Taiji Tonoyama Movies

A young New York City rock singer decides to try her hand at fame in Japan so makes the journey. Upon her arrival she meets a Japanese musician who needs an American girl to front his band. Fortunately, she joins up, and the band makes it big while she and the musician engage in a comedic romance. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Comic Magazine is a powerhouse reenactment of a 1985 ethics scandal that rocked the Japanese journalistic world. Pop star Yuya Uchida plays a TV entertainment reporter who is egged on by his bosses to "pump up" his telecasts. He gets his opportunity when a prominent investment manager, caught in the middle of a fraudulent gold investment scheme, locks himself in his lavish home. While Uchida and the other reporters try to gain entrance, two disreputable-looking gentlemen, announcing that they've been paid to assassinate the crooked investor, walk into the home unmolested--then walk out a few moments later, soaked in blood. No one lifts a finger to stop the two hit men from leaving....and it sure makes a swell TV story. Astonishingly, many of the characters in Comic Magazine--reporters, investors, even a pair of Yakuza mobsters-are the genuine article. Voyeuristic to the nth degree, Comic Magazine was highly praised when it was first released in Japan under the title Komikku Zasshi Nanka Irani. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this second, award-winning interpretation of a novel by Shichiro Fukazawa, director Shohei Imamura has inserted some scenes of violence and ritual sex that are shocking and were absent in the first, 1958 film. The story is set in the 19th century in a remote and severely impoverished mountain village in northern Japan. In this fictional society, once the elderly have reached the age of 70 they are brought up Mount Nara, where ancient gods reside, and left to die hopefully blessed by the deities -- this sacrifice will free up food for someone else in the village. Orin (Sumiko Sakamoto) is a 69-year-old grandmother living with one of her sons and three grandchildren and she prepares for her departure for an entire year. Among other activities (not always morally acceptable), she gets a new wife for her oldest son, and then shows the wife where the best place is for catching fish and how to take care of the family. At the top of the mountain, hundreds of skeletons and hungry black crows wait for the next arrivals as the resigned grandmother and one grieving son make the final ascent together, the woman strapped to her son's back. Director Imamura has trenchantly probed the nature of inhumanity and survival in a small, everyman's village. Narayama Bushi Ko won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1983. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Set at the mouth of a river in Osaka, Japan less than 10 years after WW II, this touching drama centers on the life lessons learned by two disparate young boys. Asahara's parents own a small restaurant. Sakurai is his new friend. He lives with his mother in a houseboat.. It does not take long for Sakurai and Asahara to become close friends, but the latter is puzzled by Sakurai's unwillingness to talk about his mother and his refusal to allow Asahara to visit his home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This unsentimental Japanese tragedy chronicles the lonely life and quiet death of a blind Geisha girl whose desire for sexual freedom causes her to become an outcast. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After over 50 years of wandering up and down Japan, finally in the 1970s the rough-hewn blind shamisien player and folk-song collector named Chikuzan became a musical sensation. This biographical drama chronicles his wanderings and his life, with a particular focus on his humble beginnings as a peasant on a remote and arid island. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

When everyone connected with a mysterious boat systematically fall prey to an unknown killer, sexy martial arts expert Rica teams with a rough and tumble detective in order to get to the bottom of the case and make sure that justice is served. Rica (Rika Aoki) is the daughter of a Japanese prostitute who was viciously raped by American GIs. As a young girl Rica always had to fend for herself, and now as a grown woman she metes out punishment to those who take advantage of the downtrodden and defenseless. Rica's no stranger to the underworld, so when a series of dead bodies begin to turn up she knows that something is stirring among the criminal elite. Upon discovering that a dangerous drug cartel is behind the killings, Rica enlists the aid of a crime fighting detective in taking out her targets and cleaning up the streets. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

East China Sea is a "life is cheap" melodrama in which the American characters are the least appealing. A sociopathic gangster offers to shepherd a Japanese boat crew to safety. What the crew doesn't know is that the gangster is leading them into a trap. The U.S. Air Force is on maneuvers, and the crook hopes to provide a target for American gunners. Just why he does this is made clear (though not abundantly so) within the storyline. East China Sea was originally shown under the title Higashi Shinakai. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in feudal Japan, this atmospheric and violent ghost story (whose title literally translates as The Black Cat in the Bush) begins with the brutal murder of two women by a band of mercenary samurai, whose leader is subsequently tracked down, seduced, and murdered by a young woman possessed by the shape-shifting specter of his victim. Called upon to avenge the warrior's death is none other than the woman's former husband, who has been ordered by his superiors to assassinate the guilty party. Plot twists abound as the older, vengeful spirit seeks to exact poetic justice despite the younger ghost's reluctance to destroy the man who once loved her. Though not on the epic level of Kwaidan or Onibaba, this adaptation of an ancient folk tale benefits from the same cultural richness, as well as a touch of social allegory. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

After students prankishly steal the clothes of two people swimming nude in the ocean, the swimmers return to land and wander around au naturel. They are assumed to be Korean illegal immigrants, and are chased and hounded. This comedy takes a rare look at Japanese racism. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The unstable social milieu of postwar Japan is brought into play in Violence at Noon. Two young women, whose lives are far from blissful, are raped by an equally disenfranchised assailant. Director Nagisa Oshima seems to argue that it is the horrid living conditions endured by the rapist and his victims, rather than the rape itself, that should be condemned. Oshima sustains audience interest with his lightning-paced editing, offering some 2000 separate shots in the space of 90 minutes. Violence at Noon begins simply, but ends in so complex a fashion that more questions are raised than can ever possibly be answered. The film's original Japanese title was Hakuchu no Torima. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Insect Woman covers 45 years in the life of long-suffering Japanese woman Tome Matsuki, played brilliantly by Sachiko Hidari. Thrust into the cold world at age 20, the pregnant Tome takes a factory job. She gives this up for the relative comfort of the life of an American GI's mistress. Once her American benefactor heads home, she seeks shelter in a house of prostitution, eventually becoming the Madam. Late in life, she is introduced to the daughter she'd abandoned years earlier, whose life has followed pretty much the same path as her mother's had. The winner of 14 Japanese film awards, The Insect Woman details the decline of cultural values as mirrored by one single misspent life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The titular island in this Japanese domestic drama is an agrarian flyspeck, almost completely cut off from contact with the mainland. Here the island's residents mechanically go through their everyday farming tasks. The film concentrates on a family of five, content with their existence despite its hardships. When the oldest son dies, it is the first of many devastating blows that nearly rip the family asunder. Originally titled Hadaka No Shima, the film was also released as Naked Island. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide