Hideji Ōtaki

A feudal epic presenting the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. The impostor becomes comfortable living his life among nobility, but his responsibilities to his station grow more demanding the longer he occupies it.

In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.

Fifty years of war between the Great Eastern Federation and Europa - now merged as Eurasia - have taken their toll on planet Earth. As a result of the use of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, much of Earth has become uninhabitable and people have become prey to new diseases. Professor Azuma's "neo-cell" project, which is supposed to be the answer to mankind's hardships, becomes a nightmare come true when mutants spawned from the experiment escape and declare war on the human race. Azuma's son Tetsuya, who was killed during the previous war, is reborn into the cyborg Casshern as mankind's last hope against the new mutant threat. This live-action sci-fi movie based on a 1973 Japanese animé of the same name.

Intrepid tax investigator Ryoko Itakura sets her sights on the mysterious and philandering Hideki Gondo, a suspected millionaire and proprietor of a thriving chain of seedy hourly hotels, who has for years succeeded at hiding the true extent of his assets from the Japanese authorities. Itakura and Gondo soon find themselves engaged in a complicated, satirical battle of wits.

When Wabisuke's father-in-law unexpectedly dies, the family goes through a series of random events and occurrences as the funeral unfolds over three days in their home.

An upscale Japanese hotel hires Mahiru Inoue, a lawyer adept at dealing with the Yakuza, to help them rid their hotel of the local gangsters so they can get a contract for a meeting of important foreign officials.

Hidenori is a Japanese-Korean man with no sense of belonging, destination or education. He drifts around and meanders through life until a death reminds him of his heritage and so begins a journey to South Korea.

After a passenger ship sinks in 1954, Go Akutsu devises a life-saving project in the form of a tunnel under the Tsugaru Strait. While working on this project Akutsu becomes involved with Tae Makimura leading to his estrangement from his wife.

A detective goes out of his way to crack the case of a serial killer who specialises in murdering police officers.

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.

A scruffy detective investigates the murders of three sisters on a small Japanese island in 1946.

Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.

After being stricken with Alzheimer's disease in the prime of his life, a successful young businessman slips slowly away from his loving family.

Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.

A poignant love story between a 29-year-old woman, who has once been a prostitute but is now the mistress of a wealthy jewelry merchant, and a 19-year-old college student.

In an alternate version of 1949 Japan in which World War II never happened, the Japanese capital of Teito is home to both an ultra rich upper class and the dirt poor masses. The city is thrown into a state of panic when a phantom thief called “The Kaijin (Fiend) with 20 Faces” (K-20 for short) begins to use his mysterious abilities to steal from the rich and give to the poor. One day a circus acrobat named Heikichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is framed for K-20’s crimes and becomes determined to clear his name. He teams up with K-20’s next target, a wealthy duchess named Yoko Hashiba (Takako Matsu) and her detective fiancé (Toru Nakamura), to take K-20 down once and for all.

Ogami Itto is challenged by a quintet of warriors, each armed with one fifth of Ogami's assassin fee and one fifth of the information he needs to complete his assignment.

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.

This is the story of "The Forty-Seven Ronin." Based on historical events in 1701-2, the movie tells the tale of the Asano clan's downfall and the revenge of its former samurai on the perpetrator of the catastrophe. Lord Asano was goaded, or tricked, into drawing his sword inside the Shogun's palace -- a crime which carried the death penalty. The newly installed Shogun was furious at Asano and ordered all his clan's assets seized, meaning some 20,000 samurai and commoners were unemployed and landless at a stroke. Forty-seven of these ronin (masterless samurai) banded together to take attempt revenge on Lord Kira, who had goaded Asano into drawing his sword.

A free-spirited girl living in a Japanese province spends her time working in a brothel and running with her dog. When her routine is shattered she gets on a path of hate and self discovery.

Ten years before the outbreak of the Second World War in Asia, a Japanese Go master and his Chinese rival meet in China to play a game of Go (loosely described as an Asian version of chess). It soon becomes evident that the Chinese master's son is the most talented player that the Japanese master has ever encountered, and he convinces the boy's father to let him bring the child back to Japan to train him as a professional Go player. Years pass, and as the young Chinese master grows to maturity in Japan, the Japanese invasion of China forces him to choose between his triumphant career and his loyalty to his native country. His decision is complicated by his marriage to the daughter of the Japanese master, with whom he has produced a child. His choice will profoundly alter the lives of two families. Their saga serves as a reflection of the tragic relations between their two great countries, and the possibility of reconciliation and healing.

The year is 1988, and in the midst of recovering from a near-miss with a large comet, Earth finds that there are much worse matters at hand: the sudden arrival of a strange army of aliens and their fleet of unstoppable warships.

The heir to a family fortune discovers that a curse has been placed on it, put there centuries before by a band of samurai warriors. Adaptation of novel by Seishi Yokomizo

A demonic reincarnation of a Japanese general from the 10th century appears in the early 20th century Tokyo with a mission to destroy the blooming city.

Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.

Inspired by American TV movies like "Hitchcock Theater" and "The Twilight Zone," the show features multiple works with Tamori as the storyteller and actors as the main characters. While horror and supernatural themes are predominant, a variety of genres like comedy and drama are also produced. Most episodes, however, have a bad ending.

Oomae Haruko is an A+ Temp worker who never cracks a smile or minces words, and leaves work on the dot. But her cynical nature indicates she has something painful to hide. Satonaka Kensuke has just been promoted to head S&F's new Marketing Division. Saddled with a rag-tag group of subordinates, he is struggling to lift his division off the ground. When Oomae is placed in Kensuke's department, she finds herself doing more work than she's ever done before. This is a timely drama that examines the different attitudes toward temp workers and regular employees, and the ways to overcome frictions in interpersonal relationships. This follows an October report on labor conditions by the Labor Ministry, which showed that, after regulations were relaxed, the proportion of regular employees to Temps had doubled compared to that of eight years ago.

The 15th NHK Asadora. Starring Shinobu Otake in a story about a young woman striving to become a doctor and her mother, who is a nurse. The first six-month Asadora. Average rating of 40.1%.

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.

The chronicles of the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159 - May 17th, 1189). He was a late Heian and early Kamakura general of the Minamoto clan of Japan. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo. His older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura shogunate.

"Ako Roshi" is a group of 47 former retainers of Lord Asano. Lord Asano was forced to commit suicide after attempting to kill Lord Kira. Once the retainers hear about their Lord's death, they sacrifice their lives to regain the honor of their former master.

The drama is depicting the life and times in 17th and 18th century Japan during the rule of the eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune.

Set at the end of the Edo period, the series depicts Kumo's family with his wife, Kame, their 11-year-old son, Shinnosuke. Kumo is always ignoring work and playing and he is also notorious for womanising.

Focus, concentration, proper posture and good release are the hallmarks of a good bowler. Welcome to Golden Bowl bowling alley. A bit rundown and small but no worse for wear, the Golden Bowl is stockbroker Shu Akutagawa's favorite haunt. A regular, he likes nothing better than the rumble of the bowl running down the alley and crash and crackle of the pins tumbling down. When a beautiful, older and married neighbor - who shares the same name as his old flame Hitomi - makes an appearance at the Golden Bowl, things start to heat up as Shu teams up with her to challenge some pro bowlers. Will Shu be as lucky with Hitomi as he is with the pins? --NTV

Set in a sake brewery in Niigata, from the Taisho to the Showa period, Retsu is a visually impaired girl with a strong will to make her own way in the world. Her aunt, Saho, watches over and supports her. The series centered on two women with opposing positions and personalities, depicting "home" as a member of pre-war Japanese society, along with a variety of human figures.

When Sakuragi Haruko's father's factory is bombed, Oba Hiroto stops Haruko when she tries to rescue her father from the fire. They meet again a few years later when Haruko is working as a nurse and Hiroto is brought in as a patient with a heart condition. The second couple is a Korean man, Boku Hitoshi, and another nurse, Yamada Kazue

A love story about a young man who, despite being shunned by his father after shoplifting in high school, strives to live strongly with the support of his girlfriend..

Ishida Ryoko, a failed law student turned bank debt collector, tracks down her final target: Yudo Kazuaki, a bankrupt attorney who prioritizes helping the poor over making a profit. Unable to collect his debt, Ryoko refuses to leave his side, effectively becoming his shadow. Despite their "debtor vs. collector" dynamic, they realize they share a deep-seated mission to defend the innocent and protect the weak. This unlikely duo soon teams up to serve as the "last lawyer" for those with nowhere else to turn.

Eiji Ogawa, a young leader of the Hattagumi yakuza, left the prison after two years sentence. However, it was only Tsuneyoshi Mito, the younger brother, who came to meet him.

Mizuki plays a 35-year-old woman named Kurumi, who suddenly loses everything in her life when her fiance runs off with all of her assets. Left with a mere 15,000 yen and some boxes of ohagi (a type of rice ball), the despairing Kurumi happens upon a construction site, and she begins handing out the ohagi to the men working there. Using the theme of food, "Tenshi no Wakemae" depicts Kurumi's journey as she turns her life around.