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Tampopo
Tokyo Prefecture The 1980sThe first Japanese Noodle Western. — A pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside fast food stop 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".
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Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Kyoto Prefecture The 1970sOn November 25, 1970, Japan's greatest author Yukio Mishima commited an act that shocked the literary world... — A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima told in four parts. The first three parts relate events in three of his novels: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Runaway Horses. The last part depicts the events of 25th November 1970.
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Godzilla 1985
Tokyo Prefecture Shizuoka Prefecture The 1980sPrepare yourself: the greatest star of all has returned. — Originally released in Japan as "The Return of Godzilla" in 1984, this is the heavily re-edited, re-titled "Godzilla 1985". Adding in new footage of Raymond Burr, this 16th Godzilla film ignores all previous sequels and serves as a direct follow-up to the 1956 "Godzilla King of the Monsters", which also featured scenes with Burr edited into 1954's "Godzilla". This film restores the darker tone of the original, as we witness the nuclear destruction of giant lizard terrorizing Japan.
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Insignificance
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1950s The 1940sA comedy about life, death, sex, and the Universe... relatively speaking. — Four 1950s cultural icons who conceivably could have met but probably didn't, fictionally do so in this modern fable of post-WWII America. Visually intriguing, the film has a fluid progression of flashbacks and flashforwards centering on the fictional Einstein's current observations, childhood memories, and apprehensions for the future.
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Japanil Kalyanaraman
🇯🇵 JapanRaman, a journalist who plans to expose Narendra's smuggling racket, is attacked but manages to survive. He then travels to Japan to buy printing equipment to open his own company.
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Tokyo-Ga
Tokyo PrefectureGerman director Wim Wenders made this documentary in which he tries to explore the Tokyo that was depicted in the films of Yasujiro Ozu. When Wenders visits Tokyo for the first time, he finds a very different city, one with a booming fascination with technology that often clashes with the traditional elements of Japanese culture. Wenders also interviews Ozu's cinematographer, Yuharu Atsuta, and Chishu Ryu, an actor who frequently collaborated with Ozu.
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Orochi Strikes Again
Tottori PrefectureThe mythical eight-headed serpent Orochi was created by aliens, which invaded Earth in ancient times. 2000 years later, they dispatch the Orochi again to destroy Japan and the rest of the world. Only a team of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and a scientist can destroy it.
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This Is Spinal Tap
Tokyo Prefecture The 1980sPrepare to crank those amps up to eleven — "This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.
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The Return of Godzilla
Tokyo Prefecture Shizuoka PrefectureBreaking 30 years of silence comes the anticipated-worldwide latest "Godzilla" work! — After a fishing boat is attacked, the sole surviving crew member realizes it is none other than a resurrected Godzilla. However, efforts to bring the story to light are suppressed by the Japanese government amid growing political tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, who are both willing to bomb Japan to stop the monster.
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Sans Soleil
🇯🇵 Japan"He wrote me..." A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.
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Barefoot Gen
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sA story about the effect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.
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Revenge of the Ninja
🇯🇵 Japan400 years of training in the art of sudden death... unleashed on 20th century America. — After his family is killed in Japan by ninjas, Cho and his son Kane come to America to start a new life. He opens a doll shop but is unwittingly importing heroin in the dolls. When he finds out that his friend has betrayed him, Cho must prepare for the greatest battle he has ever been involved in.
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The Ballad of Narayama
🇯🇵 Japan The 1860sOnly Time Could Change the Cruelty of Tradition… Only Their Love Could Survive It… — In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse he/she would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife.
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The Makioka Sisters
Osaka Prefecture Kyoto Prefecture The 1930sThis sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a vivid portrait of the pre-war lifestyle of the wealthy Makioka family from Osaka, and draws a parallel between their activities and the seasonal variations in Japan.
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Running Brave
Tokyo Prefecture The 1960sIt wasn't where he finished that made him an Olympic hero, it was where he began . . . — The story of Billy Mills the American Indian that came from obscurity, to win the 10,000 meter long distance foot race in the Tokyo Olympics.
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Where the Toys Come From
🇯🇵 JapanThere's a magical place in every child's imagination... — Two curious toys, Peepers and Zoom, wonder about how they become toys. Aided by Robin, their equally curious owner, Zoom and Peepers visit a toy museum - "Home for Old Toys" to discover their existence.
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Choji Snack Bar
Hokkaido PrefectureEiji, also known as Choji, quits the shipyard to start Izakaya [Snack Bar] Choji with his wife Shigeko on the outskirts of Hakodate. Eiji once had a girlfriend by the name of Sayo, but she is supposed to be happily married to a pasture owner in the countryside. Then, suddenly one day Sayo shows up at Choji before opening. Sayo is still in love with Eiji. The story expressively portrays the lives of random Choji customers and the daily interaction between Eiji and Shigeko, while also focusing on the feelings between Eiji and his past girlfriend Sayo.
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Qiu Jin
Tokyo Prefecture The 1890s The 1900sBiopic of Qiu Jin (1877-1907), early Chinese feminist and martyred revolutionary.
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Fall Guy
Kyoto PrefectureGinshiro, threatened by poor repute and upcoming star Tachibana, forces his friend Yasu to marry Konatsu, Ginshiro's pregnant mistress; Yasu becomes a stuntman to make ends meet.
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The Challenge
Kyoto Prefecture The 1980s The 1940sHe has trained every thought, every muscle, every nerve, for the moment of truth! — Rick, a down-and-out American boxer, is hired to transport a sword to Japan, unaware that the whole thing is a set up in a bitter blood-feud between two brothers, one who follows the traditional path of the samurai and the other a businessman. At the behest of the businessman, Rick undertakes samurai training from the other brother, but joins his cause. He also becomes romantically involved with the samurai's daughter.
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Burst City
Tokyo PrefectureSet in a barren, futuristic Tokyo of highways and wastelands, a rowdy group of punk bands and their fans gather to protest slow, boring, Japanese living.
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Roaring Fire
🇯🇵 JapanOn his death bed the man who raised Joji reveals that he is not his real father and that Joji’s real parents died tragically in a plane crash. Shortly thereafter Joji goes to Japan is search of his sister and his twin brother Toru. Joji’s quickly finds his sister Chihiro who is now blind and lives with their uncle. Joji one evening accidently over hears his uncle who has ties to the criminal underworld discussing his various illegal operations. Joji ‘s eavesdropping is discovered by his uncle who offers him a chance to join the organization. Joji promptly turns his uncle’s offer down which immediately puts his life in danger.
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Hansel and Gretel
🇯🇵 JapanThis is Tim Burton's Disney Channel Halloween film short that only aired once. It combines live action and stop-motion, making for a creepy adventure into the woods.
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The House Where Evil Dwells
Kyoto Prefecture The 1980s The 1840sAn ancient curse has turned their lives into a nightmare of lust and revenge. — At the prompting of his diplomat friend, Alex, writer Ted Fletcher takes his wife, Laura, and daughter, Amy, on an extended working holiday. Alex finds a house for them in Kyoto, Japan, and the Fletchers move in, laughing off rumors that the place is haunted. But the ghost of 19th-century samurai Shigero turns out to be very real, and is intent on making the family re-enact an ancient murder-suicide.
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Inchon
Tokyo Prefecture The 1950sLOVE. DESTINY. HEROES. War Changes Everything. — A noisy and absurd re-telling of the great 1950 invasion of Inchon during the Korean War which was masterminded by General Douglas MacArthur.
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Lovers Lost
Osaka PrefectureA 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.
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Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san
Shiga Prefecture Nagano Prefecture Kyoto Prefecture Kanagawa PrefectureDuring his travels, Tora-san gets drunk with an old man in Kyoto. Though Tora-san never fully comprehends his importance, the old man is a Living National Treasure ceramist. At his home, Tora-san makes a good impression on the old man's maid, who apparently falls in love with Tora-san.
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Samurai Reincarnation
Tokyo Prefecture Saga PrefectureAfter surviving the slaughter of many Christians 350 years ago, a samurai denounces God for ignoring the pleas of believers. He sells his soul to Satan and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him in a murderous rampage.
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Station
Hokkaido PrefectureA detective goes out of his way to crack the case of a serial killer who specialises in murdering police officers.
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The Bushido Blade
🇯🇵 Japan The 1850sIt cuts to the heart of courage. — A steel samurai blade that was to be given to the American ambassador by the Emperor of Japan is stolen. American sailors and Japanese samurai are sent to find it.
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Gate of Youth
Fukuoka Prefecture The 1950s The 1940s The 1930sThe story of Shinsuke, a young man who lives through a stormy life as a poverty-stricken coal miner. Ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly every aspect of his life. Shinsuke's father a group leader at the mine, dies while bravely using dynamite to rescue a group of trapped Korean miners. Several older men attempt to help he and his mother cope, including a friendly Harley-riding yakuza boss. This movie has it all, drama, romance, sex, yakuza and violence! It is based on a story by Hiroyuki Itsuki that was originally serialized in the magazine Shukan Gendai in 1969-70.
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Kagemusha
Yamanashi Prefecture The 16th CenturyAkira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.
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Virus
Tokyo Prefecture The 1980sAutumn 1982: Mankind has been wiped out except 863 persons on Antarctica. Who will inherit the earth? — Scientists in Antarctica desperately try to find a cure to a military virus that was released in a plane crash and has wiped out the rest of the world.
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Gamera: Super Monster
Toyama Prefecture Tokyo Prefecture Shiga Prefecture Osaka Prefecture Kanagawa Prefecture Hyōgo Prefecture Aichi PrefectureA titanic struggle for supremacy as starship Zanon invades the planet Earth! — As a massive alien craft heads to Earth to do evil, three good and powerful superwomen befriend a young boy who has a special connection to Gamera. The alien Zanon launches a battery of familiar foes against Gamera, who might have to give the ultimate sacrifice to defeat the alien invader.
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Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sWell-intentioned history lesson; the decision to drop the atom bomb, the secrecy surrounding the mission, and the men who flew it.
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Tora-san's Tropical Fever
Okinawa PrefectureWhen cabaret singer Lily writes Toraya about her illness, Tora-san rushes to Okinawa to be by her side.
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Barefoot Gen Part 3: Battle of Hiroshima
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sSecond live action "Barefoot Gen" sequel.
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The Man Who Stole the Sun
Tokyo PrefectureA high school science teacher is the butt of all his students' jokes, until their bus is hijacked on a school trip. But something more sinister lurks beneath the surface: he's building an atomic bomb in his apartment.
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Tora-san's Dream of Spring
Kyoto PrefectureTora-san's opinions about Americans get challenged when another wandering peddler Michael Jordan stops by Shibamata.
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Akio Jissoji's Ultraman
Tokyo PrefectureAkio Jissoji's Ultraman is a 1979 Japanese tokusatsu kaiju film directed by Akio Jissoji. It is a compilation film made up of scenes from Jissoji's episodes of the original Ultraman TV series.
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Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle
Tokyo Prefecture Shizuoka Prefecture Nagano PrefectureA 1979 Japanese tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Tsuburaya Productions, consisting of re-edited material from the original television series Ultraman. Ultraman: The Great Decisive Battle was the 1st movie of the third Showa phase (Jissouji's Ultraman being first and Ultra Brothers vs. The Monster Army being second) and because of this Tsuburaya decided to make this a reunion of the last 12 Ultras (aside from Ultraman 80 which hadn't come out yet). Tsuburaya decided to give this a different tone than Jissouji's Ultraman, having more new scenes and appealing to the all-Ultra fan.
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The Shogun's Samurai
Tokyo Prefecture Shizuoka Prefecture Nara Prefecture Kyoto Prefecture The 17th CenturyFollowing the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the shogunate despite the stammer and birthmark which undermine his respect. Iemitsu and his brother Tadanaga become bitter rivals for the shogunate, and the land is split into factions, eventually erupting into warfare. Iemitsu's mentor, his fencing instructor Yagyu, is fixated upon securing Iemitsu the shogunate and ends up betraying everyone, even his own family, in pursuit of the goal.
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Empire of Passion
🇯🇵 Japan The 1890sA young man has an affair with an older woman. He is very jealous of her husband and decides that they should kill him. One night, after the husband had plenty of sake to drink and was in bed, they strangle him and dump his body down a well. To avert any suspicions, she pretends her husband has gone off to Tokyo to work. For three years the wife and her lover secretly see each other. Finally, suspicions become very strong and people begin to gossip. To make matters worse, her husband's ghost begins to haunt her and the law arrives to investigate her husband's disappearance.
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The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
Tokyo PrefectureThey never met an adult they couldn't drive crazy. — In this third film version of the Bad News Bears series, Tony Curtis plays a small time promotor/hustler who takes the pint-sized baseball team to Japan for a match against the country's best little league baseball team which sparks off a series of adventures and mishaps the boys come into.
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The Fall of Ako Castle
Tokyo Prefecture Kyoto Prefecture Hyōgo Prefecture The 18th CenturyThis 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.
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The Demon
Saitama PrefectureThey'd be better off with strangers. — When Sokichi stops providing his long-time lover Kikuyo enough money to pay for the care of their three young children, Kikuyo leaves the children with Sokichi - and his very surprised and angry wife Oume - and disappears.
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Pica-Don
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sOn August 6th, 1945, Little Boy was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. — An animation documentary describing the tragic consequences of the A-bomb explosion in Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. The flash of the A-bomb, 100 times brighter than the sun, is called "PICA", and the enormous shock wave which came right after the flash is called "DON". At the time this film was completed, it was the very first attempt in the world to deal with such a sensitive subject of Hiroshima using animation media.
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Pink Lady's Motion Picture
Tokyo Prefecture Shizuoka Prefecture The 1970sAn awkward attempt to build a movie around Pink Lady, the name given to a Japanese pop music duo consisting of the very pretty short-haired Mie and the long-haired Kei. Their popularity in Japan lasted from 1976 to 1979 before their attempt to break into the American market with the ill-fated TV show, "Pink Lady and Jeff" (1980), which wound up setting back the cause of J-pop in America by nearly 30 years. Pink Lady they gained a certain amount of attention from the sexy disco-inspired outfits they wore in concert, generally featuring shiny scanty tops, tight hot pants and gold or silver boots, seen to good advantage in some segments of the movie. This musical features the Pink Ladies as circus performers who show kindness toward a captured "monster," a sad, furry being (played by a man in a bulky, over-sized pink acrylic costume) who suffers acts of unusual cruelty by the keeper and ringmaster before the girls escape with the creature in a circus trailer.
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Karate for Life
Okinawa PrefectureThe last of the Masutatsu Oyama trilogy. Oyama takes a job as a professional wrestler in Okinawa, but when he discovers that he is expected to take a dive, he quits in disgust. However, when a friend finds herself in desperate need of medical supplies, Oyama steps back in the ring to raise the money—but will he be able to follow the script this time?
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