Yojiro Takita

Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

A clever sci-fi comedy, Kozue Tanaka plays a time-traveler who journeys to the year 2001 where she gets involved in a smorgashord of sexual adventures and weird situations. Why 2001? I suspects the director Yojiro Takita is a fan of Stanley Kubrick cuz the film definitely pays homage to 2001 A Space Odyssey and possibly also A Clockwork Orange. Anyway, I think it's an interesting film and hope you will enjoy it.

Yojiro Takita's epic film set at the end of the Edo period in Kyoto tells the story of Kanichiro Yoshimura, a lone Samurai whose sole purpose in life was to make enough money to support his family. His fellow warriors initially view him as dishonorable for this mercenary approach, especially Saito, another member of the Shinsengumi, guardians of the Imperial capital. It is here that Kanichiro proves himself time and time again as a master swordsman, eventually earning the respect of Saito and the other samurai.

Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

Director Yôjirô Takita, who last directed Departures, winner of the 81st Academy Awards Oscar for Best Foreign Film, brings Takao Yaguchi's classic fishing manga "Tsurikichi Sanpei" (1973-84 Shonen Magazine comic) to the big screen. The comic, in turn, was also created into a successful 109 episode cartoon series in 1980 by Nippon Animation…

In a time when demons and ghosts threaten to bring total devastation to a powerful kingdom, betrayal from within the powerful ranks of the ruling emperor threatens to bring an entire civilization to its knees in this supernaturally charged martial arts epic from director Yojiro Takita.

Miwa Nishikawa's tale of a country doctor who disappears and leaves his former patients and townsfolk to solve the mystery of exactly who he really is going into the awards season with some major "Departures" buzz, and now the buzz is paying off in awards, namely the Top Film of 2009 from venerable film journal Kinema Junpo. Nishikawa's film didn't just won top film, but also was honoured with Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Tsurube Shofukutei.

A powerhouse reenactment of a 1985 ethics scandal that rocked the Japanese journalistic world. Rockstar Yuya Uchida plays a TV entertainment reporter who is egged on by his bosses to "pump up" his telecasts.