The third of a series of films set in medieval Japan about Ichi, a blind masseur who lives by the Yakuza code and uses his deadly cane sword against his enemies. In this episode, Masseur Ichi returns to his home village to discover that his former teacher has been hiring out his swordsmanship skills to a ruthless gang of kidnappers.

The Setting Sun is a Japanese novel by Osamu Dazai. It was published in 1947 and is set in Japan after World War II. Principal characters are Kazuko, her brother Naoji, and their elderly mother. The story shows a family in decline and crisis, like many other families during this period of transition between traditional Japan and a more advanced, industrial society. Many families needed to leave their old lives behind and start anew. Throughout the...

"If you could choose only one memory to hold on to for eternity, what would it be? That's the question at the heart of Hirokazu Kore-eda's revelatory international breakthrough, a bittersweet fantasia in which the recently deceased find themselves in a limbo where they must select a single cherished moment from their life to be recreated on film for them to take into the next world. After Life's high-concept premise is grounded in Kore-eda's documentary-like...

It follows Osamu Tomita, Japan's reigning king of ramen, as he reveals every single step of his obsessive approach to creating the perfect bowl of noodles. He is relentless in his search for the highest-quality ingredients, as are his competitors. This delicious documentary also profiles five other notable ramen shops, each with its own philosophy and flavor, which exemplify different aspects of the ramen world.

Osaka elegy: Telephone company employee Ayako agrees to enter into an affair with her married boss, after he promises to support her and her father but setting her off on an apparently irreversible downward spiral. Sisters of the Gion: Two geisha sisters - one modern-minded, the other staunchly traditional - disagree over how to deal with the men controlling their lives and livelihoods. An early work by Kenji Mizoguchi featuring his favored theme...

Aliens intend to take over the planet and just in case Godzilla tries to interfere, have built a mechanical version of him to put an end to his interference. The Earth humans summon the legendary King Seesar to assist Godzilla in the battle.

Depressed and in debt following the death of his wife, Santoshi tells his young daughter he has found a way out. Pointing to the reward note, he vows to find the infamous serial killer "No Name" claiming he saw the man in the flesh a few days earlier. Kaeda cannot believe her aloof, goofy father. But when he goes missing without a trace, she starts fearing the worst and begins looking for him.

As a young man returns home after his first year away at college he recalls his senior year of high school and the iron-willed, big city girl that turned his world upside down.

After a long and unsuccessful struggle to get pregnant, Satoko and her husband decide to adopt a child. Over the next six years, the middle-class couple and their young son Asato settle into a comfortable, albeit routine, life. The family's orderly existence is shattered by the arrival of Hikari, a young woman claiming to be Asato's biological mother, demanding his return. As tensions mount, Satoko grows more and more emboldened to defend her family....

A brilliant, colorful way to learn your first words in Japanese! Introduce your child (or yourself!) to the incredible language of Japanese! Featuring over 800 first words with bright, bold illustrations, My First Book of Japanese provides each word in English, Japanese (hiragana/katakana), and a romanization that makes pronunciation a breeze. Readers will also find cultural tips, sample sentences, and simple hints on usage and word choice. An index...