The Frozen Moment

The Lion Dance(ja)

The lion dance in traditional Japanese theatre.

Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.(en)

Harry Griswald is a NYPD cop who is possessed with the spirit of a great Kabuki master. This has made him 'the chosen one' to do battle with 'the evil one'. He is also out to do good deeds and fight crime in the name of the law. The only problem is that a number of corrupt people in the community and their henchmen want him dead so that they can gain power when 'the evil one' come to take over the world. Sgt. Kabukiman must use his special superpowers to outsmart and out-fight the bad guys.

Shin Yotsuya Kaidan(ja)

Iemon(ja)

Shin Yotsuya Ghost Story(ja)

Yotsuya Kaidan(ja)

Oiwa Nagaya(ja)

Irohagana Yotsuya Kaidan(ja)

Yotsuya Ghost Stories(ja)

Hot And Cold(ru)

A day in a Hyatt suite gone weird

Yotsuya Kaidan(ja)

Yotsuya Kaidan(ja)

Shin Yotsuya Kaidan(ja)

Irohagana Yotsuya Kaidan(ja)

A Story of Floating Weeds(ja)

An aging actor returns to a small town with his troupe and reunites with his former lover and illegitimate son, a scenario that enrages his current mistress and results in heartbreak for all.

Ehon Taikōki - Amagasaki Kankyo(ja)

The play "Ehon Taikōki" was originally written for the puppet theater (Bunraku) and staged for the first time in 1799 in Ōsaka at the Toyotakeza. It was adapted for Kabuki the next year by Nagawa Tokusuke I. The play consisted originally of thirteen acts, one act for each day that passed between Akechi Mitsuhide's murder of Oda Nobunaga and his death at the hand of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The tenth act is the only one which has survived. This act tells of an incident during the battle in which Mitsuhide was finally defeated.

Maple Leaf Viewing(ja)

[…] A reel was shot of the Noh drama Momiji-gari (Maple Leaf Hunters, or Viewing Scarlet Maple Leaves), in which Danjuro played opposite Onoe Kikugoro V (1844-1903) as an ogress who has disguised herself as the Princess Sarashina. Filmed by Shibata Tsunekichi in the open air on a windy day in November 1899, Danjuro would allow only the one take, so that when his fan blew away in mid-performance the scene had to stay. The film re-emerged at the Kikikan theatre in 1907 where it was a great success and inspired a wave of fiction filmmaking based on traditional Japanese narratives. (cont. http://victorian-cinema.net/danjuro)

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum(ja)

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.

An Actor's Revenge(ja)

An onnagata (female impersonator) of a Kabuki troupe avenges his parents' deaths. Remade in 1963 as Yukinojô Henge.

Sayonara(en)

Air Force Major Lloyd Gruver (Marlon Brando) is reassigned to a Japanese air base, and is confronted with US racial prejudice against the Japanese people. The issue is compounded because a number of the soldiers become romantically involved with Japanese women, in defiance of US military policy. Ordinarily an officer who is by-the-book, Gruver must take a position when a buddy of his, an enlisted man Joe Kelly (Red Buttons) falls in love with a Japanese woman Katsumi (Miyoshi Umeki) and marries her. Gruver risks his position by serving as best man at the wedding ceremony.