The Battle of Okinawa

The Battle of Okinawa 1971

7.50

The Americans are swiftly closing on Okinawa, an island just south of the Japanese mainland. The Imperial command sends top generals and several army divisions to defend it at all costs. The mission quickly degenerates as vital resources and troops are diverted to other islands. After a civilian evacuation ends in tragedy most of non-combatants are forced to remain on the island. Many convert to soldier status. Tokyo sends mixed messages that squander time and resources, as when they order the defenders to build an airstrip for aircraft that never come. The truth soon becomes obvious: the high command decides that the island cannot be held and effectively abandons the Okinawan defenders. When the Americans land many troops are deployed in the wrong places. As the slaughter mounts, a suicidal attitude takes hold. Okinawa becomes a death trap, for civilian volunteers and non-combatants as well.

1971

Kabei: Our Mother

Kabei: Our Mother 2008

7.20

Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.

2008

The Great War of Archimedes

The Great War of Archimedes 2019

6.60

It is the early 1930s and the command of the Japanese Imperial Navy determines to construct the world's biggest and most formidable battleship, Yamato. One of the admirals, Yamamoto Isoroku, disagrees. He recruits the upstart and mathematics' expert Tadashi Kai who discovers there are discrepancies between the official cost estimates and the actual figures. They soon find out that they have stumbled upon a conspiracy.

2019

The Family Game

The Family Game 1983

6.70

A sendup of the stereotypical Japanese family: dad is a salaryman jerk, unable to relate to anyone; mom is a hopeless housewife; the older son is a moderate academic success; but the younger son is a rebellious goof-off for whom a tutor must be hired. The tutor, played by the prototypical bad boy actor Matsuda Yusaku, proceeds to blow the entire family apart.

1983

Brutal Tales of Chivalry

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 1965

7.10

After World War II, their town was a pile of rubble. Gennosuke, the second generation boss of the Kamizu Group was upholding yakuza chivalry by keeping black-market and illegal items out of their open-air market. Taking advantage of the mess, Iwasa and his gang take hold of goods from the US military, black-market and controlled items in order to become the most powerful group in Enko area.

1965

They Saw Japan at War

They Saw Japan at War 2024

9.00

The story of a Franco-Belgian family living in Japan from 1927 to 1947, a time of prosperity and fortune, but also of political turbulence and war.

2024

Naked Rashomon

Naked Rashomon 1973

5.80

An ambitious businessman knocks up his mistress with fraternal twins. He keeps the boy but sends his bodyguard to dispose of the mother and the girl. Years later…

1973

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2 1966

7.00

Hidejiro is a wandering yakuza with a ‘karashi botan’ (Chinese lion and peony) tattoo. Owing a favor to the Soda Family, he kills the boss of the rival Sakaki Family. When the Soda attacks the Sakaki and double-crosses him, with sword in hand, Hidejiro seeks brutal retribution.

1966

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo 1969

7.50

Hidejuro is sent to prison after killing the boss of a rival family. After being released, he discovers that his family has scattered and he is taken in by a company of quarry workers, whose boss has a strict code of non-violence. When the rival family tries to take over the company and kills their boss, Hidejuro must choose between his promise of non-violence and his yakuza code of revenge...

1969

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny

Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny 1970

6.00

Young yakuza Shujiro Hanada goes to prison after losing his cool in a rigged gambling game and slashing a few other players. When he's released in 1927, the world has changed. His sister died in the Great Kanto Earthquake and his father is also gone. His brother Jukichi invites him to stay at his in-laws and works in their family pub. He lies low, helping his blind mother-in-law and slowly developing a relationship with Ikuye, the hostess who helped him before his arrest. But trouble lurks when the resident gang decides to show its strength.

1970

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf

Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf 1966

6.00

The karashi Botan returns in the third chapter of the incredible Showa Zankoden series. This time legendary actor Ken Takakura plays Takei Shigejiro of the Shimazu family. When the boss of the Shimazu is killed, Shigejiro takes revenge and is sent to jail. Upon his release, he meets the dying widow of one of hid followers and takes her to her father, Boss Shiomasa, who take him into his family. But when Shiomasa is killed by an old enemy, Shigejiro is obligated to take revenge...

1966

The Tiger and Her Wings

The Tiger and Her Wings 2024

8.00

In the early Showa era, Japan’s first women’s law school opens, and the protagonist, Inotsume Tomoko (Ito Sairi), gains nationwide attention as one of the first female lawyers in the country. However, after facing wartime Japan’s harsh realities and losing everything, she becomes a judge with her legal knowledge and dedicates herself to establishing the family court. She stands passionately for the hardships that politics and economics cannot solve.

2024

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju 2016

8.00

When a certain man is released from prison, he knows exactly where he's heading first. After falling in love with a traditional comic storyteller's rendition of the story called "Shinigami," he is determined to become his apprentice. The performer, Yakumo, has never taken an apprentice before, but to everyone's surprise, he accepts the eager ex-prisoner, nicknaming him "Yotaro." As Yotaro happily begins his new life, he meets others in Yakumo's life, including Yakumo's ward Konatsu. Konatsu was the daughter of a famous storyteller, and Yakumo took her in after her father's tragic death. Konatsu loved her father's storytelling, and would love to become a performer in her own right—but that path is not available for women.

2016

Showa Monogatari

Showa Monogatari 2011

8.50

Shōwa Monogatari is a 2011 Japanese anime film and television series about the Yamazaki family, who live in Tokyo during Shōwa 39, the same year Tokyo hosts the 1964 Summer Olympics. The film, directed by Tadahiro Murakami, was released in Japan on January 29, 2011. Hiroshi Kugimiya directed the 13-episode television series, which had its broadcast run between April and July 2011

2011

KJ File

KJ File 2022

7.70

Unique monsters that suddenly began to appear all over the world from the beginning of the 20th century. At first, human beings tried to resist, but in the face of their enormous power, they came to the conclusion that complete extermination was impossible, and concentrated their wisdom on monitoring and analyzing monsters. The United Nations Kaiju Observatory (commonly known as Coulons) was born. Leading by the indomitable leader Yuichiro Kaido, the authority of monster ecology, Toji Kobayashi, the talent of monster function analysis, Claire Coleman, the maverick of monster disaster prevention, Kenny Mikoshiba, and the nobleman of monster strategy, Nikita Tarkovsky. A new generation Lulu de Picard who paved the way for monster linguistics, and Guillermo Marquez, a monster life science tycoon. Experts in monster science monitored and analyzed hundreds of monsters, and continued to explore a world where monsters and humankind live together.

2022

Descending Stories: A Life In Rakugo

Descending Stories: A Life In Rakugo 2018

8.30

Set during the early Showa period, Yakumo enters the world of rakugo. He forms a friendship with talented storyteller Yurakutei. Yakumo admires Yurakutei’s talent and struggles to achieve his level of performance. With the help of geisha Miyokichi, Yakumo grows up as a rakugo storyteller. Yurakutei and Miyokichi get married, but they die in a mysterious accident. Yakumo takes Konatsu, who is the child of Yurakutei and Miyokichi, and raises her. Konatsu grows up blaming Yakumo as her parents’ enemy. Konatsu and Yakumo’s disciple Yotaro chases after the truth of her parents’ death, which Yakumo hides.

2018