Mother Water

Two estranged brothers inherit Marukin Hot Springs, a small-town bathhouse. One sees it as an homage to their late father; the other—a struggling architect—as lucrative real estate for condos. Their eclectic collection of townsfolk customers show them the value of the bath goes way beyond a scrub and soak.

In the late 16th century, after the death of Nobunaga Oda, Hideyoshi Toyotomi takes power. The age of war is about to end, but Hideyoshi Toyotomi's rule makes life difficult for the people. Monk Senko Ikenobo is a master of flower arrangement. He prays for peace in the world and tries to give hope to the people with flower arrangement. He becomes good friends with Rikyu. Rikyu is a monk and a politician. He has the most profound influence on chanoyu. Rikyu is forced to commit hara-kiri by Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s order. Monk Senko Ikenobo challenges Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

Country bumpkin Haruko only ever wanted to become a maiko, an apprentice geisha. Initially rebuffed for lack of references, Haruko's strong accent intrigues a linguistics professor, who undertakes to coach her.

Ranmaru is a 450-year-old vampire who works in a bathhouse. As a vampire he is particularly picky about his blood choices, his main goal being to drink the blood of an 18-year-old virgin. To do so, he has been watching 15-year-old Rihito, the son of the bathhouse owner who saved him from near death. Rihito must not lose his virginity before he turns 18 and Ranmaru does everything he can to prevent that. However, when Rihito starts to show interest in a classmate, Ranmaru's desperate fight to preserve the boys virginity begins.

Toru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.

In the early 18th-century, Lord Takumi-no-kami Asano, feuding with Lord Kira, tries to kill his opponent in the corridors of the Shogun's palace. The Shogun sentences Asano to seppuku and deprives the palace and lands from his clan, but does not punish Kira. Asano's vassals leave the land and his samurais become ronin and want to seek revenge against the Lord's dishonour. But their leader Kuranosuke Oishi seeks to restore the Asano clan with his brother Daigaku Asano. One year later, the Shogun refuses, and Oishi and 46 rōnin are out for revenge.

Japan, 1137. The Taira family, a samurai clan, becomes involved in the disputes between Emperor Toba and the monks of Mount Hiei.

Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of several petty people.

After living a traumatic experience in Tokyo, Yukiko returns to Kyoto, where Hatsuko, her mother, runs a brothel, which upsets Yukiko very much.

Kimihiko Onizuka is a salaryman infatuated with maiko (apprentice geisha) and whose greatest goal in life is to play a party game called "yakyuken" with one.

The family of an older man who runs a small sake brewery become concerned with his finances and his health after they discover him visiting an old mistress from his youth.

After her anti-fascist professor father is dismissed, Yukie navigates love, political repression, and wartime upheaval—ultimately forging her own path in pre- and post-WWII Japan.

Chieko Sanda has operated a dry goods store in Kyoto for the past 20 years. Her family has owned the store for generations. Chieko is conflicted on whether her daughter Mai will take over her position with the changing of times. Mai is a college student and has not decided whether to take another job or take over the dry goods store. Meanwhile, Mitsuko Nakata runs a forestry in the outskirts of Kyoto. Mitsuko is Chieko Sanda’s twin sister, but they were separated at an early age. Mitsuko is in serious financial difficulties. Mituko's daughter, Yui, has talent in art and she goes to France. There, Yui feels a sense of powerlessness. Mitsuko notices and goes to Paris to see her daughter. Mai travels to Paris to take part in an event to show Japanese culture.

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.