Movies: Shizue Natsukawa

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue come...

From 1928 to 1946, the lives of 12 young people and their school teacher in a poor Japanese village are profoundly affected by historical events and personal circumstances....

Based off of the novel, "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" and the ballet, "The Nutcracker", Sanrio shows their take on the classic story in a stop-motion animated film....

A young woman takes up her new job as the servant of a noblewoman and soon discovers that underneath her facade of luxury lies great unhappiness....

Following a yearlong attendance upon his shogun in Edo, samurai Hikokuro makes a long-awaited return to his home and doting wife, Dane. Initially greeted by the effusive welcome of his family, spiteful whispers also reach his ear about an adulterous ...

A sad and troubled man finds a new job five years after the end of WWII, where he writes love letters for other people....

A botanist woos the secretary of an industrialist whose company threatens the local water supply....

Nobuo is a hot-headed hoodlum fresh out of reform school who struggles to make a clean break with his tearaway past....

The story of two young men whose ambition is to become the personal bodyguards to the Shogun's uncle, Lord Mito Komon. Portrayed by a pair of up and coming stars, Sasaki Sukesaburo (Matsukata), the son of a widower and Atsumi Kakunoshin (Kitaoji), wh...

A young widow, made world weary by her abusive, neglectful husband, finds herself in a minor scandal when she's seen with her intense, no-nonsense childhood sweetheart....

Alongside Tokyo's Sumida River is a ragpickers' settlement known as Ant Village. One night, a young Catholic girl, Satoko Kitahara, who has been baptized under the name of Maria, comes to offer her services. However, Ant Village is not just an ordina...

Period piece about a young man who, because of his hard life alone in the world, has become a yakuza. When he hears that his mother may be living in Edo (Tokyo), he travels there, intent on finding her and leaving the swordsman's life behind. But a t...

Anzukko (Little Peach) is the daughter of a successful writer. She turns down each one of her suitors, until she marries a beginning writer named Ryokichi. Their life quickly sinks into despair....

The story of the trials and tribulations of a lighthouse keeper and his wife....

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Taking place in Shinshu in the 1920s, Tsumakoi Okoma, while traveling to hone her gambling skills, teams up with the vagabond Tsukuba Tsuneji and comes into conflict with gamblers plotting to take over a rustic hot-spring town. Handling a gun and swo...

A young man and woman are determined to marry despite opposition from her parents....

A carpenter, Shigetsugu, learns a lesson of love and humanity from five orphaned children and an affectionate woman named Oritsu. It's a winning combination of drama and humor. The warm friendship that grows between the carpenter, the woman and the ...

1962 Japanese movie...

A classic melodramatic love tragedy addressing social inequality in Taishō-era Japan, The nostalgic scenes of 1920s Tokyo provides a valuable visual experience set against the background of the title song, "Tokyo March." (Sadly, less than a half hour...