Kaoru Kobayashi
Birthday: Born in 1951-09-04 in Kyōto, Kyōto Prefecture, Japan
Deathday: Alive
Kaoru Kobayashi is a Japanese actor born in Kyoto. A multi-award winning thespian, he won best actor at the 30th Yokohama Film Festival and best-supporting actor at the 8th Yokohama Film Festival for Sorobanzuku.
TV Credits
峠の群像
Character:
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コタキ兄弟と四苦八苦
Character: Kotaki Reiji
A slice of life comedy where Furutachi Kanji and Takito Kenichi play poor brothers Ichiro and Jiro respectively. Older one (Ichiro) is very serious while the younger one (Jiro) is trying to start rental father/uncle service and they have to deal with issues from their clients....
トップリーグ
Character:
While political journalist Naoki Matsuoka is working his way up to the "top league," a small circle of privileged journalists with special access to top politicians, his old colleague turned newsweekly journalist Yuji Sakai is hunting down a dark secret involving political corruption and mafia....
松本清張ドラマスペシャル 砂の器
Character:
On December 11, 1960 an elderly man is found bludgeoned to death near the Kamata Station in Tokyo. Detective Yoshimura Hiroshi is a rookie detective that has only one clue to go on - the name "Kameda." Detective Yoshimura also has a dark side himself from his miserable experience in the war. Now, Detective Yoshimura places himself in the criminal's dark mind to track down the killer. Based on the 1961 novel "Suna no utsuwa" by Seicho Matsumoto it was also made as a feature film The Castle of Sa...
55歳からのハローライフ
Character:
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極北ラプソディ
Character:
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フィクサー
Character: Ichiro Suzaki
Who will run Japan? The prime minister or a mastermind? A political thriller about the "fixer" pulling strings behind the scenes controlling the political, business, and legal worlds as the greed of money and power intersect....
深夜食堂
Character: Master
Set in a small restaurant in the corner of a shopping district. The unusual eatery is only open after midnight, and its standard menu consists of just a single choice. However, the customers still come for the amusing chatter and the proprietor's willingness to cook any dish that they request. This drama depicts the lives of the restaurant's patrons, including a yakuza, an unsuccessful actor, a group of office ladies, a newspaper delivery boy, and a stripper....
私立探偵 濱マイク
Character:
Mike Hama, Private Detective, is a chain-smoking, wisecracking tough guy with a weakness for the ladies and a soft spot in his heart, especially for his kid sister Akane. Mike's so down on his luck he'll take any case, from finding a lost pet to spying on cheating spouses. But every now and then, along comes a client with dubious and dangerous case… and that's when Mike shows his stuff....
ソロモンの偽証
Character: 津崎 正男
On Christmas morning, Fujino Ryoko finds her classmate Kashiwagi Takuya’s dead body at their snow covered school. The police and the school conclude that Kashiwagi Takuya died by suicide. At that time, an anonymous letter is delivered to Fujino Ryoko. The letter states that Kashiwagi Takuya was murdered by a group of students including Ooide Shunji. The media and SNS begin to question whether Kashiwagi Takuya really died by suicide or was he murdered. The school principal tries to take control o...
極悪がんぼ
Character: Gen Koshimizu
When Kanzaki Kaoru was young, her mother operated an Okonomiyaki restaurant. However, in just a day, her entire life as she knew it turned upside down. Her mother was declared a bankrupt, and they were plunged into a life of poverty. Moving from place to place, Kaoru started working the minute she graduated from middle high school. By scrimping and saving, today, Kaoru finally has 1 million yen in her savings account. Since she understood fully what it felt like to be poor, Kaoru lends her money...
ニュース速報は流れた
Character:
A TV station news room receives information that a bomb has landed in a Japanese town. The drama follows what happens in the news room in "real-time," showing how the media can edit things to seem different from reality....
幸せになろうよ
Character: Syogo Yanagisawa
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カーネーション
Character: Zensaku Ohara
Carnation is a Japanese television drama that aired in the Asadora slot on NHK from 3 October 2011 to 31 March 2012. It is the 85th Asadora. It is based on the life of the fashion designer Ayako Koshino in Kishiwada, Osaka. Ayako was the mother of the internationally famous designers Hiroko Koshino, Junko Koshino, and Michiko Koshino....
下剋上受験
Character:
Shin'ichi Sakurai is married to Kanako and they have a daughter named Kaori. Both, Shinichi and Kanako received only a middle-school-level education. Even though they don't have much money, they are a happy family. At work, though, Shin'ichi experiences effects of only having a middle school education. One day, Shin'ichi sees Kaori’s poor score for a national test. He freaks out and decides to improve Kaori's education. Thus, 41-year-old Shin'ichi begins studying with Kaori and instructs her fo...
楽園
Character: Doizaki Gen
An incident is talked about all over Japan. The case involves the Doizaki couple that killed their 15-year-old daughter and hid her body under their house for 16 years. One day, housewife Toshiko Hagitani visits Shigeko Maehata who works for a small editing company. Toshiko tells Shigeko that her 12-year-old son Hitoshi might have a special ability to see other people's memories. She pulls out a picture drawn by Hitoshi. The picture has a girl with a grey colored face lying in a house that has ...
コタツがない家
Character: Yamagami Tatsuo
Fukabori Marie is a charismatic wedding planner and company president who is relied on by everyone, regardless of whether she is her boss or subordinate. Her husband Yusaku, an unsuccessful manga artist on the verge of going out of business, and his son, Junki, who dreamed of becoming an idol but was rejected at an audition, lost his way. In addition, her father who became alone due to a middle-aged divorce also came and she had to feed three useless men!...
ハゲタカ
Character: Ryosuke Iijima
During turbulent economic times in Japan, Masahiko Washizu leads a foreign investment fund and is criticized for being a vulture. He tries to buy a bank and another company that are experiencing financial depression....
ふぞろいの林檎たち
Character: 仲手川 耕一
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イキのいい奴
Character:
Set in a sushi restaurant in Tokyo shortly after the end of the war, the story follows a stubborn, old-fashioned master and his hot-tempered, brash apprentice growing up among the warm-hearted people of downtown Tokyo....
虎に翼
Character: Hodaka Shigechika
In the early Showa era, Japan’s first women’s law school opens, and the protagonist, Inotsume Tomoko (Ito Sairi), gains nationwide attention as one of the first female lawyers in the country. However, after facing wartime Japan’s harsh realities and losing everything, she becomes a judge with her legal knowledge and dedicates herself to establishing the family court. She stands passionately for the hardships that politics and economics cannot solve....
僕らは奇跡でできている
Character: Shun Samejima
A comical and heartwarming drama about a university lecturer on animal behavior who just loves all living creatures. Once he starts thinking about them, he becomes too absorbed to care about anything else! People think he is quite odd and eccentric! But gradually his attitude, free from restrictions of rigid common sense and social norms, changes the way of thinking of those around him. They can recall a time when they, too, were engrossed in something they loved....
天うらら
Character: 松尾良治
This drama is the tale of one high spirited, strong-willed young woman and her struggle to fulfill her lifelong ambition of becoming a carpenter and building homes. The story takes place from the later part of the Showa era to present day Heisei rule. The heroine of the story, Kawashima Urara, lost her father at the tender age of seven and this drama depicts her life as she grows from a young school girl, through puberty and adolescence and on into her adult years as an independent woman who own...
恋仲
Character: Serizawa Hirotoshi
Aoi Miura (Sota Fukushi) was born and grew up in Toyama Prefecture. He has an indecisive personality and does not like summer. He was the focal member of the high school swimming team, but he now works as an assistant at a small architectural office in Tokyo. One summer day, he meets his childhood friend and first love Akari Serizawa. During their school days they spent everyday hanging out together until the fireworks night in their 3rd year of high school. That night, Akari suddenly disappear...
Woman
Character: Uesugi Kentaro
After the accidental death of her husband and being deemed ineligible for welfare, Koharu struggles to care for her two children....
Dr.コトー診療所
Character: 星野正一
After making a serious mistake in his work in Tokyo, talented surgeon Goto Kensuke is invited to take charge of the only clinic on the small island of Yonaguni, Okinawa. It is difficult to get competent doctors to serve on this remote island, and the islanders are now used to traveling for hours via boat for proper medical care. Despite seeming weak and unreliable (he gets very seasick, and does not have a driving license), he wins over the skeptical islanders with his skill and dedication. Some...
深夜食堂: Tokyo Stories
Character: Master
In an otherwise mundane diner open from midnight to 7 a.m., there is no menu – but the chef cooks anything his customers want. Each episode is about different a different customer, as they find simple yet profound connections with one another based on their shared love of a particular dish....
知らなくていいコト
Character: Noto Toru
Keito is a reporter for a weekly magazine. The magazine covers everything from corruption by politicians to entertainers' scandals. She watches out for the next big scoop. Keito is also rich and enjoys her work, as well as her love life. One day, Keito's mother suddenly dies. Anna was a single mother who raised Keito alone. She worked as a movie critic. Right before her death, Anna mentioned something about Keito's father. The name she mentioned is that of a Hollywood star....
THE DAYS
Character: Furuya
Blamed by some, hailed as heroes by others, those involved with Fukushima Daiichi face a deadly, invisible threat — an unprecedented nuclear disaster....
火花
Character:
Tokunaga, a comedian who is down on his luck, has a shock encounter with Kamiya, an older comedian when he visits a fireworks event in Atami on a job. Tokunaga is deeply touched by Kamiya and asks if he can become his apprentice. Kamiya is a genius type of comedian who is full of human kindness. He accepts Tokunaga’s proposition on the condition that he will write his biography....
誤断
Character:
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震える牛
Character:
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Shrink―精神科医ヨワイ―
Character: 仙川鶴一
Dr. Ko Yowai is a happy-go-lucky but an absolutely brilliant psychiatrist. Yuri Amamiya is his slightly outspoken assistant nurse with a heart of gold. Together, they're waiting for the day when everyone feels comfortable visiting a psychiatrist. This is Shrink, the emotional drama series for those navigating the effects of mental health issues....
丘の上の向日葵
Character: Yuzuhara Kohei
Film company engineer Kohei is on his way home one night when he sees a woman taken ill at a train station. He ensures that she gets home safely, at which point the woman, Fumi, tells him, she has conceived, birthed, and raised his child....
青天を衝け
Character: Shibusawa Ichiroemon [Eiichi's father]
Shibusawa Eiichi was born in 1840 to a farmer’s family. He grew up helping his family with work, which was to manufacture and sell indigo production and also silk farming. He left his hometown at the age of 23 and began working for the government. He later traveled to Paris and learned about banking. Upon his return to Japan, he helped build up the first modern bank in Japan. He eventually became a founder or supporter to about 500 companies and was involved with about 600 public services, inclu...
白い巨塔
Character: Mataichi Zaizen
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岩合光昭の世界ネコ歩き
Character: Self - Narrator (voice)
Prominent Japanese wildlife photographer and filmmaker Mitsuaki Iwago loves cats of all shapes and sizes. So he's set out on a journey to film cats all over the world as they live their lives. Join him in a cat's-eye view of many diverse cities spanning the globe in a unique program that perhaps even your own cat will enjoy as well!...
Movie Credits
Princess Mononoke
Character: Jikobo (voice)
Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict....
A Crowd of Three
Character:
A Crowd of Three tells the story of two men, Kenta & Jun, who grew up as almost brothers at a children's facility. Kenta & Jun now works as part of a demolition crew but become fed up with their jobs. The friends then decide to take a road trip up north to visit Kenta's brother at the Abashiri prison....
Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
Character: Oton
Adapted from the bestselling Japanese autobiography of the same title, this gentle coming-of-age drama concerns an adolescent boy, Boku - Masaya, torn between the inherited recklessness of his father Oton and the inherited responsibility, wisdom and emotional strength of his mother Okan. Following a period of intensely rebellious behavior, Boku learns that his mom has contracted cancer; suddenly, his mother comes to live with him in Tokyo the entire emotional landscape of his life is altered....
The Funeral
Character: Inose
When Wabisuke's father-in-law unexpectedly dies, the family goes through a series of random events and occurrences as the funeral unfolds over three days in their home....
Tales from Earthsea
Character: The King (voice)
Something bizarre has come over the land. The kingdom is deteriorating. People are beginning to act strange... What's even more strange is that people are beginning to see dragons, which shouldn't enter the world of humans. Due to all these bizarre events, Ged, a wandering wizard, is investigating the cause. During his journey, he meets Prince Arren, a young distraught teenage boy. While Arren may look like a shy young teen, he has a severe dark side, which grants him strength, hatred, ruthlessn...
Kamui
Character: Hanbei
A rebellious ninja in 17th century Japan takes refuge with a fisherman and his family....
Kubi
Character: Tokugawa Ieyasu
Lord Oda Nobunaga plans to control Japan where rival warlords battle by waging war against several clans. His vassal Araki Murashige stages a rebellion and promptly disappears....
Vacation
Character: Toru Hirai
The prison guards working in penitentiaries where death row inmates are locked up are forced to spend their daily lives constantly facing death....
Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog
Character: Mitsuru Watanabe
A Labrador retriever named Quill begins specialized training as a guide dog from an early age, then the canine is paired with a blind man who is initially reluctant to rely on his new partner....
Boys on the Run
Character: Suzuki san
A socially awkward salesman for a toy-capsule company tries to change his nerdy ways when a slick rival moves in on the beautiful co-worker he loves....
Secret
Character: Heisuke Sugita
A man is shocked to find out that after a deadly car accident involving his wife and daughter, his wife died, but her mind somehow got transfered into their daughter's body....
Haru's Journey
Character: Kinoshita
Stuck in a fishing village in Hokkaido, Tadao's grand-daughter Haru is desperate to visit Tokyo, a trip Tadao is reluctant to make....
The Boy and the Heron
Character: Noble Pelican (voice)
While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."...
Yes, I Can't Swim
Character: Professor Kamoshita
Yuji Takanashi is a university philosophy professor who can't swim. Making awkward justifications to himself about the relationship between water and people, still he decides on the spur of the moment to enroll in a swimming class. There he encounters the teacher Shizuka Usuhara, who ignores his last-minute hesitation and enrolls him....
And Then
Character: Tsunejiro Hiraoka
Daisuke is supposed to be out looking for a respectable job and equally respectable wife. He is 30 years old and devotes his attention to music and literature; his family is wealthy and can support his interests. When his friend Hiraoka returns with his wife Michiyo, problems arise....
Coquille
Character: Tatsuya Urayama
Thirty years after graduation, a man and a woman meet again at an alumni reunion. They are no longer young, but the moment she sees him, memories of her first love are revived. Her love for him has never faded even though she married another man and bore his child. What has kept her going is a white shell the boy gave her and a phrase of Jean Cocteau's poem, "My ears are shells, fondly hearing the sound of the sea..." She gets a divorce, returns to her hometown and opens a bar named "Coquille," ...
The Great Passage
Character: Kohei Araki
Majime, an eccentric man in publishing company, who has unique ability of words, joins the team that will compile a new dictionary, The Great Passage. In the eclectic team, he becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries. But the team is overwhelmed with problems....
The Blossoming of Etsuko Kamiya
Character: Yasutada Kamiya
In Kagoshima, in the final days of World War II, an offer of marriage comes to Etsuko Kamiya, who lives with her brother and his wife. The offer comes from Nagayo, but Etsuko is attracted to his friend, Akashi....
Ballad of Orin
Character: Torazo
A blind traveling musician is abused and oppressed wherever she goes, even as the modern world imposes change around her....
The End of Summer
Character: Shingo Kosugi
The story, set in the heady post-war 50s into the early 60s , revolves around a love triangle between Tomoko, long playing the mistress to married older writer Shitto and the new stud who comes into her life, Ryota Kinoshita. Tomoko is sick and tired of her relationship with writer Shingo, who is married and has children. Shingo is a talented writer, but has yet to be recognized by the public. Tomoko then enters into a sexual relationship with younger man Ryota Kinoshita, but Tomoko is not satis...
Leaving on the 15th Spring
Character: Toshiharu Nakazato
Junior high school student Yuna lives with her father Toshiharu. Her mother Akemi moved to Naha when her older sister entered high school, and Yuna is worried about her father's life after she leaves....
Baian the Assassin, M.D.: Part 2
Character:
The main character, Baian Fujieda, is a dark hero who has two faces: one as a skilled acupuncturist who saves lives, and the other as a criminal who buries evil that cannot be kept alive for the sake of others. Popular writer Shotaro Ikenami's historical novel series of the same title, on which the film "BAIAN The Assassin, M.D." is based, is a blockbuster bestseller with a total of over 6 million copies in print and has been made into a timeless entertainment film many times in Japan. Many fam...
For Business
Character: Miyabi Sakuramiya
Two TV salarymen uphold their duty by taking on a rival talent agency during the late-'80s bubble economy....
Bakayaro! I'm Plenty Mad
Character: Shigeru Kosaka (Episode 4)
Anthology film. "What's Wrong with Eating?" Numayama Kazuki is always complaining about his wife's, Atsugi Shizuka, body shape. Because of that Shizuka tries her best to restrict her diet and please Kazuki. "It's So Far Away!" Karuma Sae is an office lady who works in the city center but lives with her family in a house far away from her work. Because she is always rushing to catch the last train, she can never enjoy a decent date with her boyfriend, Oishi Mamoru. Her father is also always i...
Winter Rose
Character: Giichi Wataguchi
Jun Wataguchi lives a lazy, half-hearted life, not going to school, hanging out with half-witted delinquents, and begging money from his friends. His parents, who run a shipping business transporting earth and sand for reclamation by boat, manage to get by, despite the dwindling number of jobs and lack of successors over time. Jun showed no interest in his parents' business, and the father and son hardly ever spoke to each other. One day, one of Jun's friends is attacked by someone and an unexpe...
The Last U-Boat
Character: Tatsumi - Fregattenkapitän
Near the end of WWII a lone U-Boat is sent from Germany to Japan carrying plutonium needed for a Japanese A-Bomb. During the long journey, news arrives on the radio that Hitler killed himself and Germany has surrendered. This causes a rift in the crew, the Nazi Party members wanting to continue to Japan since they are still at war, while the others just want to surrender or return home....
Untama giru
Character: Giru
A magical realist story of the legendary Okinawan hero Untamagiru participating in efforts to form an independent Okinawa before the island was returned to Japan in 1972....
The Washing Machine
Character: Taiji Ogami
Kizaki, who moved to Tokyo from the Kansai region to become a manga artist, is assigned to work at a used electrical appliance store where he works part-time as a store keeper and repairman. One day, a woman comes to the store drenched from the rain. She is Setsuko, the only daughter of the store's president and a returnee. Since then, Setsuko often comes to the store. Kizaki becomes concerned about Setsuko, but Setsuko has something to do with Oshi, a senior who used to work at the store......
Trapped Balloon
Character: Shigezo Kojima
A woman who has not seen her father for several years and does not have a good relationship with him. An unsociable man who lives near her father's house. Slowly the relationship between the woman, her father, and the man changes....
The Yin-Yang Master Zero
Character: Fujiwara Yosuke
During the Heian period, Seimei Abe trains in magic but lacks interest, until a collaboration with Hiromasa Minamoto arises to solve a strange phenomenon....
Dr. Coto's Clinic
Character: Shoichi Hoshino
In this drama set on Shikina Island, a far-flung island of the Japanese archipelago located more than six hours from the Japanese main islands, the young physician Kensuke Goto arrives at the island and has to deal with the island's inhabitants, not eager to accept him, at a clinic lacking sufficient medical equipment. Here's a human drama showing how Dr. Coto values the dignity of human life while unflinchingly facing disease with a serious attitude....
The Egoists
Character: Kazuyuki Ninomiya
Kazu attacks a bar in Kabukicho, a Tokyo red-light district, and flees to his hometown with abducts Machiko, a pole dancer he's been stuck on. They begin living together, but their happiness is short lived as their pasts torment them both....
Climbing to Spring
Character: Isao Nagamine
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 footsteps?...
Female
Character: Old man
'Female' is comprised of five short films adapted from five novels by female authors. Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto, Tetsuo Shinohara, Ryuichi Hiroki, Miwa Nishikawa, and Suzuki Matsuo....
Midnight Diner
Character: Master
A restaurant opens at midnight. Both the menu offerings and personality of the owner draw a series of flawed patrons including Tamako, whose boyfriend has passed away, live-in worker Michiru, and ruckus-raising Kenzo....
The Way of Osaka Financing 1
Character:
A special drama starring Masahiro Nakai of SMAP, which was aired on Fuji TV six times from 1996 to 2005. The original is a comic of the same name by Yuji Aoki. The script was written by Ryoichi Kimizuka of "Bayside Shakedown", and it is a comical and fast-paced work. Tatsuyuki Haibara (Masahiro Nakai), a young man who joined Naniwa's financial company, Imperial Finance, is "the best financial company in Osaka" while witnessing the sadness, thickness, and warmth of human beings who are at the mer...
Sketches of Kaitan City
Character: Ryuzo Higa
The bittersweet events in the lives of people in Hakodate, a regional city connected by a streetcar network. A laid-off man and his younger sister go up a mountain to see the first sunrise of the year. Meanwhile, Haruo has inherited his family's gas business, but things aren't going well in his new endeavor and he becomes increasingly frustrated....
Hagetaka
Character: Ryosuke Iijima
During turbulent economic times in Japan, Masahiko Washizu (Go Ayano) appears. He leads a foreign investment fund and he is criticized for being a vulture. Masahiko Washizu challenges to buy a bank with insolvent bonds and a company that is experiencing financial depression....
Paradise View
Character: Reishu Goya
Go Takamine's first theatrical feature is a pioneering work of Okinawan cinema, filmed almost entirely in Okinawan dialect. Taking place shortly before the resumption of Japanese sovereignty over Okinawa, Takamine’s film tacitly addresses the island prefecture's complicated history of occupation and feelings of dislocation through the story of a small community and its preparations for a wedding between a local girl and a Japanese teacher. On the periphery of these events is Reishu (Kaoru Kobaya...
Tsugaru Lacquer Girl
Character:
Keiko Tsuruoka’s film is at once traditional and contemporary: it gently mixes present-day gender and sexuality politics with the old-fashioned Japanese domestic drama. Traditional lacquerwork kitchenware is the Aoki family’s legacy, handed down to patriarch Seishiro (Kaoru Kobayashi) by his now-ailing father (Masayuki Suzuki). Seishiro expects to pass it in turn to his son Yu (Ryota Bando), but Yu has no interest in the craft—quite unlike daughter Miyako (Mayu Hotta), who loves it dearly. The s...
Promised Land
Character:
Matagi is a group of hunters who lives in the mountains and targets wild animals including bears, but now more and more bear hunting is forbidden by the government. This is a story of two young matagi who struggle in their dying culture....
Botchan
Character: Madonna’s father
Botchan (Kazunari Ninomiya) has sense of strong justice and does not lie. He is offered a teaching job at a middle in a small village far away from his hometown of Tokyo. Botchan accepts the position and begins to work as a math teacher. The assistant principle there wields absolute power. Botchan has a hard time dealing with his fellow teachers and the students....
Kiseki: Sobito of That Day
Character: Seiichi Morita
Based on the true story of 4 member Japanese pop group "GreeeeN.” Jin is the producer of “GreeeeN” and his younger brother Hide is the lead member for the group. Their song "Kiseki" is released as their 7th single and becomes a huge hit. Hide and the other 3 members have others jobs including working as a dentist....
Call from Darkness
Character: Tatsuo Tamura
Keiko Inagawa (Asami Kobayashi) pays a visit to neurologist Aizawa about her fiancé Tatsuo Tamura (Kaoru Kobayashi). A mysterious case involving the disappearance of Tatsuo’s three brothers, one after the other, is yet to be resolved and now Tatsuo, seized with the idea that he too may disappear, has had a nervous breakdown. Aizawa suggests that Tatsuo recount his dreams as a means of solving the mystery, since human beings have an instinct that foretells the near future in the form of a dream. ...
Hear the Wind Sing
Character: Me
A student travels back to Kobe for the summer. Once there, he meets his friend Rat, hangs on the usual place, listening to the Beach Boys and meets a mysterious twin girl....
Midnight Diner 2
Character: Master
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....
The Black House
Character:
A meek agent at the Showa Life Insurance company receives a phone call from a customer who says that she's planning to commit suicide and wants to know if her policy will pay out. Concerned about her safety, the agent visits her house only to find that her young son has hanged himself. As he investigates further, more and more people connected with this family start having "accidents," and if he's not careful, he might be next....
Love and Action in Osaka
Character:
Despite his efforts of living a normal life as a banker, the life of Toru, the only son of the Yubari Family, becomes disrupted by trouble brought on by his father. When his father’s battle against his rival group the Miike Family ignites, Toru becomes more involved in the turf war than he wished for....
Fueled: The Man They Called "Pirate"
Character: Jisaku Koka
In a time when the main source of energy was still coal, there was a man who saw the future in oil. Young Tetsuzo Kunioka who hails from Moji, Kitakyushu, rides out into the oil business, but is faced with numerous challenges and competitors who stand in his way, including domestic suppliers and major western oil companies, or the "oil majors". But Tetsuzo never gave up, however despairing the situation was. He always found a way and paved a new road with his unconventional ideas, eccentric acti...
Natsumi's Firefly
Character: Sakakiyama
Natsumi wants to become a photographer. She takes a bike which her late father left behind and goes to a forest to find a firefly she saw with her father. In the forest, Natsumi meets old mother Yasu and old son Jizo. They run a general store. Natsumi learns how to live in nature from them. She has happy summer days there. One day, Jizo tells her that he became estranged from his son in the past....
An Emblem Dedicated To You
Character: Nakagawa Akiko
Kazuya Takajo was a promising soccer player. At the age of 23, he was selected for the national A football team and he bought a house to live with his fiancé Miki Nakagawa. One day, Kazuya Takajo gets into a car accident and becomes paralyzed and falls into deep despair. Kazuya goes through rehab on the strength of his wife's love. Yet, he becomes frustrated by those opposed to his marriage with Miki and others who give him pity looks. He also can't find anything to replace soccer in his life. K...
Abraxas
Character:
Former punk rocker Jonen, now a Buddhist priest, seems to have lost the meaning of his life. His manic depression handicaps him further. Music seems to be the only solution for him to exorcise his demons, against all obstacles and sound volume controllers....
Lear on the Shore
Character:
Kuwahata Chokichi used to be a famous actor, but now he's suspected to be suffering from dementia. He is betrayed by his older daughter, Yukiko, her husband-cum-his-former-disciple, Ikuo, and Yukiko's lover, a mysterious driver, and gets sent to a high-class old folks' home. One day, Choukichi runs away from the home and wanders to the beach where he meets his younger daughter, Nobuko, who he had with his lover. Although he had thrown Nobuko out in the past, he begins to imagine seeing her as th...
Mukoku
Character: Shozo Yatabe
Kengo was gifted in Kendo (Japanese martial art) but he quits after a tragic incident. He works as a security guard and spends his days drinking. One day, he encounters a high school student Toru, who has a natural ability in Kendo. Toru revives the spirit of the sport in Kengo and he resumes practice again....
The Dropout
Character:
Detective Seiji Otaki is determined to find the psychopathic killer of a young woman who was ostensibly a student but in reality a high-priced prostitute. Even though he has been taken off the case for beating up a suspect, he refuses to let it go and recruits his mistress to act as a decoy for the killer. Her involvement turns out to be a fatal mistake, and when her husband gets out of prison, Detective Otaki is in worse trouble than ever....
The Miracles of the Namiya General Store
Character: Takeo Matsuoka
In 2012, Atsuya and his 2 childhood friends do something bad and run into an old general store. They decide to stay there until the morning. Late into the night, Atsuya sees a letter in the mailbox. The letter is addressed to the Namiya General Store and the letter was written by someone to consult about worries. Incredibly, the letter was written 32 years ago. The mailbox is somehow connected to the year 1980. Atsuya and his friends decide to write a reply and place their letter in the mailbox....
The Tomb & the Divorce
Character: Yoshinori Ishino
Yoshinori sells plots of land in a cemetery, and is involved in a stale ten-year-old marriage with bored housewife Atsuko. When Atsuko makes a male friend at her leather-working class, Yoshinori has a fit. This is on top of the myriad of odd clients that he must appease....
Chibusa
Character:
Based on the novel of the same name by Shizuka Ijûin. Played as a double feature with Crepe (1993)....
Eighteen Years, to the Sea
Character: Eisuke Morimoto
Kei and Atsuo were both enrolled in summer school. Kei was an honor student, and Atsuo was the polar opposite - but opposites attract. After school, the two head to the beach, where they find another student from their school competing against a local gang member, to see who is able to hold his breath longer under water. Overwhelmed by the excitement, Kei and Atsuo decide to try themselves....
Twilight of the Cockroaches
Character: Saitô
The cockroaches of Saito's apartment live in peace with their human host, who gives them lots of space to breed and plenty of leftovers to munch on. In the midst of these high living times, Naomi and Ichiro plan to get married and start a family. But when a hard-bitten stranger roach named Hans appears with news of war with the humans across the lawn, it foretells disruption-not only of Naomi and Ichiro's relationship, but of the hive's entire way of life....
His Lost Name
Character: Tetsuro
Middle-aged widower Tetsuro finds an unconscious, homeless young man on the riverbank in his small seaside town. Offering him room in his home, Tetsuro and the man who calls himself Shinichi develop a father-son dynamic, despite the secrets that linger between them....
The Wangan Highway
Character: Nakamura
Based on the novel of the same name by Yoshio Kataoka....
The Island of Cats
Character: Iwao
Daikichi is a 70-year-old man and lives on a small island. Since his wife died, he has lived with his cat Tama. Daikichi was born and raised on the small island and enjoys relaxing days with his childhood friends including Iwao and his cat Tama. Daikichi has a son Tsuyoshi who lives in Tokyo. Tsuyoshi worries a bit about his father living alone on the island, but Daikichi is content with his life. After his close friend passes away, Daikichi worries about his physical condition. His daily life...
Kyokuhoku Rhapsody
Character: Masashi Sera
Set in Kyokuhoku Citizen Hospital in Hokkaido, Japan. "Kyokuhoku Rhapsody" follows the life of a young doctor for a one year period. Yoshio Imanaka works at the Kyokuhoku Hospital that is losing staff members and facing bankruptcy. During this difficult time, Yoshio Imanaka meets hairdresser Kozue Namiki and falls in love....
Love Letter
Character: Tetsushi Kamiya
A drama depicting the conflict between a man that ran to an old lover suffering from advanced leukemia, his wife and child that were left behind, and the friendship that develops between his wife and his former lover....
Hong Kong Paradise
Character: Hachirou Ooishi
Set in decadent, chaotic Hong Kong and Tokyo, the film tells the story of a young woman caught up in a mysterious turn of events. A young tour guide, 23-year-old Mamiko who's had her heart set on Paris, finds herself swept off to booming Hong Kong where she is thrown into the midst of a high-profile burglary case....
The Second Love
Character: Hideo Hyuga
Kazumi - whose sensitivity does not undermine her strength when she handles her second husband's emotional conflicts with the wisdom of an adult. Kazumi's younger and more inexperienced husband Hideo is continually suspicious of her fidelity....
Then Summer Came
Character:
A humorous wedding story fueled by a rather no-good father and son, disguised as the old and new “good guys.” The father Nobuo, and his son Tamio, are unable to mature, unable to break the parent-child roles, have no sense of responsibility, and keep holding on to the past. The pair is overwhelmed by all the colorful characters around them telling them what to do. They go to strenuous and humorous efforts to make Tamio’s wedding an event to remember....
Uneasy Encounters
Character:
A five-part comedy and horror anthology...
The Sea of Genkai
Character:
Two yakuza, one of whom frequently reflects on an uncomfortable past taking advantage of Korean women, meet a stowaway on Japanese soil from across the Genkai Sea....
Shimanto River
Character:
A young boy, Atsu, grows up along the banks of the Shimanto River in rural southern Shikoku. He comes to grips with the unfairness of life and the emotional pain involved in the loss of innocence. The film is based on an autobiographical novel written by Kyuzo Sasayama....
Ghiblies: Episode 2
Character: Toshi-chan (Voice)
Ghiblies (pronounced with a hard "g" as in "gallop") is a short film aired during a TV special about Ghibli. It's about a fictional animation studio named "Ghibli" and the people who work there. This rare Ghibli Comedy is a look into who the people making the films are. Plotlines run from office jokes to Nonaka's first love, bringing together a short feature of random events....
We Made a Beautiful Bouquet
Character: Hirotaro Yamane
Two people meet each other after missing the last train home, leading to a beautiful relationship over five years....
Arc
Character: Rihito
Set in the near future, Rina lives a wandering life and she meets Ema. Ema becomes a mentor for Rina and Rina begins to work for Ema. Her job is called body works, which is to plasticize dead bodies for people who lost loved ones. Meanwhile, Ema’s younger brother Amane develops technology that is finally able to achieve immortality. Rina becomes the first recipient of the technology. She can now live forever, while having a 30-year-old appearance, but ......
Double Trouble
Character:
Chief Iizuka, who works at the Cultural Center, misunderstands two chorus groups with similar names and double-books the concert hall on New Year's Eve. Although they talk to each other, neither of them gives up a step and develops into a big problem. Iizuka, who has lived his life with a "no-nonsense" attitude, finds himself in the middle of two groups and at a loss for words....
Like Asura
Character: Takao Satomi
The four Takezawa sisters discover that their father has an illegitimate child so they hire a private detective to investigate....
The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan
Character:
Shoji Segawa was a quiet and inconspicuous boy, but, for the first time, he is recognized by people after winning the National Middle School Shogi Tournament. At the age of 26, his dream of becoming a professional shogi player collapses due to an age restriction. After he quits playing shogi, he becomes desperate. With the support of his peers, including Yuya Suzuki, and his love of shogi, Shoji Segawa begins to play shogi again. A miracle happens to him....