Japanese movies to watch
by sthefanyfsantos | created - 25 Oct 2019 | updated - 03 Apr 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Pumpkin and Mayonnaise (2017)
93 min | Drama
A struggling, unemployed musician living with his girlfriend looks to improve his life after he discovers how she's been paying the rent.
Director: Masanori Tominaga | Stars: Asami Usuda, Taiga Nakano, Kôdai Asaka, Ken Mitsuishi
Votes: 118
2. Vision (I) (2018)
109 min | Drama
Frenchwoman Joan is a world traveller and chronicler. She travels, sees, experience and writes. She lands in the forest and hills near Nara, Japan and meets Satoshi. Despite the mysterious ... See full summary »
Director: Naomi Kawase | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Masatoshi Nagase, Takanori Iwata, Minami
Votes: 856
3. 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: 31,339 | Gross: $0.68M
4. 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: 18,589 | Gross: $0.16M
5. 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: 12,733 | Gross: $0.27M
6. Maborosi (1995)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
A young woman's husband apparently commits suicide without warning or reason, leaving behind his wife and infant.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Makiko Esumi, Takashi Naitô, Tadanobu Asano, Gohki Kashiyama
Votes: 7,311
7. 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: 87,425 | Gross: $0.06M
8. Neko Atsume House (2017)
92 min | Family
A novelist who is struggling with writer's block finds in a cat an unusual way of easing his anxieties and will challenge himself to make the cat visit him again
Director: Masatoshi Kurakata | Stars: Atsushi Itô, Tae Kimura, Shioli Kutsuna, Tomorô Taguchi
Votes: 166
9. 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: 7,638
10. Yearning (1964)
98 min | Drama, Romance
After a bombing raid destroys the family store and her husband, Reiko rebuilds and runs the shop out of love stopped short by destruction.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Yûzô Kayama, Mitsuko Kusabue, Yumi Shirakawa
Votes: 2,064
11. Ginza Cosmetics (1951)
87 min | Drama
A few days in the life of a quiet geisha, single mother of a young, smart boy, in the lively Tokyo quarter of Ginza. A woman devoted to other people's needs, she will end by taking part ... See full summary »
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Ranko Hanai, Yûji Hori, Kyôko Kagawa
Votes: 400
12. 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: 456
13. Night's Tightrope (2016)
120 min | Mystery
Based on the novel Shojo by Kanae Minato, watch for the story of high school student Yuki who plans to see a dead body. She is more than just a little jealous of another student who has ... See full summary »
Director: Yukiko Mishima | Stars: Tsubasa Honda, Gorô Inagaki, Shizuka Ishibashi, Mackenyu
Votes: 277
14. Killing for the Prosecution (2018)
123 min | Mystery
Mogami Takeshi works at the Tokyo prosecutor's office focusing on violent criminal cases. Okino Keiichiro admires him and is happy to be assigned to work with Mogami. When a money lender is... See full summary »
Director: Masato Harada | Stars: Takuya Kimura, Kazunari Ninomiya, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Takehiro Hira
Votes: 1,016
15. Home: The House Imp (2012)
109 min | Drama, Family
A family in ruins recovers through their encounter with a "Zasikiwarashi", the japanese spirit.
Director: Akiyoshi Kimata | Stars: Ai Hashimoto, Renji Ishibashi, Tatsuomi Hamada, Yutaka Mizutani
Votes: 106
16. Howling Village (2019)
108 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
After her brother goes missing, a young psychologist visits an infamous haunted and cursed location known as 'Howling Village' to investigate his disappearance and uncover her family's dark history.
Director: Takashi Shimizu | Stars: Ayaka Miyoshi, Ryôta Bandô, Tsuyoshi Furukawa, Renji Ishibashi
Votes: 1,354
17. The Confidence Man JP: The Movie (2019)
116 min | Comedy, Crime
The con artists: Dako (Masami Nagasawa), Boku-chan (Masahiro Higashide), and Richard (Fumiyo Kohinata) attempt to steal the diamond from a member of the triad in Hong Kong, who is cold-blooded and appropriately called "Ice Princess."
Director: Ryô Tanaka | Stars: Masami Nagasawa, Masahiro Higashide, Shinya Kote, Fumiyo Kohinata
Votes: 1,492
18. Cape Nostalgia (2014)
117 min | Drama
A story set in a café situated along a small cape and run by an elderly woman named Etsuko and aided her nephew Koji.
Director: Izuru Narushima | Stars: Hiroshi Abe, Yûko Takeuchi, Renji Ishibashi, Kyûsaku Shimada
Votes: 205
19. Journey of the Sky Goddess (2019)
116 min | Comedy, Drama
Growing tired of covering competitions, Takako, an announcer from Tokyo, travels to Minami-Osumi-cho, Kagoshima Prefecture, to cover the Misaki Festival.
Director: Masaharu Take | Stars: Mire Aika, Takaaki Enoki, Kyotaro Gan, Gorô Ibuki
Votes: 5
20. Uso happyaku (2018)
105 min | Comedy, Crime
Sakai is a city near Osaka by the bay famous for its swords in the old days and kitchen knives today. Norio is an antique dealer in the city. Sasuke is a potter in the city. Seventeenth ... See full summary »
Director: Masaharu Take | Stars: Kiichi Nakai, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Kogan Ashiya, Blake Crawford
Votes: 188
21. Dear Doctor (2009)
127 min | Drama
A young medical intern student is dismayed when he is assigned to work in a remote countryside village.
Director: Miwa Nishikawa | Stars: Tsurube Shôfukutei, Eita Nagayama, Teruyuki Kagawa, Haruka Igawa
Votes: 747
22. Onimasa (1982)
146 min | Drama
A yakuza melodrama, covering decades in the lives of Boss Onimasa, his adopted daughter Matsue, and his biological daughter Hanako.
Director: Hideo Gosha | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Masako Natsume, Akiko Nakamura, Akiko Kana
Votes: 568
23. An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama
An aging widower arranges a marriage for his only daughter.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Chishû Ryû, Shima Iwashita, Keiji Sada, Mariko Okada
Votes: 10,641
24. The Yellow Handkerchief (1977)
109 min | Comedy, Drama
Three complete strangers embark on a road-trip to Hokkaido.
Director: Yôji Yamada | Stars: Ken Takakura, Chieko Baishô, Kaori Momoi, Tetsuya Takeda
Votes: 1,294
25. The Wicked (1980)
129 min | Drama, Mystery
A selfish playboy uses rich women to pay off his debts. Divorcing his wife and marrying the woman he loves throws him into a spiral of destruction.
Director: Yoshitarô Nomura | Stars: Takao Kataoka, Keiko Matsuzaka, Junko Miyashita, Mariko Fuji
Votes: 70
26. Hokuriku Proxy War (1977)
98 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A Yakuza group from Osaka with dreams of national dominance moves into the snowy Hokuriku region, sparking a bloody turf war with local gangs.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Hiroki Matsukata, Yumiko Nogawa, Shin'ichi Chiba, Mikio Narita
Votes: 199
27. Lady Maiko (2014)
135 min | Comedy, Musical
Country bumpkin Haruko only ever wanted to become a geisha, like her now-deceased mother. Initially rebuffed for lack of references, Haruko's strong accent intrigues a linguistics professor, who undertakes to coach her.
Director: Masayuki Suô | Stars: Mone Kamishiraishi, Hiroki Hasegawa, Sumiko Fuji, Tomoko Tabata
Votes: 287
28. Bittare! (2015)
Comedy
Director: Satoshi Kaneda | Stars: Miku Iwasaki, Kanna Moriya, Naoto Takenaka, Kei Tanaka
Votes: 19
29. Untamed Woman (1957)
121 min | Drama
A woman marries, gives birth to a stillborn child, and divorces, falls in love with a hotel-keeper, only to find herself subordinated to his drive for success, takes up with a tailor who cannot console himself with her strong personality.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Ken Uehara, Daisuke Katô, Masayuki Mori
Votes: 271
30. A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad's an Alcoholic (2019)
95 min | Drama
Saki Tadokoro's father is an alcoholic and her mother is a follower of a new religion. She sees her father's strange behavior and her mother's loneliness. Her family is collapsing, but Saki struggles to look for her future.
Director: Kenji Katagiri | Stars: Tamae Andô, Shôgo Hama, Kenta Hamano, Hidetoshi Hoshida
Votes: 27
31. Katte ni shiyagare!! Dasshutsu keikaku (1995 TV Movie)
80 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Hapless gangsters are hired by the yakuza to tail his daughter. Once the identity of the boy she's dating has been unveiled, the boss offers a reward for his capture.
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Stars: Shô Aikawa, Kôyô Maeda, Satoshi Kajiwara, Yumiko Abe
Votes: 45
32. The Katsuragi Murder Case (2016)
120 min | Crime, Drama
An overbearing father, frightened mother, laid off elder bother, the family makes young brother to be an indiscriminate monster.
Director: Masaaki Akahori | Stars: Hirofumi Arai, Kaho Minami, Tomokazu Miura, Rena Tanaka
Votes: 135
33. Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction (2020)
113 min | Drama
Hayami Teruya is a dedicated salaryman who does a workman like job as the chief editor for a magazine. He has personal charm, get along with both the publisher and subordinates and runs the... See full summary »
Director: Daihachi Yoshida | Stars: Lily Franky, Elaiza Ikeda, Yoshino Kimura, Satomi Kobayashi
Votes: 290
34. Zero Focus (2009)
130 min | Drama, Thriller
Spurred by the disappearance of a newly-wed husband, three women in post-war Japan are drawn into a murder mystery.
Director: Isshin Inudô | Stars: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Ryôko Hirosue, Takeshi Kaga, Miki Nakatani
Votes: 257
35. Zero Focus (1961)
95 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Teiko's new husband disappears on a business trip. She discovers a pair of mysterious postcards hidden away in a book that may be clues to his fate.
Director: Yoshitarô Nomura | Stars: Yoshiko Kuga, Hizuru Takachiho, Ineko Arima, Kôji Nanbara
Votes: 724
36. Comic Magazine (1986)
120 min | Comedy
Kinameri is a moderately successful television journalist itching for a big scoop. So when a corrupt local businessman barricades himself in his house, of course he's going to be excited with things picking up.
Director: Yôjirô Takita | Stars: Yûya Uchida, Yumi Asô, Takeshi Kitano, Hiromi Gô
Votes: 211 | Gross: $0.03M
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