Japan, 1938. War is looming on the horizon, but the Makioka sisters are far more concerned with their domestic troubles. The sisters have taken over their family's kimono manufacturing business in Osaka, and are well off, traveling together to view the changing of the seasons--cherry blossoms in Kyoto, brilliant leaves in the fall. Tsuruko and Sachiko, the older two, have been married for quite some time. Tradition demands that they marry in order...

This is a story about a married couple,”Mr. & Mrs. Hikita” who have been having difficulty with fertility treatments for several years.The couple had enjoyed their life like an adventure, so they have never thought about having a baby (like an ordinary life). One day, the young wife just said, “I want to meet Hikita-san’s baby!” Then they started trying to have a baby. However, it’s not easy to become pregnant. Mr. Hikita is 49 years old...

Known to everyone in their idyllic Japanese village as “the brats,” twin brothers Yukihiko and Seizo wrestle with catfish in the river, chase birds through the woods, and cause general mischief in the name of high adventure. Their tale is told from the perspective of their older selves, reflecting on their childhood right after World War II and reinspecting the lives of their mother, father, landlord, bully, and three mysterious elderly neighbors...

A MATTER OF SIZE is an Israeli comedy (yes, comedy!) like nothing you've seen before, a hilarious and heart-warming tale about about a coming out of a different kind: four overweight guys who learn to love themselves through the Japanese sport of sumo wrestling!

Three short films set in TOKYO chronicle the metamorphosis of a woman, the trial of a man who emerges from a manhole, and a reclusive man's first experience with human contact during an earthquake. Cannes Film Festival: Un Certain Regard Award - Nominee (Bong Joon Ho, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry); Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival: Special Mention - Winner (Bong Joon Ho, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry), Titra Fild Award - Winner (Bong Joon...

In a tense war-torn climate, on the eve of the Japanese surrender in 1945, Doctor Akagi, the local doctor of a seaside village on one of Japan's islands, takes a stand to save his professional integrity. He is concerned by the growing number of people coming down with hepatitis the main cause of death in an undernourished country. He bands together with his old buddies, a dissolute monk and a nihilistic morphine-addicted surgeon. They're all on the...

The year is 1933 and a young boy in Tokyo named Uchido has recently moved from the country and attends his first day of school. The class is run in a traditional and strict manner that is designed to teach the children to conform to a strict code of social behavior that includes expressing loyalty to the Emperor. Uchido runs afoul of this intention when he answers the teacher’s question by expressing his love for bean cakes instead of the emperor....

Propelled by coincidence and imagination, and guided by love’s gentle current, acclaimed director Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car, Asako I & II) presents an enchanting triptych that spins mundane encounters into a world of infinite possibilities. Playfully inspired by life’s tiny miracles, and bound together by memory, regret, deception, and fate, Hamaguchi leaves no stone unturned in his quest to chart the ever-deepening mysteries of the all-too-human...

An epic story of revenge deferred that functions as a tale of urban theater and class warfare. After 30 years in prison, a woman discovers that her friend and fellow inmate committed the murder of which she was accused. This leads to her release and subsequent discovery of the man who framed her. Inspired by Tolstoy, THE WOMAN WHO LEFT is a sensitive expression of family and forgiveness. Winner of The Golden Lion at the **Venice International Film...

Uzumasa, Japan's Hollywood, has produced many beloved jidaigeki period films, but would not be the same without the kirareyaku, actors who never see the limelight. This story of the end of their era is told with melancholy and soul.