När läraren, tillika hobbyentomologen Niki Junpei besöker avlägsna sanddyner för att samla främmande insekter till sitt arbete, missar han sista bussen hem. En hop bybor guidar honom ner för en stege, till en liten stuga i ett sandbrott, där han ska stanna över natten. Men när han vaknar upptäcker han att stegen är borta, och att han är dömd att stanna i gropen, för att hjälpa kvinnan som bor i huset att gräva undan sanden innan den begraver dem båda.

En man får sitt ansikte deformerat i en olycka. Han övertalar en psykiatriker att göra honom en mask och i gengäld får denne utföra psykologiska experiment.

A gangster gets released from prison and has to cope with the recent shifts of power between the gangs, while taking care of a thrill-seeking young woman, who got in bad company while gambling.

En grupp prostituerade i efterkrigstidens Tokyo tillåter inga främmande i sitt hus. Om någon har sex utan att få betalt straffas hon. En skadad man släpps dock in och det är början till konflikter i gruppen.

Efter att ett kriminellt gäng upplöses ser en lönnmördare som arbetat åt Yakuzan sin chans till frihet: Att leva ett vanligt liv utanför den kriminella verksamheten. Planerna grusas fort då medlemmar ur Yakuzan får nys om var han befinner sig. Lönnmördaren blir nu den jagade.

Om en familj med fyra personer och deras hårda liv på en liten ö i japanska skärgården där de bor ensamma. Flera gånger om dagen måste de ro till grannön för att hämta vatten till sina små odlingar.

A man wanders into a seemingly deserted town with his young son in search of work. But after a bit of bad luck, he joins the town's population of lost souls.

Two brothers compete for the amorous favors of a young woman during a seaside summer of gambling, boating, and drinking.

Sadako är hembiträde och sedan en tid gift med sin arbetsgivare efter att hon fött hans barn. En främling rånar och våldtar henne i hemmet och då hon inte berättar om händelserna för någon, återkommer förövaren allt oftare. Samtidigt misstänker Sadakos man att hon är otrogen mot honom.

Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend’s obsession. Imamura’s comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems frankly ahead of its time.

A budding gangster enthralls a freeloading young woman, soon taking advantage of her knack for hitch-hiking to rob middle-class, middle-aged men.

Conditions have been better for the nameless protagonist: his grandmother is a shoplifter and his war criminal father and sister have an unhealthy, intimate relationship with the family rabbit.

In Osaka's slum, youths without futures engage in pilfering, assault and robbery, prostitution, and the buying and selling of identity cards and of blood. Alliances constantly shift. Tatsu and Takeshi, friends since boyhood, reluctantly join Shin's gang. Shin's an upstart and moves his gang often to avoid the local kingpin. Hanoko is a young woman with ambitions: first she's in the blood business with her father, then she joins forces with Shin. She soon breaks off that partnership, even though she's taken the sensitive Takeshi under her wing. Double crosses multiply. Those with the closest bonds become each others' murderers.

Nishi is an advertising executive for a caramel company that is planning to launch a new product, in fierce competition with two other companies.

In the city of Yokosuka, Kinta and his lover Haruko, both involved with yakuza, brave the post-occupation period with a goal to be together.

A vengeful contractor hires a series of young killers to target a woman muckraker. Trouble brews when an amateur marksman shows up his eclectic competition.

A middle-aged factory engineer trains, marries, and ultimately loses a teenage bride after she enslaves him to her whims.

Kiroku boards with a Roman Catholic family and falls for the daughter Michiko. He ignores his feelings, joins a gang, gets in fights and, eventually, becomes involved with the radical Kita Ikki group.

Kinichi and Akiko meet when they visit their fathers in prison. After successfully gambling on a bicycle race, they spend an enjoyable day together at the beach.

Shimada is a student of U College. When the college's baseball team wins the day, he and his friend Ito drug two girls they met at the game.