ca. 125 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA 2-1569 2-1569

 

Maboroshi no hikari Maborosi 1998

Hirokazu Koreeda, Naoe Gozu, Makiko Esumi, Takashi Naito, Tadanobu Asano, Teru Miyamoto, New Yorker Films, TV Man Union, and New Yorker Video (Firm)

Haunted by the mysterious loss of her grandmother many years before, a young mother struggles to come to terms with her husband's apparent suicide. Yumiko remarries and with her young son moves to her new husband's home in a remote village on the wild, untamed Sea of Japan. There, with time, she finds love, understanding, happiness and a sense of peace. 1 videocassette (110 min.)