High Performance Imports: Volume 8 (2004)

Cat Nation

A journey into the unique, often bizarre, world of Japanese cat culture. Cat themed cafes, bars, temples, cat islands, cats with human jobs, cat friendly businesses, and the origins of the iconic beckoning cat statue.

Being Japanese

A documentary exploring what it means to be Japanese.

Clutch Kicking

The first feature length documentary on Formula Drift. Learn the Ins and Outs of the only professional drifting series in America. With an overview of the rules, techniques, and the insider tips revealed by the top drivers and privateers.

La banlieue, c’est le paradis

In the 1960s, the suburbs were meant to be modern havens for newcomers from rural France, Portugal, Spain, North Africa, and Africa, helping rebuild post-war France. Large housing complexes symbolized this ideal, offering comfort, heating, and electricity. But by the 1980s, disillusionment set in as economic crisis, unemployment, poverty, crime, racism, and police violence took hold. Mohamed Bouhafsi tells the story of a dream that didn’t last.

Mighty Monkeys

The image of “snow monkeys” submerged in a hot spring as snow falls around them is iconic. These are Japanese macaques, the northernmost population of monkeys in the world. Highly adaptable, they are the only primates to inhabit environments that range from low coastal plains to mountainous areas 3,000 meters above sea level, with temperatures that can drop to -30 degrees Celsius. How is this single species of macaque able to thrive in such widely diverse habitats? Shot in beautiful 4K UHD, the cameras travel through Japan to capture unique monkey groups displaying different localized food habits, including a world-first footage of monkeys catching live fish as well as how such new behaviors spread among individuals in the pack.

Samurai Japan: The Story Behind the WBC Clean Sweep

Samurai Japan won the 2023 World Baseball Classic for the first time in 14 years, and went all the way to the final undefeated. In addition to the never-before-seen footage of the team, the film also includes interviews with Manager Hideki Kuriyama, players, coaches, and team staff. What is the truth behind the glory and the suffering of the people involved?

NEW AKINA Étranger Akina Nakamori in Europe

NEW AKINA Étranger Akina Nakamori in Europe is the first video release released by Nakamori Akina. It was released on October 12, 1983.

L'Adieu à Solférino

Plot unavailable

The Tea Coffee Experiment

A group of friends come up with the brilliant idea of testing the non-existent drink known as "Tea Coffee".

Corman's World

A chronicle of the long career of American filmmaker Roger Corman, the most tenacious and ingenious low-budget producer and director in the US film industry, a pioneer of independent filmmaking and discoverer of new talent.

The Secret Life of Geisha

Documentary about the world of the Japanese geisha. Unattainable by all but the wealthy and powerful, geisha are the ultimate massagers of the male ego. Behind the delicate fan and enigmatic smile can also be found a darker side to the geisha story, including treachery and suicide.

Tora-san of Goto

This documentary film follows for 22 years a nine-member family involved in the manufacturing of Udon in the Goto Islands, Nagasaki prefecture. Mr. Toru Inuzuka called by nickname "Tora-san" is making famous 'Goto Udon' and natural salt on the island on which the depopulation is progressing. Seven children get up at 5 o'clock every morning, helping to make udon, and go to school. Children's help is recorded on the time card, and it is pocket money for children. The film talks about children's growth, marriage, childbirth, homecoming, and parting. The 22 years of familiarity of the family is drawn.

Sardou, autoportrait

Plot unavailable

White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Steven Okazaki presents a deeply moving look at the painful legacy of the first -- and hopefully last -- uses of nuclear weapons in war. Featuring interviews with fourteen atomic bomb survivors - many who have never spoken publicly before - and four Americans intimately involved in the bombings, White Light/Black Rain provides a detailed exploration of the bombings and their aftermath.

Christian Weston Chandler...Yep, I'm on TV :)

Christian Weston Chandler...Yep, I'm on TV is a independent documentary produced by Christine Weston Chandler, prior to her internet fame, and released on DVD in celebration of her 25th birthday. The film mostly exists as a compilation of home movies and previous short films.

Koi

There's no definitive separation as long as there is memory'. Since the Tsunami hit the northern part of Japan's coast in 2011, more than 20 thousand people lost their lives, and many others are still missing. As time went by the families of the victims abandoned all hope and stopped looking for their loved ones. However, this is the story of two men that are still fully committed to their respective searching activities. Even though their backgrounds are extremely different, both share a strong force of will and firmly wish to keep alive the memories of the ones that went missing. Perseverance is what pushed an ex-convict to look for redemption by helping the victims' families to find the remains of their loved ones, and perseverance is what brought a bus driver to start to dive in order to search for his wife.

1/2 Man

A visual documentary of Einstürzende Neubauten, the German underground band, by Japanese cult director Sogo Ishii, made during their 1985 tour of Japan. The band makes an elaborate and remarkably choreographed appearance in the ruins of an old ironworks which was scheduled for demolition; footage of same was incorporated into the movie and a brief appearance on stage.

Wild Japan: Snow Monkeys

In the frigid valleys of Japan's Shiga Highlands, a troop of snow monkeys make their way and raise their families in a complex society of rank and privilege where each knows their place. Their leader is still new to the job and something of a solitary grouch. But one little monkey, innocently unaware of his own lowly social rank, reaches out to this lonely leader, forming a bond with him that manages over time to warm his less than sunny disposition. It is a rare and remarkable gesture that alters both their lives. Changing seasons bring new babies to care for, a profusion of insects and blossoms to eat, family disagreements to squabble over and tragedies to overcome. Mating season brings competition for females, as the days grow shorter and colder in a rush toward winter. But with their now confident leader to guide them and their families to shelter and care for them, this troop of snow monkeys is ready to face the world.

j-hope Tour 'HOPE ON THE STAGE' in JAPAN: LIVE VIEWING

J-hope's debut world tour "HOPE ON THE STAGE" concludes with a live cinema broadcast. Watch him perform hits from his solo albums and new releases across a spectacular 31-show run through Asia and North America.

Eminem: A Shady Story

Marshal Bruce Mathers III, better know by his stage name Eminem and his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter, and actor. His somewhat humorous songs combined with dark and edgy lyrics give detailed accounts of his troubled upbringing, and feature all the personal struggles he went through on his journey to superstardom. Eminem recently released the much hyped and anticipated album The Marshall Mathers LP 2, a sequel to the recordbreaking and multi platinum album The Marshall Mathers LP. There is quite simply no other Hip Hop artist like Eminem, he has been on top of the game since his debut album The Slim Shady LP, and he shows no signs of letting up. This is the story of how a poor kid from Detroit rose to become a Hip Hop Legend. This is….A Shady Story.

Eyewar

What threads of history bind Manhattan's Ground Zero to those of Nagasaki and Hiroshima? Or connect sight to truth, games to war, or the silkworm to the drone? What does the United States hold to be the role of science in warfare? How has war historically been waged in Buddhist traditions? These are some of the topics addressed in Eyewar: 80 minutes of found footage which traces the development of the digital image from the maps of the second century to the screens of the twenty-first, and the uses of the field of cybernetics from Japan in the 1940s to Chile in the 1970s and Iraq in the 1990s.

Life is Fruity

90-year-old architect Shuichi Tsubata and his 87-year-old wife Hideko live in Aichi Prefecture. Their garden is bursting with 70 types of vegetables and 50 types of fruits, and they live in harmony with nature.

Who are we? Psychoanalysis of Ukrainians

A film about the collective psychological traumas of Ukrainians.

Ardisson, l'Homme en Noir : l'hommage

Plot unavailable

Eastern Memories

At the turn of the 19th and 20th century Finnish philologist G. J. Ramstedt travelled around Mongolia and Central-Asia. In this documentary Ramstedt’s memoirs are heard in the modern day setting, where tradition is replaced with hunger for money, and deserts give way to cities.

Putin's Witnesses

Russian Federation, December 31, 1999. After President Boris Yeltsin's unexpected resignation, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin becomes acting president of the country. From that day and for a year, Vitaly Mansky's camera documented Putin's rise to power. The story of a privileged witness. The harsh explanation of the reason why politics is the art of possibility of achieving the best with the support of many, but also of giving the worst in return.

Havana Motor Club

Follows several of Cuba's top drag racers as they struggle to prepare their classic American cars for the first official car race since the Cuban Revolution. It tells a personal, character-driven story that tackles how Cuba's recent reforms have affected the lives of these racers and their vibrant community.

Kep1going

Special concert film of the final day of Kep1er's "Kep1going JAPAN CONCERT 2024" held on July 15, 2024 at K Arena Yokohama.

High Performance Imports: Volume 3

High Performance Imports checks out Tokyo Auto Salon 2002, tours Mine's factory and demonstrates drift action from Mitsui Mike plus an update on the HPI project car tuning.

High Performance Imports: Volume 4

Join the HPI gang as they attend an HKS street drag meeting, check out demo cars from Signal and C&Y sports along with more in-car drifting action, plus more!