The Gaijin

A tanuki-themed musical.

1961 Japanese movie

First of nine films based on the novel. The first live-action adaptation focuses on the origins of how Akadô Suzunosuke learned his skills as a swordsman.

A power struggle in the fief of Okazaki causes the death of Namiji, a nobleman's daughter. As her fiancé seeks revenge, he finds Namiji's cat helping him, along the Fifty-Three stations of the Tokaido Road. Co-starring Shintarô Katsu and Takako Irie.

A kabuki actress is murdered. Her pet cat laps its mistress's blood and becomes a demon possessed by the vengeful murder victim.

A lighthearted musical comedy in which a tanuki detective runs amok chasing a tanuki murderer who has disguised himself as a human and fled into the bustling streets of Ginza.

A young judoka investigates the mysterious death of his best friend.

It was a sanatorium in the highlands. Patients such as Totsuka, Hirota, and Hashida were battling their illnesses under the devoted care of Michiko, a nurse so beautiful and noble that she was nicknamed “The Messenger from the Moon.” When Totsuka learned that Hirota, who was about to be discharged, secretly loved Michiko, he devised a plan and arranged for them to spend some time alone in a birch grove. Hirota and Michiko made a firm vow for their future, but around that time, an unexpected visitor arrived at Hirota’s hospital room.

Period comedy.