Yoshio Ōmori

The film tells the story of four orphans living in an impoverished mining town. An adaptation of a best-selling book based on the diary of a ten-year-old zainichi (ethnic Korean Japanese) girl, it was one of the first films to deal with the subject of zainichi identity and struggles in Japan.

A car going at 25 mph plunges into the sea at Shinko Harbour, Toyama prefecture. Inside is the local business magnate Fukutaro Shirakawa, who perishes. Riding alongside him and surviving unhurt is his second wife, Kumako. It soon comes to light that Kumako’s husband was insured for 300 million yen and she is arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband for the insurance money. The newspapers denounce her as an evil woman, while the public is in no doubt about Kumako’s crime. Ritsuko Sahara is chosen as her defence attorney but the pair clash over almost everything...

As Japan's economic growth policies intensify, small-scale farmers embark on a first-ever communal dairy farming initiative in their village. They are joined by Riki, a young man who thinks communal farming will give him some leisure time.

At Tokyo Gakuen University, Takema, son of Tatsunosuke, chief of the Waku gang, is a freshman who wishes to prepare himself for a better life away from gang activities despite the wishes of his father who wants him to assist strengthen the gang against the Kawano group. Takema's classmate, Akiko, is the daughter of Eiko who operates a restaurant, and through her he obtains a lodging in the house of Shiu, a dancing mistress. The students enjoy their life, but most have their troubles. Sakamoto works as a laborer on the docks to help pay for his schooling, and Akiko worries over the relationship between her mother and Sakurai, a corrupt politician, suspected to be involved in graft over jet aircraft.

The story centers on the fierce competition among newspaper reporters stationed at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department as they race to break major scoops. Alongside this, the film humorously depicts a rookie reporter who grows while repeatedly making mistakes. The first film in a series adapted from an NHK TV drama. Focused on those who work at the 'Sakurada Press Club', the home base of crime reporters who pursue exclusive stories in a corner of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

This film is strongly anti-war film. The film is based on the collection of writings by Japanese student soldiers who died during World War II. The film is located to Burma. It shows the everyday problems of soldiers in contrast of their ideas and the cynicism of their commanders. Soldiers are also victims of military bullying by their commanders.

Television production of I Want to Be a Shellfish. On a post-war peaceful day in Japan, Toyomatsu Shimizu, a barber as well as a good father and husband, is suddenly arrested by the Prefectural Police as a war criminal and sued for murder. According to the accusation by GHQ, Toyomatsu "attemped to kill a US prisoner", which was nothing but an order by his superior and failed after all with hurting the prisoner by weak Toyomatsu. Also, Toyomatsu was driven to corner at the trial by the fact that he fed the US prisoner some burdock roots to nourish him. Toyomatsu believes nothing but being not guilty, but he is sentenced to death by hanging. Prior to the execution, Toyomatsu writes a long farewell letter to his family, the wife and the only son: "If I ever incarnate, I hate to be a human being any more.... Oh yes, I would like to be...a shellfish living on the rock-bottom of the sea."