The Voyage of Bashô (2019)

House of Bamboo

Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.

Make the Devil Laugh

Kazuma kills his father in order to protect his mother and younger sister from violence. He begins life at a halfway house with an aim toward social rehabilitation and also works diligently at a scrap mill, but society has labeled him a “murderer”. Gradually, Kazuma loses hope.

Sakuran

Anna Tsuchiya blasts back in time playing an oiran, a top-notched geisha of the Edo period’s Yoshiwara District, navigating brothel politics while trying to cling to the man she loves.

The Cove

The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.

2009: Lost Memories

There are breakpoints in the history, the result of a single event may change the whole course. In 1909, an assassination attempt of a Japanese governor fails. Now, in 2009, Korea is just another state of Japan's Empire & Seoul has become a major city. A Korean resistance group fights for liberty, independence & the restoration of true history. Two cops, Japanese & Korean, investigate the group.

Firebrands

Barely scraping by making an honest living as a rural yakuza, Hachiya (Yasukaze Motomiya) dreams of the City of Flowers. Unable to conceal their growing frustration at their everyday lives, he and his partner, Sagane (Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi), choose to pursue their own paths as yakuza, hiding a new major source of income from the family. But when the family captain (Kazuyoshi Ozawa) shows up for the first time in ten years...

Moon Child

Moon Child follows a group of childhood friends as they advance in a futuristic criminal underworld. Sho feels he is doomed to walk in his idol Kei's footsteps as a vampire with the gift of eternal life and the curse of blood thirst. Over time, their tight friendship becomes corrupted because of their rivalry and love for the same woman.

Not Scared to Die

Historical movie set during the Japanese occupation of China during WWII. Jackie Chan is one of the good guys but has nothing much more than a supporting role.

Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming

Rosie Ming, a young Canadian poet, is invited to perform at a Poetry Festival in Shiraz, Iran, but she’d rather be in Paris. She lives at home with her over-protective Chinese grandparents and has never been anywhere by herself. Once in Iran, she finds herself in the company of poets and Persians, all who tell her stories that force her to confront her past; the Iranian father she assumed abandoned her and the nature of Poetry itself. It’s about building bridges between cultural and generational divides. It’s about being curious. Staying open. And finding your own voice through the magic of poetry. Rosie goes on an unwitting journey of forgiveness, reconciliation, and perhaps above all, understanding, through learning about her father’s past, her own cultural identity, and her responsibility to it.

Mushi-Shi: The Movie

Mushi are beings in touch with the essence of life, far more basic and pure than normal living things. Most humans are incapable of perceiving Mushi and are oblivious to their existence, but there are a few who possess the ability to see and interact with Mushi. One such person is Ginko who travels from place to place to research Mushi and aid people suffering from problems caused by them.

Samurai Headhunters

A documentary on the dark and brutal side of the Samurai warrior clans featuring the life of peasant Masa who is pressganged into the ruthless world of the Samurai.

Man on the Train

A man, Milan steps off a train, into a small French village. As he waits for the day when he will rob the town bank, he runs into an old retired poetry teacher named M. Manesquier. The two men strike up a strange friendship and explore the road not taken, each wanting to live the other's life.

Lamya's Poem

An inspiring and timely tale about a 12-year-old Syrian refugee girl named Lamya. When she flees the violence of her country, she is given a book of poetry of the famous 13th-century Poet, Rumi. As the perils of her journey mount, the book becomes a magical gateway where she meets Rumi when he was a boy and also a refugee fleeing the violence of his time. In a shared dreamworld, they battle the monsters that follow them from their real world situations, and Lamya must help young Rumi find his calling and write the poem that 800 years later will save her life.

I Lived in Kyoto For A While

27-year-old Eto Kana lives in Tokyo and has never been out of the city before. She used to work as a designer and stay in a company dormitory but moved back to her family home after resigning due to the stress from interpersonal relationships. Meanwhile, Kana’s family gets a call about an elderly granduncle who got injured. She goes to Kyoto where he lives at the request of her worried mother and stays there for several days to take care of him.

Falling Angels

The daughter of two famous writers, Helena upholds her late father's reputation, reciting his poems on various occasions and cherishing the memory of the legend. Relations with her mother have deteriorated since she moved to Sweden. Helena blames her mother for abandoning her father. Helena and her mother meet again as Helena's mental health deteriorates and in order to cope, she must face reality through her mother's memoirs. Helena becomes intensely involved in the story and relives it by imagining herself in her mother's place.

Make-Believers

Masa hires rental actress and aspiring dancer, Kanako, to pose as his fiancée to impress his estranged, terminally-ill father. But as his father's death delays, Masa is forced to confront the spiraling web of lies and to learn to follow his heart.

The Kirishima Thing

A story about the disappearance of Kirishima, a star athlete of the volleyball club, and how his disappearance affects every person in school.

One Step

When Tadashi sees a girl from his school stood alone on the beach, he becomes determined to find out why.

Tokyo Family

An elderly couple journey to Tokyo to visit their grown children, only to find them preoccupied and self-involved.

Elsa the Rose

Images and poems of the celebrated couple Louis Aragon and Elsa Triolet. Elsa’s youth as recalled by Aragon, with commentary by Elsa.

Ted Hughes: Stronger Than Death

Documentary exploring Ted Hughes, one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, focusing on how his life story influenced his work and vision.

Love Master II: Roaming in Hokkaido

Seeking the "woman of his dreams", Kikunosuke visits Hokkaido and meets Masumi, the only daughter of the Zippi Ranch that raises great racing horses, Okamura, her grandfather, and Yamada, a stable hand who is secretly in love with Masumi. Zippi Ranch is targeted for acquisition by Sengoku Farms, which has constantly acquired small ranches. Naoto, the son of Sengoku, grew up with Masumi and raped her in the past. With the horrible experience, Masumi has become fastidious about sex. Began working at Zippi Ranch, Kikunosuke spends a night with a hostess, Ayumi, whom he met at a club Naoto owns. Sleeping with numerous customers to support the club, Ayumi has been sexually frigid, but Kikunosuke gives her an orgasm with his technique, Kinuta. The sex master, Kikunosuke, stands up to rescue a troubled woman mentally and physically.

SP: The Motion Picture II

After the attack on the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the next duty of the fourth office will be to guard the National Assembly building. In the midst of security, Ogata keeps Inoue away from the main conference hall and puts his well-thought-out plan into action, and the parliament building is controlled by SPs and terrorists who support the revolution. Inoue notices something strange and starts to fight against the terrorists to stop Ogata.

La Bohème

In the early 1960s two artistic giants, conductor Herbert von Karajan and director Franco Zeffirelli, joined forces to create this milestone production of Puccini’s masterpiece at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. Filmed in that legendary opera house in 1965, with Zeffireli himself directing for the cameras, this “Bohème” has been acclaimed universally for its unique theatrical impact and visual splendour. Starring the young Mirella Freni in her carreer-making performance. – For the first time the full dimension of opera on film.

Shinobi No Mono 5: Return of Mist Saizo

[Period covered: 1616] On May 8th, 1615 the summer campaign of Osaka has reached the climax. This film takes place immediately following 'Ninja 4: Mist Saizo, Last of The Ninja'. Staying one step ahead of the Shogun’s forces, “Mist” Saizo tries to save the Sanada Clan, and avenge the death of his lord by assassinating the first Tokugawa Shogun. Following the first four films in this remarkable series, more previously unknown Ninja skills are shown to the world for the first time. The action heats up as Saizo single-handedly attacks the Shogun’s Palace!

Shinobi no mono 7: Mist Saizo Strikes Back

[Period covered: 1616] Kirigakure Saizo (Mist Saizo) returns for the final time as he sets out to assassinate Tokugawa Ieyasu in order to avenge the death of Lord Sanada Yukimura. But first he must contend with Ieyasu’s own ninja group led by the powerful Fuma Daijuro, who has a score to settle with the men of Iga that dates back 280 years to the war between the Genji and the Heike at the Battle of Dan-no-Ura. Tremendous fighting and great plot twists highlight this exceptional look into the lives of the mysterious ninja of Japan.

Castle Under Fiery Skies

The year is 1575 in feudal Japan. Oda Nobunaga's (Kippei Shiina) forces defeat Takeda Katsuyori, when Nagashino Castle was besieged during the Battle of Nagashino. The next year Oda Nobunada decides to build a lavish new castle symbolizing his unification of various factions. The castle named Azuchi Castle will be built near water and high enough to be seen from the capital city of Kyoto. Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka's adaptation of Kenichi Yamamoto's novel of the same name received the 33rd Japan Academy Film Prize for Excellent Art Direction.

The Strange Thing About the Johnsons

A dark domestic drama about the familial ties that bind and the ties that really bind.

Woman in Witness Protection

Biwako is a vain, middle-aged actress who witnesses a brutal murder. Realizing that the very public life of the woman makes their sole witness vulnerable to the killers, the police assign two officers to safeguard her until the trial. In the interim, the lives of Biwako and everyone around her are changed in unexpected ways.

Seven Samurai

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno

Kenshin has settled into his new life with Kaoru and his other friends when he is approached with a request from the Meiji government. Makoto Shishio, a former assassin like Kenshin, was betrayed, set on fire and left for dead. He survived, and is now in Kyoto, plotting with his gathered warriors to overthrow the new government. Against Kaoru's wishes, Kenshin reluctantly agrees to go to Kyoto and help keep his country from falling back into civil war.

Rurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends

Shishio sets sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the government. In order to stop him, Kenshin trains with his old master to learn his final technique.

Luna grande

Plot unavailable

The Libertine

The story of John Wilmot, a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work.

If Cats Disappeared from the World

A postman learns that he doesn't have much time left to live due to a terminal illness. A devil then appears in front of him and offers to extend his life if he picks something in the world that will disappear. The man thinks about his relationships with ex-friends, ex-lovers, relatives and colleagues who will be sincerely sad when he dies.

Twinkle

Shoko and Mutsuki get married to satisfy their worried parents, but she is well past the age at which a 'good' Japanese woman should marry, and he is in love with a young male college student. The film is less a realistic exploration of gay life than a fairy tale of three young Japanese trying to construct an alternative to the sexual and familial roles given to them by a society turning increasingly emotionally barren.

My Blood and Bones in a Flowing Galaxy

Kiyosumi’s affection for his schoolmate Hari grows after he saves her from bullying, but a dark secret she’s unwilling to share threatens their bond.

MOTHER

Shuhei is leading a tough life. His alcoholic mother Akiko can only hook up with bad guys and order Shuhei to go get money from his disapproving grandparents instead of going to school. Except raising the little half-sister, his rock-bottom life seems to have no end.

Vatel

In 1671, with war brewing with Holland, a penniless prince invites Louis XIV to three days of festivities at a chateau in Chantilly. The prince wants a commission as a general, so the extravagances are to impress the king. In charge of all is the steward, Vatel, a man of honor, talent, and low birth. The prince is craven in his longing for stature: no task is too menial or dishonorable for him to give Vatel. While Vatel tries to sustain dignity, he finds himself attracted to Anne de Montausier, the king's newest mistress. In Vatel, she finds someone who's authentic, living out his principles within the casual cruelties of court politics. Can the two of them escape unscathed?

WWII From Space

WWII from Space delivers World War II in a way you've never experienced it before. This HISTORY special uses an all-seeing CGI eye that offers a satellite view of the conflict, allowing you to experience it in a way that puts key events and tipping points in a global perspective. By re-creating groundbreaking moments that could never have been captured on camera, and by illustrating the importance of simultaneity and the hidden effects of crucial incidents, HISTORY presents the war's monumental moments in a never-before-seen context. And with new information brought to the forefront, you'll better understand how a nation ranked 19th in the world's militaries in 1939 emerged six years later as the planet's only atomic superpower.

The Books and the Night

A dramatized approach to the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) through the recreation of some of his works and the staging of various aspects of his thought and his life.

Love Beats Rhymes

A young woman dreams of making it big in the world of hip hop, but her parents demand that she finish her university degree. She dutifully agrees to complete her education, but her spoken word proves to have a powerful impact in the classroom.

Doll

The rise and fall of the most distinguished Polish-Gypsy poetess Bronislawa Wajs, widely known as Papusza, and her relationship with her discoverer, writer Jerzy Ficowski.

Virgin Breaker Yuki

Based on a manga by Kosuke Miki and Tadashi Matsumori, this film follows the adventures of Yuki, who works in a Kyoto red-light district house of ill repute as a "tamawari," or "virgin-breaker." She's the gal who gets first dibs on the new recruits to the brothel (some willing, some not), and it's her job to break them in for future clients. The film finds Yuki involved with a group of political rebels and anarchists after the Peace Preservation Law was passed in 1925 and walks a fine line between black humor and severe cruelty.

Behind the Rising Sun

A Japanese publisher urges his American-educated son to side with the Axis.

Lost Illusions

Lucien de Rubempré, a young, lower-class poet, leaves his family's printing house for Paris. Soon, he learns the dark side of the arts business as he tries to stay true to his dreams.

Bonobono: Secret of the Kumomo Tree

Bonobono: Kumomo no Ki no Koto was the second theatrical Bonobono movie, released by Amuse Pictures in theaters in Japan on August 10, 2002. It was done completely in 3D.

ONE OK ROCK with Orchestra Japan Tour 2018

ONE OK ROCK held a special live video with 53 full orchestras held in Tokyo and Osaka in October 2018!! The enclosed booklet reaches 100 pages, and it will be a long time for package work In addition to the photos taken by the members, commentaries, live reports, interviews with stakeholders, etc. are as responsive as listening to the secondary audio of the live. Also, it is paired with the booklet of “ONE OK ROCK 2018 AMBITIONS JAPAN DOME TOUR” released on the same day, and it is a luxurious package that can be said to be one work in two works.

Softness of Bodies

An American poet living in Berlin hopes to win a prestigious grant while dealing with her former relationships, a rival poet, and her own penchant for stealing things.

Sayonara, Girls.

2 days until the “Last Graduation Ceremony” of high school, the building was to be demolished. Each student accepted their “farewell to youth” and moved forward with regret and hope in mind. One student visits the library to meet her secret admirer who is also her teacher, one calls her boyfriend with a strained relationship due to the distance of their colleges, one is trying to expose a secret that she hid for the last 3 years, and the last student, Manami, has to give a speech during the graduation ceremony but couldn’t overcome her pain.

Here and There

One summer evening in a small town in France, two teenage boys, Clarinet and Piano, say goodbye. For twelve years, they rejoin each other at irregular intervals in the same town, discussing their ambitions as they drift apart. Michaël Dacheux's 'Here and There' is a delicate exploration of the eager aspirations of two young men, wise beyond their years yet still innocent in their experience.

100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience

Imagine a world where video games reign supreme. Five story buildings filled with arcade cabinets, old and new, inundate the streets. Welcome to downtown Tokyo, Japan. A place where the arcades of the 80s and 90s not only still exist, but thrive and have evolved into an elaborate, unmatchable gaming experience. 100 Yen is a historical documentary about the evolution of arcades and the culture surrounding it - from the birth of arcades to the game centers that still thrive today. With a predominant focus on the three major arcade genres, Shooting games, Fighting games and Rhythm games, 100 Yen explores the culture and evolution of arcades through the past and present. Featuring interviews with industry professionals, game programmers and designers, casual gamers and gaming icons from Japan, Canada, and the USA.

Yellow Crow

In this Golden Globe winner for Best Foreign-Language Film, director Heinosuke Gosho -- a master chronicler of Japanese middle-class life -- presents the story of Kiyoshi Yoshida (Koji Shitara), who feels estranged from both parents after his father returns from war. How the boy adapts to life with the virtual stranger his father has become is the film's focus. Chikage Awashima, Yûnosuke Itô and Yoshiko Kuga also star.