Namiji Namiura
1937 (88 лет)狂熱の果て
Eizō Yamagiwa
Kōji Matsubara, Mitsuko Sawamura
A leading postwar Japanese film critic and theorist who co-founded the seminal film magazine Eiga Hihyo (Film Criticism) in 1957, Eizo Yamagiwa made his directorial debut with this independent feature—long thought lost until a negative was recently discovered—about a group of idle bourgeois students known as the “Roppongi Tribe” (Roppongi zoku). Depicting the resignation and nihilism of the postwar generation in the years following the Anpo Treaty conflicts through a coming-of-age narrative, Yamagiwa offers sharp criticism of the prevalent characterizations of Japan's new youth offered by Nikkatsu's taiyozoku (“Sun Tribe”) films and the New Wave at large.
The End of Love
怪猫 お玉が池
Yoshihiro Ishikawa
Shōzaburō Date, Namiji Namiura
Two lovers lost in the mountains. In what direction do not go, they find themselves in a mysterious forest pond, as if some kind of force does not want to let them go. Once upon a time, over a century ago, there had been a crime, whose shadow still hovers over these places.
The Ghost Cat of Otama Pond
九十九本目の生娘
Morihei Magatani
Bunta Sugawara, Namiji Namiura
In the northern province, two waitresses Mieko and Hanako from Tokyo, are missing somewhere near the River Kitakami. At night, the villagers of Shirayama gather round a blazing fire, and utter incantations while an old headman tempers a sword...
The Blood Sword of the 99th Virgin
怪談本所七不思議
Gorô Kadono
Jūzaburō Akechi, Namiji Namiura
A samurai rescues a mischievous tanuki from hunters and sets it free. When the samurai's wastrel son hatches a plot to kill his father for his fortune, the magical tanuki is determined to protect its rescuer.
Ghost Stories of Wanderer at Honjo
憲兵とバラバラ死美人
Kyōtarō Namiki
Shoji Nakayama, Shigeru Amachi
The year is 1937, and it has been six months since the Sendai Infantry left for Manchuria. The rotted corpse of a young woman is found at the bottom of a well, but her face and limbs are gone. The military police begin an investigation and search fervently for the person responsible, but they can't even determine the victim's identity, much less find any clues. However, the incident is made public when newspapers give wide coverage to the story, so Staff Sergeant Kosaka is dispatched from Tokyo to solve the case. Eventually, General Tsunekichi is taken into custody by local infantrymen because of the testimony of another unit, but the spirit of the dead woman appears before Staff Sergeant Kosaka, who continues to investigate on his own...
The Military Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty
御存知黒田ぶし 決戦黒田城
Gorô Kadono
Kanjūrō Arashi, Shōzaburō Date
After the massacre of Christians at Shimabara, followers of Amakusa Shiro band together in a plot to overthrow the shogunate in order to exact revenge on the Tokugawa. At the same time there is a succession dispute in the Kuroda clan, as one faction tried to usurp the rightful heir and take over the honored clan. Before his untimely death, the lord of the Kuroda bestowed “Nihongo”, a magnificent spear, on his finest warrior, which ultimately brings him into contact with two of Japan’s most famous historical figures, Yagyu Jubei and Miyamoto Musashi. Can the three masters of martial art join forces to defeat their enemies and save the nation?
Decisive Battle at Kuroda Castle
