Shima Iwashita

In 18th Century in Japan, the paper merchant Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura) falls in love for the courtesan Koharu (Shima Iwashita), but he can not afford to redeem her from her master and owner of the brothel, since he spent all his money in the place with Koharu. Jihei's wife Osan tries to keep her husband with his two children and asks Koharu to leave him. The two lovers make a pact of double suicide to escape from the rigid rules of the Japanese society of 1720 and stay together after death. (imdb)

An elder ronin samurai arrives at a feudal lord's home and requests an honorable place to commit suicide. But when the ronin inquires about a younger samurai who arrived before him things take an unexpected turn. (imdb)

Impersonating an Imperial Army officer by wearing a "red lion's mane", a poor servant returns to his... (imdb)

Gennosuke, a clan retainer, kills one of the clan ministers as part of a plot to achieve reform. He is pursued by his former comrades... (imdb)

The great actress and Ozu regular Setsuko Hara plays a mother gently trying to persuade her daughter to marry in this glowing portrait of family love and conflict (DVD Beaver)

Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year old daughter. He gradually comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, and so he arranges a marriage for her. (imdb)

Mako stars in this action packed drama about a man's struggles.

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. (imdb)

Seeking revenge against the guard who tormented him, a young man returns to the island where he was imprisoned in reform school. But his plans for vengeance are disturbed when he encounters a strange and beautiful young woman. (imdb)

Blind from birth, Orin, is a part of a group of blind women singers known as the Goze who devote their lives to art. When Orin is with a man she is no longer welcome and must wander alone.

A crippled kabuki player is taken into a strolling company of itinerant actors. An influential publisher notices his honest, bold drawings, and nurtures him despite persecution and betrayal. The film explores the eternal relationship between artist and producer, and describes the emanicipation of a man who refuses to let himself become the plaything of power and money. (imdb)

The film revolves around the character of Hachiro Kiyokawa, a farmer turned master swordsman and scholar. We first meet him after his arrest for the killing of a detective working for the Shoganate. As a supporter of the Emperor and a conspirator plotting to destroy the Shogunate and kill all foreigners, he is most wanted by the Shoganate forces who are interested in gaining power thru foreign technology. (imdb)

An underlying theme of "Onimasa" is its portrayal of 20th century Japanese gangsters as cartoonish incarnations of the ancient samurai caste (the armed enforcers of feudal rule) in the era of modern capitalism. (imdb)

A man captures a beautiful woman and makes her his wife, but the woman is very demanding. Partly a ghost story.

As the great military commander Nobunaga Oda was consolidating his power across Japan, one of his actions was to wipe out a clan of assassins, killing every man, woman and child he found in the village. Years later, one of the survivors has hired a young but skilled assassin to avenge the deaths of his friends and family. His mission: to sneak into the most heavily guarded castle in Japan, and kill the supreme ruler of the country. (imdb)

Haruo works in a university hospital trying to work toward a degree in medicine, but is hindered by his hatred of department head Mr. Miyaji. Meanwhile, he decides to get a rival in love out of the way by poisoning him. As the angst-ridden Haruo deals with his problems in his own unique ways, his nagging mother holds out hope that her son will soon return home. (nipponcinema.com)

Kumokiri Nizaemon, a former samurai warrior, has abandoned his class to become the leader of a gang of thieves. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan. (imdb)

Set in the frigid wilderness of Hokkaido during the early days of the Meiji era, this film stands out for its mixture of brutality, sexuality, romance, and bloody violence. (KG)

The story, set in the war-torn 16th century, tells of three generations of a farming family whose sufferings are exacerbated by the young people's desire to become warriors. (BAM/PFA)

When the white-suited don of the Osaka mob takes a short prison vacation, his regal, kimono-clad wife Shima Iwashita takes over the gang. Her first priority is to arrange the marriage of rebellious younger sister Rino Katase to a man outside the mob... (KG)

The Sun Goddess responsible for the founding of Japan is seen as conniving woman Himiko, who rules a small portion of the Japanese islands in the third century through her influence over several powerful men. When she is killed for reasons of political expediency, the film zooms back to reveal her mourners as figures in modern-day Japan. (allmovie.com)

The popular actress Setsuko Sakurazaki (Shima Iwashita), in the middle of shooting a film where she plays the mother of a dying child, finds out that she herself has cancer and less than half a year to live. She keeps her illness a secret from her surroundings, and sets out to find a proper grave for herself.

In this Japanese drama, a kimono designer and merchant's daughter is surprised to discover that she has a twin sister. In rural Japan it was thought that twins bring bad luck, so the sister was abandoned at birth. Later her parents tell her that her sister was kidnapped. The woman doesn't believe this and when she eventually meets her twin, both women are involved in love affairs... (Sandra Brennan, Rovi)

Tetsuro Tamba portrays Kotaro Takamura, one of Japan's most celebrated artists. A poet and sculptor, Takamura is married to Chieko (Shima Iwashita), who has artistic aspirations of her own. She gradually comes to realize that her husband has all the talent in the family; as she sinks deeper into depression, Takamura tries to comfort her by writing several poems in her honor. She descends into insanity, while Takamura manifests his despair into some of his greatest artistic achievements. (Rovi)

A young woman fends off a series of agressive marriage proposals from a man who comitted atrocities during World War II (Hulu)

Based on a novel by Fumiko Enji, "Shokutaku no nai ie" chronicles the hardships faced by the various members of a family due to a crime committed by the eldest son. (movie.goo.ne.jp (translated))

Opens with a journalist reporting on the 1997 Kobe earthquake, as he remembers a trip made as a young boy. Then, he and family took a boat trip from Awaji to Beppu in order to bury the ashes of his elder brother, killed in the just-ended WWII. The lad spends much of the trip trying to talk his elder brother out of running away. They encounter an array of characters on the journey. (imdb)

A condensed adaptation of the Lone Wolf and Cub saga.

When her husband dies in an accident, a rough-mouthed former bar hostess is suspected of murder and insurance fraud. In this courtroom drama she is defended by a lawyer who is a cool and elegant business woman.

An alienated young man flirts with extremism during a major student protest. (Hulu)

When a married man begins an affair with a woman from his past, he comes to suspect her young son intends to murder him. (Criterion)

Suzuko, a woman in her twenties who has a brother with political problems (due to communist reprisals), lives for over five years in a love affair with Tate, who plays a young lieutenant in the Army as a right-wing fundamentalist revolutionary. She marries another man in an arranged marriage, but the bond that unites her with Tate is too strong. (letterboxd)

Five years ago Minako spent a night with Sozo, the younger brother of her ex-husband. Now she is married to a wealthy old man, who (though he loves his young wife) is no longer able to fulfill his conjugal duties. Consequently, Minako goes to Tokyo every three months to meet Sozo, who has married the daughter of his respected teacher. (imdb)

Shinkichi, a peasant employed as a cloth-dyer, has a dream: in the midst of the civil war which ravages Japan, he hopes to revive the long-banned custom of the Kyoto Gion Festival, and by doing so, bring together the warring clans and rampaging brigands in peaceful celebration. (imdb)

Based on the novel about detective Kindaichi Kousuke by Seishi Yokomizo.

Shimamura, an artist, comes to this snowbound town to rejuvenate himself. He connects with Komako, a geisha he met on a previous trip, and it seems like love. She's the foster daughter of a local family, almost engaged to the family's son Yukio, now dying of consumption. He's tended by his sister Yuko who's angry at Komako for abandoning her brother. Shimamura returns to Tokyo but promises he will be back soon... (KG)

A 1969 Japanese drama

A criminal syndicate wants detective Onihei dead, but the resolute hero proves to be hard to kill. (themoviedb)

The seventh movie of the series "Yakuza Ladies" focuses on a wife of a small Osaka family. She risks her life to protect her husband's family and its members against much larger, more established organizations. (themoviedb)

The wife of a yakuza lieutenant tries to keep the peace when the clan's heir suddenly dies and a succession conflict threatens to break out. (themoviedb)

Kasuga's husband gets arrested for a murder of his beloved protégé. She and her family investigate and find out he was trapped by greedy Nagoshi, the boss of their rival yakuza family. She has to make a decision to revenge Nagoshi.

The wife of a recently deceased yakuza boss is caught in a conflict between the candidates for his succession and must protect her beloved daughter. (themoviedb)

Recently released from prison for a murder sentence, a yakuza boss's wife leaves Hong Kong for a fresh start, but a betrayal leads to her return. (themoviedb)

Turbulent life of Kiwa, the successor of the most prominent yakuza in Osaka, the Domoto Clan. (themoviedb)

A Yakuza boss's wife and the widow of a rival crime syndicate's murdered leader bond over a common purpose: to seek vengeance. (themoviedb)

A soldier deserts his position and travels to a small town on the Sea of Japan to start over. When a young maid falls for him, he talks her into sleeping with an older man for money. The woman is told by a Geisha that she gave up her virginity cheaply. The resort town begins to feel the influence of the modern world as the sabre-rattling that preceded World War II begins to change their lives forever.

Ishihara Kiyoshi plans to marry the woman he loves, Chiee, a coffee shop girl. After an accident, Chiee loses her memory. A romance movie whose original work by Ayako Sono was made into a melodrama by a combination of Shinoda Masahiro and Terayama Shuji. (KG)

The palmist "blue-moth (Seiga)" is rumored to manipulate the Japanese political and business from behind. Journalist Omoda had inquired into the "blue-moth" but is killed. Sudo who is Omoda's juniors of the newspaper he used to be in took over Omoda's work. (imdb)

The tale of Taira Kiyomori who started as a young inexperienced warrior who led the Heike into the battle against the brutal pirates on Setouchi.

A college student rises to unexpected fame as a TV star and his three closest schoolmates adapt to becoming part of his entourage.

The adventures of a ronin, a samurai without a feudal lord, trying to achieve safety in a neighbouring domain.

From his early days as Matsudaira Motoyasu through his rise to the most powerful man in Japan as Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first of the Tokugawa Shoguns, this is the story of the man who truly unified Japan under one ruler. Tokugawa Ieyasu is quoted as saying: “People carry burdens through life as they travel a long road. Never rush” “If you think of privation as normal, you’ll be contented. If you know only about winning and losing, harm may fall upon you. Being inferior is batter than being superio

Yutaro Kida, a worker at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal, volunteers for the navy but finds himself a cook's mate in the galley of a gunboat. But his dream is eventually realized when he is transferred to the new and powerful destroyer Yukikaze which he helped to build. When the Pacific War breaks out Yukikaze performs valiantly in the South Pacific, and while on shore leave...

Eiko Yagami is a "Marubo", a unit of Ueno Central Police Station's Organized Crime Division which deals directly with organized gangs to try and keep the peace. However, Eiko has some sidelines: she's a moneylender to her fellow police officers without charging interest in return for information and is also willing to do the odd side job for those on the criminal side for the money. One day, Kasumi, who is the daughter of the Senma-gumi gang's leader, is found stabbed to death...