Ichirō Nakatani

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.

Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.

Mining engineer Shigeru investigates the disappearance and death of his fellow coworkers when prehistoric nymphs are discovered emerging from the mines. After an attack on the local village, Shigeru heads deeper into the mines only to make a more horrifying discovery in the form a prehistoric flying creature. Soon a second monster appears as the two converge in Fukuoka.

A skilled country doctor's talents are such that he can even perform operations as difficult and novel as removing a patient's kidney for the first time in Japan. Unfortunately for him, however, his wife's addiction to gambling is of such a magnitude that he is down to selling his underwear to make money. The image sticks and he becomes known as the 'underwear doctor.' On the other hand, his successful surgery's patient is so grateful he himself wants to become a physician.

Taut thriller about a too-perfect criminal case against an ex-convict that makes a nosy detective suspicious.

Ogami Itto volunteers to be tortured by Yakuza in order to save a prostitute and is hired by their leader to kill an evil chamberlain.

The drama features two families, the all-male Shibata family and the all-female Inaba family, and depicts the interactions between the two families with many amusing and heartwarming episodes.

Takashi, who took the blame when his father shot a gangster, returns home after serving a four-year sentence, only to find it infested with yakuza running a dope ring. Battling gangsters all the way, Takashi searches for his former girlfriend, now a drug addict.

The two ronin that Sawatari Mondonosuke saved were secret envoys from Ryukyu. They could not stand the tyranny of the Satsuma clan and were trying to appeal to the shogunate. But they were captured by someone afterwards. Mondonosuke’s boredom bug started to stir… Mondonosuke rescued the two who were imprisoned in the mansion of the chief elder, Okubo Iga-no-kami , as well as a senior official, Mamoru, and his niece, Reika , who had also escaped from Ryukyu. The Satsuma clan hired Wakura Juro to assassinate Mondonosuke through his daughter O-Ran, who is a spy …

A nurse is caring for a patient in a life and death situation whilst also dealing with her own emotional issues.

A wealthy matriarch is kidnapped by a gang of three. She is insulted by the amount of money they propose to demand as ransom, and a strange interchange of roles takes place.

Adaptation of the classic masterpiece about the relationship between parents and their children.

After three consecutive days of heavy rain, the water level at Sumida River rises and the newly built Eitai Bridge collapses just two years after its completion. Among the 20 victims is Okou, the lover of Yokichi, a member of the theatrical entertainment district controlled by Samon Kamiyama. A body of a bridge carpenter is also found in the debris causing Samon to suspect the construction, which prompts him to launch an investigation. The superintendent, Horitome Tamba rules that the bridge collapse is due to a natural disaster and cleared the wrongdoing of master carpenter Jinbe, who was responsible for building the bridge. Yotaro, who is filled with grief and anger surrenders his jitte and joins forces with his former gambling buddies Juzaburo and Onami to abduct Tamb’s Daughter O-Sono to extract revenge…

Seeking revenge after a brutal attack that left him disfigured, a former assassin gets drawn into a high-stakes conflict over a valuable treasure.

Tomisaburo Wakayama is back with a new take on the classic Yamamoto Shugoro masterpiece “Ame Agaru” as a samurai on the run with his bride who makes a living by challenging dojo masters to a match, then taking money from them to keep quiet about it. Staying at an inn filled with many colorful characters and trying to make enough money to bribe the border officials to let them pass to the next domain this exciting, yet heartfelt story is a true testament to the power of the sword. When he meets an equally skilled swordsman the sparks will fly with a surprise ending that captures the soul of Japan!

The president of the Japanese National Railways is found dead during a period in which train service is plagued by numerous layoffs, strikes and shutdowns. The government says that the president was murdered; the police claim it was a suicide. A quizzical reporter follows the case for years, but the basic question remains unanswered: was the victim killed by members of the burgeoning Communist movement in Japan, or was the death stage-managed by the authorities in hopes of discrediting the Communists?

A lavish retelling of the true story of the final voyage and ultimate destruction and sinking of the battleship Yamato, Japan's greatest flagship during the Second World War.

Kodaira Mochizuki has come from Edo to keep Horisoto secure.

After the war-time government orders the disbanding of the Big-Six baseball league, the teams of Waseda and Keio universities play one final game before they are drafted into the armed forces and face the hardships of military service.

Political fixer Homei Yamaoka's misdeeds come to light, throwing Japanese politics into deadly confusion. But he's not going down without a fight.

One of Japan’s most popular historical characters, former Vice-Shogun Tokugawa Mitsukuni, whose travels around the nation are legendary has made it to the silver screen in a dynamic and exciting tale featuring megastar Toshiro Mifune as an expert swordsman drawn into the action to fight injustice. The Elder Lord travels about disguised as a retired merchant with his two trusty bodyguards Sukesaburo and Kakunoshin by his side and secret agent Yashichi close by. After a chance meeting with a dying man and young woman who had been brutally attacked, they set out for Kaga Province to wreak vengeance on the responsible parties. Don’t miss this exciting journey into Japanese history!

UFOs appear on Earth, and people who actually see them suddenly find that their blood has turned blue. Soon panic and hysteria result in the new "blue-bloods" being persecuted by the rest of mankind, and eventually certain all-too-familiar measures begin to be taken against them.

Yakuza Gang War is at the height in North Kyūshū Area in the summer of 1950, particularly between the Okagen Group and the rising Hashiden Gang. Now with the mediation/interference of the Americans, they decide to settle it in a peaceful, *democratic* way, that is, to settle it with a baseball game. Now, with its money and power, The Hashiden group soon recruits a group of gamblers known to be good at baseball from the whole country. So, what is the Okagen Gumi gonna do?

Following the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the shogunate despite the stammer and birthmark which undermine his respect. Iemitsu and his brother Tadanaga become bitter rivals for the shogunate, and the land is split into factions, eventually erupting into warfare. Iemitsu's mentor, his fencing instructor Yagyu, is fixated upon securing Iemitsu the shogunate and ends up betraying everyone, even his own family, in pursuit of the goal.

The story of Sanshiro Sugata, a young man who wants to learn the new art of judo. A wise teacher reveals to Sanshiro that judo is not merely a means of combat nor a demonstration of physical skill, but an art which reveals the artist to himself.

A Yakuza group from Osaka with dreams of national dominance moves into the snowy Hokuriku region, sparking a bloody turf war with local gangs.

Once again we focus on Nami Matsushima. This time she has a sister who goes missing and after getting too caught up in doing something about it, our innocent heroine is given a fifteen year sentence for a murder she didn't commit. She's sent to an all women prison where she's not exactly welcome. Her fellow inmates torture, humiliate and try to kill her; but the Scorpion prevails long enough to get some justice.

Koheita, a newly appointed magistrate, never shows his face in the magistrate's office, instead spending his time in the 'Horisoto', a den of evil where anything goes, from theft to prostitution to murder. However, this man is about to clean up the city in an unconventional way!

Tv special that follows the life of Genghis Khan. Adapted from a novel by Yasushi Inoue.

A historic figure Tokugawa Mitsukuni, former vice-shogun and retired daimyo of the Mito domain travels through Japan in the guise of Mitsuemon, a retired crêpe merchant from Echigo province, accompanied by his two samurai retainers, fun-loving Sasaki Sukesaburō (Suke-san) and studious Atsumi Kakunoshin (Kaku-san).

The drama features two families, the all-male Shibata family and the all-female Inaba family, and depicts the interactions between the two families with many amusing and heartwarming episodes.