“Heitai Gokudo (Enlisted Yakuza),” 1968 action film, 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Directed by Kiyoshi Saeki. Starring Tomisaburo Wakayama and Shingo Yamashiro.
Gang leader Shimamura is forced to join the army in 1937 and fight in China.
“Hibotan Bakuto Isshuku Ippan (The Valiant Red Peony, Part 2),” 1968 drama, 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Starring Junko Fuji and Tomisaburo Wakayama.
While spending time with a friend, Oryu the Red Peony learns of the notorious Kasamatsu gang who enslaves poor girls to work in a silk factory. Spiteful of injustice, she sets out to confront the Kasamatsu gang and ease the suffering of the people.
“Hitokiri Gasa (Vanquished Foes),” 1964 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Directed by Sadatsugu Matsuda. Starring Ryoraro Otomo, Hashizo Okawa and Satomi Oka.
Skilled assassin Kanjuro’s services are called upon to put an end to the ugly turf battle between two yakuza families, Mitsuwa and Aikawa.
“Hoero Tekken (Roaring Fire),” 1981 action film, 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Directed by Norifumi Suzuki. Starring Hiroyuki Sanada and Etsuko Shihomi.
Joji learns a dark secret from his dying father; he learns he has a twin brother and a sister. He travels to find his brother and finds he has been murdered in mysterious circumstances. While staying with his sister he overhears his Uncle’s plans to find a 130-carat diamond (named the Queen of Sheba) and soon learns he may be behind other sinister schemes.
“Iemitsu to Hikoza to Isshin Tasuke (The King and His Vassals),” 1961 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 33 minutes.
Directed by Tadashi Sawashima. Starring Kinnosuke Nakamura and Katsuo Nakamura.
Fishmonger Tasuke and Shogun Iemitsu swap their identities in pretense for the protection of Iemitsu.
“Kyoudai Jingi Kanto Inochi Shirazu (Code Between Brothers 5),” 1967 drama, 1 hour and 28 minutes.
Directed by Kosaku Yamashita. Starring Saburo Kitajima and Hideo Murata.
Saburo Kitajima, Japan’s one of the most famous Enka singers, returns for the sixth installment of the Kyodai Jingi series. During early 20th century, Ryuji from Asakusa, a wandering yakuza, joins the Narumi Family in Yokohama. However, when he confronts Shiotaro, the head of the rival family, Ryuji takes a liking to him. He ends up leaving his current family, and becomes close to Shiotaro like brothers swearing to become a full-fledged yakuza.
“Minyo no Tabi Sakurajima Otemoyan (Song of Kagoshima),” 1962 drama, 1 hour and 27 minutes.
Directed by Kunio Watanabe. Starring Hibari Misora, Ken Takakura and Shinya Mihashi.
Yumemi, the president of Shirayuri Tours, visits Kagoshima in an attempt to save the contract with Satsuma Inn.
After learning about the abrupt cancellation of the contract with the family-run Satsuma Inn in Kagoshima, Yumemi, launches her own investigation into the matter. Amidst her efforts to resume her company’s contract with the inn, Yumemi finds herself personally involved in the inn’s family affairs and with their guests in a surprising discover of love and friendship.
“Mito Komon (Lord Mito),” 1957 samurai film, 1 hour and 38 minutes.
Directed by Yasushi Sasaki. Starring Ryunosuke Tsukigata, Chiezo Kataoka and Utaemon Ichikawa.
This most celebrated all-star movie version of the popular series features Tsukigata Ryunosuke as Mito Komon, the sage who wanders the countryside rectifying government corruption along with his faithful attendants Suke and Kaku.
“Nihatsume wa Jigoku Ikidaze (The Second Bullet is Marked),” 1960 action film, 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Directed by Shigehiro Ozawa. Starring Chiezo Kataoka and Ken Takakura.
Tsunokichi and Ken face off against a rival yakuza in Kyushu.
“Nihon Ansatsu Hiroku (Assassination: Right or Wrong),” 1969 action/drama, 2 hour and 21 minutes.
Directed by Sadao Nakajima. Starring Sonny Chiba and Tomisaburo Wakayama.
This anthology film consists of nine incidents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when assassins changed the course of Japanese history. Famous men were assassinated under Japan’s growing militarism.
“Nogitsunebue Hanafubuki Ichiban Matoi (Glorious Firefighter’s Standard),” 1960 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 17 minutes.
Directed by Shoji Matsumura. Starring Chiyonosuke Azuma and Satomi Oka.
Firefighter Sanji learns the secret of his birth.
“Rikugun Chouhou 33 (Army Intelligence),” 1968 action film, 1 hour and 27 minutes.
Directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi. Starring Shinichi Chiba and Tetsuro Tanba.
Kazuo, a Japanese army intelligence agent, reveals a foreign intelligence network in Japan and then sent to Borneo Island with a special mission.
“Sanroku (Four Sisters),” 1962 drama, 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Directed by Masaru Segawa. Starring Isuzu Yamada and Shu Ryuichi.
A story of the lives of four sisters and their manipulative mother who must come to terms with each of their decisions in life.
“Shirayukihime Satsujin Jiken (The Snow White Murder Case),” 2014 drama, 2 hours and 6 minutes.
Directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura. Starring Mao Inoue and Go Ayano.
A beautiful cosmetics company worker Noriko was brutally murdered and found burnt to a crisp in the woods of a national park. Soon, a tabloid television program is broadcast featuring interviews with various people including co-workers, family members and former classmates. Rumors pointing Miki, her meek, unassuming and “plain” co-worker, as the prime suspect begin to multiply and spread at a staggering rate thanks to the intense media attention and the rapid sharing of information and gossip on the internet.
“Silk Hat no Ooyabun Chobihige no Kuma (The Silk Hat Boss 2),” 1970 drama, 1 hour and 29 minutes.
Directed by Noribumi Suzuki. Starring Tomizaburo Wakayama and Goro Ibuki.
The Silk Hat Boss becomes involved in a car imports business during his trip to Atami.
“Tengoku no Eki (Station to Heaven),” 1984 drama, 2 hours and 14 minutes.
Directed by Masanobu Deme. Starring Sayuri Yoshinaga, Toshiyuki Nishida and Tomokazu Miura.
A tangled web of murder and deceit shroud a woman’s lifelong search to find true love.
“Uzumasa Limelight,” 2014 drama, 1 hour and 43 minutes.
Directed by Sadao Nakajima. Starring Seizo Fukumoto and Chihiro Yamamoto.
The film centers an aged movie extra who specializes to be killed in samurai movies without ever being lit by the limelight. Seiichi Kamiyama has devoted 50 years of his life as a “kirare-yaku” or “drop-dead” actor: a swordsman extra in samurai films who is always killed off in the fight at Kyoto’s Uzumasa Studios. Now an elderly man, Kamiyama lives very modestly but has earned immense respect from his peers, some of them movie stars. One day, a young girl named Satsuki convinces him that she becomes Kamiyama’s disciple. Will the art of “kirare-yaku” live on?
“Wakasama Zamurai Torimonocho Senketsu no Haregi (Case of A Young Lord, Part 4),” 1957 jidaigeki, 59 minutes.
Directed by Shigehiro Ozawa. Starring Hashizo Okawa and Michiko Hoshi.
A master swordsman unveils the truth behind the mysterious murder of a man who dies with a bloody wedding gown in his hand.
“Zangetsu Okawa Nagashi (River Washes Away the Moon),” 1963 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Directed by Yasushi Sasaki. Starring Hibari Misora and Ryochi Ogasawara.
Ogin, a young female pickpocket, gives up her life as a thief to pursue ultimate happiness with the man of her dreams.
