After the death of her husband, an elderly woman and her youngest, unmarried daughter are forced to sell their house to cover his debts and decide to...

Two childhood friends go their own ways but meet again some years later after they have both married. They get re-acquainted, meet each others’...

A musical film made for the inauguration of Shochiku's Ofuna Studio, with an all-star cast of the era.

Directed by Eizo Tanaka. Only 8 minutes of film is known to have survived.

Directed by Yasujirô Shimazu.

A farmer’s boy, obsessed with his balsa-and-paper flying models and with dreams of real aircraft, develops a friendship with the daughter of the...

The story is centered around the devastating experiences of two villagers, Osaki Shuichi, and his cousin, Nishimiura Kinue, when they leave their...

A period piece about the love of a wealthy blind woman, a teacher of koto and shamisen, and her devoted manservant. Based on a novella by Tanizaki...

A young doctor, Kozo Tsumura, falls for young nurse Katsue Takaishi. But she's got a secret: she's a widow with a son. Kozo and Katsue decide to run...

Uta’s mother died when she was six years old; her father she never met. She was forced to adopt a traveller’s life when her grandmother died, and...

A melodrama about a businessman's relations with the three women in his life.

A businessman’s daughter falls in love with one of her father’s employees.

Adaptation of Kishida Kunio's novel. Set against the backdrop of a power struggle within a hospital, depicts the love lives of the director's...

An onnagata (female impersonator) of a Kabuki troupe avenges his parents' deaths. Remade in 1963 as Yukinojô Henge.

This 1932 adaptation is the earliest sound version of the ever-popular and much-filmed Chushingura story of the loyal 47 retainers who avenged their...

Film by Hiroshi Shimizu, featuring an early role for frequent Ozu and Naruse collaborator Hideko Takamine.

Michiko gets pregnant after a rape. She marries a boring business partner of her father to avoid the shame. Later she meets the rapist again who is...

Eiko is an innocent young lady born into a wealthy family with nothing to offer. She was good at singing, and lived her life playing around with her...

A film adaptation of the play by Leo Tolstoy.

The Siege of Osaka

A story of a store that makes Tabi socks.

Japanese propaganda film about the Normanton Incident.

Directed by Mikio Naruse. It is presumed to be lost.

A modern girl suddenly intrudes into a widower's family home.

The three-hour Ai yo jinrui to tomo ni are / Love, Be with Humanity (1931) starts as a satire of alienation in the world of money, develops into a...

The narrative is about a woman who faces hard times, when her husband is arrested for a crime committed by his boss. The woman also has a child to...

A businessman runs afoul of the law and commits suicide, leaving behind a wife and five children. The eldest son takes the family to Tokyo and labors...

This was 1942, so it was a national policy film, no matter what you call it. But when the war was still on the winning side, there wasn't even a...

An early Japanese film

Gotō Matabei is the most able and fierce samurai of the Kuroda clan. However, he gradually dislikes the ruthless personality of Kuroda Nagamasa and...

Inoue was something of a rarity in the sense, that he was a Shochiku house director who seems to have worked mostly in period films, often with big...

1939 Japanese movie

The ambiguous relationship between a woman musician and her young student.