Takeo Chii

Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate.

A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.

For his first film in fourteen years, animation director Isao Takahata embarked on a visually sumptuous adaptation of The Tale of the Bamboo-Cutter. A dream project for the director that would hopefully establish the recently formed Ghibli Studio 7, created to meet the demands of a new type of modern animation process. But, almost immediately, the epic production is faced with difficulties and falls dramatically behind schedule. In this compelling and insightful documentary, we follow Isao Takahata and his dedicated team of artists as they frantically strive against adversity to make their vision a reality and bring Studio Ghibli into a new era.

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.

When a tycoon passes away, he unexpectedly leaves the family fortune to outsider Tamayo on the condition that she marries one of the grandsons, pitting blood against blood.

The series swansong, Beat '71, sees Kaji framed and sent to prison by her boyfriend's father and with the help of some hippies she strives to be re-united.

A nurse is framed for her involvement in the hospital murder of a politician who was threatening to expose corrupt practices. She escapes from jail but is captured and sent back, resulting in the rest of the inmates being punished, added to which of a new, tougher, head of security arrives to take up her new job....

When an American is murdered in a Japanese inn, Tokyo police detective Munesue follows the trail of the killer to New York. There he is joined by a New York City detective named Shuftan and together they sort out the crime.

Though his parents help him run the family business, Jun still feels persecuted by their love; when they bar him from meeting with his girlfriend, tensions increase.

A yakuza leader must balance his violent tactics necessary for the rough streets of 1960s Tokyo with the domestic needs of his daughters.

While investigating stories of rape for a magazine article, a determined but callous reporter becomes perversely aroused as she meets the women who are suffering through the horror of their experiences. But will she suffer their fate if she goes too far?

Several high-school friends spend their final summer together indulging in sex and leisure; their halcyon days are soon coming to an end.

An upbeat, action-filled drama that depicts the lives of two obnoxious high school students, Koji and Toru, who are caught in exciting and dangerous adventures involving their fellow students. Based on the best selling comic series, “Be-Bop High School” has gained popularity among the young audience, and become an icon of Japan’s pop culture in the 1980’s.

There is a man who divorced his wife. He moved to rural Hokkaido from Tokyo where he lived with his family without running water or electricity. He has his son and daughter in tow and works hard for them. The folk in the area try to help. A couple of years pass and the older son moves back to Tokyo, attends school and works part-time. The daughter commutes to the city to attend school. She wants to become a nurse. To become a registered nurse she needs to study a further three years. This takes money.

After serving time, a defiant street thug is incensed to find his town overrun by two yakuza factions. He gathers his crew and takes them on.

Japan, February 1868. As the Tokugawa shogunate declines and the power of Emperor Meiji grows, Gonzo, a soldier of the Restoration Army, returns to Sawando, his hometown, to announce the end of tyranny.

One hundred years after their deaths, six legendary holy warriors are reborn to seek justice against the former comrade who betrayed them into the hands of an evil god! The six warriors search the feudal province of Edo questing for the last Saint Soldier, Haohmaru, and their sworn nemesis Shirou Amakusa. Will the followers of the divine light triumph over the forces of darkness, or is history destined to repeat itself? Before their hundred-year journey has ended, six samurai will prove that the only thing stronger than their holy blades is the steel of their wills!

A Yakuza group from Osaka with dreams of national dominance moves into the snowy Hokuriku region, sparking a bloody turf war with local gangs.

The eighth sequel of the series by the successful “Fukasaku and Bunta” collaboration revolves around the men of a lesser organization that are constantly bullied by the upper organization and “bleed in vain” in gang wars.

Three men sentenced to death are spared and changed into “shadows executioners”, a group of ruthless ninja working for mysterious high ranking officials. During their investigation on some illegal business, one of them, called “Yazuke the Viper”, finds his abandoned daughter, Ocho, who has now become a mistress of Denzo, a smuggler. After Yazuke’s death, Ocho is also recruited as a “shadows executioner”, with the task of completing her father’s mission.

The story of the silk industry and the young girls who worked as silk spinners in the early 1900s in Japan. The silk mills were located in Okaya which lies just beyond the Nomugi Pass. The women and girls worked in a hot, humid atmosphere without rest, and endured those conditions and sexual harassment to earn money for their poor families. Across the ocean, it was the great depression in America.

A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin.

Tane, a female clerk of a rubber company in a corner of an industrial area facing Tokyo Bay is a quirky woman, also living on the second floor of the company warehouse.

A high school girl, Izumi Gojo, who has been found guilty of murder, falls into the sea and disappears when running away from the police. However, a mysterious group rescues her and had her undertake training to transform her into an assassin. Years later, Izumi seeks to escape the group.

Key Hunter is a prime-time Japanese television detective series. It aired on Saturday nights in the 9:00–9:56 p.m. time slot on the Tokyo Broadcasting System network from April 6, 1968 to April 7, 1973. There were a total of 262 episodes, and it was one of the most popular action dramas in Japan at the time. The story involved "Key Hunter", a special clandestine unit of the International Police, which endeavored to solve various crimes. "Key Hunter" was a unique TV show, which started out as a grand scale spy thriller never before seen in Japan. The episodes were individually themed on global crimes and political strife. The initial hardboiled theme later evolved to include intellectual elements involving action, and occasionally with comical elements as well. Tetsuro Tamba starred in the 1967 film You Only Live Twice as Japanese Secret Service agent Tiger Tanaka, an ally of James Bond. This role greatly influenced his image in "Key Hunter".

Narrated by the son, Jun, the tale follows the lives of two children torn between their parents and their parents' divorce. Jun, and his sister Hotaru, grow and mature - willingly and sometimes forcibly - in the harsh climates of Hokkaido, learning the ways of life through their interaction with the folk of Furano.

Find out everything there is to know about Japanese tradition, from food to culture to objects and arts, and the people who are continuing it today.

Battle between international criminal organizations and the secret team of international police formed against these organizations. An action drama incorporating element of children's hero program, Tokusatsu, such as characters with superhuman motor nerves and the appearance of super machines. "Strada 5" is the name of this secret team.

The older sister who had set backs in Tokyo, and her younger sister who wants nothing more than to move there. The two sisters, who were born and raised in a teahouse called Juicchome Chaya halfway up Mt. Takao on the outskirts of Tokyo, seek for happiness while living in a beautiful natural setting and experiencing different love affairs in this pure and heartfelt story. But one thing they can't get around in their search for happiness is the family. First there's the father, a pigheaded guy with an artisan spirit who pushes his weight around as father, and then the mother who's a tricky customer in her own right. And it's not only the family, the whole village seems to be following the love complications of our two heroines with bated breath and spreading the word around.

Meguru Yoshida (Kyoko Fukada) is an English instructor at a cram school who is forced to support her family after her debt-ridden father disappears. Meguru has a strange condition. Whenever she eats too much, she has visions of what the future holds for those in her presence. One day, while eating barbecued beef, she realizes that her boyfriend, Yuki, will become bald and fat 20 years down the line. She becomes discouraged with the idea that she may end up living her life with Yuki, especially after attending a party with some former classmates who she finds will turn into very handsome men.

Dobu, an unconventional detective, teams up with Yoriki Samon to solve crimes in Yaoyacho, Edo, showcasing their courage and detective skills.