The best Mitsuo Hamada’s drama movies

A young journalist interviews an elderly woman about being forced into prostitution in Borneo at a brothel called Sandakan No. 8.

In 1943, critical developments in the Pacific War have placed Japan at a disadvantage, although the fiery breaths of war hadn't yet reached Okinawa Normal School for women. Nothing seemed the least bit out of the ordinary, as Kazuko and her friends enjoyed a day of sports. A year later the war takes a devastating turn, as US forces plan an amphibious attack known as "Operation Iceberg" on the Ryukyu island.

On a small island, inhabited by only fourteen hundred people, a young fisherman's son, Shinji falls in love with Hatsue, the daughter of the richest and most difficult man on the island. Despite their differences in class, they begin to meet and rumors spread of them having an illicit affair. Soon after, Shinji jumps into a stormy sea to help a ship in distress. The vessel turns out to be owned by Hatsue's arrogant father, who now becomes an understanding and sympathetic parent and allows the two lovers to marry.

Set in Kawaguchi in the early 60s, this simple story chronicles the lives of foundry families and one girl's dreams of higher education.

Shinko Terasawa was always considered to be the odd ball of the bunch. At a time when romance was against school regulations, Shinko was the first to take a bite out of the forbidden fruit. Expelled from her former school, she finds herself in an all-girls school in Jokamachi, where rumors fly. One day, Shinko delivers an anonymous love letter addressed to her English teacher, Ms. Shimazaki. Convinced that the students are playing a prank, Ms. Shimazaki is adamant about getting to the bottom of this "problem”.

A young girl knows that she is going to die and in this she is supported by the devotion of the boy who loves her. They originally met at the hospital. There it transpired that the only way to save her life was to sacrifice an eye and part of her face. The operation seems a success. Later, however, her other eye becomes affected. She feels she must let the boy go, and yet she depends so much upon his devotion.

Jiro, a young yakuza, and Mami, a diplomat’s daughter, are two young lovers from different worlds. Having met by accident, they soon discover a new life together. But their love is ill-fated. Mami's family will not accept her choice, while leading an honest life seems like an unattainable goal for Jiro. Can there be anything else but a tragic ending? Shinji FUJIWARA's novel delivered the classic plot for this box office hit, which for the first time brought together Sayuri YOSHINAGA and Mitsuo HAMADA as one of the iconic couples of Japanese cinema.

Three girls come to Tokyo to stay with their elder sister. Actually they are running away from home because their father has married again to a very young woman. They have many romantic adventures and one finally decides against the boy she thought she loved because he, just like her father is always away from home. But directly after her marriage to another young man, her sister runs after the former boy-friend.

Tajima Yumi, in grade school, is overjoyed when her father says they are moving to an apartment in a big city. But the beautiful home she had imagined is in a slum area called Samurai Village, a little settlement, where people live from hand to mouth. To make things worse, a group of vagrants descends on the already crowded ragpickers' village. The sight depresses and saddens little Yumi, but when her father gives up drinking, it makes up for everything in her eyes, and when he runs past liquor shops to avoid temptation, Yumi's laughter rings out merrily again. A unique social drama depicting the growth of a new generation that confronts the world of adults full of vanity in the image of a girl living in poverty.

Kawanishi Kyu and Tomoda Ryoji, two waifs, are inmates of a Reform School. One night, the boys succeed in a mass escape and split up. Kyu and Ryoji hear the sirens shrieking behind them and panic. Kyu pretends he has been hit by a small truck and Ryoji demands that they be taken to a hospital, little dreaming that Nagai, the driver, is the official guardian of juveniles. The next morning the two boys hear a light knock, and Nagai's daughter, Noriko enters, but surprise is changed to fear as they see her father approaching with Kume, the Juvenile Officer. Their one thought is escape but Kyu discovers his leg is stiff and it pains him to move. In the excitement, he had not realized he had really been hit by the truck. He sends Ryoji away while he waits alone for Officer Kume. Nagai takes Kyu under his wing, while Ryoji finds himself again in the hard-boiled world.