Sakae Kimura

Kamome

Genji Nakamura

Hitomi Shimizu, Tomorowo Taguchi

Persimmon

Dean Yamada

Sahori Ehara, Aduchi Kaneko

Tamotsu is expecting a persimmon to dry and yet he cannot accept that it is time for a man on his deathbed to die. As the persimmon mysteriously, or supernaturally, holds out from drying, so Tamotsu tries his hardest to keep the man alive. Only when Tamotsu has let go can the persimmon take its natural course.

Cicada

Dean Yamada

Yugo Saso, Masayuki Yui

Cicada is the story of Jumpei-- a man who loses sight of his progeny when he finds out he is infertile, but then is given the gift of clairvoyance and begins to see glimpses of the future. These glimpses lead him to a series of cicada shells, which become symbolic of his desire to shed his old self. Though his lineage ends with himself, Jumpei starts anew as a father-figure to his sister's young son.

Dreams

Akira Kurosawa

Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baisho

A collection of magical tales based upon the actual dreams of director Akira Kurosawa.

To End All Wars

David L. Cunningham

Ciarán McMenamin, Robert Carlyle

Based on a real-life story, this drama focuses on a small group of Allied soldiers in Burma who are held captive by the Japanese. Capt. Ernest Gordon (Ciaran McMenamin), Lt. Jim Reardon (Kiefer Sutherland) and Maj. Ian Campbell (Robert Carlyle) are among the military officers kept imprisoned and routinely beaten and deprived of food. While Campbell wants to rebel and attempt an escape, Gordon tries to take a more stoic approach, an attitude that proves to be surprisingly resonant.

誘拐

Takao Okawara

Tetsuya Watari, Masatoshi Nagase

The film opens with kidnappers of a corporate executive making an unusual ransom demand: that a wizened executive from another company haul large bags of money through downtown Tokyo as the media documents his every move. When the first old man almost dies from exhaustion, a second, and eventually a third elderly corporate fat cat is ordered to do the same. The police detective assigned to the case (Tetsuya Watari) and his younger partner (Masatoshi Nagase) are livid with indignation at this sorry spectacle. They learn that these four men were involved in a massive industrial spill that poisoned an entire rural hamlet 20 years previous. Suddenly, the detective -- who studied in the States and apparently absorbed some John Wayne-like mannerisms in the process -- isn't sure who are the victims and who are the villains.

日本一短い「母」への手紙

Shinichirô Sawai

Yukiyo Toake, Nae Yuuki

A young woman tries to reconcile with her mother, who left their family for another man.

鬼平犯科帳

Yoshiki Onoda

Kichiemon Nakamura, Yumi Takigawa

A criminal syndicate wants detective Onihei dead, but the resolute hero proves to be hard to kill.

Godzilla 2000: Millennium

Takao Okawara

Takehiro Murata, Naomi Nishida

An independent group of researchers called the Godzilla Prediction Network (GPN) actively track Godzilla as he makes landfall in Nemuro. Matters are further complicated when a giant meteor is discovered in the Ibaragi Prefecture. The mysterious rock begins to levitate as it's true intentions for the world and Godzilla are revealed.

実録外伝 ゾンビ極道

Hirohisa Sasaki

Hitoshi Ozawa, Hideo Murota

Yakuza Zombie opens with an introduction to a mysterious Yakuza graveyard deep in the forest, and a story of the baddest Yakuza of them all, Naruo Ryuuji (shown in cut scenes played by Ozawa Hitoshi). Naruo Ryuuji was a fearless killer who eventually got into heroin and, exactly like Ishimatsu Rikuo in Takashi Miike's Graveyard of Honor, eventually leaps to his death from the top of a prison, claiming he'll be back. I'm assuming this is a reference to real life crazy Yakuza Ishikawa Rikio, whom the original Graveyard of Honor was based on. It's established that the corpse of the fierce Yakuza Ryuuji is buried in the graveyard beneath a marker with the Japanese characters "Jingi" (Honor), and then we are taken to the modern day.