japanese movies to watch
by tamannam | created - 16 Aug 2016 | updated - 04 Dec 2020 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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: 87,583 | Gross: $0.06M
2. Seven Samurai (1954)
Not Rated | 207 min | Action, Drama
Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki
Votes: 366,914 | Gross: $0.27M
3. Battle Royale II (2003)
Not Rated | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Three years after the failure of the last BR program, a second act is forged and a class of students is sent to an island with one objective: kill international terrorist Shuya Nanahara.
Directors: Kenta Fukasaku, Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ai Maeda, Shûgo Oshinari, Ayana Sakai
Votes: 21,444
4.
Play of the Week (1959–1961)
Episode:
Rashomon
(1960)
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Several different accounts of the same incident tell quite different stories about what happened.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Osceola Archer, Harry Davis, Michael Higgins, Oscar Homolka
Votes: 75
5. Nobody Knows (2004)
PG-13 | 141 min | Drama
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Yûya Yagira, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura, Momoko Shimizu
Votes: 31,414 | Gross: $0.68M
6. Love Exposure (2008)
Unrated | 237 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
A bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Sakura Andô, Yutaka Shimizu
Votes: 15,914
7. 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: 89,264
8. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Not Rated | 89 min | Animation, Drama, War
A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Shinohara
Votes: 310,553
9. Yojimbo (1961)
Not Rated | 110 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tôno, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa
Votes: 131,385
10. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
TV-PG | 98 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A high-school girl named Makoto acquires the power to travel back in time, and decides to use it for her own personal benefits. Little does she know that she is affecting the lives of others just as much as she is her own.
Director: Mamoru Hosoda | Stars: Riisa Naka, Takuya Ishida, Mitsutaka Itakura, Ayami Kakiuchi
Votes: 70,883
11. Harakiri (1962)
Not Rated | 133 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
When a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba
Votes: 68,698
12. The Taste of Tea (2004)
143 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A spell of time of a rural family's slightly surreal life.
Director: Katsuhito Ishii | Stars: Maya Banno, Takahiro Satô, Tadanobu Asano, Satomi Tezuka
Votes: 7,196
13. Late Spring (1949)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
Several people try to talk 27-year-old Noriko into marrying, but all she wants is to keep on caring for her widowed father.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Chishû Ryû, Setsuko Hara, Yumeji Tsukioka, Haruko Sugimura
Votes: 19,345
14. 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: 16,900 | Gross: $0.46M
15. 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: 194,467
16. A Silent Voice: The Movie (2016)
Not Rated | 130 min | Animation, Drama
A young man is ostracized by his classmates after he bullies a deaf girl to the point where she moves away. Years later, he sets off on a path for redemption.
Directors: Taichi Ishidate, Naoko Yamada | Stars: Miyu Irino, Saori Hayami, Aoi Yûki, Kenshô Ono
Votes: 101,344
17. The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow (2014)
81 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
An adventure by Il-ho the Satellite Girl and a shy cow to save the world from a black monster.
Director: Hyeong-yoon Jang | Stars: Yoo Ah-in, Jung Yu-mi, Hwang Seok-jeong, Hyeong-yoon Jang
Votes: 468
18. Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern (2017)
Not Rated | 97 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
Adapted from Waki Yamato's popular manga, Haikara-San is a heartfelt, and sometimes comical, tale of love surviving through the perils of war and separation.
Director: Kazuhiro Furuhashi | Stars: Robbie Daymond, Saori Hayami, Rachelle Heger, Unshô Ishizuka
Votes: 219
19. Still Walking (2008)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama
A family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, You, Kazuya Takahashi
Votes: 18,621 | Gross: $0.16M
20. Abnormal Family (1984)
63 min | Comedy, Drama
The film tells a story about a woman and her relationship with the family of her husband's, in particular her husband's younger brother and father-in-law. Her husband, on the other hand, ... See full summary »
Director: Masayuki Suô | Stars: Usagi Asô, Miki Yamaji, Kaoru Kaze, Kei Shuto
Votes: 477
21. Tremble All You Want (2017)
117 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Yoshika is 24 years old and works in an office. She doesn't have a boyfriend in her life, but still romanticizes her former junior high school classmate.
Director: Akiko Ôku | Stars: Mayu Matsuoka, Kanji Furutachi, Anna Ishibashi, Hairi Katagiri
Votes: 1,138
22. Tourism (2017)
77 min | Drama
Nina goes to Singapore with her best friend Su. It was their first time ever to travel to a foreign country. They enjoyed the trip for a while but Nina lose sight of Su at China town. Their unforgettable adventure in Singapore starts.
Director: Daisuke Miyazaki | Stars: Sumire, Nina Endô
Votes: 32
23. Thicker Than Water (2018)
103 min | Comedy, Drama
Kazunari, a quiet and well-behaved young man, works at a printing company. On the other hand, his older brother, Takushi, is a short-tempered, typical troublemaker who was just released ... See full summary »
Director: Keisuke Yoshida | Stars: Masataka Kubota, Hirofumi Arai, Keiko Enoue, Miwako Kakei
Votes: 209
24. Passage of Life (2017)
104 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A Burmese family of four is living in Japan. One day they get a letter that will change their lives forever - Based on a true story, this is a tale of love that crosses borders.
Director: Akio Fujimoto | Stars: Issace, Yuki Kitagawa, Htet Myat Naing, Kuromiya Niina
Votes: 73
25. Ramen Shop (2018)
89 min | Drama
A young man who is curious about his deceased parents' past takes a food journey to Singapore where he uncovers more than just delicious meals.
Director: Eric Khoo | Stars: Takumi Saitô, Seiko Matsuda, Mark Lee, Jeanette Aw
Votes: 2,450 | Gross: $0.09M
26. Side Job. (2017)
120 min | Drama
Based on the novel "Kanojo no Jinsei wa Machigai ja Nai" (literal translation: Her life is not at fault) by Director Hiroki, it is a powerful story of survivors, who are all trying to find their own silver linings in life.
Director: Ryûichi Hiroki | Stars: Kumi Takiuchi, Ken Mitsuishi, Kengo Kôra, Tokio Emoto
Votes: 234
27. The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (2017)
PG-13 | 92 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
In this comedy about one epic night in Kyoto, a college sophomore goes on a series of surreal encounters with the local nightlife, all the while unaware of the romantic longings of her classmate Senpai.
Director: Masaaki Yuasa | Stars: Gen Hoshino, Kana Hanazawa, Hiroshi Kamiya, Ryûji Akiyama
Votes: 6,318 | Gross: $0.41M
28. Mori, the Artist's Habitat (2018)
99 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Vegetation thrives in painter Morikazu's garden, which is home to creatures that serve as models for his paintings, including numerous bugs and cats. A sweet and heartwarming day begins for... See full summary »
Director: Shûichi Okita | Stars: Tsutomu Yamazaki, Munetaka Aoki, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Yoichi Hayashi
Votes: 479
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