The Izu Dancer
1960 · 87m · Romance · Drama
Love story between a student and girl whose parents are itinerant entertainers. Set in Japan in the 1920's.
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2017 · ★ 6.1
During the Taisho era of 1918, 17-year-old Benio Hanamura thrives on bucking tradition. As a boisterous and quarrelsome tomboy, Miss Hanamura leads a life of kendo and tree-climbing adventure with her best friends Tamaki and Ranmaru. Benio determines to find love on her own, though her family has other plans. Benio will encounter tests of love, independence, and friendship during wartime.
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The Grand Master
1948 · ★ 9
Shogi, a Japanese form of chess, is a game that requires skill and determination. When poor sandal-maker Sakata decides to pursue his dream of becoming the Shogi Grand Master Champion, everything is at stake – including his family. What will it cost for Sakata to follow his passion?
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My Happy Marriage
2023 · ★ 7.3
An unhappy young woman from an abusive family is married off to a fearsome and chilly army commander. But the two learn more about each other, love may have a chance.
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The Lights of Asakusa
1937 · ★ 6
Pre-war Asakusa was a riotous district of cabarets, dance-halls and brothels - a striking backdrop for Shimazu's story of innocence and experience. Pretty, young Reiko is the new dancer in an infamous theatre troupe, and her fellow performers try to protect her virtue in a land of vice. Meanwhile, an ageing actor wants to be a hero off stage as well as on, and the troupe matriarch Marie has to keep them all together.
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On This Earth
1957 · ★ 7
Ichiro’s family used to be a large landowner, but now he is living in poverty with his mother. His mother works hard to get her son through school. Under such circumstances, Ichiro meets Wakako, the daughter of a wealthy man, and they fall in love with each other, but they are opposed by those around them because of their different social status.
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The Scent of Incense
1964 · ★ 7.2
After her mother runs away from home, Tomoko is raised to be a geisha. One day Tomoko meets her mother in a red-light district in Tokyo and her life deeply gets in trouble.
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The Insect Woman
1963 · ★ 7.2
A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.
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Hachiko
1987 · ★ 7.8
The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even after Ueno's death.
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Father of the Milky Way Railroad
2023 · ★ 6.3
Kenji, the eldest son of Masajiro, a wealthy moneylender, refuses to work in the family business and becomes obsessed with farming, jewelry and religion.
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Faraway Sunset
1992 · ★ 10
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.
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One Summer's Day
1999 · ★ 10
Absent-minded fifth-grader Yuta is sent to spend the summer with his grandfather, whom Yuta's parents think is becoming senile and could benefit from Yuta's companionship. At first, Yuta thinks Gramps is a bit addled, too, but as he gets to know the old man better, he finds that his grandfather sees things quite differently from others.
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Haikara-san: Here Comes Miss Modern Part 2
2018 · ★ 5
In turn of the 20th Century Japan, a period characterized by widespread innovation and social restructuring, Benio Hanamura endeavors to take modernization to new heights. With a tomboy nature, Benio rails against traditional ideas that women should take care of the home—serving their husbands rather than pursuing their own dreams. Her values as a modern woman come under fire as the one man who supports her independence, Lieutenant Shinobu Ijuin, goes missing in action. Resurfacing back in Japan, Shinobu has lost all memory of his true identity. In this stunning sequel, will Benio be able to reconnect with Shinobu before she is married off to a new man?
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