Hiroshi Mikami

A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.

Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.

A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, combining dramatizations of three of his novels and a depiction of the events of November 25th, 1970.

The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan.

Coerced by the evil Witch Raga, Ashura, the Hell Virgin, attempts to unlock the four Earth holes that lead to the Gates of Hell. Together, Raga aims to control the Earth. However, two monks skilful in magical powers set off on a journey to the cities to obstruct Ashura from unlocking the gates and stop Raga. Otherwise, not only will control of the Earth be at stake, but the King of Hell will resurrect and darkness will overcome the world.

The seven short films making up GENIUS PARTY couldn’t be more diverse, linked only by a high standard of quality and inspiration. Atsuko Fukushima’s intro piece is a fantastic abstraction to soak up with the eyes. Masaaki Yuasa, of MIND GAME and CAT SOUP fame, brings his distinctive and deceptively simple graphic style and dream-state logic to the table with “Happy Machine,” his spin on a child’s earliest year. Shinji Kimura’s spookier “Deathtic 4,” meanwhile, seems to tap into the creepier corners of a child’s imagination and open up a toybox full of dark delights. Hideki Futamura’s “Limit Cycle” conjures up a vision of virtual reality, while Yuji Fukuyama’s "Doorbell" and "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe use understated realism for very surreal purposes. And Shoji Kawamori, with “Shanghai Dragon,” takes the tropes and conventions of traditional anime out for very fun joyride.

While stopped at a roadside phone booth for transmitting his work through the Internet to the university, Professor Hideki Satomi finds a scrap of newspaper with the picture of his five-year-old daughter Nana in the obituary section.

Three stories. A solitary sailor falls from his boat and washes ashore on a tropical island. While seeking rescue, he's found by a nearly naked woman who is playful and compliant. He decides to erase his signs of distress and remain on the island. What awaits? In the second, an adolescent searches for the words of a nursery rime he remembers bits of. His journey takes him into dreams, sexual awakening, and Oedipal fantasy. Third, a man of wealth in late-nineteenth century Paris hires a prostitute for the night. She's also cabaret performer and takes him to her room. He fears he's about to be robbed. What's her secret?

Fumio Yano is an unassuming young businessman in the ski wear line. His own skiing ability is close to professional level, and he assists a former world champion, Tayama, on the sales team. Fumio meets and falls in love with Yu, a young secretary, but initially finds it hard to express his true feelings for her. A St Valentine's Day fashion show provides an unexpected backdrop for crisis resolution, and a mad scramble ensues to beat the clock and make it to a neighboring ski resort in time for the press and photographers. A pack of chocolate is a symbol of true love...

A comedy about a young woman who has terminal cancer.

A young rock singer is not appreciated by her band, and gets a postcard from Japan saying "wish you were here". She takes what little money she has including ex-boyfriend's rent money and goes to Tokyo. She has numerous cross-cultural adventures and ends up singing with a Japanese rock group looking for a gaijin gimmick.

After running out of hobbies, a wealthy recluse takes to peeping on his neighbors with high-tech hidden cameras. When he crosses paths with the mysterious girl who regularly visits the salaryman next door, the young voyeur’s disaffected curiosity turns into an obsession.

A scientist realizes his dead wife is an organization of mitochondria bent on making a new species that will wipe out humanity.

A black comedy about a man who works out a plan to change his life. In a locked room in a love hotel, an unexpected turn occurs as the thoughts and positions of the characters intersect, each holding the other's weakness while also being held by the other.

Tokyo 1923, one of the residents of a boarding house discovers a way to spy on the other tenants, leading to dramatic consequences.

Akira is haunted by a "bouncing ball" song that he remembers his mother singing when he was a small child, and now on the verge of a sexually active adulthood, he wants to find the origins of the song. The young man ostensibly wanders into a time-warp in which aspects from his childhood and adulthood mix together. In this never-never land he comes across a beautiful woman/witch who is lost inside the labyrinth of her mansion, just as the young man is lost in the labyrinth of time — and on some levels, perhaps the labyrinth of his subconscious.

Drama set in the historical Warring States Era of Japan. Tokaido name Imagawa Yoshimoto personally led his army to invade Owari Province territory, now in Aichi Prefecture Nagoya City area, was the leader Nobunaga of this surprising burst of death. After the war, the Imagawa clan who originally dominated the Tokaido region fell away, and the victorious Oda Nobunaga quickly expanded his power in Central Japan and the Kinki region, laying the foundation for his future control of the central government of Japan.

After a convenience store robbery, three unidentified men hold a group of people hostage in a hospital. Inspector Ishida and Captain Tohno handle the negotiations while one of their colleagues, Lt. Ando, tries to find out why the men decided to take the hospital hostage. Through flashbacks, relevant information is revealed to the audience. When the negotiations are finished, most things seem to be fine until they lose track of the criminals. Then, the story unveils from a different perspective, its roots in feelings of love and vengeance.

Making-of documentary for Swallowtail Butterfly

A foreign student from Taiwan, Mr. Bell, attends language school in Japan and meets Miss Sato there. He falls in love with her, but doesn't dare to open his heart to her. Nevertheless, on Christmas night miracles do happen.

Arrested and interrogated by the police for a murder, Kiyoshi Ōkubo remembers his past and ends up confessing to several murders. Inspired by the true story of the serial killer who raped and killed eight women in Japan in 1971. The case moved the whole country.

In a night painted with raw, incendiary desire, the story follows Shuhei as he slips from a morbid funeral into a world pulsing with illicit passions. At the seductive bar "EDEN," sultry whispers and heady intoxication set the stage for heated encounters—moments charged with forbidden attraction. An awkward, yet intensely charged reunion with his estranged brother in a steamy hotel room sparks a domino effect of erotic interludes, igniting wild nights at a pulsating disco and secret rendezvous at a coastal villa. Here, simmering rivalries and envious longings flare into explosive encounters, culminating in a searing, tumultuous climax where the boundaries between lust and violence vanish in a frenzy of physical, unrestrained ecstasy.

Faraway Sunset tells the story of the famed bacteriologist who is known to have discovered the agent that cause syphilis, and for his relentless search for a cure to yellow fever. As a toddler, his mother's neglect had caused an accident to his left hand, fusing together all the fingers in a bizarre twist of fate. Naturally extremely remorseful for being the cause of her son's handicap, she does everything she could to ensure that he gets to lead a normal life, despite having to fend off bullies and unfair prejudices.

Villain or hero, Taira no Kiyomori changed Japanese history forever 900 years ago. Without ever knowing his real father, Kiyomori was raised as a samurai. Together with his stepfather, he wiped out piracy along Japan's western coast, becoming a full-fledged warrior samurai. In an age when samurai were looked down on as members of the lower class, Kiyomori was skillful at winning the hearts and minds of the people. By rounding up surrendered pirates and achieving other successes, Kiyomori eventually became the de facto ruler of Japan.

A missed confession of love haunts a young man on his best girl friend's wedding day. Sudden appearance of a mysterious Angel enables him to go back in time to regain the love of his life. Will he succeed? A romantic comedy of young Ken who missed a chance to confess his love in the past and ended up attending the wedding of his childhood love. Deep with regret as he helplessly watches the wedding party proceed, suddenly time stops and an Angel appears asking him whether he would like to just start over. Astounded as he is, Ken asks to do so, thereby embarking on a journey that will supposedly change everything. All does not go well however, as fate seems to be a resilient force that refuses to change...

Yoji Minamimaru, known as Nanmaru, is a university student with a supernatural ability to create small holes in anything. One day, Yoji finds out that the professor of folklore studies has gone missing. Together with his classmates, he decides to search for the professor.

In Tokyo, police officer Mari Kouda and Chinese interpreter Ryo Arikino solve cases while bonding over meals from different cultures, forming an unexpected connection through their shared experiences.

Hiroshi Kataoka works at a bank. He receives a promotion to manager of the Kamata branch. He is also informed that the Kamata branch will be shut down and he does not have to work hard. After the branch's shutdown, he will work again at the bank's headquarters. Hiroshi Kataoka is embarrassed by the situation. He sees the branch employees work hard and they do not know the branch will close. Hiroshi Kataoka is conflicted between his job and his employees.

Suzuki is an eccentric at university hospital who has been conducting a research to come up with a miracle drug for cancer on his own. One day, Suzuki finally succeeds in developing a new type of anticancer drug that completely hinders the self-renewal of all cancer stem cells. However, his colleagues do not seem to share his excitement, and he is not even allowed to carry out clinical trial on humans. Suzuki is disheartened and completely at a loss by this but then he comes across a girl, Manami, who is suffering from terminal cancer. With help from her, he successfully carries out clinical trial. Yet, things take an unexpected turn. What will become of Suzuki, Manami and all the others around them? What is the fate of this new drug? Pandora's box released all the evils as soon as it was opened. What is it that is ultimately left inside?

There are over 600 orphanages across the nation, housing approximately 30,000 children; Most of them had been abused by their parents. Maki, was placed into the orphanage "Kogamo no Ie", after her mother, Ryoka, was arrested and jailed. There she was handed over to the care of Kana, and also Sasaki, the eccentric caretaker of the home. Under Sasaki's management, the home is a calm and safe haven from all the madness of the real world. At the home, Maki befriends 3 other little girls, who all go by their nicknames instead of their real names. Piami who plays the piano really well, Bombi who came from a very poor family, and Post, who is the leader of all the kids.

Maria is in need of money. Because her day-time job doesn't pay enough, she works at night at a cabaret. She needs the money so that she can pay for her sister, Nana's eyes operation. When both Maria and Nana were younger, Maria burned down the home, causing her sister's blindness and killing their father (mother survived.) Shiro is a famous concert pianist. However, he isn't happy with his marriage or his life in general. Maria and Shiro are united through a traffic accident, causing Shiro to be hospitalized. Faking amnesia and his identity, he stays at Maria's place and eventually starts to work at the cabaret as a piano player. As you will find out later on, life was not meant for Maria and Shiro to find one another.

Hayakawa Ai commits a crime which lands her in a correction facility for juveniles. There she meets & becomes firm friends with four other delinquents & falls in love with one of the wardens, Ariake Yu, an artist with secrets.... (dramawiki)

A private lawyer (Hiroshi Mikami) who is infatuated with the widow of the Mamiya conglomerate (Emi Shindo) and aims for her inheritance. But he had multiple personalities. One day, university student Kawashima Megumi is mistaken for her older sister, Maiko. She is given a key to a coin locker, and finds inside the diary of Maiko's real father, a zaibatsu leader. Using her sister's name, Megumi gets close to the widow of the zaibatsu leader.

Just when about to commit suicide after being deserted by his bride-to-be during the wedding, a man meets a university professor who is also at the point of killing himself. A woman nearby intervenes, one thing leads to another, and the three lost souls move in together. Each episode is a distinct story about the sometimes painful, sometimes warm romances between them and the people they meet while sharing an apartment.

Housewife Miyazawa Tomomi, her husband out of a job, loses her treasured home as her family is forced to do with less during the recession. Her one ray of sunshine is her upcoming middle school class reunion, where she hopes to meet old friends as well as old flames. The class reunion, however, turns out to be more of turning point not only for her but for the others as well. Just how will these four people's lives change after their class reunion...

An enthusiastic 28-year-old detective Yasunaga is assigned to work with a notoriously geeky 43-year-old rookie, Totori. Totori became a detective because of a secret "motivation," despite his previous outstanding career as an animal ecologist. Together with Yasunaga, the unusual rookie detective uses logical thinking and experiments to solve seemingly perfect crimes. Detective Totori and the Perfect Crimes uses a reverse format where the crime scene is presented at the start of each episode. This entertaining human crime drama, created by a talented young Japanese scriptwriter is masterfully filled with cunning suspects and witty conversation.

A new kind of melodrama about a man that wants children, but can't have them with his wife; and a single-woman that wants to have a child of her own. It is also about what children mean to both sexes.

A romantic comedy that depicts the views on marriage of marriageable men and women, centering on an elite businessman who inherits a farm and struggles to find a wife. Kokubu Shohei, is a salaryman who moved to Tokyo from Yamanashi Prefecture and works for a major manufacturer. He is satisfied with his work and has a good relationship with his girlfriend, Takase Makoto. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, he becomes embroiled in a problem regarding the succession of his family's fruit farm, which causes trouble in his relationship with Makoto. Looking for a marriage partner, Shohei reluctantly registers with a matchmaking service company with the aim to marry one of three eligible women.

Koji and Mankichi loves Hana. But those men are very close friends. Hana wonders who she really loves.

For the past 15 years, Fuyukawa Misaki has lived a quiet, reclusive life while keeping her secret well-hidden. With just two months left before the statute of limitations on the murder of her colleague expires, a mysterious man appears in Misaki’s life, who says, “I know your secret.” Is he a friend or foe? The nameless man who claims to know about Misaki’s past does not reveal any personal information about himself, but only says he wants to live with her in exchange for keeping her secret. Hence, a bizarre living arrangement begins. Who is this man and what is his purpose? Meanwhile, conventional detective Kiba is convinced that Misaki is the elusive criminal behind the 15-year old murder case and is determined to uncover evidence to prove his theory. As this peculiar love-suspense drama unfolds, you will need to piece together information to solve the mysterious puzzle of murder while the clock counts down to the expiration deadline.

Yuji was once a top rock star. He comes back to Japan after the two years of US life. Nobody pays attention to him any more. Aoi who becomes his manager tries very hard to get work for him. He still has pride. Finally by Aoi's effort he can hold a concert. (source: dramawiki)