Japanese Cinema
by sam272 | created - 21 Oct 2017 | updated - 18 Sep 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Antiporno (2016)
Not Rated | 76 min | Drama, Horror
Japan's oldest major movie studio asks a batch of venerable filmmakers to revive its high-brow soft-core Roman Porno series.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Ami Tomite, Mariko Tsutsui, Fujiko, Sayaka Kotani
Votes: 4,986
2. Suicide Club (2001)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A detective is trying to find the cause of a string of suicides.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Masatoshi Nagase, Mai Hosho, Tamao Satô
Votes: 22,177
3. After the Storm (2016)
Not Rated | 118 min | Comedy, Drama
After the death of his father, a private detective struggles to find child support money and reconnect with his son and ex-wife.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Hiroshi Abe, Yôko Maki, Satomi Kobayashi, Lily Franky
Votes: 12,728 | Gross: $0.27M
4. Belladonna of Sadness (1973)
Unrated | 86 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
After being raped by an evil feudal lord and subsequently getting banished from her village, a peasant girl makes a pact with the Devil to gain magical powers and take her revenge.
Director: Eiichi Yamamoto | Stars: Aiko Nagayama, Chinatsu Nakayama, Masaya Takahashi, Masakane Yonekura
Votes: 7,724 | Gross: $0.11M
5. R100 (2013)
Unrated | 99 min | Comedy, Drama
A man in search of joy hires a bondage club to have dominatrices surprise him at random times.
Director: Hitoshi Matsumoto | Stars: Nao Ômori, Mao Daichi, Shinobu Terajima, Hairi Katagiri
Votes: 2,892 | Gross: $0.02M
6. Like Someone in Love (2012)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama
In Tokyo, a young sex worker develops an unexpected connection with a widower over a period of two days.
Directors: Abbas Kiarostami, Banafsheh Modaressi | Stars: Rin Takanashi, Tadashi Okuno, Ryô Kase, Denden
Votes: 13,067 | Gross: $0.22M
7. Love's Whirlpool (2014)
123 min | Drama, Romance
From midnight to 5 AM, people gather at a high-end apartment in Roppongi to engage in promiscuous sexual activity. Story depicts the process of the men and women who meet for the first time there to have loveless sex.
Director: Daisuke Miura | Stars: Sôsuke Ikematsu, Mugi Kadowaki, Ken'ichi Takitô, Eriko Nakamura
Votes: 480
8. Cruel Story of Youth (1960)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Drama
A harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitch-hiking to rob middle-class men.
Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: Miyuki Kuwano, Yûsuke Kawazu, Yoshiko Kuga, Fumio Watanabe
Votes: 2,533
9. Undulant Fever (2014)
118 min | Drama
Emiko since high school meets Yo at the press club. After the first kiss, she gave him the most precious thing. She clings to her relationship with Yo even though he only sees her as a passing love for temporary satisfaction.
Director: Hiroshi Ando | Stars: Yui Ichikawa, Sôsuke Ikematsu, Madoka Sakai, Masaki Miura
Votes: 166
10. Kagekiha opera (2016)
90 min | Drama, Romance
A Japanese LGBT love story set in a small female only theater group, based on a semi-autobiographical novel "Kokan" by Junko Emoto.
Director: Junko Emoto | Stars: Saori, Arisa Nakamura, Yuki Sakurai, Suzuka Morita
Votes: 26
11. The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979)
Not Rated | 147 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A high school science teacher builds an atomic bomb and uses it to extort the nation, but cannot decide what he wants. Meanwhile, a determined cop is catching up to him, as is radiation poisoning.
Director: Kazuhiko Hasegawa | Stars: Bunta Sugawara, Kenji Sawada, Kimiko Ikegami, Kazuo Kitamura
Votes: 1,294
12. The Kirishima Thing (2012)
103 min | Drama
A story about the disappearance of Kirishima, a star athlete of the volleyball club, and how this affects every person in his school.
Director: Daihachi Yoshida | Stars: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Ai Hashimoto, Suzuka Ohgo, Masahiro Higashide
Votes: 2,623
13. 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: 54,917 | Gross: $1.50M
14. Pinpon (2002)
114 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
The film traces the growth and friendship of two very different high-school ping-pong players. "Peco" Hoshino is a brash, arrogant player, determined to turn pro. He taught his quiet, nerdy... See full summary »
Director: Fumihiko Sori | Stars: Yôsuke Kubozuka, Arata Iura, Sam Lee, Shidô Nakamura
Votes: 3,483
15. 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: 68,417
16. Ikiru (1952)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama
A bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin'ichi Himori, Haruo Tanaka
Votes: 87,381 | Gross: $0.06M
17. 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: 19,423 | Gross: $0.15M
18. 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: 22,493 | Gross: $0.22M
19. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
82 min | Drama, Comedy
On a dark, wet night a historic and regal Chinese cinema sees its final film. Together with a small handful of souls they bid "Goodbye, Dragon Inn".
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Kiyonobu Mitamura, Chun Shih
Votes: 6,157 | Gross: $0.03M
20. Strange Circus (2005)
Unrated | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
The erotic novelist Taeko is writing a morbid story of a family destroyed by incest, murder and abuse. Her assistant, Yuji, sets on a mission to uncover the reality of this story, but the reality might be too much to bear.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Masumi Miyazaki, Issei Ishida, Rie Kuwana, Seiko Iwaidô
Votes: 6,240
21. Akira (1988)
R | 124 min | Animation, Action, Drama
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.
Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo | Stars: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tesshô Genda
Votes: 204,870 | Gross: $0.55M
22. Throne of Blood (1957)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
A war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura
Votes: 55,858
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