The best Toshio Kakei’s drama movies

A salaryman is hijacked by bank robbers.

Subaru and her twin brother Kazuma share a dream in becoming ballet dancers, but their passion is discouraged by their father. After Kazuma's death from a hereditary illness, dancing became Subaru's only happiness and she yearns to lose herself in dance. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she runs into cabaret owner Isuzu, who recognizes the talent in Subaru and trains her in her nightspot. But to become a professional ballerina, Subaru has to overcome harsher challenges than merely satisfying the cabaret drunkards. Spurred on by her rivaling dance companions, Subaru enters an international dance competition, to vie for recognition and a scholarship to any top ballet company in the world. Subaru and her companions soon discover that there are more to compete than the championship, and tests of friendship, betrayal and self-worth come one after another. Gradually the youngsters learn about themselves as dancers, as persons and as friends.

Aoshima, a police detective working in the Bayside Precinct, is continually frustrated by the hierarchy and red tape that plague the system. His friend Muroi is climbing the ladder of the police bureaucracy. Muroi has made a pact with Aoshima that while Aoshima looks after the streets, Muroi would make life easier for the cops on the beat. One day in Bayside, a series of events turns the small station upside down. A corpse is found in the river, then the Police Commissioner is kidnapped, leading to the Metropolitian Police Department to take over the investigation which is led by Murai. Will he be true to his pact with Aoshima and co-operate with the local police? In the meantime, the murder investigation leads to a morbid web page and a deadly chat room in cyberspace...

In 2011, a journalist arrives in Nagaoka, a Japanese village that underwent destruction during both World War II and the 2004 Chūetsu earthquakes, and is now notable for the fireworks it launches annually in memory of the victims of war. She is there for two reasons: firstly, to learn about the experiences of Nagaoka's inhabitants, and secondly, to watch a stage play written by an enigmatic student of her ex-boyfriend, which depicts the bombing of the city during WWII.

A successful illustrator, Hinohara Takehiro, lives a happy life with his wife Toshiko, who has supported him all these years since the early struggling days, and their two sons. Feeling unwell, Toshiko has a check up one day and is told, out of the blue, that her days are numbered. When Toshiko is allowed out of the hospital temporarily, Takehiro and Toshiko travel to Hamakaze station. The town has changed a great deal in 18 years, however, the apartment where they started their married life is still there. People and scenery they used to cherish and the invaluable memories come vividly through. Starting at the place where their life as a couple began, the two prepare for "the day" while cherishing their remaining time. During the Bon festival, when the spirits of the deceased are believed to return to the living, Takehiro takes his sons to the firework display at Hamakaze and see the smiling face of Toshiko.

Takeshiro Matsuura was a Japanese explorer who was the first person to document the inner reaches of what is now known as Hokkaido. He explored the area extensively during the mid 19th century and created a map of the island that included parts which had been ignored by earlier cartographers. He visited Ainu communities and compiled records of the large numbers of the population who had been conscripted for forced labor far from their homes. Matsuura suggested the name Hokkaido for the area

A Distant Cry from Spring (TV Movies)

Japanese director Satoshi Isaka spins this taunt thriller about an ultra-ambitious reporter who soon finds herself on the receiving end of tabloid dirt. Popular television actress Hitomi Kuroki stars as Yuko, an ice-queen TV news editor who is approached by a mysterious man from the PTT Ministry. The man offers her proof, on videotape, that a major university is bribing a particular government official to overlook a massive media merger. The secret transaction has already resulted in the death of one investigator. Yuko promptly broadcasts the damning footage, and high-ranking bureaucrat Aso (Takanori Jinnai) is forced out of office.