Foreign Films Set in Japan
All eyes will be on Tokyo for this year's Summer Olympics, but Japan is a country that has attracted many foreign filmmakers to make movies featuring its culture, its people and its history.
Which of these foreign films set in Japan is your favorite? If you are not familiar with them, which one do you want to see the most?
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Poll by Pencho15
Which of these foreign films set in Japan is your favorite? If you are not familiar with them, which one do you want to see the most?
Discuss Here
Poll by Pencho15
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35 titles
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsTom CruiseKen WatanabeBilly ConnollyNathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsEmmanuelle RivaEiji OkadaStella DassasA French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsKen WatanabeKazunari NinomiyaTsuyoshi IharaThe story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsHugh JackmanWill Yun LeeTao OkamotoWolverine comes to Japan to meet an old friend whose life he saved years ago, and gets embroiled in a conspiracy involving yakuza and mutants.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsBryan CranstonKoyu RankinEdward NortonSet in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.
- DirectorRob MarshallStarsZiyi ZhangKen WatanabeMichelle YeohThe heartwarming tale of Nitta Sayuri, a young Japanese woman who transcended from her fishing-village roots and became one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.
- DirectorGareth EdwardsStarsAaron Taylor-JohnsonElizabeth OlsenBryan CranstonThe world is beset by the appearance of monstrous creatures, but one of them may be the only one who can save humanity.
- DirectorRupert SandersStarsScarlett JohanssonPilou AsbækTakeshi KitanoIn the near future, Major Mira Killian is the first of her kind: A human saved from a terrible crash, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals.
- DirectorCarl RinschStarsKeanu ReevesHiroyuki SanadaKô ShibasakiA band of samurai sets out to avenge the death and dishonor of their master at the hands of a ruthless shogun.
- DirectorTakashi ShimizuStarsSarah Michelle GellarJason BehrClea DuVallAn American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.
- DirectorTravis KnightStarsCharlize TheronArt ParkinsonMatthew McConaugheyA young boy named Kubo must locate a magical suit of armour worn by his late father in order to defeat a vengeful spirit from the past.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsAndrew GarfieldAdam DriverLiam NeesonIn the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsNathaniel BrownPaz de la HuertaCyril RoyAn American drug dealer living in Tokyo is betrayed by his best friend and killed in a drug deal. His soul, observing the repercussions of his death, seeks resurrection.
- DirectorJohn G. AvildsenStarsPat MoritaRalph MacchioPat E. JohnsonDaniel accompanies his mentor, Mr. Miyagi, to Miyagi's childhood home in Okinawa. Miyagi visits his dying father and confronts his old rival, while Daniel falls in love and inadvertently makes a new rival of his own.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsMichael DouglasAndy GarciaKen TakakuraTwo NYC cops arrest a Yakuza member and must escort him when he's extradited to Japan.
- DirectorJason ZadaStarsNatalie DormerEoin MackenStephanie VogtA young woman's desperate search for her twin sister brings her to a ghost-filled stretch of wilderness known as the 'Suicide Forest.'
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsTom SelleckKen TakakuraAya TakanashiJack Elliot, once a great baseball player, is forced to play in Japan where his brash, egotistical ways cause friction with his new teammates and friends.
- DirectorJustin LinStarsLucas BlackZachery Ty BryanShad MossA teenager becomes a major competitor in the world of drift racing after moving in with his father in Tokyo to avoid a jail sentence in America.
- DirectorStuart GillardStarsElias KoteasPaige TurcoStuart WilsonWhen journalist April O'Neil discovers an ancient scepter with magical powers, the Turtles must cow-a-bunga their way back to 17th century Japan to rescue her from the evil clutches of Lord Norinaga.
- DirectorGérard KrawczykStarsJean RenoRyôko HirosueMichel MullerIn Japan for the funeral of his long-lost love, a tough French detective learns that he also has a teenage daughter and that her life is in danger from the Yakuza.
- DirectorJunpei MizusakiStarsKôichi YamaderaWataru TakagiAi KakumaBatman, along with a number of his allies and adversaries, finds himself transplanted from modern Gotham City to feudal Japan.
- DirectorPeter WebberStarsMatthew FoxColin MoyTommy Lee JonesAs the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, General Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.
- DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsBrad PittCate BlanchettGael García BernalTragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, which jump starts an interlocking story involving four different families.
- DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsVivian WuEwan McGregorYoshi OidaA woman with a body-writing fetish seeks to find a combined lover and calligrapher.
- DirectorFrançois GirardStarsMichael PittKeira KnightleyKoji YakushoThe story of a married silkworm merchant-turned-smuggler in 19th century France traveling to Japan for his town's supply of silkworms after a disease wipes out their African supply. During his stay in Japan, he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsBill MurrayScarlett JohanssonGiovanni RibisiA faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.
- DirectorRobert Allan AckermanStarsBrittany MurphyToshiyuki NishidaTammy BlanchardAn American woman is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a râmen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsRobert MitchumKen TakakuraEiji OkadaAmerican private-eye Harry Kilmer returns to Japan to rescue a friend's kidnapped daughter from the clutches of the Yakuza.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsJohn WayneJohn AgarAdele MaraHaunted by personal demons, Marine Sgt. John Stryker is hated and feared by his men, who see him as a cold-hearted sadist. But when their boots hit the beaches, they begin to understand the reason for Stryker's rigid form of discipline.
- DirectorAndrew LevitasStarsAkiko IwaseKogarashi WakasugiJohnny DeppWar photographer W. Eugene Smith travels back to Japan where he documents the devastating effect of mercury poisoning in coastal communities.
- DirectorJoshua LoganStarsMarlon BrandoRicardo MontalbanPatricia OwensA US Air Force major in Kobe confronts his own opposition to marriages between American servicemen and Japanese women when he falls for a beautiful performer.
- DirectorAlain CorneauStarsSylvie TestudKaori TsujiTarô SuwaA Belgian woman looks back on her year at a Japanese corporation in Tokyo in 1990. She is Amélie, born in Japan, living there until age 5. After college graduation, she returns with a one-year contract as an interpreter. The vice president and section leader, both men, are boors, but her immediate supervisor, Ms. Mori, is beautiful and trustworthy. Amélie's downfall begins when she speaks perfect Japanese to clients. She compounds her failure by writing an excellent report for an enterprising colleague. The person she least expects to stab her in the back exposes her work. Thus begins her humiliations. What can become of her and of her relationship with Ms. Mori and with Japan?
- DirectorDaniel MannStarsMarlon BrandoGlenn FordMachiko KyôIn post-WWII Japan, an American captain is brought in to help build a school, but the locals want a teahouse instead.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsRobert RyanRobert StackShirley YamaguchiPlanted in a Tokyo crime syndicate, a U.S. Army Investigator attempts to probe the coinciding death of a fellow Army official.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsSean ConneryAkiko WakabayashiMie HamaJames Bond and the Japanese Secret Service must find and stop the true culprit of a series of space hijackings, before war is provoked between Russia and the United States.