Japanese Films to see

On the third anniversary of a cult's failed chemical attack on Tokyo and their subsequent mass suicide, family members of those affected gather at the cult's former base on the shores of a lake to observe the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths.

A disillusioned filmmaker has an encounter with a young woman who has a ritual of repeating "Tomorrow is my birthday" everyday. He tries to communicate with her through his video camera.

2000 Japanese film directed by Junji Sakamoto

1999 Japanese film directed by Takashi Koizumi

1999 film by Takeshi Kitano

On what apparently is a parallel world, time flows in a much slower pace than normal. The ocean remains on a solid state of matter as the eccentric individuals who inhabit this land casually wander over it.

The Black Swordsman has flash backs to years past and his trials and tribulations in the Band of the Hawk.

Encouraged by her managers, rising pop star Mima takes on a recurring role on a popular TV show, when suddenly her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered.

The slow collapse of the relationship between an out-of-work actor and his girlfriend.

Tomiko falls in love with Niitaka, even though she also suspects him of being the Tokyo bus driver serial killer, who killed his female conductors after tiring of them.

Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.

Tells of the childhood of two nine-year-old twins in a rural village in Japan after World War 2. Includes the boys relationships with their schoolteacher mother, civil servant father, elderly landlord, a rough new boy at the school, and three mysterious spirits in the form of old women.

1996 film by Yoshimitsu Morita

Ever since an accident in the mountains outside town, Takuji's slept in a coma; his neighbors care for him as new events occur every day.

A coming-of-age story. Shuji, a Japanese teen, is falling in love with his friend Hiroyuki, however, Hiroyuki is attracted to Kasane, the new girl in their class.

A teenage girl gains supernatural power after an accident and comes to understand her place in the universe.

日本神户某个飘雪的冬日，渡边博子（中山美穗）在前未婚夫藤井树的两周年祭日上又一次悲痛到不能自已。正因为无法抑制住对已逝恋人的思念，渡边博子在其中学同学录里发现“藤井树” 在小樽市读书时的地址时，依循着寄发了一封本以为是发往天国的情书。 不想不久渡边博子竟然收到署名为“藤井树（酒井美纪）”的回信，经过进一步了解，她知晓此藤井树是一个同她年纪相仿的女孩，且还是男友藤井树（柏原崇）少年时代的同班同学。为了多了解一些昔日恋人在中学时代的情况，渡边博子开始与女性藤井树书信往来。而藤井树在不断的回忆中，渐渐发现少年时代与她同名同姓的那个藤井树曾对自己藏了一腔柔情。

Takashi and Yuriko are like any other young couple. He is a high school teacher, she takes care of the household chores and holds a job on the side transcribing audio recordings for a publishing house. Their marriage follows the traditional Japanese model: Yuriko has given up a promising career as a concert pianist and still laments the decision, despite having embraced the life of a housewife, while Takashi stays out until very late every day, spending his time after work with his colleagues rather than with his wife. Though dinners regularly go cold on him and the look on the face of his wife is far from happy, Takashi remains oblivious to the abandonment he inflicts on Yuriko.

A profile of the controversial novelist Mitsuharu Inoue, filmed during the last years of his life.

Near the remains of an iron factory, an old painter faces the challenges of creation, as his longtime muse has not appeared in some time. A young girl lends her curiosity to discover what it is that holds the old painter back. Her mother tells her a bedtime story to which brings understanding of the relationship between the abandoned factory and the lonely artist nearby. Poetically representing a new relationship between human beings and things buried in oblivion after doing their duties, this work approaches the essence of 'science' and 'civilization.'