Check (1991)
Set in Osaka's Shinsekai, the film depicts the lives of Ayumu Tobita (Hidekazu Akai), who makes a living as a shogi gambler (shinken-shi), and Ryuzo Kayama (Masaya Kato) who aims to become a professional player.
Top billed cast
Hidekazu AkaiAyumu Tobita
Masaya KatōRyuzo Kayama
Tomisaburō WakayamaSanae Mitamura
Nobuo KanekoTennoji
Léona HirotaTerumi
Yuuko NitouKanako Shimada
Masatô IbuKatsura
Jun KunimuraFirst Bodyguard
Sakae UmezuSeiji Komada
Akaji MaroHakugin
Similar to Check
Missing (2022)
Depressed and in debt, Santoshi tells his young daughter that he is going to find an infamous serial killer and collect a reward. However, when Santoshi disappears without a trace, she starts to fear the worst and begins searching for him.
Doterai Man (1975)
Business is a game! A theatrical version of the TV drama that became a social phenomenon starring Teruhiko Saigo. Set in a wholesaler town in Osaka, it depicts the activities of the main character Takezo Yamashita who repels adversity with a man's stubbornness and guts.
The Round Table (2014)
Kokko is a third grade elementary school student. Even though she has a family who loves her, Kokko is full of dissatisfaction and she admires loneliness.
The Grand Master (1948)
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?
The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan (2018)
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.
Black Rain (1989)
Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. However, in Japan he manages to escape, and as they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game—the Japanese way.
The Domain: The Naniwa Story (1965)
Second film of Makino's Nihon Kyokakuden series set in Osaka's harbor. The series also known as "The Domain" Each a stand alone film in it's own, none are connected other than starring the famous Ken Takakura as the main Character. This story begins with Ken Takakura's character coming to Osaka after his brother's death. Another exciting yakuza story with superb yakuza action!!
The King (1962)
The film takes place at the junction of the two eras of Meiji and Taisho. Sakata Sankichi, an uneducated zori sandal maker, becomes a professional shogi player through his genius shogi skills and lives a fanatically devoted shogi game supported by the love of his family. This is the 3rd adaptation of Hideji Hojo's famous play.
The Drug King (2018)
Busan, South Korea, 1970s. Lee Doo-sam is a small-time smuggler. After helping a drug gang to smuggle meth, he falls into the dark crime world. Quick-witted and full of ambition, he eventually takes over the drug underworld and starts to lead a double life: a good community leader during the day but an infamous drug lord during the night.
My Name Is Yours (2020)
At midnight, in a residential area of Osaka, a middle aged man is murdered. The person who killed the man is a high school student. En is a 2nd grade high school student. She spends her boring days with her friend Kotoko, who tends to change boyfriends frequently. Kotoko falls in love with Narihira at first sight. Narihira is a soccer player at their high school. Since then, the relationship between En and Kotoko changes.
Travail (2002)
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.
The King (1973)
Based on a popular play from 1947.
If Tomorrow Comes (2015)
Daisuke is in the 2nd grade of high school and he plays on his school's baseball team. Daisuke then takes part in a gourmet contest with 3 of his friends and 2 girls, including Miki, from a nearby girls' high school. The gourmet contest is held to revive the village.
Kyrie (2023)
Luca lost her family in the Great East Japan Earthquake causing her not to be able to speak. However, her singing voice shakes the hearts of those who listen to her. It is a hymn of compassion played by Luca and the people.
Billiken (1996)
The main hero of this film is the spirit of the once very popular wooden statuette called Billiken. It's a small god with a pointed head, a fat belly and a characteristic smile. When the casket in which the statuette was found is broken, the spirit of Billiken is free. After that he tries to fulfill the wishes of all those who had prayed to him, but it doesn't always works.
Women of the Night (1948)
In early post-war Osaka, three women, war widow Fusako, her sister Natsuko, an expatriate from Korea, and Kumiko, Fusako's sister-in-law, descend into prostitution, all for their individual reasons.
The Pornographers (1966)
Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend’s obsession. Imamura’s comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems frankly ahead of its time.
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
In late 19th century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that he is only praised for his acting due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated by this, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully follows him.
Asako I & II (2018)
Asako lives in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku, a free-spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and meets Ryohei. He looks just like Baku, but has a completely different personality.
The Makioka Sisters (1983)
This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a vivid portrait of the pre-war lifestyle of the wealthy Makioka family from Osaka, and draws a parallel between their activities and the seasonal variations in Japan.