Ansatsutai (Ninja Assassins),” 1960 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 23 minutes.
Directed by Sadatsugu Matsuda. Starring Utaemon Ichikawa and Ryunosuke Tsukigata.
Saotome Mondonosuke pursues the culprit who placed a malicious curse upon Shogun Tsunekichi.
“Hibari Ohako Ojo Kichiza (Hibari’s Favorite 2),” 1960 jidaigeki,
1 hour and 18 minutes.
Directed by Yasushi Sasaki. Starring Hibari Misora and Tomizaburo Wakayama.
Young girl Kichiza searches for her missing brother and the person responsible for the death of her parents.
“Hibotan Bakuto Jingi Toshimasu (The Valiant Red Peony, Part 8),” 1971 drama, 1 hour and 36 minutes.
Directed by Buichi Saito. Starring Junko Fuji and Chiezo Kataoka.
Oryu, a gambler in training, avenges the death of her beloved friend Otaka.
“Jingi no Hakaba (Graveyard for Honor),” 1975 action film, 1 hour and 34 minutes.
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Starring Tetsuya Watari and Tatsuo Umemiya.
A dire portrait of the corruption that reigns over both cops and yakuza gangs in 1970s Osaka. Kuroiwa is a cop whose brutal tactics place him closer in spirit to the criminals he is bringing down than to the law-abiding citizens he’s supposed to protect. As the cops attempt to broker peace between two rival gangs and tensions mount in the underworld, Kuroiwa starts to fall for the wife of one of the bosses.
“Kaidan Hebionna (Snake Woman’s Curse),” 1968 horror film, 1 hour and 24 minutes.
Directed by Nobuo Nakagawa. Starring Seizaburo Kawazu and Shingo Yamashiro.
Chobei, the wealthy landlord of a countryside village in the early Meiji period, incurs a ghostly wrath after he causes a poor farmer to die. After Chobei enslaves the farmer’s wife and daughter in his household, he kills a snake and finds himself slowly going mad, glimpsing rotting corpses and deathly spirits all around him. Even his son Takeo cannot escape and begins to notice that his new bride has certain characteristics like scales and green skin! Can Chobei fulfill the promise of the Snake Woman’s curse before the spirits of the dead come to claim him?
“Kami no Tsuki (Pale Moon),” 2014 drama, 2 hours and 6 minutes.
Directed by Daihachi Yoshida. Starring Rie Miyazawa and Sosuke Ikematsu.
Rika, an ordinary housewife, works as a contract employee for a bank. She receives favorable evaluations from her clients and boss because of her attentive work. Nevertheless, she feels a sense of emptiness from her husband who doesn’t seem interested in her. One day, she meets a university student Kota and falls into an extramarital affair with him. The more she spends with him, the more she is tempted to dip into her clients’ money. As she splurges on expensive goods and consecutive nights in luxury hotel suites, her attitudes to money and her daily life become distorted, and it becomes a full-blown embezzlement.
“Kataku no Hito (House on Fire),” 1986 drama, 2 hours and 13 minutes.
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Starring Ken Ogata and Ayumi Ishida.
Adapted from autobiography by Kazuo Dan, the story depicts Dan’s turbulent life that involved his family, his mistresses and his work.
“Kisaragi Musoken (The Kisaragi Swordsman),” 1962 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 33 minutes.
Directed by Yasushi Sasaki. Starring Utaemon Ichikawa, Hiroki Matsukata, Chiyonosuke Azuma and Kotaro Satomi.
Superb swordsman Tsukinosuke’s services are called upon to cease the insurgence against the Shogunate.
“Kurama Tengu (Goblin in Stirrups),” 1959 samurai film, 1 hour and 27 minutes.
Directed by Masahiro Makino. Starring Chiyonosuke Azuma, Hibari Misora and Satomi Oka.
Kurama Tengu is a hero to the common people, saving them from the malicious attacks of Kinnoroshi and Shinsengumi.
“Ooku Emaki (Portrait of Castle Women),” 1968 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Directed by Kosaku Yamashita. Starring Yoshiko Sakuma and Reiko Ohara.
Love-hate drama of three beautiful sisters in Ooku in Edo Castle.
“Shimizu no Jirocho Ninkyo Nakasendo (Road of Chivalry),”
1960 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 31 minutes.
Directed by Sadatsugu Matsuda. Starring Chiezo Kataoka Kinnosuke Nakamura, Hashizo Okawa, Chiyonosuke Azuma and Kotaro Satomi.
An all-star cast movie featuring two yakuza heroes, Shimizu Jirocho and Kunisada Chuji, who unite to save the poor.
“Shin Ougon Kujakujo Shichinin no Kishi Dai-ichibu (Seven Knights, Part 1),” 1961 samurai film, 56 minutes.
Directed by Kosaku Yamashita. Starring Kotaro Satomi and Shingo Yamashiro.
Seven knights fight for the peace of the world.
“Shinkansen Daibakuha (The Bullet Train),” 1975 action film, 2 hours and 26 minutes.
Directed by Junya Sato. Starring Ken Takakura, Shinichi Chiba (Sonny Chiba) and Tetsuro Tanba.
Long before the Hollywood movie “Speed” was presented in theaters came the Japanese hit “Bullet Train.” A criminal mastermind has rigged a bullet train, the world’s fastest train, with explosives set to go off if the train’s speed falls below 50 mph. The fate of 1,500 passengers lies in the hands of the police as they struggle to capture the culprit and defuse the bomb.
“Takarajima Ensei (Excursion to Treasure Isle),” 1956 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 28 minutes.
Directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi. Starring Hibari Misora, Kenichi Enomoto and Akira Kishii.
Dramatization of the famous Japanese folklore Momotaro (Peach Boy) starring Hibari Misora.
“Wakasama Zamurai Torimonocho Benizuru Yashiki (Case of a Young Lord 7),” 1958 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 23 minutes.
Directed by Tadashi Sawashima. Starring Hashizo Okawa and Ryunosuke Tsukigata.
Young Lord investigates the death of a son who is disowned by his wealthy father.
“Yoidore Musoken (Drunken Sword),” 1962 samurai film, 1 hour and 32 minutes.
Directed by Tadashi Sawashima. Starring Utaemon Ichikawa, Kotaro Satomi, Jushiro Konoe and Chiyonosuke Azuma.
Tetsunosuke, an eccentric doctor and an owner of a fencing school, takes aim against corrupt authorities.
“Zokuzoku Beranme Geisha (The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 3),” 1960 drama, 1 hour and 16 minutes.
Directed by Eiichi Koishi. Starring Hibari Misora, Ken Takakura and Chieko Naniwa.
Popular geisha Koharu suspects that Yusaku, a handsome stranger she falls in love with, is involved in a robbery of precious diamond.
