Ken Ogata
Birthday: Born in 1937-07-20 in Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Deathday: 2008-10-05
Ken Ogata (緒形 拳 Ogata Ken, 20 July 1937-5 October 2008) was a Japanese actor. Ogata was born in Tokyo, Japan. Ogata is well known for his roles in Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book, Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and Shohei Imamura's The Ballad of Narayama. He won the award for best actor at the 26th Blue Ribbon Awards for Okinawan Boys. In television, his starring role as Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1965 NHK Taiga drama Taikōki catapulted him to fame. Ken went on to many prominent roles in subsequent programs. The following year, he portrayed Benkei in Minamoto no Yoshitsune. The network tapped him again for the role of Fujiwara no Sumitomo in the 1976 Kaze to Kumo to Niji to. He returned to playing Hideyoshi in the 1978 Ōgon no Hibi, and returned to the lead as Ōishi Kuranosuke in Tōge no Gunzō, the 1982 Chūshingura. Another featured appearance in a Taiga drama was in Taiheiki (1991, as Ashikaga Sadauji, father of Takauji). Mr. Ogata died on October 5, 2008, just days after finishing his role in the production of the Fuji TV drama "Kaze no Garden" (Garden of the Winds), filmed in the rural Furano area of northern Japan. In his final role, Ogata, himself 71 years of age, played a doctor involved in the end-of-life care of elderly patients. His sons Kanta and Naoto Ogata are actors. NHK selected Naoto for the starring role of Oda Nobunaga in the 1992 Taiga drama Nobunaga King of Zipangu; Kanta played Inaba Masakatsu in Aoi Tokugawa Sandai (2000). Description above from the Wikipedia article Ken Ogata, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
TV Credits
峠の群像
Character: Yoshio Oishi
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黄金の日日
Character: Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Luzon Sukezaemon is a merchant who imports vases from the Philippines. The vases are highly valued as tea utensils and he makes a huge profit. This was the first taiga drama to concentrate on the lives of commoners and the reviled merchant class of the Tokugawa period. It documents the rise and fall of the merchant city of Sakai, as seen by its most famous resident, the semilegendary Luzon....
源義経
Character: Musashibo Benkei
The chronicles of the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159 - May 17th, 1189). He was a late Heian and early Kamakura general of the Minamoto clan of Japan. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo. His older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura shogunate....
太閤記
Character: Toyotomi no Hideyoshi
Based on the life of Hideyoshi Toyotomi (February 2, 1537 – September 18, 1598) a Sengoku period daimyo who unified Japan....
瑠璃の島
Character: Yuzo Nakama
Ruri, having been abandoned by her mother to a foster care facility, lives a life of reckless abandonment. When Nakama Yuzo, a kind man but for a trigger-happy temper, runs into Ruri he realizes that perhaps she's the child he's been looking for. Yuzo lives in Hatomijima, a small insland in Okinawa where the population is 49 and the average age group is 61. There are no children. The island has only one school - a primary school. If a child is not enrolled in the school, it will be closed. As a...
古畑任三郎
Character:
Furuhata Ninzaburō is a Japanese television series that ran periodically on Fuji Television from 1994 until its final episodes in 2006. It was written by Japanese playwright Kōki Mitani and is often referred to as the Japanese version of Columbo. The series is a police detective drama starring actor Masakazu Tamura as Furuhata Ninzaburo and Masahiko Nishimura as his stereotypically bumbling sidekick, Shintaro Imaizumi. The program aired weekly and featured a guest villain each time, usually a f...
スチュワーデスの恋人
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This romantic tale involves a co-pilot who aspires to become the pilot of a new Boeing 747-400, and the stewardess he loves. Suddenly, the wife he had believed dead reappears....
毛利元就
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The 36th NHK Taiga Drama is Mori Motonari. This series chronicles the life of Mori Motonari, a warlord of the early 1500s who stood at the vanguard of the Warring States era. All Japanese school textbooks contain the Mitsuya no kyokun, Mori's famous lesson to his three sons that teaches that while one arrow is easily broken, three arrows together cannot be broken. In 1997, 500 years after his birth, NHK dramatizes Motonari's rise from a chief of the region of Aki (now Hiroshima) to a daimyo who ...
愛はどうだ
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Although Shuichi has lost his wife, there is no lack of female influence in his life. He has three daughters who are eligible for marriage, and an assortment of women friends and lovers that has earned him the reputation of being a playboy. But the real love interest in his life is his female boss. How he and his daughters work out their romantic adventures provides both entertainment and enlightenment in the challenges of finding true love....
風のガーデン
Character: Teizo Shiratori
The lead, Dr. Sadami Shiratori worked in the operating room at a famous Tokyo hospital was around death on a daily basis. His own father, Teizo Shiratori is also a doctor, called Grandfather as he raised the estranged children of his wayward son, he practiced medicine in a small town on Hokkaido, Japan’s most northern island. His practice was limited only to terminal patients…in their own homes. He cared for them and helped both them and their families prepare for the ‘final journey’....
SMAP×SMAP
Character: Skit guest
SMAP×SMAP was an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it aired from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday. The show's usual ratings were higher than 20%, which is considered high since most variety shows range from 10-20%. Each episode begins a variety of skits, comedic performances, and/or games. These are followed by Bistro SMAP, in which the SMAP members compete against each other to impress celebrity judges w...
SMAP×SMAP
Character: Skit Guest
SMAP×SMAP was an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it aired from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday. The show's usual ratings were higher than 20%, which is considered high since most variety shows range from 10-20%. Each episode begins a variety of skits, comedic performances, and/or games. These are followed by Bistro SMAP, in which the SMAP members compete against each other to impress celebrity judges w...
ギフト
Character: Yujiro Kishiwada（岸和田 裕二郎）
Gift is a drama that aired on Fuji TV. It first aired in Japan from April 16, 1997 to June 25, 1997 every Wednesday. It features music by Bryan Ferry and Howard Jones. It raised several issues in Japanese society, due to its casual use of a butterfly knife and its resulting violence....
必殺仕掛人（ＴＶシリーズ）
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聖徳太子
Character: Soga no Umako
In the late 6th century the leaders of the Yamato Dynasty had no clear plan for the creation of a unified state. Battles still raged among various warrior clans. Shotoku Taishi, second son of Emperor Yomei, strived to create a new nation out of this chaos. NHK captures this great man from a time in history rarely depicted on screen, in a story of epic proportions. Shotoku Taishi is known mainly through legends and myths and has been viewed as more god than man. The elaborate and colorful costume...
阿修羅のごとく
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Kuniko Mukōda's masterpiece, a poignant and subtle portrait of the jealousy and suspicion that secretly swirl behind seemingly peaceful family relationships....
必殺仕掛人
Character: Baian Fujieda
A shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry o...
八州犯科帳
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Kanto Torishimari Shutsuyaku Sakon Oyamada and Shinbei Asano, called "Hashū-sama" by the people. Sakon, a family man, and Shinbei, a serious man, travel around the crime-ridden Kanto region and solve crimes......
必殺必中仕事屋稼業
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Movie Credits
Love and Honor
Character: Magohachiro Kibe
A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor....
Tokyo Bordello
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A ruined businessman was forced to sell his daughter, Hisano, to a brothel in Yoshiwara, the largest red-light district in Tokyo. The owner of the brothel has hopes to make her a great new addition which will attract the richest of customers. But after several months of training, she tries to flee Yoshiwara when the time has come for her to take her first customer......
The Pillow Book
Character: The Father
A woman with a body writing fetish seeks to find a combined lover and calligrapher....
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Character: Yukio Mishima (segment "November 25, 1970")
A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, combining dramatizations of three of his novels and a depiction of the events of November 25th, 1970....
The Ballad of Narayama
Character: Tatsuhei
In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse they would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife....
Vengeance Is Mine
Character: Iwao Enokizu
A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police....
Gonin 2
Character: Toyama Masamichi
Five women snatch one billion yen in jewellery from the yakuza, while construction manager Toyama burns for revenge against the mobsters who raped and caused the death of his wife. Before long, the yakuza and Toyama arrive at the women's hideout....
The Geisha
Character: Katsuzo
Yokiro was the most successful Geisha house in Western Japan during the first half of the 20th century and remains open to this day. At its peak, it was home to over 200 geisha, however behind the fabulous facade, there were many battles - between family members, men and women, and with the Yakuza. Momokawa was sold to Yokiro at age 12, and despite being the top geisha, her many complicated relationships provide unending challenges throughout her glamorous but turbulent life....
The Last Samurai
Character: Nakamura Hanjiro
The film follows the story of Sugi Toranosuke, a ronin, who returns to his home town of Edo many years after his attempted suicide as a sickly child. Rescued and adopted by a master swordsman, he has grown into a master swordsman and a very kind gentleman. The time is around 1868 the year that the nails were finally put into the coffin containing the feudal system that nurtured and sustained the samurai. Sugi is confused and unsure about what is happening but his teacher wants him out of the cha...
Samurai Reincarnation
Character: Musashi Miyamoto
After surviving the slaughter of many Christians 350 years ago, a samurai denounces God for ignoring the pleas of believers. He sells his soul to Satan and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him in a murderous rampage....
The Samurai I Loved
Character: Maki Sukezaemon
A young samurai stuck at the bottom of the hierarchical order attempts to rescue his childhood sweetheart from an evil clan lord after learning of a plot to kill her and her infant child. Bunshiro Maki is a skilled swordfighter who's lethal with a blade, yet still can't rise through the ranks of the system. After his father is accused of plotting against his clan and forced to commit ritual suicide, his longtime love Fuku is sent to Edo to become the clan lord's concubine. A few years later, Fuk...
Edo Porn
Character: Hokusai
The world-famous woodblock artist Hokusai (1760-1849), a widower in need of a steady income, lives with his daughter Oei in the house of his friend Bakin....
Shogun's Shadow
Character: Igo Gyobu
A shogun's eldest son must do whatever it takes to survive a series of attempts on his life. He receives much-needed aid from seven warriors who are led by a strong leader....
Heat Wave
Character: Police
Rin Jyoshima lost her father to death-by-gambling; years later, she's grown up in the Kosugi household and has fallen victim to gambling herself....
Tracked
Character: Tokichi Sakane
When a fugitive begins a romance with the woman hiding him from the law, it becomes uncertain whether he will ever escape the shadow of his heinous crimes--or the detectives hot on his trail....
Tokugawa Ieyasu – TBS Warlord Special
Character:
From his early days as Matsudaira Motoyasu through his rise to the most powerful man in Japan as Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first of the Tokugawa Shoguns, this is the story of the man who truly unified Japan under one ruler. Tokugawa Ieyasu is quoted as saying: “People carry burdens through life as they travel a long road. Never rush” “If you think of privation as normal, you’ll be contented. If you know only about winning and losing, harm may fall upon you. Being inferior is batter than being superio...
Mount Hakkoda
Character: Corporal Murayama
Two infantry regiments of the Imperial Japanese Army—210 men overall—tackled Mt. Hakkoda in the winter of 1902 to prepare for war with Russia....
The Phantom Thief Nezumi Kozo and the Tattooed Judge
Character: Toyama no Kin-san
Magistrate Toyama no Kin-san is ordered to catch the phantom thief Nezumi Kozo, who is robbing daimyo and wealthy townspeople. Under the name of Nezumi Kozo, there is a small wholesaler Jiro. And once Toyama and Jiro, when they were young, were comrades who spent all their time gambling and having fun with women in the Yushima Tenjin area......
Oar
Character: Iwago Tomita
Drama about the difficult relationship between a former wrestler, his wife and their adopted children....
Film Noir
Character: Client
The movie is absurd, and a thoroughly original take on the morale in Japanese society. The images are beautiful, and the people are as cold as the snow that surrounds them. The take on Melville's "Samoraï" from -67 is obvious, but Kobayashi turns the image around and portrays the killer as the weakest person in the movie - haunted by his demanding wife and the moaning contractor, who is one of the most mysterious characters ever portrayed in a movie....
The Demon
Character: Sokichi Takeshita
When Sokichi stops providing his long-time lover Kikuyo enough money to pay for the care of their three young children, Kikuyo leaves the children with Sokichi - and his very surprised and angry wife Oume - and disappears....
Shadow Warriors: Hattori Hanzo
Character: Koga Shiro Samurai
The tale takes place around 1650, after the death of the third Tokugawa shogun, when ronin were expelled from Edo, the military capital. During the political instability following the death of Iemitsu Tokugawa, Hanzo's Iga ninja clan battles against the Koga clan as various factions vie to seize power. The child shogun Ietsuna is kidnapped but turns out to be hidden under (or over) everyone's noses in a castle turret which is reinforced by a comic book villain, the fire-spitting black ninja. The...
A Hardest Night!!
Character:
A celebration of the ancient art of Japanese rakugo, roughly translated as “comic storytelling”. The film is interspersed with numerous funerals and wakes, songs, dances, and often disgustingly crude jokes....
Kitaro and the Millennium Curse
Character: Nurarihyon
Young women disappear one after another in drizzling rain. They all hear the “cursed song” of the Cage Song before they vanish into thin air. Kitaro and his friends investigate these mysterious cases when they meet Kaede Hiramoto, a high school girl who finds herself involved in this mystery. With the help from the librarian of Yokai Library, they find out that the curse was caused by an evil Yokai that was released from 1,000 years of sealing. To save Kaede, they are to gather the 5 ancient mus...
The Catch
Character: Fusajiro Kohama
A young man tries to overcome the hostility of his girlfriend's father, a tuna fisherman, by getting the father to teach him the trade's secrets....
A Woman Called En
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Set at the end of the feudal period. A woman spends most of her early life in prison, incarcerated by political opponents of her father. When she is released at the age of 44, the power struggles of her clan continue to disturb her life and the man whom she loves....
A Long Walk
Character: Matsutaro Yasuda
A lonely retired girl's High School Principal who's lost his wife to alcoholism moves to an old apartment in a country town. There he forms a relationship with a neglected little neighborhood girl....
Totteoki no Seishun
Character:
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Autumn Blossoms
Character:
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Man Walking on Snow
Character: Nobuo Honma
Mashike, a city on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Nobuo Honma is a 63-year-old sake producer. He has lived with Yasuo since his wife died two years ago. Yasuo is his youngest son to whom he has entrusted his trade. Every day Nobuo goes for a walk which leads him to a fish-breeding center, located in the mountains. He fills his loneliness by attentively observing the development of thousands of little fish poured into the pool. The second anniversary of his wife's death approaches. Nobuo insist...
Kokkai e ikô!
Character:
A close look at the inner workings of Japan's political underbelly....
Goodbye Japan
Character:
A political satire comedy depicting the turmoil caused when the residents of a small island in Okinawa, feeling neglected by the Japanese government's response, declare independence....
The Way of Osaka Financing 1
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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...
The Dream of Russia
Character: Koudayu Daikokuya - captain
Sumptuous filming of the journey of a shipwrecked Japanese expedition from the Pacific Ocean across Siberia to the court of Catherine the Great of Russia. A Russo-Japanese co-production of a unique event in history which was the hit of Cannes and other film festivals but did not receive wide distribution despite its huge scope, high production values, and very human story of culture clash....
The Peacock King
Character: Jiku Ajari
Coerced by the evil Witch Raga, Ashura, the Hell Virgin, attempts to unlock the four Earth holes that lead to the Gates of Hell. Together, Raga aims to control the Earth. However, two monks skilful in magical powers set off on a journey to the cities to obstruct Ashura from unlocking the gates and stop Raga. Otherwise, not only will control of the Earth be at stake, but the King of Hell will resurrect and darkness will overcome the world....
Why Not?
Character: Furukawa
The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society....
Journey Along the Silk Road
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Actor Ken Ogata takes you on an archaeological journey down the legendary Silk Road, the ancient trading route between China and the West. Also explored are the controversial claims of French scholar Paul Pelloit, who posited the existence of another route for the Silk Road across great stretches of desert. This remarkable documentary provides a fascinating glimpse into a rarely explored region, opening a window onto the past....
Zegen
Character: Iheiji Muraoka
At the time between the World Wars, Japan is involved in empire-building throughout East and Southeast Asia. After a brief career as a low-level military adventurer, Iheiji sets up chains of brothels throughout Asia. As Japan's power in the region grows, so does Iheiji's prosperity and patriotism....
House on Fire
Character: Kazuo Katsura
In the 50s, the complicated life of a popular writer who must share his life with his family, his numerous mistresses and his work...
My Soul Is Slashed
Character: Shutaro Ishikawa
A hospital accidentally gives a man Count Dracula's blood while trying to save his life. A year later, he's back from the dead, trying to right the wrongs of his life while trying to resist the urge to become a vampire....
The Castle of Sand
Character: Kenichi Miki
Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard....
A Chaos of Flowers
Character: Kan Yosano
Set in the Taisho era, which might be regarded as Japan's Hippie Phase, Hana no ran is a story about fashionable people without impulse control. Much of the action centers on a popular woman writer, the real-life poet Akiko Yosano, and her experiences among the literati of early 20th century Japan. Because of her independent, anti-war and often erotic poetry, she was a lightning rod for revolutionaries and other extremists, many of whom were destined to glamorous, yet ultimately pointless, death...
The House of Wooden Blocks
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On his return from school, young Ichiro finds his father in bed with his adopted sister, Namie. Enraged, he decides to outdo his father in terms of immoral behaviour....
The Sex Check
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Ken Ogata plays Shiro Miyagi, a sprinter with Olympic aspirations whose dreams were shattered by WWII. A broken man, he leads the dissolute life of a gigolo until a chance meeting with a fiery young athlete named Hiroko (Michiyo Yasuda). Realizing that she has talent as a sprinter, Miyagi sees a second chance at Olympic glory in becoming her coach. Following Miyagi’s unconventional, military-style training, Hiroko sets a record for the 100-meter dash, but her greatest hurdle proves to be a “sex ...
Memories of You
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University student Akira meets the lovely 14-year-old Yumi, whom he had tutored years ago. Her mother is told by her doctor that the schoolgirl has leukaemia and has only 6 months to live....
Rainbow Kids
Character: Inspector Daigoro Igari
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....
Shingo's Ten Duels
Character: The narrator
The classic tale of the shogun's illegitimate son Aoi Shingo is told in three parts as he strives to become the greatest fencer in Japan, while his father Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune seeks to reunite with his lost son. When the secrets of Shingo's birth are revealed to him, it sets off a series of events that bring him to cross swords with members of the shogun's inner circle in a series of duels that could change the destiny of Japan....
Company Executives
Character:
A fierce succession battle ignites at a newspaper company when the president passes away....
The Dropout
Character: Seiji Ohtaki
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....
Virus
Character: Prof. Tsuchiya
Scientists in Antarctica desperately try to find a cure to a military virus that was released in a plane crash and has wiped out the rest of the world....
Professional Killers – Assassin's Quarry
Character: Baian Fujieda
An assassin is mistaken for a doctor and threatened by a band of masterless warriors, but they realize their mistake and retreat into the darkness. Days later, he is asked to kill the doctor's brother. What secrets are these men hiding?...
Professional Killers – Assignment by Night
Character: Baian Fujieda
Three assassins take on a band of thieves who specialize in murder....
Oración
Character: Senzo Wataumi
Set on a quiet ranch in Hokkaido. One day, a colt is born from a legendary bloodline. It is given the name Oracion or "prayer". When Oracion is grown, a factory owner buys the horse. Will he be the key to solving the man's problems? Based on the novel by Teru Miyamoto....
Farewell, My Beloved
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During the early days of the war a young student, Makito (Kazuo Funaki), falls in love with Yuko (Mayumi Ozora), the widow of a naval officer. She, however, is living with the memories of her husband and it is her younger sister, Yumiko (Nana Ozaki), who grows fond of the student. Then, one day, a young naval officer, Tadayuki (Ken Ogata), a friend of her late husband, comes to see the widow and she becomes attracted to him. Though Makito is inspired to study for the navy, he is much upset when ...
Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally
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Older, wiser but still a wandering loner, the blind, peace-loving masseur Ichi seeks a peaceful life in a rural village. When he's caught in the middle of a power struggle between two rival Yakuza clans, his reputation as a deadly defender of the innocent is put to the ultimate test in a series of sword-slashing showdowns....
11’09”01—September 11
Character: Villager (segment "Japan")
Filmmakers from all over the world provide short films – each of which is eleven minutes, nine seconds, and one frame of film in length – that offer differing perspectives on the 9/11 terrorist attacks....
Izo
Character: Swordsman
Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine....
Last Quarter
Character: Doujima
Do you believe in love after death? On the eve of her 19th birthday, Mizuki (Kuriyama) doesn't have a lot to celebrate about. Her mother recently committed suicide, her stepfamily bothers her, her boyfriend has been cheating on her and her best friend has betrayed her. Hurt and disillusioned, Mizuki runs from everything and is drawn by some unknown force to a dilapidated estate. Deep within the house Mizuki discovers the mysterious Adam (Hyde), playing a hauntingly familiar melody on the guitar....
Lady with Seven Faces
Character: Scholar
A lovely female thief, and disguise artist, has a great passion for her next big job which she sets up with her right-hand man: She intends to steal 500 million yen of ill-gotten money from the safe at Nitto Textiles...
Okinawan Boys
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Goodbye Mama
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A successful office lady, who has made herself sexually available to a doctor, has her routine disrupted when her former boyfriend's son appears in her life. She is not connected to the boy, but his father has been in an accident....
Samurai Banners
Character: Hatanaka Buhei
Kansuke Yamamoto is a samurai who dreams of a country united, peaceful from sea to sea. He enters the service of Takeda, the lord of Kai domain. He convinces Takeda to kill the lord of neighboring Suwa and take his wife as a concubine. He then convinces the widow, Princess Yu, to accept this arrangement and to bear Takeda a son. He pledges them his life. He then spends years using treachery, poetic sensibility, military and political strategy to expand Takeda's realm, advance the claim of Yu's s...
The Hidden Blade
Character: Chief Retainer Hori
Set in 19th Century Japan a young samurai who finds himself in love with a farm girl leaves his home to begin a new life. He has to take stock of his new life when he is put to the test and ordered to kill a traitor who just happens to be his dearest friend....
Time Limit
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Mizusawa (Takenouchi Yutaka), an explosives expert, is arrested and charged with a string of bank robberies. Because he is a flight risk, Detective Kayama (Ogata Ken) is assigned to transport Mizusawa to Shizuoka for questioning. On the way, Kayama receives word that the hotel where his wife and daughter are attending a party has been rigged with a time bomb. Being a "by-the-book" kind of cop, Kayama refuses to abandon his job and return to help his family. Meanwhile, the hotel is swarming with ...
The Wicked
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A selfish playboy uses rich women to pay off his debts. Divorcing his wife and marrying the woman he loves throws him into a spiral of destruction....
Jugyo Sankan no Onna
Character: Kyohei Tasaka
One spring, Tasaka, an elementary school teacher, receives a new class of first graders. While taking the children's attendance, Tasaka is surprised to see a call girl he once had an encounter with standing among the parents in the back of the classroom. According to the school's files, her name is Yukako Sawada, and her child Eisaku has no legal father. The next day, Eisaku gives Tasaka a letter from Yukako asking to meet at the hotel where they first met, and Tasaka sets out with an uneasy fee...
Ana
Character: Toru Mori
A double suicide happens in Morioka in Iwate Prefecture. The two were employees of rival real estate companies. A prosecutor who senses a setup exposes the truth....
Succession
Character: Daisaku Kadota
A former stockbroker-turned-yakuza must make sure his alcoholic boss is up to the task of swearing in the next leader of their syndicate....
Granny Gabai
Character: Tofu shop owner
Gabai Granny is based on the bestseller Saga No Gabai Baachan (Gabai Granny from Saga), which is penned by comedian Shimada Yoshichi as he recounts his childhood memories of growing up under the care of his grandmother....
The Man Who Wipes Mirrors
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Tsutomu Minagawa is set to retire; the organized business life, a perfectly normal family living in a two-story house with a garage, the once unstoppable routine is about to close down forever. However, Tsutomu's last day changes him forever, as a car accident leads to his new purpose and sets him on a mission to clean every traffic mirror in Japan in order to save lives....
The Central Quicksand
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A tremor struck the Information Industry Bureau of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. The prosecution arrested a local contractor on suspicion of bribery, and then the brunt was directed to the Information Industry Bureau. The interviewee was Akihiko Kurahashi (Shinobu Tsuruta), the leader of the non-carrier group. Previously, Kiichiro Yamada (Ken Ogata), a clerk who lived next door in the government building, couldn't help but sympathize with Kurahashi, who had succeeded in his c...
太陽のきずあと
Character: Shuhei's Father
Director Chusei Sone, who was active in Nikkatsu romance, took up the megaphone for the first time at Toei and made a coming-of-age film that depicts a group of young people who live freely....
Soyokaze Toki ni wa Tsumujikaze
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A dramatization of veteran actor Ryo Ikebe's essay of the same name about his parents' eccentric marriage....