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The Enka Road Begins poster
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The Enka Road Begins

2026 Movie Drama Music

Dreams have no age limit. All it takes is the courage to believe — and that courage can change your life. Told through Japan's two beloved cultural traditions, enka (music that sings from the heart and soul of Japan) and karaoke. Yoshiko Takahashi, an ordinary housewife who runs a small dried-goods shop with her husband in a quiet shopping district, wins a regional singing competition and finds her life unexpectedly changed. A music producer on the judging panel recognizes an extraordinary talent in her voice, and Yoshiko sets out on a journey toward her ultimate dream: becoming a singer and performing at Nippon Budokan. As she draws closer to the stage, she is torn between the excitement of a long-forgotten dream and the life she has built with the people she loves — and along the way, rediscovers her love for her husband, the bonds of family, and the courage to live true to herself.

Same cast & genre

17 Shares actors and at least one genre with this title
S-friends: Hatsukoi poster
FILM

36-year-old Shoko Morimura (Aika Yukihira) is raising her daughter on her own while working as a temporary worker. At a high school reunion, she reunites with her first love, obstetrician-gynaecologist Kitada Kazuki (Sho Aoyagi), and has a one-night stand with him. Shoko is once again excited, but becomes upset when Kazuki proposes that she become his "sex friend." Part one of a two-part film adaptation of the popular manga by Yoriko Minato. Directed by Hideo Jojo On the Edge of Their Seats, the film depicts the emotions of a man and woman who spend the night together at a class reunion.

S-friends: Hatsukoi

2023 Drama
The Solitary Gourmet 2025 New Years Eve Special ~Refills will be delivered by Goro himself! poster
FILM

nogashira Goro (Matsushige Yutaka) is tasked with procuring rice and ingredients for onigiri (rice balls) to be distributed at a New Year's Eve countdown event at Asakusa Hanayashiki Amusement Park. A job request he can't refuse, Goro, along with his Mini, set off on the long journey, from Sado Island, Niigata to Yonezawa, Yamagata, to collect the perfect onigiri ingredients. As Goro races to beat the deadline, he finds himself hungry and indulges in the bounty of the sea and mountains he encounters at every stop... What kind of gourmet delights will Goro discover this year? Will he be able to finish off New Year's Eve with freshly cooked onigiri rice balls during the live broadcast? Also for the first time in five years, this 2025 New Year's Eve Special will feature a partial live broadcast!

The Solitary Gourmet 2025 New Years Eve Special ~Refills will be delivered by Goro himself!

2025 Drama
Gensen-Kan Inn poster
FILM

An anthology film based on the works of manga artist Yoshiharu Tsuge. The main character in all four segments is a fledgling cartoonist named Tsube . In the first segment, Tsube encounters a dotty old man named Ri after renting a tumble-down cottage in the country. The following day, Ri, his equally weird wife, and his two squalid children move into his house. Soon the wife is stealing the cucumbers in his garden while the two kids devour all the food in the house.

Gensen-Kan Inn

1993 Drama
Yagyu Jubei: The Fate of the World poster
FILM

The fate of Tokugawa’s world hangs in the balance as Yagyu Jubei is sent on a mission to discover what happened to 10 of the shogun’s spies that never returned. Matsukata Hiroki, one of the last surviving members of the Golden Age of Japanese Cinema proves that he has not lost a step as he portrays an older and wiser Yagyu Jubei in a movie that brings the best of samurai filmmaking into the 21st century. Summoned from semi-retirement by Shogun Iemitsu, Jubei is asked to take to the road and investigate a clan rumored to be preparing explosives for a rebellion. With help from a beautiful female ninja they head into the Shirakawa domain where the fighting skills of both are tested time and again as they strive to destroy a conspiracy that could bring a new Warring States Era. In the 1960's Yagyu Jubei was the signature role of the great Konoe Jushiro, father of Matsukata Hiroki. This brings the character full circle.

Yagyu Jubei: The Fate of the World

2015 Drama
Sefure no Hinkaku: Ketsui poster
FILM

Shoko Morimura (Aika Yukihira) is a 36-year-old single mother who has been in a "friendship" with Kazuki Kitada (Sho Aoyagi), whom she met again at a high school reunion. For some reason, a 17-year-old girl, Saki Yamada (Akari Takaishi), whom Kazuki was taking care of, grows jealous of Shoko and causes an incident. This leads to a break-up, and Shoko is disappointed in Kazuki's defense of the young Saki. Second part of a two-part film adaptation of the popular manga by Yoriko Minato. Directed by Hideo Jojo of On the Edge of Their Seats fame.

Sefure no Hinkaku: Ketsui

2023 Romance
"Renjou" Keishichou Kyoukouhan-gakari Higuchi Akira poster
FILM

Kosuge, the president of a factory, is killed by someone while returning home. A bag charm is found at the scene. When Akira Higuchi and his colleagues from the Metropolitan Police Department's Investigation Division investigate his home, they find a bankbook with the letters A, Y, M, and S written in English. It turns out that the charms left behind were custom-made by Seiji Iwai. However, Seiji had committed suicide five years ago in a robbery-suicide case. Seiji's mother, Mizuki, is an old acquaintance of Superintendent Tendo. Higuchi heads for Mizuki's place...

"Renjou" Keishichou Kyoukouhan-gakari Higuchi Akira

2022 Crime

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