Mansaku Fuwa

An impossible tale. Taro, an old man who dies homeless in Tokyo has told Yosuke, a weak-willed out-of-work salaryman about a golden statue that he left years ago in a house by the sea in Noto. Yosuke goes and he's captivated by Saeko, a young women who lives in the house where Taro left the statue. She has a strange affliction: water builds up in her and she can only vent it by wicked acts, such as shoplifting, or, more powerfully, through orgasm... (imdb)

A man and woman fall into an erotic nightmare when they are stalked by a disturbed man. (imdb)

This film is based on the true-to-life story of the world's most renowned master of the ancient game of Go, Wu Qingyuan. (Fortissimo Films)

A tragic TV mini-series covering an aunt's struggle to survive in Japan during World War II while caring for her niece and nephew. Not to be confused with 1988's animated Grave of the Fireflies.

Shinjuku Thief is the story of a bookstore thief named Birdey who is led through various adventures in Tokyo's Shinjuku district by salesgirl Umeko. (imdb)

Inspired by a true story, Wakamatsu shows his protagonist (a largely wordless, engaging performance by youngster Emoto) biking through beautiful landscapes but discovering the ugly side of Japanese history as he is propelled towards his own catharsis. In mostly improvised scenes, Emoto meets a series of older citizens with deep and sometimes shocking experiences to recount. (Roger Garcia for SFIFF)

Five short stories, each covering the same time, the genres of the horror and the comedy.

Sequel of the story about a small Tokyo restaurant that opens at late night and has clients with unusual lives.

An author of mystery-novels helps a student to uncover the tragic story of the people who lived in her apartment before which is filled with anger, hatred, murder and suicide. (imdb)

An anthology of human relationship stories connected by the only open in the wee hours diner the characters frequent. Resolutions are often facilitated by the owner/chef. (imdb)

Midnight Diner is a tv series from Japan since 2009. It tells many stories about ordinary people eat in shinya shokudo, which means a restaurant at midnight. This small restaurant opens from 12 in the evening to 7 in the morning.

Kono Takeshi has given up work as an electrician to run a gift shop business with his partner/mistress Rieko, who's a couple of years older than him. When the company faces bankruptcy Kono wants to quit, but Rieko strings him along with the promise of a large cash investment, the proceeds of a real-estate deal. Her actual plan to raise the money is to kidnap a young woman and demand a ransom for her release. The trouble is, that it never occurs to her to keep the victim alive before trying ...

As the date of their high school graduation approaches, five friends struggle to decide what they will do afterwards. Torn between their aspirations, family obligations, and social pressures, none of their options seem like the correct choice. As they contemplate their decisions, knowing that the future will likely pull them in different directions, they agree to take one last trip to a hot spring together.