Japanese Cinema
by evelynette | created - 22 Aug 2017 | updated - 2 weeks ago | PublicJapanese films & series I've seen - and mostly liked. The list is still short as there's a Lot of classics and newer gems I've not yet seen. Titles are in order of the release year.
(Anime not included)
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1. Tokyo Story (1953)
Not Rated | 136 min | Drama
An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Chishû Ryû, Chieko Higashiyama, Sô Yamamura, Setsuko Hara
Votes: 68,651
2. Lady Snowblood (1973)
Not Rated | 97 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.
Director: Toshiya Fujita | Stars: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon, Miyoko Akaza
Votes: 16,309
3. House (1977)
Not Rated | 88 min | Comedy, Horror
A schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted.
Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi | Stars: Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Kumiko Ôba, Ai Matsubara
Votes: 33,746
4. Fireworks (1997)
103 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Nishi leaves the police in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into depression, he makes questionable decisions.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Ôsugi, Susumu Terajima
Votes: 33,195 | Gross: $0.23M
5. Audition (1999)
R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura
Votes: 89,281
6. Battle Royale (2000)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama
Votes: 194,495
7. Blue Spring (2001)
83 min | Drama
A group of a run-down Tokyo high school students face the struggles of growing up, growing apart from their friends and worrying about their future, while living in a highly violent environment.
Director: Toshiaki Toyoda | Stars: Ryûhei Matsuda, Hirofumi Arai, Sôsuke Takaoka, Yûsuke Ôshiba
Votes: 4,386
8. Kamikaze Girls (2004)
102 min | Comedy
Momoko, a strange and seemingly emotionless girl obsessed with 18th century France, befriends a Yanki biker and the two experience the ups and downs of their unusual lives in a rural Japanese town.
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima | Stars: Kyôko Fukada, Anna Tsuchiya, Hiroyuki Miyasako, Sadao Abe
Votes: 8,091
9. Nana (II) (2005)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A chance encounter between two girls of the same name, "Nana," triggers a series of events and relationships.
Director: Kentarô Ohtani | Stars: Mika Nakashima, Aoi Miyazaki, Hiroki Narimiya, Yûta Hiraoka
Votes: 4,021
10. Kiraware Matsuko no isshô (2006)
130 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
When Matsuko is murdered, her nephew, Sho, gets to progressively unveil the many details of her mysterious past, discovering she wasn't just a forgotten outcast and had led an intriguing yet bizarre life.
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima | Stars: Miki Nakatani, Eita Nagayama, Yûsuke Iseya, Mikako Ichikawa
Votes: 8,746
11. Departures (2008)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama
Soon after buying an expensive cello, Daigo learns that his orchestra is disbanding. He moves back to his hometown with his wife, where he answers an ad for what Daigo thinks is a travel agency but is, in actuality, a mortuary.
Director: Yôjirô Takita | Stars: Masahiro Motoki, Ryôko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki
Votes: 54,996 | Gross: $1.50M
12. Air Doll (2009)
Unrated | 125 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A life-size blow-up doll develops a soul and falls in love with a video store clerk.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Bae Doona, Arata Iura, Itsuji Itao, Joe Odagiri
Votes: 8,138
13. Cold Fish (2010)
Not Rated | 146 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The lives of a bored suburban couple are changed forever when a seemingly nice old man gives their daughter a job at his fish store, and soon his gruesome hobbies are brought to light.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Denden, Asuka Kurosawa, Megumi Kagurazaka
Votes: 14,529
14. Confessions (2010)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, Thriller
A psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima | Stars: Takako Matsu, Yoshino Kimura, Masaki Okada, Yukito Nishii
Votes: 42,081
15. Guilty of Romance (2011)
144 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
A grisly murder occurs in Maruyama-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo - a love hotel district - a woman was found dead in a derelict apartment. Kazuko (Miki Mizuno) is a police officer called to ... See full summary »
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Miki Mizuno, Makoto Togashi, Megumi Kagurazaka, Kazuya Kojima
Votes: 5,838
16. Helter Skelter (2012)
Unrated | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Top star Lilico undergoes multiple cosmetic surgeries to her entire body. As her surgeries show side effect.
Director: Mika Ninagawa | Stars: Erika Sawajiri, Nao Ômori, Shinobu Terajima, Gô Ayano
Votes: 3,329
17. Like Father, Like Son (2013)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama
Ryota is a successful workaholic businessman. When he learns that his biological son was switched with another boy after birth, he faces the difficult decision to choose his true son or the boy he and his wife have raised as their own.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki, Lily Franky
Votes: 28,155 | Gross: $0.28M
18. The World of Kanako (2014)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
As former detective Akikazu searches for his missing daughter, Kanako, he soon learns she has a mysterious secret life.
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima | Stars: Koji Yakusho, Nana Komatsu, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Hiroya Shimizu
Votes: 5,897 | Gross: $0.02M
19. Tag (2015)
85 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
A girl's life cascades into chaos as everyone around her suffers a gruesome fate while she becomes less certain of who she is and her once-once normal.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Reina Triendl, Mariko Shinoda, Erina Mano, Yuki Sakurai
Votes: 8,103
20. Our Little Sister (2015)
PG | 127 min | Drama, Family
Three sisters who live in their grandmother's home invite their thirteen-year-old half sister, whom they have just met, to join them.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose
Votes: 16,904 | Gross: $0.46M
21. Blade of the Immortal (2017)
R | 140 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
Cursed with a life of immortality, a samurai is tasked by a young girl to help avenge the death of her father. Based on the manga series by Hiroaki Samura.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sôta Fukushi, Hayato Ichihara
Votes: 19,448 | Gross: $0.15M
22. Shoplifters (2018)
R | 121 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
On the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders are united by loyalty, a penchant for petty theft and playful grifting. When the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Lily Franky, Sakura Andô, Kirin Kiki, Mayu Matsuoka
Votes: 86,490 | Gross: $3.31M
23. Alice in Borderland (2020– )
TV-MA | 50 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
Obsessed gamer Arisu suddenly finds himself in a strange, emptied-out version of Tokyo in which he and his friends must compete in dangerous games in order to survive.
Stars: Kento Yamazaki, Tao Tsuchiya, Nijirô Murakami, Eleanor Noble
Votes: 96,842
24. Followers (2020)
TV-MA | 40 min | Drama, Romance
A story about the lifestyles of women whose lives intersect in this world dominated by social media.
Stars: Miki Nakatani, Elaiza Ikeda, Mari Natsuki, Yuka Itaya
Votes: 670
25. Drive My Car (2021)
Unrated | 179 min | Drama
A renowned stage actor and director learns to cope with a big personal loss when he receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima.
Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi | Stars: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tôko Miura, Reika Kirishima, Masaki Okada
Votes: 65,874
26. Linda Linda Linda (2005)
TV-PG | 114 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A music group of girls need to learn to play a song before the school festival.
Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita | Stars: Bae Doona, Aki Maeda, Yû Kashii, Shiori Sekine
Votes: 4,491
27. Tampopo (1985)
Not Rated | 114 min | Comedy
A truck driver stops at a small family-run noodle shop and decides to help its fledgling business. The story is intertwined with various vignettes about the relationship of love and food.
Director: Jûzô Itami | Stars: Ken Watanabe, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Koji Yakusho
Votes: 22,579 | Gross: $0.22M
28. Monster (2023)
PG-13 | 127 min | Drama, Thriller
A mother demands answers from her son's teacher when her son begins acting strangely.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Sakura Andô, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Hinata Hiiragi
Votes: 21,258
29. Perfect Days (2023)
PG | 124 min | Drama
Hirayama cleans public toilets in Tokyo, lives his life in simplicity and daily tranquility. Some encounters also lead him to reflect on himself.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Koji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Miyako Tanaka
Votes: 37,465
30. Cure (1997)
Not Rated | 111 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Stars: Masato Hagiwara, Koji Yakusho, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa
Votes: 23,097 | Gross: $0.09M
31. First Love (2019)
TV-MA | 108 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A young boxer and a call girl get caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme over the course of one night in Tokyo.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Becky, Bengal, Masayuki Deai, Mami Fujioka
Votes: 8,046
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