Toshiaki Nakazawa Movies

Japanese auteur Takashi Miike takes an uncharacteristically serious and somber approach to this moody period tale of honor and revenge. In the 17th century, Japan is enjoying an era of calm and tranquility, which is good news for most people but bad news for the samurai, the class of professional soldiers who now find themselves without jobs or a sense of purpose. Hanshiro (Ebizo Ichikawa) is a samurai who, with no money and no prospects, has arrived at the House of Ii, hoping to use its courtyard as a setting for the suicide ritual known as hara-kiri. However, the ruler of the House if Ii, Kageyu (Koji Yakusho), has been hearing similar requests often as of late, and he knows most of them are emotional blackmail, attempts to persuade the members of the house to give the samurai money. To show what he thinks of such shameless appeals, Kageyu tells Hanshiro the story of one such warrior, Motome (Eita), who had his bluff called and was forced to take his own life with a dull weapon made of bamboo. But Kageyu is unaware of the connection between Hanshiro and Motome, and he underestimates the impact this story will have on Hanshiro. Adapted from Masaki Kobayashi's celebrated 1962 feature Harakiri, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (aka Ichimei) was also one of the first 3-D features to debut at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Director Yojiro Takita and writer Kundo Koyama examine the rituals surrounding death in Japan with this tale of an out-of-work cellist who accepts a job as a "Nokanashi" or "encoffineer" (the Japanese equivalent of an undertaker) in order to provide for himself and his young wife. Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a talented musician, but when his orchestra is abruptly disbanded, he suddenly finds himself without a source of steady income. Making the decision to move back to his small hometown, Daigo answers a classified ad for a company called "Departures," mistakenly assuming that he will be working for a travel agency. Upon discovering that he will actually be preparing the bodies of the recently deceased for their trip to the afterlife, Daigo accepts the position as gatekeeper between life and death and gradually gains a greater appreciation for life. But while Daigo's wife and friends universally despise his new line of work, he takes a great amount of pride in the fact that he is helping to ensure that the dead receive a proper send-off from this state of being. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Issei Shibata delivers this adrenalin-fueled thriller about a rash of murders all involving people with the surname "Sato," and a desperate high school student with that name who becomes trapped in a parallel world while being forced to participate in a lethal game of tag. All across Japan, people with the last name "Sato" are perishing in bizarre accidents, dying freakish deaths, or simply taking their own lives. Though distracted high school student Tsubasa Sato is too busy tending to his catatonic sister in the hospital and attempting to get through to his alcoholic father to take note of the trend, the Sato curse seems to strike him hard when, after engaging in a fight with a vicious gangster, he awakens in a parallel world where everything - and everyone - are just slightly different than they used to be. In this world, a masked King occupies an enormous tower in the center of the city, and he's decreed a public game of tag in which anyone named "Sato" is targeted for death by his legion of hooded minions. With the city sirens sound, the onigokko (chasing game) is on. Anyone who successfully eludes the pursuers for a few hours each day of the week is to be granted any wish they want. Luckily, Tsubasa excels at chasing games, and before long he's discovered a curious link between this parallel world and his former reality: when a contestant is killed in the parallel world, his counterpart in the real world perishes as well. Now, as the siren sounds and the chase begins, Tsubasa hits the ground running in hopes of reaching his sister before the army of masked killers do. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Ten years after Japan withdrew from the U.N., cut their ties with all the nations of the Earth, and built an impenetrable electromagnetic field to prevent any outsiders from entering their borders, a high-tech American commando unit is dispatched on an unofficial mission to penetrate the shield surrounding the country and gather information about their highly advanced robotics program. The year is 2077, and Japan has been accused of conducting illegal robotics research. As a result, the leaders of Japan have decided to construct a massive electromagnetic field known as RACE to prevent any further meddling in their domestic affairs. Meanwhile, back in the United States, an elite commando unit dubbed SWORD launches a surprise attack on a powerful Nipponese conglomerate known as Daiwa Heavy Industries and nearly captures primary android Saito (voice of Akio Otsuka). The leader of SWORD is fearless commando Vexille (voice of Meisa Kuroki), and though she may have failed to capture Saito Vexille is determined to succeed at her team's next mission. American intelligence has gathered that Daiwa has recently made substantial advancements in the realm of robotics, and despite the difficulty of breaching Japan's borders they are determined to learn these valuable trade secrets. In order to make this happen, Vexille and her boyfriend Leon (voice of Shosuke Tanihara) will have seventy-two hours to lead their team into Japan, gather the information on Daiwa's robotics program, and get out. It's a secret mission that hasn't been officially sanctioned by the U.S. government, but could benefit that current leaders and politicians greatly. But once in Japan Vexille is separated from the group, and quickly discovers that Saito has been awaiting their arrival. Upon awakening in a barrio-like district that was once the capital of Japan, Vexille quickly teams with resistance fighter Maria (voice of Yasuko Matsuyuki) - a former girlfriend of Leon's who also harbors a growing grudge against Daiwa. Later, after Vexille gathers the necessary resources and locates the rest of her team, she, Leon, and Maria lead a daring attack on Daiwa's artificial, offshore fortress. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Ai Yazawa's popular manga of the same name comes to the screen in this adventure about two girls who share the same name as they struggle to sort out their complex love lives. Nana "Hachi" Komatsu has been drawn into a passionate love triangle with Trapnest bassist Takumi and Black Stones' guitarist Nobu. Meanwhile, Nana "Osaki" holds out hope that her band Black Stones will finally find success while being drawn into a clandestine relationship with Trapnest guitarist Ren. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The effects of schizophrenia reverberate through three generations of educated Indian women when a woman is diagnosed with the psychotic disorder and those around her, including her westernized daughter, struggle to maintain normal lives. As Azumi 2 gets underway, remaining assassins Azumi and Nagara set out in pursuit of their final target - the notorious Masayuki Sanada. But Sanada is fully prepared for the confrontation; he's hired the dreaded Koga Ninja Clan to dispense with Azumi, and they won't stop until their mission has been completed. The Koga Ninja Clan aren't the only foes that Azumi has to worry about either, because Kiyomasa's failed retainer Kanbei is out for blood as well. With enemies closing in from all sides, things are beginning to look decidedly grim for the assassin forced to choose between love and duty. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Orphaned as a little girl, Azumi (Aya Ueto) is raised in the forest with a group of ten children by their master (Yoshio Harada), who trains them to be peerless assassins. Azumi and Nachi (Shun Oguri) are the strongest of the fighters. When the group comes of age, the master gives them one final test. He tells them to team up with the person to whom they feel closest. Then he tells them to kill that person, explaining that an assassin never gets to choose whom to kill. The teens reluctantly fight to the death. Then the survivors are brought out of the woods to begin their work, assassinating the corrupt warlords who are preventing peace in the land. The assassins, particularly Azumi, perform their missions with flair, but complications arise. One of the teens (Takatoshi Kaneko) is poisoned by a ninja's blade, one (Kenji Kohashi) falls in love with a circus performer (Aya Okamoto), and Azumi begins to question her desire to live the violent life of an assassin. Meanwhile, one warlord (Naoto Takenaka) cleverly escapes their blades, and together with his bodyguard Kenbei (Kazuki Kitamura) and a "monkey-faced" ninja, Saru (Minoru Matsumoto), they find Bijomaru (Jô Odagiri from Bright Future), a violent madman, release him from prison, and unleash him upon the young team of assassins. Azumi, based on the manga by Yu Koyama, is the first of cult director Ryuhei Kitamura's (Versus) films to be made within the Japanese studio system. It was shown at the 2004 New York Asian Film Festival, presented by Subway Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

One of Japan's hottest young directors, Takashi Miike directs this curious adventure story set in China's picturesque Yunnan province. Workaholic Tokyo salaryman Wada (Masashiro Motoki) ventures into deepest, darkest China to investigate a massive deposit of high-quality jade. Tailing him is Ujiie (Renji Ishibashi), a snarling yakuza hell-bent on getting Wada's company to repay its debts. Led by their unflappable guide, Shun (Mako), the two go through rural villages and striking landscapes, quickly leaving behind all signs of the 20th century. As the trail grows narrower and more remote and as they brave gales, bugs, and floods, the long simmering tension between Wada and Ujiie bursts into full-scale contempt. One night, after Shun gets blind drunk, he hits his head and loses his memory. Now completely lost, the trio stumbles upon a hill tribe, whose children are adorned with wings made from bamboo and paper. Their teacher, a blue-eyed woman named Yan (Li Li Wang), tells them that she is teaching them to fly. Wada quickly becomes obsessed with this curious local. After she tells him that she has a book on human-powered flight and that her grandfather was a downed British airman, he almost believes that she can teach her students to soar. Soon Wada feels purged from the evils of city life while Ujiie decides to dedicate his life to protecting the village. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Famed onnagata (a man who plays women's parts in Kabuki) Tamasaburo Bando follows up on the success of his directorial debut, Gekashitsu, with this soft-focused romance about love and obligation, based on a novel by Kafu Nagai. Set during the Meiji period (1868-1912), Kaede (Sayuri Yoshinaga) is the former mistress of a wealthy merchant. When he dies, she is forced out on the street and forced to give up her young daughter to the merchant's family. The film opens with her working in a high-class brothel abutting Tokyo Bay. Though she has passionate affection for a drug wholesaler, whom she loves as well, Kaede is swamped with not only debts to the bordello and family obligations -- she is expected to support her parents and her sister -- but also guilt over losing her child. This pain is only increased when Kaede learns that her daughter is being abused. She does the only thing she can: She buys back her child by signing on at the brothel for a longer stint. Meanwhile, her lover tries to buy her out of prostitution, but she refuses in order to pay for her child's freedom. As a result, her lover hangs himself, heaping further sorrow on the downtrodden but elegant heroine. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi