Masaya Araki

A Paucity of Flying Dreams

A man in hospital has a weird and sexy conversation with a woman in the next bed, whom he cannot see. He later discovers she is in her sixties. They meet several more times and, each time, she is younger.

Tokyo Trial

One of the major documentaries on a specific chapter in modern Japanese history, this look at the trial of Japanese militarists accused of war crimes is excellently handled by director Masaki Kobayashi. Kobayashi and his assistants had to plough through 30,000 reels from the proceedings of the International Military Tribunal which took place between May, 1946 and November, 1948. It took two days to read the charges against the 100 alleged war criminals in the docket (only 28 top officials are actually in the courtroom, which was limited in space), and the final judgment took one week to read.

Escape from Japan

As Japan is preparing to host the Olympics, a gang member wanting to go to America is sought after by the police after helping his friend conduct a robbery.

18 Roughs

Experienced shipyard worker Shimazaki gets an offer of free lodging from his employer in the company seaside rest house if he agrees to see to its running. After moving in, Shimazaki finds out that this will also mean taking care of a flock of youngsters, and he soon becomes their none-too-successful warden. At work the boys are disciplined, as soon as they return to their dormitory however they turn into an unmanageable mob.

Shichinin no keiji

Miyoko Sekiguchi, who works at a second-rate trading company, and car mechanic Koji Fukumoto are in love. The morning after Koji and Miyoko went out for a drive, the strangled corpse of a call girl is discovered in Toyamagahara. Chief Akagi, Detective Sergeant Sawada, and the other detectives begin to suspect Koji during their investigation. Koji insists he's innocent, but has no evidence to prove it. Even when detectives come to Miyoko's home and workplace and her coworkers begin to look down on her, Miyoko continues to trust and love Koji...