Hisashi Igawa

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.

Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.

In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.

Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s canvases, nuclear nightmares, and a water-mill utopia—meditate on childhood, art, mortality, and humanity’s uneasy bond with nature.

In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.

The original TV Drama series the famous Tora film series was based on.

Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan."

Three tales raise unsettling questions about the central qualities of being human. In one, a father is torn between love for his son and the desire for revenge, while a second examines the twisted love of a teacher for his female colleague. The third story delves into the complex affections hidden within a bully.

The 39th NHK Asadora drama is Hassai-sensei. A novice teacher in 1930s Osaka learns that there is more to education than mere instruction. Though her tenure is interrupted by first marriage and later World War II, she begins a quest for "ideal education" after the war.

A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his new doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality and causing him to question his identity.

In the turbulent last days of the Edo period, Kawai Tsugunosuke, a Japanese samurai serving the Makino clan of Nagaoka, dreamt of independence from the restraints of vassalship. Despite his progressive views and his desire for his estate to remain neutral during the Boshin Civil War, he was bound by loyalty and duty to the clan and was compelled to choose sides.

The Master's late-night diner welcomes a woman troubled by funeral fans, an elderly scam victim, and a noodle delivery man struggling with love.

A biopic of seminal 20th century artist Leonard Foujita, a contemporary of Picasso and Modigliani, who was famous for mixing up European and Japanese styles.

A young piano prodigy, Yuri Kashiwagi, returns to her hometown after several years and joins a middle school to mentor the choir group.

A retired samurai must redeem himself for a crime that he committed earlier in his life.

Toru grew up in alpine countryside around Mount Tate. As a child, he resented the yearly trek up the mountain with his father to prepare their mountain hut for the summer season of climbers. When Toru grows up, he leaves his hometown and enters the working world as a stock trader. One day, Toru receives word that his father has passed away. He returns to Mount Tate once again, and becomes conscious of a new calling. But, does Toru have what it takes to follow in his father’s footsteps?

Shimizu Yuichi is a shy and lonely day laborer looking for love. He aimlessly spends time corresponding with girls via telephone dating services and going on random encounters with girls looking for spending cash. His world is shattered one day when he is involved in the murder of one of his former encounters, the sweet-faced Ishibashi Yoshino who, after being jilted by playboy Masuo Keijo, berates and mocks the troubled loner.

In 1907, a group of men climb an unconquered peak in the last unmapped region of Japan.

Set in a small Nagano village in the 1930s, the film follows Hanji, a young boy captivated by a local kabuki performance. Inspired by Yukio, Hanji learns kabuki with Utako. As they grow, they become skilled actors, performing in a final kabuki before World War II. After the war, Hanji returns to revive kabuki and restore the community’s spirit. In the 1980s, as he nears death, the villagers organise a final performance in his honour, where he performs “Tenryu Koishibuki” for Yukio.

Janitor Hiroharu Nonoyama (Ken Watanabe) discovers a coat filled with cash while working. The coat belongs to Daiki Iwasaki (Hiroshi Tamaki), who lives in a luxury apartment building. When Taiki offers Hiroharu a wad of cash as thanks for returning the coat, Hiroharu refuses and walks away... This incident sparks a connection between the two men, though each has reasons they don't want probed. As Taiki gradually opens up, Hiroharu still carries a secret he doesn't want anyone to know.

Coming of age story about a boy and his mother.

Kaori, a professional thirty-something caught between her passion for an older married man and the indulgence of an energetic, but less-fulfilling, youthful suitor.

Satoshi Nomura, a top-level bureaucrat of a prefecture government, has passion for his career. One day, he is hired by the fixed-term personnel exchange training between public and private businesses. This personnel exchange training is part of some big prefecture project. This project is very big, so success of this personnel exchange training will probably determine his career. Nomura goes to a supermarket called "Mantendo".

This is the story between single mother housekeeper and mathematics professor,who has a brain damage.

Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan."

A Japanese remake of the South Korean film of the same name.

Miyo Hanayama works as a home care nurse, supporting the home care of patients who are close to death. Shigeaki Noguchi complains that his wife has stopped talking to him since he collapsed once. Noriko Imaizumi refuses to undergo surgery because her business has taken off and continues to recuperate at home. And 18-year-old Emi Akizuki insists on visiting the town where she used to live. Everyone is trying their best to live their lives while keeping an eye on their imminent death, which may come at any moment. Meanwhile, Yuki, a nurse like Miyo, discovers she is pregnant.

Half a Confession introduces itself as a thriller and abruptly changes gears, transforming into a tale of morality with deeper insights into its characters than we had anticipated. It begins when Soichiro Kaji (Terao), a retired detective, walks into police headquarters and confesses to the murder of his wife. We learn that the victim had prematurely developed Alzheimer's after the tragic death of their son, and in her suffering, had asked to die. The police chiefs would be far more content to take him at his word if it were not for a conspicuous hole in his story: 48-hour gap between the alleged murder and his confession. Fearing a public relations nightmare, they are eager to bury the incident and keep the press in the dark.

Based on a true story set in Matsumoto city, Nagano, during 1960s. A stray dog wanders into a high school's grounds. The dog, named Kuro, stays at the school and becomes a special friend to everyone.

A 2003 version of the 1962 original. Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter. Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

In a small village in the Kanto regioin, which is surrounded by mountains, residents and a management consultant (Shosuke Tanihara) struggle to rebuild the village through its only industry, farming.

One day, a middle-aged man, Fujimoto Makoto, is standing on a train platform, about to jump in front of a train. Nakashiro Kana and Tasaki Shota both happen to be on the same platform, and sensing what is about to happen, they quickly pull him back to safety. There's a reason why Kana and Shota realized Makoto's intentions, they both have the kind of emotional scars that can't be put into words. Even after so much pain, through a series of e-mails, they've become attracted to one another and slowly learn to open up their hearts once again.

As Haru emigrates from Japan with her family to the coffee plantations in Brazil, Natsu is left behind in the care of spiteful relatives. Losing all contact, each must make her own way in an unforgiving world. Hardships abound in the struggle to survive in war-torn Japan and in the face of anti-Japanese sentiment in Brazil, financial ruin, familial pressure, abandonment and lost love. However they also experience the precious joy of survival and success. Now, after 70 years, Haru comes back to Japan to find her estranged sister.

Humanistic detective stories that took place in an inn called 'Kawasemi'.

While working in the leisurely atmosphere at a food company's factory, Futaro is asked to return to their corporate headquarters by his good friend. Unfortunately, he finds himself assistant to Izumi, a highly demanding expert on Italian food culture. Futaro gets off to a rocky start with his new female boss, and always seems to be saying or doing the wrong thing. He also doesn't seem to be particularly suited to his new position on the Italian Restaurant Project, considering he doesn't even like tomatoes! But Futaro may still have a few tricks left up his sleeve that he can use to win over Izumi and find success in his new job.

Three tales raise unsettling questions about the central qualities of being human. In one, a father is torn between love for his son and the desire for revenge, while a second examines the twisted love of a teacher for his female colleague. The third story delves into the complex affections hidden within a bully.

Kinoshita Kaori (Nakayama Miho), a native of Nagano, was allowed to live alone in Tokyo for two years during her junior college years. Now, with employment still unsettled, her parents are pressuring her to return to Nagano. Her friend Noriko (Sendo Atsuko) had good grades in junior college and had received a job offer from a major company, but the offer was rescinded due to her living alone. Meanwhile, Tomoko (Kawai Michiko), who dreams of becoming a reporter while job hunting, is also struggling to balance her dreams and reality. One day, Kaori visits a small company with her resume in hand, where she meets the company president, Yoshizawa (Oda Yuji). Yoshizawa accepts Kaori without even a proper interview, and despite her misgivings about the company, she soon finds herself drawn to Yoshizawa.

The 39th NHK Asadora drama is Hassai-sensei. A novice teacher in 1930s Osaka learns that there is more to education than mere instruction. Though her tenure is interrupted by first marriage and later World War II, she begins a quest for "ideal education" after the war.

Shukichi, the owner of a shirt shop in Tsukuda, Tokyo, is a stubborn craftsman devoted to his work. Through clumsy in his expressions of affection, the mini-series depicts the sincerity, pride and pathos of a man who has supported his family to the best of his ability by devoting himself to his work. One day, his wife and son explode their daily frustrations with Shukichi and leave home...

A moving story of intense love, hate, and reconciliation born out of a fateful encounter between the only daughter of a conglomerate leader and a girl from a poor family.

Collection of short stories about women in various periods of Japanese history. Based on famous Japanese novels.

An industrialist is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He is abroad in Europe at the time, and a glimpse of a Japanese woman in that setting causes him to imagine her as the personification of his impending fate. As his dialogue with his imagined mortality continues, he meets the living woman, the template for his fantasy, and together, they tour rural churches. Gradually, he comes to some kind of peace about the diagnosis. When he returns to Japan, he is met with a series of challenges that profoundly test the lessons he has learned.

The original TV Drama series the famous Tora film series was based on.