Cast: Ken Ogata, Mitsuko Baisho, Ko Chun Hsiang, Sansho Shinsui

Muraoka Iheiji is a Japanese nationalist who comes ashore to Hong Kong in 1901 to discover there is a number of women being held as prostitutes by local pirates. What he doesn’t realize is that his own government has washed hands of them; a consular official advises him to become a zegen, or a pander. He decides for the greater good of Japan to sell the women rather than send them home, since as prostitutes, they can make money and send it home to their parents, who will then pay taxes to the nation…The film serves as one of the very few depictions of the Japanese use of ‘comfort women’…

Director: Gosho Heinosuke

Cast: Mitsuko Miura, Reikichi Kawamura, Momoo Shimoto

The Izu peninsula during the World War II. Along the shores of Izu, women at a temple practice playing the Koto, a traditional Japanese instrument, preserving the tradition amidst the historical changes brought by the war…One of the relatively few films released in 1945, The Women of Izu was released on August 30, two weeks after Japan’s surrender. The director is known for his

shomingeki, dramas about common people, this film also serving as a reminder of his resistance to  war…

Director: Gosho Heinosuke

Cast: Takeshi Sakamoto, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Choko Iida

Fumikichi is a married man, with a tendency to be irresponsible. His wife often teases him in front of his friends. His sister’s son, Seiichi, a college student, leaves a woman with whom he had one date, pregnant. Fumikichi assumes responsibility for the situation before Seiichi makes a life-altering decision for himself and his family…The film looks at the everyday lives of the middle-class people, embodying the director’s imaginative use of silence in sound pictures, the use of symbols and the rapid sequence of scenes…

Director: Shohei Imamura

Cast: Momoi Kaori, Izumiya Shigeru, Ken Ogata

The 2nd year of the Keio Era (1866). Japan is in the midst of a turbulent period. Boiling in the minds of the masses shouting EIJANAIKA (Why not?) points toward the coming of a new age. Genji returns to Japan from America, known as the land of freedom and equality… The film depicts the socio-historical background of the Eijanaika movement in Japan, marking the beginning of a new, Meiji era and Japan’s opening to trade from the West – particularly America….

Director: Kozaburo Yoshimura

Cast: Kazuo Hasegawa, Michiyo Kogure, Mito Mitsuko

Mid-10th century. Kiritsubo, who enjoys all the attention and affection of the Emperor, gives birth to a baby, Hikaru, but is unable to regain her health and remains bedridden until death when Hikaru is only 5 years old. Hikaru grows up to become the most handsome young man, and is given the family name of GENJI… Written in the early 11th century, Genji Monogatari is the oldest Japanese novel, depicting the life of the mid-10th century with delicate psychological expression…

Director: Tatsumi Kumashiro

Cast: Kenichi Hagiwara, Mitsuko Baisho, Motoyoshi Wada

Present day Tokyo. Kyoko learns that her husband, Shoichi, has left home. In his belongings she finds a letter from Etsuko, his ex-girlfriend, saying she has leukemia and only 6 months to live. Putting an end to the love-triangle agony and realizing how much she loves him, Kyoko gives up her husband so he could marry Etsuko. At their wedding, Kyoko hands him the divorce certificate. In reality, a love letter from wife to her husband…