25+ Top-rated Japanese Films
A Rating Of Japanese Cinema's Best And Elite Films
List activity
11K views
• 6 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
30 titles
- DirectorSatoshi MikiStarsJoe OdagiriTomokazu MiuraKyôko KoizumiTakemura has no friends and no family. He's a law student but he doesn't have any particular ambitions. A thug offers to pay Takemura's considerable gambling debt if the student accompanies him on a trip across Tokyo.Adrift In Tokyo or Tenten is simply a unique film. Its mixture of offbeat humour, absurdity, sentimentality and walk through Tokyo make it my top pick.
I asked the film's star, Odagiri Joe, in person in 2017 about his relationship with the man and the woman and he simply could not remember. Watch it to speculate for yourself then. - DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaTamao NakamuraHis ideals challenged by life as a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist faces ever greater tests in his fight for survival.The conclusion to the Kobayashi Masaki anti-war trilogy is the definition of masterpiece. Find a sadder movie and I will introduce you to a caring banker or sincere lawyer.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûChieko HigashiyamaSô YamamuraAn old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.Ozu Yasujiro is the pinnacle of Japanese cinema.
Tokyo Story is the pinnacle of Ozu's works.
If only this world were filled with Norikos... - DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.The word 'epic' is thrown around too casually nowadays. Kurosawa Akira's Seven Samurais is a truly epic film with impeccable acting, entertaining plot and a story so layered and articulate that justifies the film being called a masterpiece.
- DirectorYôjirô TakitaStarsMasahiro MotokiRyôko HirosueTsutomu YamazakiSoon 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.As well as drilling into a dark corner of Japanese life Departures is scene after scene of emotion and human interest.
Amidst the backdrop of majestic mountains and music, a wife who goes from being a partner to a nuisance and back and the reassuring ending Departures has surely become the best advertisement for Yamagata for years to come - not to mention a unique film. - DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsDaveigh ChaseSuzanne PleshetteMiyu IrinoDuring her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.Spirited Away is what great anime is: just wonderful.
Every character, line, twist and movement is interesting.
A cartoon for children and adults alike. - DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.Kurosawa's introspective into the human psyche, amidst a backdrop of medieval Japan, should be boring by any measure, but is anything but.
Watch and learn or watch and be entertained - up to you.
Rashomon ('southern gate') introduced Japanese cinema to the world followed by Jigokumon ('hellish gate') which also featured Kyô Machiko. - DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMisa UeharaMinoru ChiakiLured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.It is said that The Hidden Fortress inspired Star Wars.
That makes it two reasons to admire the film. The combination of Kurosawa Akira's direction and Mifune Toshiro's screen-filling acting is probably cinema's most successful pairing anywhere, after Hara and Ozu, and this 1958 adventure is an above average romp for the two. - DirectorHiroshi InagakiStarsToshirô MifuneMariko OkadaRentarô MikuniDepicts the early life of the legendary warrior Musashi Miyamoto; his years as an aspiring warrior, an outlaw and finally a true samurai.Part of the Samurai trilogy depicting the life and times of Miyamoto Musashi this film is a dream-come-true for bushido fans and contains the sort of entertainment that only good actors and storyboards drawing from history could produce.
- DirectorHiroshi InagakiStarsToshirô MifuneMariko OkadaKôji TsurutaMusashi Miyamoto returns to Kyoto after years of absence. After a series of fights against the Yoshioka School, he challenges its master to a duel.The sequel to Samurai, the further tale of Miyamoto Musashi is more entertainment as only Japanese cinema could produce.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsHideko TakamineItsuo WatanabeMakoto MiyagawaSchoolteacher Hisako Oishi forms an emotional bond with her pupils and teaches them various virtues, while at the same time worrying about their future.Along with Kobayashi Masaki, Kinoshita Keisuke was the great pacifist director of post-war Japan.
24 Eyes predictably refers to twelve persons who happen to be students to the kindest teacher one would want.
Much like Ozu, Kobayashi, Kurosawa and Naruse Kinoshita's work is full of metaphors and learning. It is thought that Kinoshita was influenced by Kobayashi. - DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaYoshiaki HanayagiKyôko KagawaIn 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.Sansho The Bailiff is my favourite Mizoguchi film over the likes of Ugetsu or Life Of Oharu.
Like the other Mizoguchi Kenji period films or jidaigeki this film is brilliant or entertaining or both - your choice - and interplays compassion with cruelty. - DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKoji YakushoTakayuki YamadaYûsuke IseyaA group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.Miike Takashi is out to prove that a modern samurai film can be as exciting as an older one. What 13 Assassins lacks in metaphors and allegories it makes up for in the action department however.
- DirectorYôichi SaiStarsKaoru KobayashiKippei ShînaTeruyuki KagawaAs a Labrador puppy, Quill is sent to live with a couple, Isamu and Mitsuko Nii, who work as volunteers, training guide dogs (seeing eye dogs). When he grows to an adult dog, he is taken to a guide dog school, by a friendly, yet firm trainer Satoru Tawada. Although Quill is a little slower than the other dogs at the school, he seems to have an unusual 'empathy' and remarkable patience with his trainers. Tawade decides that Quill would be the ideal guide dog for Mitsuru Watanabe, but Wanatabe, a lonely and ill-tempered middle aged man, isn't as enthusiastic - he would "would rather sleep than be dragged around by a dog.". From here, the story is narrated by Wanatabe's daughter, Mitsuko, and slowly, Wantanbe is rehabilitated, venturing into the outside world, and learning, not only to trust other humans, but the animal at his side who guides him.What? Another cute, affable, amiable, lovable, noble and modest dog?
Quill lived in Japan and was ever so helpful no matter where and when we find him. - DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSetsuko HaraChishû RyûChikage AwashimaA family chooses a match for their daughter Noriko, but she, surprisingly, has her own plans.How many masterpieces did Ozu Yasujiro film? Let's go over his film count, but before that watch Early Summer where the magic of Ozu, Hara Setsuko and Ryu Chishu easily amazes and amuses.
Early Summer, along with Late Spring and Tokyo Story, form the Noriko Trilogy in which Hara plays a young single woman called Noriko.
The quasi-marriage proposal scene will take your breath away. Why 'quasi?' You have to see for yourself. - DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSetsuko HaraYôko TsukasaMariko OkadaA widow tries to marry off her daughter with the help of her late husband's three friends.Hara Setsuko is against marriage so she can take care of her father. That is Late Spring! In Late Autumn Hara's daughter, played by Tsukasa Yoko, refuses to leave the home she shares with her mother.
Late Autumn is another entertaining and engrossing close-up of universal human relations wrapped in a bundle of Japanese life.
For my money Yoko's best friend almost steals the show here. - DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChôko IidaShin'ichi HimoriMasao HayamaA 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.The Only Son is an earlier Ozu Yasujiro film that tugs at the heart and casts a shadow on intergenerational relationships.
Emotional, sentimental and universal only Ozu can depict a mother toiling in a silk factory in Western Japan and make us feel for and identify with her 80 years later and a continent apart. - DirectorKei KumaiStarsMisa ShimizuNagiko TônoMasatoshi NagaseO-Shin is a young brothel worker who, one night, helps a young samurai escape from his pursuers. Against the warnings of her fellow workers, particularly Kikuno and the brothel's owner, O-Shin falls in love with the samurai.The Sea Is Watching was a Kurosawa Akira script that is posthumously filmed by the handpicked director Kei Kumai.
Sure samurai, shogun, red light districts, flooding and caste systems an amusing film could make, but ultimately the dashed forlorn hopes of a young prostitute and the cruelty of man is what makes this little-known movie a gem. - DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKô ShibasakiHideaki ItôEbizô IchikawaFiction begins to bleed into reality for actors (Ebizo Ichikawa, Ko Shibasaki, Hideaki Ito) as they rehearse a stage production of a classic Japanese ghost story.Miike Takashi + kabuki + horror + betrayal = buckets of blood (and a surprise or two)
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaTsukie MatsuuraIchirô SugaiFollows a woman's fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of society.Rarely has a condemnation of the elite, patriarchy and greed been so sad.
Oharu drifts from one calamity to another and suffers throughout with a happy ending. - DirectorJun IchikawaStarsIssei OgataRie MiyazawaShinohara TakahumiWhen technical illustrator Tony Takitani asks his wife to resist her all-consuming obsession for designer clothes, the consequences are tragic.A melancholic tale of solitude and how we project our emotions.
A rare adaptation of a Haruki Murakami short story, Tony Takitani started alone and ended up alone. - DirectorShin'ichirô UedaStarsTakayuki HamatsuYuzuki AkiyamaHarumi ShuhamaThings go badly for a hack director and film crew shooting a low budget zombie movie in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility, when they are attacked by real zombies.This one wants you to believe it is a zombie horror, and it is, but there is more to eat than initially (in the first half hour) meets the eyes. A film within a film, dry humour and a long sequence shot in one take (reminiscent of Daikûkô2013) add up to the best ultra cheap Japanese movie ever.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsToshirô MifuneYôko TsukasaGô KatôThe mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped away from her husband by the lord. The husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to get her back.Amazing story, acting and symbolism.
Samurai Rebellion, created by Mifune Toshiro's new production company, rises against authority and injustice as the director's Harakiri previously did. - DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaKokinji KatsuraAs a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist struggles to maintain his determination to keep his ideals.As marvellous as Kobayashi's direction of the script reacting to Japan's involvement in China during World War II is it would have come to naught were it not for the presence of Nakadai Tatsuya whose principled socialist/pacifist stance beings him nothing but pain.
Part II of a nine-hour trilogy it is perhaps no wonder the film is so little-known even in Japan. Then again more prolific and honoured directors of that era are similarly underappreciated so it is hardly a surprise. - DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaChikage AwashimaA Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan.Long before there were Star Wars or Lord Of The Rings' trilogies Kobayashi committed nine hours to film in a manner that deserves every instance someone adds the 'masterpiece' adjective before the films' titles.
While parts one and two build up to the harrowing third and final parts they each are incredible joyous exercises in dismal injustice. - DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneYutaka SadaTatsuya NakadaiAn executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.Heaven And Hell, as the movie is called in Japan, is an entertaining film, proof that Mifune Toshiro can play any type of film he wants and still fill the screen and has a socially conscious plot to which the title not so subtly refers.
What else could one want? - DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneEijirô TônoTatsuya NakadaiA crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.One part of Mifune Toshiro and Kurosawa Akira's companion piece - the other being Sanjuro - shows a cunning samurai manipulate the town's corrupt and bloodthirsty merchants for his own devices.
Copied as a Western movie later Yojinbo holds the upper ground due to the nobility of its cause, which a 'cowboy' film could never claim.
Suzuki Seijun committed a similar plot to film some fifteen years later in his Youth Of The Beast, but within the Yakuza sub-genre. - DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûSetsuko HaraYumeji TsukiokaSeveral people try to talk 27-year-old Noriko into marrying, but all she wants is to keep on caring for her widowed father.One part of Setsuko Hara/Ozu Yasujiro's unofficial Noriko trilogy Late Spring does what Ozu does best: examine intergenerational shifts and relationships in post-war Japan.
While in The Only Son a mother sacrifices for her only son here a father sacrifices for an only daughter. - DirectorRyôta NakanoStarsRie MiyazawaHana SugisakiAoi ItôA strict, but caring mother has an awakening when she is told she has cancer and it is terminal. She has a few months. She needs to complete her tasks in that short time frame.A routine family film soon transforms into an emotional and sentimental hit piece on the nerves. Miyazawa Rie is something of a revelation here. For my money this is a better film than the infinitely praised Shoplifters.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsTsutomu TatsumiAyano ShiraishiAkemi YamaguchiA young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.You will watch this animation once and only once.