The King

March Comes In Like a Lion

March 2017 •Japanese

Rei Kiriyama is a 17-years-old shogi (Japanese chess) player. He debuted as a professional shogi player when he was in middle school. He lives by himself in Tokyo, because his parents and younger sister died in an traffic accident when he was little. One day, Rei Kiriyama meets three sisters who are his neighbors. The three sisters are Akari Kawamoto, Hinata Kawamoto and Momo Kawamoto. This is his first meeting with someone outside of the shogi world in many years. Having meals with the Kawamoto family brings warm feelings to Rei Kiriyama. As Rei Kiriyama continues his shogi career, his interactions with his neighbors allows him to grow as a shogi player and as a person.

March Goes out Like a Lamb

April 2017 •Japanese

The time spent between professional Shogi player Kiriyama and his three stories helps to heal his wounds. As he prepares to secure another win in an upcoming tournament, the father who left the three sisters appears and disturbs the peace.

Dancing Girls of Izu

March 1954 •Japanese

A dancer girl in a touring company met a high school boy in a port town. The story is about their first love that is very touching and sorrowful. An adaptation of the Kawabata Yasunari short story.

The Izu Dancer

December 1974 •Japanese

While vacationing in the Izu peninsula, a high school student Kawashima becomes intrigued by Kaoru, a pretty young dancer in a troupe of travelling performers, and he tags along with them on their journeys.

Yasuko, Songs of Days Past

February 2025 •Japanese

In the early 1920s, Yasuko, a budding actress, crosses paths with Chūya Nakahara, a young poet destined to be revered as a genius. Drawn to each other by their shared pretentiousness, they begin living together and quickly fall into a complex relationship. Their lives take a dramatic turn when they move to Tokyo and are visited by Hideo Kobayashi, a friend of Chūya’s who would later emerge as one of Japan's foremost literary critics. This seemingly chance encounter not only alters Yasuko's fate but also entwines the three of them in an intense and inescapable destiny.

The Kanto Region Is Also Expanding

June 1967 •Japanese

A man who was released from prison wanders around the Kanto region and gets involved with the local yakuza.

Hachiko

August 1987 •Japanese

The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even after Ueno's death.

On This Earth

November 1957 •Japanese

Ichiro’s family used to be a large landowner, but now he is living in poverty with his mother. His mother works hard to get her son through school. Under such circumstances, Ichiro meets Wakako, the daughter of a wealthy man, and they fall in love with each other, but they are opposed by those around them because of their different social status.

The Scent of Incense

May 1964 •Japanese

After her mother runs away from home, Tomoko is raised to be a geisha. One day Tomoko meets her mother in a red-light district in Tokyo and her life deeply gets in trouble.

The Grand Master

October 1948 •Japanese

Shogi, a Japanese form of chess, is a game that requires skill and determination. When poor sandal-maker Sakata decides to pursue his dream of becoming the Shogi Grand Master Champion, everything is at stake – including his family. What will it cost for Sakata to follow his passion?

September 1923

September 2023 •Japanese

Based on the murder of nine street peddlers in the aftermath of the Great Kanto earthquake.

The Ode to Joy

June 2006 •Japanese

Based on the true story of the Bandō prisoner-of-war camp in World War I. It depicts the friendship of the German POWs with the director of the camp and local residents at the stage of Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture, in Japan.

The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan

September 2018 •Japanese

Shoji Segawa was a quiet and inconspicuous boy, but, for the first time, he is recognized by people after winning the National Middle School Shogi Tournament. At the age of 26, his dream of becoming a professional shogi player collapses due to an age restriction. After he quits playing shogi, he becomes desperate. With the support of his peers, including Yuya Suzuki, and his love of shogi, Shoji Segawa begins to play shogi again. A miracle happens to him.

The Insect Woman

November 1963 •Japanese

A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.

The Lights of Asakusa

December 1937 •Japanese

Pre-war Asakusa was a riotous district of cabarets, dance-halls and brothels - a striking backdrop for Shimazu's story of innocence and experience. Pretty, young Reiko is the new dancer in an infamous theatre troupe, and her fellow performers try to protect her virtue in a land of vice. Meanwhile, an ageing actor wants to be a hero off stage as well as on, and the troupe matriarch Marie has to keep them all together.

Haikara-san: Here Comes Miss Modern Part 2

October 2018 •Japanese

After marrying the head of the military, Benio hears her husband died in Siberia during a war. However after finding out he's alive and fighting against his home land, Benio starts looking for her first love. Wondering why he didn't return and wanting to welcome him back. Hardships will happen and hearts may be broken, as he might have moved on.

The Izu Dancer

May 1960 •Japanese

Love story between a student and girl whose parents are itinerant entertainers. Set in Japan in the 1920's.

Travail

March 2002 •Japanese

Asami and Rina are two sisters who are both professional shogi players in the same B League. Both are also unsatisfied with their partners — Asami is in a slump and is danger of slipping into the C League and she blames her husband Kazuya, and Rina is tired of her boyfriend Hiroki, an unsuccessful musician.

Father of the Milky Way Railroad

May 2023 •Japanese

Kenji, the eldest son of Masajiro, a wealthy moneylender, refuses to work in the family business and becomes obsessed with farming, jewelry and religion.

盤上の向日葵

October 2025 •Japanese