Collection
Ekimae: A Series in Front of the Station
Toho's influential 24-entry ensemble comedy anthology series about the people who live and work around train stations, whether urban or rural.
Timeline
- 1
The Hotelman's Holiday7/12/19581h 49m 9.0Based on the novel "Ekimae Ryokan" by Masuji Ibuse, a longtime hotel employee struggles to bring his old-fashioned ryokan in line with postwar Japanese business practices.
- 2
An Urban Affair8/13/19611h 28m 7.0Follow-up to "Ekimae Ryokan." Set around the Yurigaoka and Nishi-Ikuta stations on the Odakyu-Odawara line, the film takes up the problem of real estate around the expanding Yurigaoka apartments.
- 3
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Lunchbox12/24/19611h 29m 8.0Third film in the "Ekimae" series, this time set in Hamamatsu. A widow named Keiko and her brother Jiro run the bento shop, "Goraku." One day, Keiko asks for advice from her childhood friends Kintaro, a textile manufacturer, and Magosaku, an entrepreneur, about a big-shot from Osaka who wants to invest in her shop. However, Kintaro and Magosaku suspect that things are not what they seem...
- 4
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Onsen7/29/19621h 43m 10.0Fourth entry in the Ekimae series, focusing on the restoration of a Fukushima hot spring inn.
- 5
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Chinese Restaurant12/23/19621h 35m 8.0The fifth "Ekimae" film set in a Chinese restaurant in Yokohama's Chinatown.
- 6
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Teapot6/13/19631h 35m 7.0Sixth entry in the Ekimae series, loosely based on the folktale of the tanuki and the tea kettle.
- 7
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Landlady1/15/19641h 30m 10.0Seventh in the Ekimae series, detailing the exploits of the landladies around Ryogoku Station in Tokyo, and their sumo clientele.
- 8
Hot Spring Ghost6/11/19641h 32m 10.0Eighth in the Ekimae series, portraying competition between two hot spring resort owners in Yamanashi.
- 9
A Comedy in Front of the Station: University10/31/19651h 34m 7.0#13 in the Ekimae series of films. Set at Todai University, Professor Sakai (played by Frankie Sakai) mentors a group of university hopefuls. Cut to 25 years later, the students have each settled into their careers and cross paths with Professor Sakai's son, a P.E. teacher (also played by Sakai).
- 10
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Benten1/15/19661h 34m 7.0The 14th film in the Ekimae series, set in Nagano Prefecture, focusing on the love lives of a group of husbands and their wives.
- 11
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Manga4/28/19661h 35m 8.015th entry in the Ekimae series, surrounding the then-insanely popular Weekly Shounen Sunday series Osomatsu-kun and Obake no Q-Taro.
- 12
A Hundred-Years' Comedy in Front of the Station11/18/19671h 42m 8.0The 21st film in the Ekimae series, commemorating the 35th anniversary of Toho. The film is a loose remake of the first film in the series, Ekimae Ryoukan.
- 13
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Fortune2/14/19681h 35m 0.0The 22nd film in the Ekimae series about shop-owners living near Akabane Station, Tokyo.
- 14
A Comedy in Front of the Station: Pier2/15/19691h 30m 7.0The 24th and final entry in the Ekimae series, set at Takamatsu Station in Kagawa Prefecture, formerly known for its ferry service to the Seto Inland Sea.
