Kiyoshi Sasabe
1958 - 2020陽はまた昇る
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Toshiyuki Nishida, Ken Watanabe
A Japanese film that tells the tale of the birth of VHS. It follows Kagatani Shizuo, an electronics employee who rallies his coworkers to save their jobs by increasing sales. They do this by developing the VHS standard. They battle with Sony and their standard and ultimately prevail.
Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS
四日間の奇跡
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Mitsuru Hirata, Renji Ishibashi
Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" wafts through a hospice recreation room. Sitting at the grand piano is a young girl, Chiori, with a prodigious ability to play any piece of music after one hearing. Keisuke Kisaragi whose career was abruptly cut short when he jumped in front of a bullet fired by a crazed gunman. The nerves in one hand were severed but he saved the life of Chiori. The tragic incident takes the lives of Chiori's parents, however, and Keisuke becomes her guardian. Not long after their return to Japan, Keisuke discovers Chiori's musical gift.
Miracle in Four Days
夕凪の街 桜の国
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Rena Tanaka, Kumiko Aso
Thirteen years afterward, I wonder if those who bombed Hiroshima are looking at me and saying: 'We did it! We were able to kill another person!' They should be," murmurs Minami (played by Kumiko Aso), one of the two leading female characters in Yunagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni, as she lies dying in 1958, her life brought to a premature end by sickness resulting from her exposure to atomic bomb radiation. This is a story about those who at least initially survived the first U.S. atomic bombing of 1945 and their descendants in contemporary times. The film, based on a comic by Fumiyo Kono, jumps between the two time frames and quietly depicts the sorrow and mortification experienced through the everyday lives of laid-back and soft-spoken Hiroshima people. Only a few scenes of the bombing and the ensuing devastation are featured.
Yunagi City, Sakura Country
ツレがうつになりまして。
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Aoi Miyazaki, Масато Сакаи
Mikio is a married man and works hard for the company where he is employed. Then one day Mikio is diagnosed with depression. Mikio's wife is Haruko. They have been married for 5 years. Haruko draws comics for work, but they do not sell well. She mainly relied on Mikio for support. Meanwhile, Haruko did not notice any changes in her husband. She begins to blame herself for not noticing any signs. Mikio's depression derived from his work. His company has been pressing him to quit the company. After Mikio quits his job his condition improves, but the dynamics of their relationship changes.
My SO Has Got Depression
東京難民
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Aoi Nakamura, Chihiro Otsuka
When his father flees from debt, carefree college student Osamu sees his life turn upside-down. Expelled from school and evicted from his apartment, he becomes one of Japan’s many ‘net cafe refugees’, barely scraping by each day with temporary and part-time work. Even though he’s still in Tokyo, his circumstances drive him to see and experience his home city in new ways. Trying to survive, Osamu gradually acquaints himself with the ‘invisible’ spaces occupied by the wanderers and homeless of Tokyo… people just like himself.
Tokyo Refugees
カーテンコール
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Ayumi Ito, Takashi Fujii
Kaori is pursuing her career as a journalist for a magazine with great enthusiasm. But as a result of an article she wrote, she is sent to work for a community magazine at Fukuoka. An anonymous letter arrives, which puts her in contact with an old and forgotten theater, the 'Minato Theater' in nearby Shimonoseki.
Curtain Call
チルソクの夏
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Juri Ueno, Yuri Mizutani
Chirusoku Summer, the film set in the sister cities of Pusan, South Korea and the city of Shimonoseki-shi, Yamaguchi. During the Summer of 2003, four girls from Shimonoseki-shi, Yamaguchi travels to Pusan, South Korea for a sports festival and one of them fall in love...
The Stars Converge
半落ち
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Akira Terao, Mieko Harada
Half a Confession introduces itself as a thriller and abruptly changes gears, transforming into a tale of morality with deeper insights into its characters than we had anticipated. It begins when Soichiro Kaji (Terao), a retired detective, walks into police headquarters and confesses to the murder of his wife. We learn that the victim had prematurely developed Alzheimer's after the tragic death of their son, and in her suffering, had asked to die. The police chiefs would be far more content to take him at his word if it were not for a conspicuous hole in his story: 48-hour gap between the alleged murder and his confession. Fearing a public relations nightmare, they are eager to bury the incident and keep the press in the dark.
Half a Confession
出口のない海 Deguchi no Nai Umi
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Ebizo Ichikawa, Yusuke Iseya
Koji Namiki is a young pitcher who has shown great promise on the diamond by winning the National High School Basketball Championships. Shortly after entering college, however, Namiki's athletic career is called into question after he suffers a severe elbow injury. But despite a disheartening diagnosis, Namiki is determined to make a comeback. With a little help from his teammates it appears that he is getting back on track, too. Recently, he's even developed a new slow ball that he and his teammates have christened "the magic pitch". Fate can be a cruel mistress though, and when World War II breaks out Namiki the entire team join the navy and begin a training regiment specifically designed to prepare them for the ultimate darkness, an submarine attack method also known as "The Human Torpedo".
Sea Without Exit
八重子のハミング
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Takeshi Masu, Yoko Takahashi
Yaeko has taken care of her husband Seigo who has stomach cancer. Seigo goes through 4 surgeries, but survives. Yaeko is then diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and her condition worsens. Their family struggles to take care of Yaeko, but they also cherish their time with her. Seigo takes care of Yaeko as best as he can.
Yaeko's Hum
日輪の遺産
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Масато Сакаи, Shido Nakamura
Set during the end of World War II, Major Mashiba (Masato Sakai) and others receive an order to hide 200 trillion yen worth of treasures. These treasures are to help rebuild the country after the war. 20 girls are mobilized to carry out the mission.
The Legacy of the Sun
種まく旅人 〜夢のつぎ木〜
Kiyoshi Sasabe
Rin Takanashi, Takumi Saitoh
Acclaimed director of Summer of Chirusoku, Half a Confession and Yunagi City, Sakura Country Kiyoshi Sasabe casts Rin Takanashi and Takumi Saitoh as members of the farming industry. The Sowing Traveller 3 tells a universal story of the cherished act of growing fruit. Ayane is conflicted about coming back home because she feels it’s a setback. Filming took place in Akaiwa, Okayama prefecture, a peach growing area with lots of sun and fertile soil. Along with the harmony of daily life that the local people have with nature, an important feature of the film is its beautiful landscapes.
The Sowing Traveller 3