Kon Ichikawa

A hustler who gets in trouble with a gang boss in the port town of Sukago agrees to make good with the don by putting him in contact with a...

The life of iconic Japanese director Kon Ichikawa.

Documentary on film maker Akira Kurosawa

Eight acclaimed filmmakers bring their unique and differing perspectives to the 1972 Summer Olympic Games held in Munich. The segments include...

Interview with Japanese film director, conducted by film critic Yuki Mori for the Directors Guild of Japan in 1999.

Kon Ichikawa's retelling of the classic true story of Samurai honor. When a young clan lord is forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide), his loyal...

Kon Ichikawa's retelling of the classic true story of Samurai honor. When a young clan lord is forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide), his loyal...

In the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier afflicted with tuberculosis is abandoned by his company and left to wander the Philippine island of...

Tokyo Olympiad director Kon Ichikawa documents the 50th anniversary of the Koshien games.

In Edo Japan, a kabuki actor seeks revenge against the three men who drove his parents to their deaths years ago.

In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a...

This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a...

This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a...

A middle-aged husband of a younger woman finds her youth intimidating to the point that he cannot become aroused. His solution involves the...

When Milo the cat and Otis the dog are separated, they each set off on an adventurous and often perilous quest across mountains, plains, and...

This impressionistic portrait of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics pays as much attention to the crowds and workers as it does to the actual competitive...

This impressionistic portrait of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics pays as much attention to the crowds and workers as it does to the actual competitive...

Eight acclaimed filmmakers bring their unique and differing perspectives to the 1972 Summer Olympic Games held in Munich. The segments include...

Two poor, married farmers have recently lost their only child; after a freak visitation, they pry open an alien cocoon to greet their new daughter.

Two poor, married farmers have recently lost their only child; after a freak visitation, they pry open an alien cocoon to greet their new daughter.

A new magistrate in the town of Horisoto—widely reputed to be the most lawless township in Japan, uses guile and his opponents' own...

When a tycoon passes away, he unexpectedly leaves the family fortune to outsider Tamayo on the condition that she marries one of the grandsons,...

When a tycoon passes away, he unexpectedly leaves the family fortune to outsider Tamayo on the condition that she marries one of the grandsons,...

Inugami Sahei, who built up the wealth of the Inugami Clan, passes away, leaving a will with Furudate, his legal adviser, for his daughters Matsuko,...

Inugami Sahei, who built up the wealth of the Inugami Clan, passes away, leaving a will with Furudate, his legal adviser, for his daughters Matsuko,...

Kenichi Horie is determined to challenge his family, the law and the nature crossing the Pacific to America in a small sailboat. Despite his careful...

Learning of his family's collapse, acolyte Goichi, sent to study silently at the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, must endure acute psychological...

Based on renowned Japanese writer Natsume Soseki's same-titled short story collection, Ten Nights of Dreams brings ten fantastical dream sequences to...

Follows the fluctuating fortunes of three ronin in feudal Japan who wander from castle to castle, selling their services to whichever lord will fill...

Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between...

Kaze is a philandering TV producer. His wife and nine of his mistresses conspire to kill him. However each woman would rather keep him alive, as long...

Ushimatsu's father told him never to reveal his lower-caste heritage; years later, he now contemplates confiding in an activist fighting against such...

Nakadai is an English teacher at a local school. He’s put-upon like the patron figure of dozens of films and televisions shows. Viewers who are...

Kôsuke Kindaichi, a somewhat peculiar private detective, visits a remote town. He meets a police detective and they start to investigate an old...

Kôsuke Kindaichi, a somewhat peculiar private detective, visits a remote town. He meets a police detective and they start to investigate an old...

Story of famed Japanese actress Kinuyo Tanaka, with an emphasis on her working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi.

Story of famed Japanese actress Kinuyo Tanaka, with an emphasis on her working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi.

In the dying months of the Meiji era, a sympathetic student befriends a married couple, but soon realizes they share a curiously strained...

The first story concerns an attractive young woman who works in a Tokyo nightclub. Her plan for a solid financial future has a double whammy. In the...

This impressionistic portrait of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics pays as much attention to the crowds and workers as it does to the actual competitive...

The days leading up to a toddler's second birthday are seen alternately from the child's point of view as well as that of his parents.

The days leading up to a toddler's second birthday are seen alternately from the child's point of view as well as that of his parents.

Shimada is a student of U College. When the college's baseball team wins the day, he and his friend Ito drug two girls they met at the game.

An ethical, young tax collector new to his area encounters increasingly absurd individuals and groups coping with their post-war woes.

An ethical, young tax collector new to his area encounters increasingly absurd individuals and groups coping with their post-war woes.

A female reporter is fired for writing about police corruption; to make money while hiding from the press, she posts a bounty upon herself.

A female reporter is fired for writing about police corruption; to make money while hiding from the press, she posts a bounty upon herself.

Set against the backdrop of an imperial victory in the civil war leading up to the Meiji Restoration, Fallen Blossoms tells the story of the sorrows...

TV remake of Ozu's 'Late Spring'

A Japanese girl and a French boy make strides in overcoming the cultural barriers that prevent them from fully expressing the love they have for one...

This extraordinarily complex film is not only a send-up of every samurai film ever made, it is also an extrapolation of the value of life. The...

A documentary Ichikawa made for the 1970 Osaka Expo, originally made for projection on eight split panels.

Kikuji is the scion of an Osaka merchant family whose traditional power is matrilineal. Instructed by his overbearing mother and grandmother to give...

A scruffy detective investigates the murders of three sisters on a small Japanese island in 1946.

Period piece about a samurai who marries a mysterious beautiful young woman who claims to have lost her memory.

This little seen early work by Ichikawa was produced during the director's Shintoho period (1947-51). Written by Kaneto Shindô and featuring...

This little seen early work by Ichikawa was produced during the director's Shintoho period (1947-51). Written by Kaneto Shindô and featuring...

Ichikawa's 1956 adaptation of Nihonbashi was the first to take the work of Kyoka Izumi— until then regarded as a writer of common tragic...

Chieko (Momoe Yamaguchi) has been raised as the only child of parents who run a dry goods store. When Chieko was a middle-school student, she learned...

Chieko (Momoe Yamaguchi) has been raised as the only child of parents who run a dry goods store. When Chieko was a middle-school student, she learned...

This time, Kousuke investigates a murder in a hospital. The murderer leaves misleading evidence to divert Kousuke's attention on the case. Suspicion...

Machida (Shintaro Katsu) is in constant trouble because of his instincts to do right every time, even when it endangers his life. A gang hires him...

Enoken no wanwan taishô AKA Wanwan Taisho AKA Bowwow General directed by Nobuo Nakagawa

A police procedural surrounding murder at a bookstore and the private lives of the cops trying to solve the case.

A police procedural surrounding murder at a bookstore and the private lives of the cops trying to solve the case.

This time, Kousuke investigates a murder in a hospital. The murderer leaves misleading evidence to divert Kousuke's attention on the case. Suspicion...

The debut film of Shin Toho Productions

The debut film of Shin Toho Productions

An early film by Kon Ichikawa

A new magistrate in the town of Horisoto—widely reputed to be the most lawless township in Japan, uses guile and his opponents' own...

Thriller drama by Kon Ichikawa

Romantic melodrama

Romantic melodrama

War film by Kon Ichikawa

War film by Kon Ichikawa

Melodrama by Kon Ichikawa

Melodrama by Kon Ichikawa

To solve the mystery of a murder of an old governess which takes place at a wealthy Daidoji family's country estate, family secrets and lies dating...

To solve the mystery of a murder of an old governess which takes place at a wealthy Daidoji family's country estate, family secrets and lies dating...

Tamio Moroi, a young university graduate, works at a large brewery where he is taught to do nothing but look busy. When his father goes insane, he is...

A math teacher loses his job while falling in love with a local girl.

Kikuji is the scion of an Osaka merchant family whose traditional power is matrilineal. Instructed by his overbearing mother and grandmother to give...

A math teacher loses his job while falling in love with a local girl.

In the War's closing days, when a conscience-driven Japanese soldier fails to get his countrymen to surrender to overwhelming force, he adopts the...

An early, heavily Disney-inspired cartoon, written and directed by Kon Ichikawa. A bandit kidnaps a member of a concert audience as an act of...

A samurai suffers to achieve enlightenment while being forced by a Zen Buddhist.

Kôsuke Kindaichi, a somewhat peculiar private detective, visits a remote town. He meets a police detective and they start to investigate an old...

A middle-aged husband of a younger woman finds her youth intimidating to the point that he cannot become aroused. His solution involves the...

A band of samurai warriors places a curse on a family fortune thus frustrating the heir 4 centuries later.

A band of samurai warriors places a curse on a family fortune thus frustrating the heir 4 centuries later.

A young man rents an apartment in Tokyo and discover it was built by his father. He falls in love with the daughter of the mistress of the house and...

Learning of his family's collapse, acolyte Goichi, sent to study silently at the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, must endure acute psychological...

The patriarch of a bickering family announces his retirement, stirring competition about who will succeed him as a leading practitioner of Noh...

The patriarch of a bickering family announces his retirement, stirring competition about who will succeed him as a leading practitioner of Noh...

Film mixing live action with the famous animated Italian rubber mouse, Topo Gigio.

Film mixing live action with the famous animated Italian rubber mouse, Topo Gigio.

Documentary on the city of Kyoto, Japan. Topics include the Ryoanji Temple stone garden, a geisha residence, the Katsura Imperial Villa, and the Gion...

Comedy about a 50-something movie director, his new bride, a classical dancer, and his adult son and daughter and their loves.

Comedy about a 50-something movie director, his new bride, a classical dancer, and his adult son and daughter and their loves.

Detective Katahachi meets a young and beautiful pickpocket and doesn’t arrest her because she was not in the act. Instead, he listens to the...

This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a...

Japanese "kayo" film based on the song "Ieraishan" by Yoshiko Yamaguchi.

Japanese "kayo" film based on the song "Ieraishan" by Yoshiko Yamaguchi.

Okatsu is a widow raising five children - adults but still mama-dependent - in mid-eighteenth century Edo, Japan. Her frugality attracts unflattering...

In the future, one can achieve immortality by obtaining a mechanized body. Orphaned, young Tetsuro hitches a ride on the space train Galaxy Express...

With one million yen in stolen cash, Kurita plans his escape to Hokkaido with an unwilling bar girl named Katsumi.

With one million yen in stolen cash, Kurita plans his escape to Hokkaido with an unwilling bar girl named Katsumi.

Machiko falls in love with a mysterious man, but her family wants something different for her.

Machida (Shintaro Katsu) is in constant trouble because of his instincts to do right every time, even when it endangers his life. A gang hires him...

A story of a shopkeeper and his ex-wife, lives full of tragedy.

A story of a shopkeeper and his ex-wife, lives full of tragedy.

A story of a shopkeeper and his ex-wife, lives full of tragedy.

A scruffy detective investigates the murders of three sisters on a small Japanese island in 1946.

A middle-aged husband of a younger woman finds her youth intimidating to the point that he cannot become aroused. His solution involves the...

Follows the fluctuating fortunes of three ronin in feudal Japan who wander from castle to castle, selling their services to whichever lord will fill...

Follows the fluctuating fortunes of three ronin in feudal Japan who wander from castle to castle, selling their services to whichever lord will fill...

A screwball tale of a suspected “lady thief” and the detective who is on her trail, following her from Osaka to her home village, where...

A screwball tale of a suspected “lady thief” and the detective who is on her trail, following her from Osaka to her home village, where...

An intellectual couple in a staid and tedious marriage are surprised when the wife’s niece, who has run away from home, turns up unexpectedly...

An intellectual couple in a staid and tedious marriage are surprised when the wife’s niece, who has run away from home, turns up unexpectedly...

Comedy drama by Kon Ichikawa

Comedy drama by Kon Ichikawa

Comedy drama by Kon Ichikawa

This film follows the daily lives of a group of people barely scraping by in a slum on the outskirts of Tokyo. Yet as desperate as their...

Period piece about a samurai who marries a mysterious beautiful young woman who claims to have lost her memory.

Based on the folk tales "Repayment from a crane". One snowy night a beautiful woman named Tsuru (Crane) visits poor peasant Taiju and says she will...

Based on the folk tales "Repayment from a crane". One snowy night a beautiful woman named Tsuru (Crane) visits poor peasant Taiju and says she will...

The story of Dangonosuke, a boy samurai rescuing a woman from a villain is told comically.

An early, heavily Disney-inspired cartoon, written and directed by Kon Ichikawa. A bandit kidnaps a member of a concert audience as an act of...

Story of famed Japanese actress Kinuyo Tanaka, with an emphasis on her working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi.

A love triangle among a girl, her poor boyfriend, and a rich company president.

Produced for Fuji TV in 2000, the film reinterprets the story of a special samurai force - the Shinsengumi - at the end of the Edo period.

Produced for Fuji TV in 2000, the film reinterprets the story of a special samurai force - the Shinsengumi - at the end of the Edo period.

A sixteen-year-old who had been living on her own since her mother died, frequently gets in trouble with the police. She gets sent to an "institute"...