Kunie Tanaka Movies

Yoji Yamada, a veteran director who has become a national icon thanks to his beloved Tora-san (Otoko wa tsurai yo) series, spins this tale about a gruff, lovable junior high school teacher working in a night school in Tokyo's low-rent shitamachi district. Like Tora-san, Kuroi-sensei (Toshiyuki Nishida) may be crass, unfashionable, and a complete slob, but he has a heart of gold and a fervent devotion to his students. Though his principal wants him to transfer to another junior high in a much more high-end part of town, Kuroi resists; he's too committed to his students in the neighborhood. His pupils, having fallen through the cracks of the Japanese educational system and failed to get a junior high diploma, are all outsiders in one fashion or another. His students include Onomi (Eiko Shinya), a Korean woman who manages a small restaurant; Midori (Nae Yuki), a former junkie hoping to become a beautician; Eriko, a teen from a nice middle-class family who outright refuses to go to her nice middle-class school; Chan (Weng Huarong), a recent immigrant and son to a Japanese war orphan; and Ino-san (Kunie Tanaka), an illiterate day laborer with a brilliant memory for horse-racing statistics. The film opens with all of the students writing their graduation essays as Kuroi reminisces about the year. He recalls Onomi ebullient after writing her first letter in Japanese; Midori balled up by the school gate, in a panic as to whether to enter or not; Eriko breaking out of her shell on the volleyball court; and Ino-san memorizing Chinese characters like a mad man in order to impress Kuroi's comely colleague Tajima-sensei (Keiko Takeshita). ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Eiji Kawano (Kunie Tanaka) has recently broken from the Japanese company he used to work for. As an immigrant to Tasmania, he has been won over by the island's immense natural beauty, and he is conscience-bound to oppose his former employer's ecologically unsound practices. He is also estranged from his grown son, who still resides in Japan. When his son comes to Tasmania for a visit, he must face the challenge of renewing their relationship. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Kazuo Kuroki's Ronin-Gai transpires during the final years of the time when samurais figured prominently in Japanese society. The title town is filled with prostitutes and samurai who have been disgraced. The hedonistic warriors are presented with the possibility of redemption when the women of the town are threatened. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

In an emotional and dramatic -- if not melodramatic accounting of a former Japanese gang member, some of the traits of the yakuza, or Japanese Mafia, are brought forward. Shuji (Ken Takakura) has taken the bold step of leaving his yakuza clan behind to start a new life in a small fishing village. He marries a local woman, makes friends, and then trouble starts. While defending a barmaid against the brutality of her husband, Shuji's jacket is ripped and the large yakuza tattoo on his back is revealed. (The different yakuza clans have identifying tattoos, and many yakuza have nearly full-body tattoos.) The villagers immediately cut off all relationships with Shuji -- and in response, he goes after the gangsters who are selling drugs to the barmaid's husband, the very men who were once his yakuza brothers. (Ya-ku-za means "8-9-10" and refers to a worthless hand in a card game.) ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The infamous "Criminal 22" is at large in Tokyo. This is a vicious, sadistic murderer who takes special delight in "offing" cops. Detective Ken Takakura makes it his mission in life to wipe Criminal 22 from the face of the earth. If The Station plays like an American crime-and-punishment picture at times, it comes by this honestly. Like Kurosawa's High and Low, the film was adapted from an "87th Precinct" novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter and Salvatore Lambino). The Station bears no relation to the 1990 Italian film of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Kosuke Kindaichi is a popular detective found in Seishi Yokomizo's novels, and this is one of several movies that have been made based on his character. Yokomizo's plots have more twists and turns than Japanese calligraphy and loudly invite parody. This film is not an RSVP to that invitation. Director Nobuhiko Obayashi has not parodied Yokomizo's style so much as imitated it. Kindaichi (Ikko Furuya) is called in to discover who has decapitated a precious statue and to find the missing head so it can be reattached. With this simple premise, a long series of circumstances lead the detective into many blind alleys as corpses litter the landscape and inept policemen bungle their jobs. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Japan's most famous animated anti-hero comes to life in director Takashi Tsuboshima's live action adaptation of Japanese comic artist Monkey Punch's wildly popular manga series. The malevolent Maccherone organization is determined to acquire an invaluable national treasure, and the only thing standing in their way is unpredictable thief Lupin (Yuki Meguro). With doggedly determined Inspector Zenigata (Shiro Ito) on his tail and a team of Maccherone assassins sent to rub him out and kidnap his cat-burglar girlfriend Fujiko (Hideo Ezaki), Lupin and his loyal gunman Jigen (Kunie Tanaka) must stay alive long enough to rescue Fujiko, get the loot, and escape the long arm of the law before his remarkable good luck runs out. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Wolves is set in Japan in the 1920s. The disintegration of the ancient samurai traditions is paralleled with the rise of the Yakuza, Japan's equivalent of the Mafia. Three gangsters try to keep themselves from getting killed, not only by their higher-ups but by those who perceive them as a threat against the old ways. Evocatively photographed, Wolves allows Western audiences a glimpse of an oft-ignored chapter in Japanese history. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When 4 boys and their sister are orphaned, they work hard to care for each other and grow up in this Japanese drama. ~ Rovi

Dodes'ka-Den (aka Dodesukaden) was Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's first project since Red Beard (1965), and his first ever in color. Kurosawa focuses this time on Tokyo slum life. We watch as a variety of unfortunates debase themselves to survive, yet, somehow, emerge with more innate dignity than the so-called "better" people. While it seems inconceivable that Dodes'ka-Den would fail at the box office, fail it did upon its original release. The Japanese distributors hastily pared down the film's 244 minutes to 140 (unfortunately destroying the original negative in the process), but this version also came a cropper. It was the negative reaction to Dodes'ka-Den, which allegedly prompted Kurosawa to attempt suicide. Happily, he survived to reclaim his industry stature with 1976's Dersu Uzala. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this sequel to Young Guy Graduates, Young Guy has become a sales engineer for a Japanese auto company and lives in Sydney, Australia. When a former schoolmate comes to visit, poor Young Guy is so busy that he cannot show him the sights. Instead he asks a good friend to take the visitor around. The tourist soon falls in love with his guide, who is really in love with Young Guy. Later, the salesman is sent back to Japan where he sees his father, who is starting a restaurant. Though it is not going well, his father still has time to woo the lovely owner of a nearby boutique. Young Guy meets a Young Gal who works for a company promoting development in New Zealand. He falls head over heels for her. The trouble is, his Australian girl shows up to be with him and the young gal jilts him. Later he is sent to New Zealand and must work beside Young Gal. Eventually their love overcomes all and upon Mt. Cook, they proclaim their undying love. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi