"YOBUN" Japanese Movies
by arrinna77 | created - 15 Jun 2015 | updated - 16 Jul 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Late Autumn (1960)
Not Rated | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
A widow tries to marry off her daughter with the help of her late husband's three friends.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Mariko Okada, Keiji Sada
Votes: 6,165
2. Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
Not Rated | 124 min | Drama
In medieval Japan, a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyôko Kagawa, Eitarô Shindô
Votes: 18,224
3. Onibaba (1964)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Two women kill samurai and sell their belongings for a living. While one of them is having an affair with their neighbor, the other woman meets a mysterious samurai wearing a bizarre mask.
Director: Kaneto Shindô | Stars: Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Satô, Jûkichi Uno
Votes: 21,856
4. Good Morning (1959)
Not Rated | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Two boys begin a silence strike to press their parents into buying them a television set.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Keiji Sada, Yoshiko Kuga, Chishû Ryû, Kuniko Miyake
Votes: 11,041
5. Street of Shame (1956)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama
The personal tales of various prostitutes who occupy a brothel.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Machiko Kyô, Aiko Mimasu, Ayako Wakao, Michiyo Kogure
Votes: 4,865
6. The Idiot (1951)
Not Rated | 166 min | Drama, Romance
A Japanese veteran, driven partially mad from the war, travels to the snowy island of Hokkaido where he soon enters a love triangle with his best friend and a disgraced woman.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Setsuko Hara, Masayuki Mori, Toshirô Mifune, Yoshiko Kuga
Votes: 5,659
7. The Lower Depths (1957)
Not Rated | 137 min | Drama
In a Japanese slum, various residents play out their lives, dreaming of better things or settling for their lot. Among them is a man who pines for a young woman but is stymied by her deceptive family.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Kyôko Kagawa, Ganjirô Nakamura
Votes: 5,945
8. The Life of Oharu (1952)
Not Rated | 133 min | Drama
Follows a woman's fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of society.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Tsukie Matsuura, Ichirô Sugai, Toshirô Mifune
Votes: 7,644
9. Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)
72 min | Drama
A young boy follows Tashiro home to his tenement housing complex on the outskirts of Tokyo, the boy who was separated from his carpenter father somehow and somewhere in Kudan. All Tashiro ... See full summary »
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Chôko Iida, Hôhi Aoki, Eitarô Ozawa, Mitsuko Yoshikawa
Votes: 2,253
10. Drunken Angel (1948)
Not Rated | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A drunken doctor with a hot temper and a violence-prone gangster with tuberculosis form a quicksilver bond.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Reizaburô Yamamoto, Michiyo Kogure
Votes: 13,359
11. There Was a Father (1942)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama
A schoolteacher struggles to raise his son Ryohei by himself, having neither money nor future prospects.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Chishû Ryû, Shûji Sano, Shin Saburi, Takeshi Sakamoto
Votes: 3,158
12. Osaka Elegy (1936)
90 min | Comedy, Drama
A young woman becomes a mistress of her boss in order to support her family.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Isuzu Yamada, Yôko Umemura, Chiyoko Ôkura, Kiyoko Ôkubo
Votes: 2,594
13. Black Cat (1968)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Horror
Two women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.
Director: Kaneto Shindô | Stars: Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Satô, Rokkô Toura
Votes: 8,575
14. Floating Weeds (1959)
Not Rated | 119 min | Drama
The head of a Japanese theatre troupe returns to a small coastal town where he left a son who thinks he is his uncle, and tries to make up for the lost time, but his current mistress grows jealous.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Ganjirô Nakamura, Machiko Kyô, Haruko Sugimura, Ayako Wakao
Votes: 8,973
15. Carmen Comes Home (1951)
86 min | Comedy
A girl who had left her home village for life in Tokyo returns to her home years later, and evokes a scandal when the locals discover that she's a stripper.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Shûji Sano, Chishû Ryû, Kuniko Igawa
Votes: 701
16. An Actor's Revenge (1963)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama
Yukinojo, a Kabuki actor, seeks revenge by destroying the three men who caused the deaths of his parents. Also involved are the daughter of one of Yukinojo's targets, two master thieves, and a swordsman who himself is out to kill Yukinojo.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Kazuo Hasegawa, Fujiko Yamamoto, Ayako Wakao, Eiji Funakoshi
Votes: 2,869
17. Hoodlum Soldier (1965)
103 min | Action, Crime, War
A young intellectual conscientious objector is forced to serve with the Japanese army in Manchuria. He joins with a dim-witted former gangster in an effort to desert by stealing a train.
Director: Yasuzô Masumura | Stars: Shintarô Katsu, Takahiro Tamura, Mikio Narita, Eiko Takashiro
Votes: 190
18. The Quiet Duel (1949)
95 min | Drama
A surgeon gets syphilis from a patient when he cuts himself during an operation. The doctor's life is destroyed, but unlike the patient, he doesn't destroy others along with him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Miki Sanjô, Kenjirô Uemura
Votes: 3,897
19. Hachi-ko (1987)
107 min | Biography, Drama, Family
The true story about a dog's loyalty to its master, even after his death.
Director: Seijirô Kôyama | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Kaoru Yachigusa, Toshinori Omi, Toshirô Yanagiba
Votes: 5,829
20. Odd Obsession (1959)
107 min | Comedy, Drama
A man getting on in years sets out to find a way to resurrect his flagging virility.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Machiko Kyô, Ganjirô Nakamura, Junko Kanô, Tatsuya Nakadai
Votes: 1,002
21. Jigokuhen (1969)
91 min | Drama
A rebellious Korean artist tests the limits of his sadistic patron, an omnipotent feudal Japanese lord. Yoshihide demands a commission to paint screens of the Hell which he sees the ... See full summary »
Director: Shirô Toyoda | Stars: Hideyo Amamoto, Tadao Futami, Masao Imafuku, Mitsuyo Inomata
Votes: 381
22. Gate of Hell (1953)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama, History
A samurai pursues a married lady-in-waiting.
Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa | Stars: Machiko Kyô, Kazuo Hasegawa, Isao Yamagata, Yatarô Kurokawa
Votes: 4,275
23. Carmen Falls in Love (1952)
103 min | Comedy
A naive stripper falls for an artist engaged to the daughter of a controversial female politician.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Masao Wakahara, Chikage Awashima, Toshiko Kobayashi
Votes: 232
24. Fires on the Plain (1959)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, War
In the closing days of WWII, remnants of the Japanese army in Leyte are abandoned by their command and face certain death by starvation.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Eiji Funakoshi, Mantarô Ushio, Yoshihiro Hamaguchi, Osamu Takizawa
Votes: 5,321
25. Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)
96 min | Drama, Mystery, War
One woman's search to find the truth about her husband's death in World War II.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tetsurô Tanba, Sachiko Hidari, Shinjirô Ebara, Isao Natsuyagi
Votes: 1,169
26. Hana (2006)
127 min | Comedy, Drama
A troubled young samurai seeks revenge for the death of his father.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Jun'ichi Okada, Rie Miyazawa, Arata Furuta, Jun Kunimura
Votes: 1,901
27. Double Suicide (1969)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
A doomed love between a paper merchant and a courtesan.
Director: Masahiro Shinoda | Stars: Kichiemon Nakamura, Shima Iwashita, Shizue Kawarazaki, Tokie Hidari
Votes: 2,603
28. A Colt Is My Passport (1967)
84 min | Action, Crime
A hit man is hired to kill a mob boss. After the deed is done, he and his driver are wanted dead by rival gangs who joined forces.
Director: Takashi Nomura | Stars: Jô Shishido, Jerry Fujio, Chitose Kobayashi, Ryôtarô Sugi
Votes: 2,313
29. The Devil's Path (2013)
128 min | Thriller
Journalist Shuichi Fujii receives a letter from convicted killer Junji Sudo. Writing from death row, Sudo wants to confess to crimes unknown to the police. On visiting Sudo in prison, Fujii... See full summary »
Director: Kazuya Shiraishi | Stars: Takayuki Yamada, Pierre Taki, Lily Franky, Chizuru Ikewaki
Votes: 1,244
30. Massacre Gun (1967)
Not Rated | 89 min | Action, Crime
Kuroda (Jô Shishido) is a mob hitman who turns on his employers after being forced to execute his lover. Joining forces with his similarly wronged brothers, hot-headed Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji) ... See full summary »
Director: Yasuharu Hasebe | Stars: Jô Shishido, Hideaki Nitani, Yôko Yamamoto, Jirô Okazaki
Votes: 543
31. Agent Shiranui (1960)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama
Before he portrayed the legendary blind swordsman, Zatoichi, Shintaro Katsu played Suganoichi, a blind court masseur with a dark side. An outcast since birth, he learned from a young age ... See full summary »
Director: Kazuo Mori | Stars: Shintarô Katsu, Tamao Nakamura, Mieko Kondô, Matasaburô Niwa
Votes: 202
32. I Just Didn't Do It (2006)
143 min | Drama
A young man is falsely accused of molesting a high-school girl on a train. He is arrested and charged, and goes through endless court sessions, all the while insisting that he is innocent.
Director: Masayuki Suô | Stars: Ryô Kase, Asaka Seto, Kôji Yamamoto, Masako Motai
Votes: 1,908
33. Violent Cop (1989)
Not Rated | 103 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A violence prone police officer discovers that his colleague is trafficking drugs.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Maiko Kawakami, Makoto Ashikawa, Shirô Sano
Votes: 12,991 | Gross: $0.00M
34. Sonatine (1993)
R | 94 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Several yakuza from Tokyo are sent to Okinawa to help end a gang war. The war then escalates and the Tokyo drifters decide to lay low at the beach.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Aya Kokumai, Tetsu Watanabe, Masanobu Katsumura
Votes: 23,277
35. The Actress and the Poet (1935)
73 min | Comedy
Among the tight-knit neighbours are a poet, his actress wife, a bachelor budding author, a tobacco shop owner-cum-landlady, an insurance salesman and his nosy and greedy wife. Enter a young... See full summary »
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Sachiko Chiba, Kamatari Fujiwara, Hiroshi Uruki, Kinba Sanyûtei
Votes: 120
36. Sisters of the Gion (1936)
95 min | Drama
Two geisha sisters lead a hard life in the Gion district of Kyoto. After one of them feels obliged to support a bankrupt businessman, the other sister sets up various schemes to get rid of him.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Isuzu Yamada, Yôko Umemura, Benkei Shiganoya, Namiko Kawashima
Votes: 3,012
37. That Night's Wife (1930)
TV-MA | 65 min | Crime, Drama
A desperate man with a sick daughter decides to commit a robbery in order to help her. He begins to feel remorse though, which makes him question his decision.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Mitsuko Ichimura, Tokihiko Okada, Chishû Ryû, Tatsuo Saitô
Votes: 960
38. Conflagration (1958)
99 min | Drama
Goichi Mizoguchi, an aspiring Buddhist monk who became involved in the temple that was owned by his father, through a series of flashbacks, framed as a police interrogation, Mizoguchi ... See full summary »
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Raizô Ichikawa, Ganjirô Nakamura, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôichi Funaki
Votes: 949
39. A Story of Floating Weeds (1934)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama
A kabuki actor's mistress hatches a jealous plot to bring down her lover's son.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Takeshi Sakamoto, Chôko Iida, Kôji Mitsui, Emiko Yagumo
Votes: 3,461
40. The Only Son (1936)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama
A widow sends her only son away to receive a better education. Years later, she visits him, finding him a poor school teacher with a wife and son.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Chôko Iida, Shin'ichi Himori, Masao Hayama, Yoshiko Tsubouchi
Votes: 4,041
41. Intentions of Murder (1964)
Not Rated | 150 min | Drama
A housewife living under her tyrannical husband has her life stressfully turned upside down after getting raped by a burglar.
Director: Shôhei Imamura | Stars: Masumi Harukawa, Kô Nishimura, Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Yûko Kusunoki
Votes: 1,819
42. Inn of Evil (1971)
121 min | Crime, Drama
The story takes place in feudal Japan, when any commerce with the rest of the world was strictly prohibited. An idealist suddenly appears in an isolated inn (the one that the title refers ... See full summary »
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Komaki Kurihara, Wakako Sakai, Kan'emon Nakamura
Votes: 2,061
43. Yôsô (1963)
98 min | Drama, Fantasy, History
A Buddhist priest becomes also a magician, dedicating himself to the protection of life wherever it's needed, whereupon he finds himself in direct service of the Queen. Political intrigue ... See full summary »
Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa | Stars: Raizô Ichikawa, Yukiko Fuji, Miyako Endô, Tomisaburô Wakayama
Votes: 114
44. About Her Brother (I) (2010)
126 min | Drama
Ginko seems to be living the good life: She's the respectable owner of a neighborhood drug store in Tokyo, and her daughter Koharu is about to get married to a doctor. However, Koharu's ... See full summary »
Director: Yôji Yamada | Stars: Sayuri Yoshinaga, Tsurube Shôfukutei, Yû Aoi, Ryô Kase
Votes: 850
45. Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
Not Rated | 79 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Sugata, a young man, struggles to learn the nuance and meaning of judo, and in doing so comes to learn something of the meaning of life.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Denjirô Ôkôchi, Susumu Fujita, Yukiko Todoroki, Ryûnosuke Tsukigata
Votes: 5,627
46. The Snow Flurry (1959)
78 min | Drama
A flashback story of a young man, from his disgraced birth, his harsh life and his forbidden love, until when broken-hearted, can break out in search of a place where to live means more than being alive.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Keiko Kishi, Ineko Arima, Yoshiko Kuga, Yûsuke Kawazu
Votes: 195
47. Blackmail Is My Life (1968)
90 min | Action, Crime
A pungent, extremely entertaining tale of hedonistic, amoral blackmailer Matsukata.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Hiroki Matsukata, Tomomi Satô, Hideo Murota, Tetsurô Tanba
Votes: 391
48. Ôsen chitai (1960)
79 min | Crime, Drama
A criminal drama told in a semi-documentary fashion. The murder of the chief official of Kobe city's Customs triggers an investigation of a prostitution ring called the 'Yellow Line' that sells Japanese women.
Director: Teruo Ishii | Stars: Teruo Yoshida, Yôko Mihara, Shigeru Amachi, Mako Sanjô
Votes: 96
49. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
Not Rated | 148 min | Drama, Romance
The adopted son of a legendary actor, and an aspiring star himself, turns to his infant brother's wet nurse for support and affection - only for her to give up everything for her beloved's glory.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Shôtarô Hanayagi, Kôkichi Takada, Ryôtarô Kawanami, Kinnosuke Takamatsu
Votes: 4,394
50. Utamaro and His Five Women (1946)
106 min | Drama
Utamaro is a great artist who lives to create portraits of beautiful women, using the brothels of Tokyo to provide his models.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Minosuke Bandô, Kinuyo Tanaka, Kôtarô Bandô, Hiroko Kawasaki
Votes: 1,423
51. Blind Beast (1969)
86 min | Drama, Horror
A blind sculpter and his mother kidnap a young model.
Director: Yasuzô Masumura | Stars: Eiji Funakoshi, Mako Midori, Noriko Sengoku
Votes: 3,903
52. Irezumi (1966)
86 min | Drama
A seductive woman gets kidnapped into prostitution. After getting a spider tattoo made on her back, she grows vengeful, leaving several men in her path.
Director: Yasuzô Masumura | Stars: Ayako Wakao, Akio Hasegawa, Gaku Yamamoto, Kei Satô
Votes: 1,348
53. The Red Angel (1966)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, Romance, War
During the Sino-Japanese War, a young army nurse gives sympathy to her patients and falls in love with an impotent doctor who's addicted to morphine.
Director: Yasuzô Masumura | Stars: Ayako Wakao, Shinsuke Ashida, Yûsuke Kawazu, Ranko Akagi
Votes: 1,887
54. A Page of Madness (1926)
Not Rated | 70 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A man takes a job at an asylum with hopes of freeing his imprisoned wife.
Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa | Stars: Masuo Inoue, Ayako Iijima, Yoshie Nakagawa, Hiroshi Nemoto
Votes: 4,572
55. The Lighthouse (1957)
162 min | Drama
Covering the years from 1932 through 1957, this is the story of the trials and tribulations of lighthouse keeper Shiro and his wife Kiyoko.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Keiji Sada, Takahiro Tamura, Katsuo Nakamura
Votes: 153
56. Lightning (1952)
87 min | Drama
Poor, pathetic mother Ose has four children, three daughters and a son, by four different men.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Mitsuko Miura, Kyôko Kagawa, Chieko Murata
Votes: 815
57. Sudden Rain (1956)
91 min | Comedy, Drama
This wry chamber piece from director Mikio Naruse focuses on a couple whose pet peeves and minor irritations escalate into major rifts and animosity.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Setsuko Hara, Shûji Sano, Kyôko Kagawa, Akemi Negishi
Votes: 369
58. Summer Clouds (1958)
128 min | Drama
A war widow with a young boy manages a farm with her bossy mother-in-law. When a reporter comes to interview her, the two begin an affair. He turns out to be married and won't leave his ... See full synopsis »
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Chikage Awashima, Michiyo Aratama, Kumi Mizuno, Yôko Tsukasa
Votes: 383
59. Older Brother, Younger Sister (1953)
86 min | Drama
In Older Brother, Younger Sister, director Mikio Naruse's adaptation of an oft-filmed popular novel by Saisei Murô, the eldest daughter (Machiko Kyô) of a rural family comes home pregnant, ... See full summary »
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Yoshiko Kuga, Yûji Hori
Votes: 486
60. I Live in Fear (1955)
103 min | Drama
An aging Japanese industrialist becomes so fearful of nuclear war that it begins to take a toll on his life and family.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Eiko Miyoshi
Votes: 5,534
61. Little Peach (1958)
110 min | Drama
Kyoko, the daughter of a successful novelist, marries an aspiring writer. However, her husband's difficulties with his writing and his resentment over her father cause deep strains in the marriage.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Sô Yamamura, Kyôko Kagawa, Isao Kimura, Keiju Kobayashi
Votes: 179
62. Spring Awakens (1947)
89 min | Drama
Slice of life film centered around a couple of years in the life of a rural high school girl.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Tatsuya Ishiguro, Haruko Sugimura, Yoshiko Kuga, Takashi Shimura
Votes: 169
63. A Geisha (1953)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
A seasoned geisha and her apprentice maiko are forced to give in to their clients' sexual advances to survive.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Michiyo Kogure, Ayako Wakao, Seizaburô Kawazu, Eitarô Shindô
Votes: 2,368
64. 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: 22,551 | Gross: $0.22M
65. An Inn at Osaka (1954)
122 min | Drama
An Inn at Osaka, rarely seen outside Japan, follows the story of an insurance company executive from Tokyo, Mr. Mito, who is demoted to the Osaka office. He takes a room at a small inn and tries to rebuild his life.
Director: Heinosuke Gosho | Stars: Shûji Sano, Nobuko Otowa, Mitsuko Mito, Hiroko Kawasaki
Votes: 295
66. Behold Thy Son (1957)
104 min | Drama
This is the story of Kiyoshi Yoshida, who feels estranged from both parents after his father returns from war. How the boy adapts to life with the virtual stranger his father has become is the film's focus.
Director: Heinosuke Gosho | Stars: Chikage Awashima, Yûnosuke Itô, Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiko Kuga
Votes: 115
67. Oshidori utagassen (1939)
69 min | Comedy, Musical
Oharu is in love with a ronin who lives next door. A mistake puts Oharu's father deeply in debt to the local lord and he is confronted with having to sell Oharu in order to pay it off.
Director: Masahiro Makino | Stars: Chiezô Kataoka, Ryôsuke Kagawa, Takashi Shimura, Mitsuru Tôyama
Votes: 215
68. Portrait of Madame Yuki (1950)
88 min | Drama, Romance
Young servant girl Hamako has just started working for her personal heroine, Madame Yuki, but her romanticized view of the Madame is broken immediately as she is introduced to a list of the Madame's personal problems.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Michiyo Kogure, Yoshiko Kuga, Ken Uehara, Eijirô Yanagi
Votes: 571
69. Kiri no hata (1965)
111 min | Crime, Drama
Kiriko attempts to hire a well-known lawyer to defend her brother's murder case. The lawyer turns Kiriko down as she cannot afford him. Some time later, Kiriko encounters the lawyer again, but this time it is he who needs her help.
Director: Yôji Yamada | Stars: Chieko Baishô, Osamu Takizawa, Michiyo Aratama, Yûsuke Kawazu
Votes: 176
70. Musashino fujin (1951)
88 min | Drama, Romance
Set in post-war Japan, The Lady of Musashino tells the story of Michiko, a disillusioned young woman trapped in a loveless marriage. She confides in her younger cousin, Tsutomo, and the two become close.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Yukiko Todoroki, Masayuki Mori, Akihiko Katayama
Votes: 710
71. Where Spring Comes Late (1970)
106 min | Drama
A poor family of miners from Kyushu uproot themselves and make the long journey to what they hope is a better life in Hokkaido. Their journey is beset with hardship and tragedy.
Director: Yôji Yamada | Stars: Chieko Baishô, Hisashi Igawa, Chishû Ryû, Gin Maeda
Votes: 285
72. Dobu (1954)
111 min | Drama
Postwar Tokyo. Pin (Jukichi Uno) and Toku (Taiji Tonoyama) live in the squatter area of Kappanuma. Pin and Toku are avid gamblers. They take in Tsuru (Nobuko Otowa), a slightly demented woman who has run away from a geisha house.
Director: Kaneto Shindô | Stars: Ranko Akagi, Kamatari Fujiwara, Bokuzen Hidari, Noriko Honma
Votes: 120
73. Home from the Sea (1972)
96 min | Drama
On a beautiful island in Seto Inner Sea, Seichi and Minko make their living by transporting rocks to construction sites by boat. They cherish the deepest affection for this piece of land ... See full summary »
Director: Yôji Yamada | Stars: Hisashi Igawa, Chieko Baishô, Chishû Ryû, Gin Maeda
Votes: 322
74. Brother (1960)
98 min | Drama
Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this standard drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Keiko Kishi, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Masayuki Mori
Votes: 484
75. Poignant Story (1961)
106 min | Drama
The real mother of the two children of a respectable university professor is not his wife, but his mistress, the hostess of a Ginza bar the family frequents.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Chikage Awashima, Masayuki Mori, Tatsuya Nakadai
Votes: 213
76. Hideko, the Bus Conductor (1941)
54 min | Comedy, Drama
Okoma, a young lady working as a conductor with a bus company in Kofu Yamanashi, has an idea for her bus that could avert the dwindling number of passengers.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Kamatari Fujiwara, Daijirô Natsukawa, Tamae Kiyokawa
Votes: 367
77. The Stranger Within a Woman (1966)
102 min | Crime, Drama
Two friends meet in a bar. Later that night, one friend's flirtatious wife is reportedly in an accident. The other friend doesn't feel well. What's come over him?
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Keiju Kobayashi, Michiyo Aratama, Mitsuko Kusabue, Tatsuya Mihashi
Votes: 457
78. Tokyo Chorus (1931)
90 min | Comedy, Drama
A married Tokyo man faces unemployment after standing up for an older colleague.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Tokihiko Okada, Emiko Yagumo, Hideo Sugawara, Hideko Takamine
Votes: 1,574
79. Wife! Be Like a Rose! (1935)
74 min | Drama
When she reaches adulthood, a precocious young woman sets out to find her biological father, who, as her mother tells her, abandoned them for another woman.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Sachiko Chiba, Yuriko Hanabusa, Toshiko Itô, Setsuko Horikoshi
Votes: 535
80. The Girl in the Rumor (1935)
54 min | Drama
The suitor rejects elder sister Kunie but likes Kimoko, the younger one. Their father and his mistress have separate shops. Kimiko suddenly learns that she is her mother. Business is bad. The police visit when business shortcuts are taken.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Sachiko Chiba, Kamatari Fujiwara, Toshiko Itô, Kô Mihashi
Votes: 158
81. Apart from You (1933)
64 min | Drama
Two Geisha with a connection to a young man deal with life's hardships.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Akio Isono, Sumiko Mizukubo, Reikichi Kawamura
Votes: 649
82. Night Drum (1958)
95 min | Drama
When a married woman has an affair with a young musician, feudal Japanese law requires that both offenders pay with their lives. However, the woman's husband blames himself for his wife's ... See full summary »
Director: Tadashi Imai | Stars: Rentarô Mikuni, Ineko Arima, Masayuki Mori, Sumiko Hidaka
Votes: 160
83. Every-Night Dreams (1933)
64 min | Drama
A single mother works tirelessly as a Ginza bar hostess to ensure a better life for her young son until--her long-lost husband returns.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Sumiko Kurishima, Teruko Kojima, Jun Arai, Tatsuo Saitô
Votes: 642
84. Street Without End (1934)
89 min | Drama
Story of a waitress whose life, despite a host of male admirers and even some intrigued movie talent scouts, ends up taking a stiflingly domestic turn after a wealthy businessman accidentally hits her with his car.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Setsuko Shinobu, Akio Isono, Hikaru Yamanouchi, Nobuko Wakaba
Votes: 398
85. The Human Bullet (1968)
116 min | Drama, War
During World War II, a Japanese soldier finds himself assigned to a kamikaze mission against a U.S. battleship.
Director: Kihachi Okamoto | Stars: Minori Terada, Naoko Ôtani, Yûnosuke Itô, Shinsuke Achiwa
Votes: 478
86. Snow Country (1957)
133 min | Drama, Romance
It's a man's world. Shimamura, an artist, comes to this snowbound town to rejuvenate himself. He connects with Komako, a geisha he met on a previous trip, and it seems like love. She's the ... See full summary »
Director: Shirô Toyoda | Stars: Ryô Ikebe, Keiko Kishi, Kaoru Yachigusa, Akira Kubo
Votes: 176
87. The Village (1975)
127 min | Drama
A quasi-docu-drama pertaining to the monumental process to bring a performance troupe to a small Japanese village to perform for one night.
Director: Yôji Yamada | Stars: Chieko Baishô, Akira Terao, Atom Shimojô, Kiyoshi Atsumi
Votes: 105
88. Tokyo Family (2013)
146 min | Drama
In this update of Yasujiro Ozu's "Tokyo Story", a retired schoolteacher and his wife visit their three working children in modern-day Tokyo.
Director: Yôji Yamada | Stars: Isao Hashizume, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Masahiko Nishimura, Yui Natsukawa
Votes: 2,235
89. Bunny Drop (2011)
114 min | Comedy, Drama
A man adopts his six-year-old aunt and raises her as his own kid.
Director: Sabu | Stars: Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Karina, Mana Ashida, Mirei Kiritani
Votes: 1,802
90. The Love of Sumako the Actress (1947)
96 min | Drama
The stage director Shimamura, who is bringing western theatre to Japan, falls in love with the outspoken actress Sumako Matsui, and leaves his family to be with her, while trying to keep his Art Theatre solvent.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Sô Yamamura, Kikue Môri, Chieko Higashiyama
Votes: 332
91. Death Note (2006)
Not Rated | 126 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
A battle between the world's two greatest minds begins when Light Yagami finds the Death Note, a notebook with the power to kill, and decides to rid the world of criminals.
Director: Shûsuke Kaneko | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Asaka Seto, Yû Kashii
Votes: 31,869
92. Crossroads (1928)
81 min | Drama
After falling in love with a courtesan, Rikiya is blinded by ash during a fight in a brothel. Believing the blindness permanent and his opponent dead, Rikiya goes back home to his sister. ... See full summary »
Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa | Stars: Akiko Chihaya, Junosuke Bandô, Yukiko Ogawa, Ippei Sôma
Votes: 460
93. Death Note: The Last Name (2006)
Not Rated | 141 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
Picking up where the first one leaves off, Light joins the task force searching for Kira in an effort to avert suspicion from himself---and get rid of L.
Director: Shûsuke Kaneko | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Erika Toda, Nana Katase
Votes: 17,620
94. Moving (1993)
125 min | Drama
Renko, a girl in the sixth grade, is at first unperturbed by her parents' decision to separate. With the companionship of her boyfriend, Minoru, and Sally, a classmate in the same boat, ... See full summary »
Director: Shinji Sômai | Stars: Kiichi Nakai, Junko Sakurada, Tomoko Tabata, Mariko Sudo
Votes: 678
95. An Inn in Tokyo (1935)
80 min | Drama
Unemployed Kihachi and his two sons struggle to make ends meet. But that doesn't keep Kihachi from wooing single mother Otaka.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Takeshi Sakamoto, Yoshiko Okada, Chôko Iida, Tomio Aoki
Votes: 1,649
96. Priest of Darkness (1936)
82 min | Drama
After a young shopkeeper steals the knife of one of his costumers, a samurai, a chain of increasingly complex events is set into motion.
Director: Sadao Yamanaka | Stars: Chôjûrô Kawarasaki, Kan'emon Nakamura, Shizue Yamagishi, Setsuko Hara
Votes: 511
97. Posutoman burûsu (1997)
110 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A postman is mistaken for a dangerous criminal by the police.
Director: Sabu | Stars: Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Keisuke Horibe, Ren Ôsugi, Kyôko Tôyama
Votes: 1,889
98. A Wife Confesses (1961)
91 min | Drama, Mystery
Ayako is charged with murdering her much older academic husband while climbing a mountain. Ayako was having an affair, apparently with her husband's approval, and this complicates the trial.
Director: Yasuzô Masumura | Stars: Ayako Wakao, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Eitarô Ozawa, Haruko Mabuchi
Votes: 757
99. The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)
76 min | Horror
The ghost of a samurai's wife takes revenge on her husband.
Director: Nobuo Nakagawa | Stars: Shigeru Amachi, Noriko Kitazawa, Katsuko Wakasugi, Shuntarô Emi
Votes: 1,818
100. Woman of Tokyo (1933)
47 min | Drama
Ryoichi and Chikako are brother and sister. They live together. Chikako works during the day in an office and at night she prostitutes herself to fund her brother's studies at the ... See full summary »
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Yoshiko Okada, Ureo Egawa, Kinuyo Tanaka, Shin'yô Nara
Votes: 1,045
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