In an elementary school within Saga Prefecture, Fumiko is a home room teacher married to a board member of the prefecture’s All Japan Teachers and Staff Union. Because of cutbacks, however, she is asked to quit her job, but the real reason behind losing her job lies in the fact that her household is a two income family.
Image: © Dokuritsu Puro Meiga Hozon Kai

In August, 1949, a passenger train derails and overturns near the Matsukawa station on the Tôhoku Main Line. The arrested 19 year-old suspect is interrogated by the police who think the incident was staged by the Japan National Railway Union. The suspect then gives testimony, which completely backs the argument put forth by the prosecution…
Image: © Dokuritsu Puro Meiga Hozon Kai

In the feudal domain of Iga during Japan’s dark feuding era, the head of a group of ninjas orders one of his men to assassinate Nobunaga of Oda, who is unifying Japan under his control. The ninja selected for the task had at one time carried out an affair with the leader’s wife. He is told that all will be forgiven if he is successful in his mission…
Image: © 1962 Kadokawa Shoten

Chased by firefighters one night, a burglar meets 9 suspicious men. On the same evening, the “Matsukawa Incident” (Matsukawa Jiken; see above) happens. Learning that someone other than the 9 suspicious men he met that night is on trial, the burglar decides to go on the witness stand…
Image: © Toei Company, Ltd.

Professor Higashi of Naniwa Medical School is retiring and his post is up for grabs. Zaizen with remarkable skills and a student of Higashi is a most promising candidate for the post but Higashi, turned off by Zaizen’s arrogance, recommends Kikkawa from Kanazawa University.
Image: © 1966 Kadokawa Shoten

1928. The plutocratic Godai family already has its foot in Japanese Manchuria. The younger brother of the head of the family is in the family transportation business in Manchuria but behind the scenes, he is involved in smuggling and terrorist activities. Then in 1931, claiming a conspiracy by the Chinese government, the Japanese Army attacks Manchuria in the Manchurian Incident…
Image: © NIKKATSU Corporation

The younger son of the Godai family has democratic ideology and shows hostility towards his family, which maintains close ties to the Japanese Army. He is in love with a married woman while his sister is drawn to a friend of his. Set between the Manchurian Incident of 1931 and the Marco Polo Incident of 1937.
Image: © NIKKATSU Corporation

All out war breaks out between China and Japan with Japan advancing into China. The eldest sister of the Godai family marries the son of a bank president, while the younger daughter leaves the family out of a wish to marry her brother’s friend who is then drafted. The younger son of the family is appointed to the Manchuria branch of the family business but secretly continues anti-war activities until he is arrested by the Japanese police. A monumental work depicting how Japan is drawn into war and how people’s lives are affected by it.

Image: © NIKKATSU Corporation

During the Meiji Era, two young women, Hana and Toki from a mountain village cross the mountain ranges to seek contractual employment on low wages with a silk reeling factory. The silk is exported overseas and must pass rigid standards…


To the top of the page