Movies: Shizue Natsukawa

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue come...

From 1928 to 1946, the lives of 12 young people and their school teacher in a poor Japanese village are profoundly affected by historical events and personal circumstances....

A sad and troubled man finds a new job five years after the end of WWII, where he writes love letters for other people....

Tokyo, 1890. Through avarice, a series of misunderstandings, and failures of courage, the engagement of Kan-ichi (a student) and Miya (the daughter of Kan-ichi's debtor) is canceled to enable Miya to marry Tomiyama, a wealthy banker's son. In bitter ...

Directed by Senkichi Taniguchi...

Nobuo is a hot-headed hoodlum fresh out of reform school who struggles to make a clean break with his tearaway past....

A young woman takes up her new job as the servant of a noblewoman and soon discovers that underneath her facade of luxury lies great unhappiness....

Period piece about a young man who, because of his hard life alone in the world, has become a yakuza. When he hears that his mother may be living in Edo (Tokyo), he travels there, intent on finding her and leaving the swordsman's life behind. But a t...

Shinzō, the heir of the prominent Edo lumber dealer Yamashiroya, left home when his stubborn father, Chōzaemon, dismissed his lover, the maid Oyasu. Shinzō and Oyasu set up a household near a soba shop in Fukagawa, but Shinzō struggled financially, t...

Following a yearlong attendance upon his shogun in Edo, samurai Hikokuro makes a long-awaited return to his home and doting wife, Dane. Initially greeted by the effusive welcome of his family, spiteful whispers also reach his ear about an adulterous ...

In the fourth year of Keio (1868), defeated retainers sought to restore the Tokugawa shogunate with the help of Enomoto Takeaki's navy. Honda Koroiku was one of them. He discreetly handed a departure note to his fiancée, Otosei, the daughter of Matsu...

The story of two young men whose ambition is to become the personal bodyguards to the Shogun's uncle, Lord Mito Komon. Portrayed by a pair of up and coming stars, Sasaki Sukesaburo (Matsukata), the son of a widower and Atsumi Kakunoshin (Kitaoji), wh...

Adaptation of Fumiko Hayashi's novel....

Based on the serialized story "東京一代女" which appeared in Tokyo Shinbun. A geisha known for her dancing begins training with the Onnagata Kikugoro VI as a dancer. She leaves her geisha life to pursue this new path, but falls in love with a naval offic...

The great Okawa Hashizo, in one of his most powerful roles risks his life and limb to help save the lovely Onaka from a terrible lifestyle. Starting out as a down on his luck gambler, Hantaro refuses to accept punishment for running up a 10 ryo debt ...

Based off of the novel, "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" and the ballet, "The Nutcracker", Sanrio shows their take on the classic story in a stop-motion animated film....

A young widow, made world weary by her abusive, neglectful husband, finds herself in a minor scandal when she's seen with her intense, no-nonsense childhood sweetheart....

Alongside Tokyo's Sumida River is a ragpickers' settlement known as Ant Village. One night, a young Catholic girl, Satoko Kitahara, who has been baptized under the name of Maria, comes to offer her services. However, Ant Village is not just an ordina...

A classic melodramatic love tragedy addressing social inequality in feudal Japan, depicted in Kenji Mizoguchi's typical style. The nostalgic scenes of 1920s Tokyo provides a valuable visual experience set against the background of the title song, "To...

1962 Japanese movie...