Japanese Films on Hulu Plus
and Netflix Instant
List activity
5.2K views
• 6 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
352 titles
- DirectorKimiyoshi YasudaStarsShintarô KatsuMiwa TakadaEiko TakashiroThe blind swordsman tries to locate a girl's missing father.
- DirectorHiroshi TeshigaharaStarsIsidro Puig BoadaAntoni GaudíSeiji MiyaguchiThe work of Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí, as seen by Japanese New Wave director Hiroshi Teshigahara.
- DirectorLee Man-heeStarsDong-hwi JangWon NamkungAm ParkInfighting breaks out between factions of the Communist Party over whether to back the U.N. Trusteeship under which the Korean Peninsula is to be divided between U.S. and Soviet control. One faction hires a hit man to kill the leader of the opposing faction. The hit man is known as the best in his field, yet is also known for having a heart.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûShima IwashitaKeiji SadaAn aging widower arranges a marriage for his only daughter.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMasayuki MoriKyôko KagawaA vengeful young man marries the daughter of a corrupt industrialist in order to seek justice for his father's suicide.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsShima IwashitaYoshio HaradaTomoko NaraokaA blind traveling musician is abused and oppressed while she tours the country, even though the modern world imposes changes on people's behavior.
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsTatsuya NakadaiKôshirô MatsumotoShima IwashitaKumokiri Nizaemon, a former samurai warrior, has abandoned his class to become the leader of a gang of thieves. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan.
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsFujiko YamamotoHiroo SuzukiEiji FunakoshiHusband and wife Gorô and Chiyo, and their only offspring, an infant son named Tarô, go through the ups and downs of family life living in a cramped modern apartment building in suburban Tokyo. Their story is told in Tarô's second year of life. Many of their issues stem from both Gorô and Chiyo being unsure of themselves as parents, and being different in their perspectives of parenting, Gorô who believes in the traditional roles in which Chiyo is tasked with most of the child rearing responsibilities especially around the home. They also differ in the number of children they want, Gorô who believes Tarô is enough of a handful, while Chiyo really wants at least one more child in the general joy she feels in being a mother despite the problems. The unsurety that Gorô and Chiyo feel about their parenting is confirmed by Tarô, openly in his frequent crying fits when he is unhappy in what his parents or other adults around him have done wrong, and in secret as Tarô provides an inner voice narrative of what he wants and believes as a baby which is often contrary to what Gorô or Chiyo believe Tarô wants or needs. Their situation gets more complicated as Gorô's aged and thus stuck in her ways mother Ino gets directly involved in Gorô, Chiyo and Tarô's home life and thus Tarô's upbringing.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsGô KatôHitoshi UekiReiko ÔharaA lighthouse keeper and his family follow work from town to town, each time making new friends and receiving a visit from his troublesome father.
- DirectorUmetsugu InoueStarsMachiko KyôMinoru ÔkiJunko KanôA jeweler hires detective Akechi to find his daughter kidnapped by a famous thief known as the Black Lizard.
- DirectorKoreyoshi KuraharaStarsTamio KawajiChico LourantYuko ChishiroOne is a young, jazz-obsessed Japanese drifter and other is a black American GI on the lam in Tokyo. The two outsiders become outlaws and the movie depicts their growing bond as an alternately absurd and tragic culture clash.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsFumio WatanabeAkiko KoyamaTetsuo AbeA young boy reluctantly aids his swindling father in a threatening scam.
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsJô ShishidoMariko OgawaAnnu MariAfter a botched assignment, a rice-fetishizing hitman finds himself in conflict with his organization, and one mysterious, dangerous fellow-hitman in particular.
- DirectorHeinosuke GoshoStarsTatsuo SaitôMitsuko YoshikawaMasao HayamaAn aging couple truffle to pay for their daughter's marriages while keeping their much younger son from feeling left out.
- DirectorYoshitarô NomuraStarsTetsurô TanbaGô KatôKensaku MoritaDetectives investigate the murder of an old man found in a Tokyo rail yard.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsKenzô KawarasakiAtsuko KakuAtsuo NakamuraUpon receiving a shocking telegram from his cousin, a man recounts his early life, as a member of a broad family full of dark secrets that slowly reveal themselves through the clan ceremonies.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsGô KatôYukiyo ToakeMasatomo NakabayashiThe atom-bombing of Nagasaki, Japan in 1945 is recalled by a survivor.
- DirectorTakashi NomuraStarsJô ShishidoJerry FujioChitose KobayashiA 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.
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsRentarô MikuniShôji YasuiTatsuya MihashiA conscience-driven Japanese soldier traumatized by the events of WWII adopts the lifestyle of a Buddhist monk.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsHideko TakamineShûji SanoChishû RyûA 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.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsHideko TakamineMasao WakaharaChikage AwashimaA naive stripper falls for an artist engaged to the daughter of a controversial female politician.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKazuo HasegawaKyôko KagawaEitarô ShindôIshun is a wealthy but unsympathetic master printer who has wrongly accused his wife and best employee of being lovers. To escape punishment, the accused run away together, but Ishun is certain to be ruined if word gets out.
- DirectorKô NakahiraStarsYûjirô IshiharaMasahiko TsugawaMie KitaharaSpending their summer on an exotic beach, two brothers fall for the same beautiful girl, whose charm and looks may hide more than they they bargained for.
- DirectorTakumi FurukawaStarsJô ShishidoChieko MatsubaraTamio KawajiA convict fresh out of prison, with a handicapped sister, is coerced by a wealthy mob boss into organizing an armored racetrack car heist.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsMiyuki KuwanoYûsuke KawazuYoshiko KugaA harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitch-hiking to rob middle-class men.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsHideko TakamineKeiji SadaAkiko TamuraThree criminals planning to rob a house are continually delayed by the families antics.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsIchirô YûkiTatsuo SaitôJunko MatsuiTwo friends try and court the same woman.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsKei SatôDo-yun YuFumio WatanabeA Korean man is sentenced to death by hanging, but he survives the execution. For the following two hours, his executioners try to work out how to handle the situation in this black farce.
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsMariko IshiharaMasanori SeraMari NatsukiAfter their executions are faked by the authorities, three criminals are forced to become assassins under the Shogun's command
- DirectorYoshitarô NomuraStarsShima IwashitaKen OgataHiroki IwaseAfter a married man stops providing for his mistress, she abandons their three young children with him and his wrathful wife.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsTadanori YokooRie YokoyamaMoichi TanabeStory of a bookstore thief named Birdey who is led through various adventures in Tokyo's Shinjuku district by salesgirl Umeko.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsYoshitaka ZushiKin SugaiToshiyuki TonomuraVarious tales in the lives of Tokyo slum dwellers, including a mentally deficient young man obsessed with driving his own commuter trolley.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsKichiemon NakamuraShima IwashitaShizue KawarazakiA doomed love between a paper merchant and a courtesan.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTakashi ShimuraToshirô MifuneReizaburô YamamotoA drunken doctor with a hot temper and a violence-prone gangster with tuberculosis form a quicksilver bond.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChikage AwashimaRyô IkebeTeiji TakahashiA young man and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he has an extramarital romance.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSetsuko HaraChishû RyûChikage AwashimaA family chooses a match for their daughter Noriko, but she, surprisingly, has her own plans.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsShigeru IzumiyaKaori MomoiMasao KusakariNear the turbulent end of the Edo era, a man returning to Japan after exile in America searches for his wife and becomes swept up in the current of revolution in this incisive period drama from the great Shohei Imamura.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsChôjûrô KawarasakiYoshizaburo ArashiUtaemon IchikawaThe legendary Forty-seven ronin plot to avenge the death of their lord, Asano Naganori, by killing Kira Yoshinaka, a shogunate official responsible for Asano being forced to commit seppuku.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsMitsuko YoshikawaAkio IsonoSumiko MizukuboTwo Geisha with a connection to a young man deal with life's hardships.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsRyô IkebeYôko KatsuragiOsamu TakizawaWhile revelations of his lower class past threaten his job, a school teacher fights for freedom and equality.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsChishû RyûKen MitsudaKazumasa HoshinoA widow raises her sickly son to be strong enough to join the army and fight on the front lines.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsKinuyo TanakaTeiji TakahashiYûko MochizukiA kabuki theatre-inflected story about a poor village whose people have to be carried to a nearby mountain to die once they get old.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsKeiji SadaYoshiko KugaIsao KimuraMasaki Kobayashi directs this romantic drama concerning a family of florists.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsFumio WatanabeTatsuya NakadaiIneko ArimaA love triangle develops between a benevolent student, his innocent girlfriend, and a cruel petty criminal, all as a point of diagnosis of a social disease that had Japan slowly succumbing to lawlessness during the post-War era.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsTsumasaburô BandôSachiko MuraseMasayuki MoriA tyrannical father (the broken drum) squashes the dreams of his family.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsTatsuya FujiKazuko YoshiyukiTakahiro TamuraA married woman and her lover murder her husband and dump his body into a well. After a while, his ghost comes to haunt them while the local gossip grows stronger.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsGanjirô NakamuraSetsuko HaraYôko TsukasaThe family of an older man who runs a small sake brewery become concerned with his finances and his health after they discover him visiting an old mistress from his youth.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsHiroyuki NagatoMisako WatanabeKô NishimuraEndless Desire is a black comedy on the spoils of war much extended and enhanced by the greed, treachery, laziness, and lust of the postwar decade.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsShin SaburiKinuyo TanakaIneko ArimaA businessman clashes with his elder daughter over her choice of a husband.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsTeiji TakahashiYoshiko KugaTakahiro TamuraIn a film that cuts across documentary and drama sees an exploration of both the dynamics of an industrial behemoth, which operates its own independent environment, and societal dynamics in which workers and management and men and women are depicted as both resigned and ambitious.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsSumiko KurishimaTeruko KojimaJun AraiA single mother works tirelessly as a Ginza bar hostess to ensure a better life for her young son until--her long-lost husband returns.
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsTamio KawajiYoshiko NezuSayuri YoshinagaThe young rebel Jiro has to deal with an environment of crime and prostitution, and the impact of its choices on personal relationships: one with his mother, with the lover of the latter and with a girl in love with him.
- DirectorHiroshi TeshigaharaStarsTatsuya NakadaiMikijirô HiraKyôko KishidaA businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsKeiko MatsuzakaMorio KazamaMitsuru HirataA lowly obsequious member of a movie star's entourage agrees to marry his boss's pregnant mistress so he can continue his feckless lifestyle. He then takes up dangerous work as a stunt man to support his new family. Duty and loyalty turn into something deeper.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsShinji TanakaYûko MochizukiTakahiro TamuraThe conflicting dreams of the members of a Japanese family are threatened by a continuing series of misfortunes.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsKeiji SadaIneko ArimaMasahiko TsugawaLongtime friends reunite only to find out that their bonds are not as strong as they thought they were.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsEiji BandôMakoto NonomuraKin SugaiA middle-aged man's family loses patience with him as he struggles with his seemingly directionless life.
- DirectorKenji MisumiStarsShintarô KatsuSaburô DateKôji FujiyamaWhen Zatoichi witnesses the murder of a young mother he promises to deliver the baby to the father. Along the way he gains the help of a reluctant criminal.
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsHideki TakahashiJunko AsanoYûsuke KawazuDuring the 1930s, a teenager yearns for a Catholic girl, whose only desire is to reform his sinful tendencies. Hormones raging, the young man channels his unsatisfied lust into the only outlet available: savage, crazed violence.
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsEiji FunakoshiMantarô UshioYoshihiro HamaguchiIn the closing days of WWII, remnants of the Japanese army in Leyte are abandoned by their command and face certain death by starvation.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsMichiyo KogureYôko KatsuragiTeruko KishiThe Kamiya family struggles to keep the town fishing association from going bankrupt as they deal with a dishonest captain and his degenerate crew.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsTakashi FujikiKôji NanbaraKyôko KishidaA union-busting Yokohama dockworker learns that the loyalties that rule his life are based on shaky foundations. Believing that his manager was responsible for saving his life as a baby, he falls victim to a manipulative cycle of deceit and revenge.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsShin SaburiMichiyo KogureKôji TsurutaA childless middle-aged couple faces a marital crisis.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsHideko TakamineMasayuki MoriMariko OkadaA tragic social drama set in post war Japan and concerns a lonely woman trying to find purpose and stability in a devastated Tokyo.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsGanjirô NakamuraMachiko KyôHaruko SugimuraThe 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.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsKinuyo TanakaIsuzu YamadaHideko TakamineOtsuta is running the geisha house Tsuta in Tokyo. Her business is heavily in debt. Her daughter Katsuyo doesn't see any future in her mothers trade in the late days of Geisha. But Otsuta will not give up. This film portraits the day time life of geisha when not entertaining customers.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsShizue AkiyamaSeiichi KatôTomoko NaniwaThe story of a poor insurance salesman who struggles to provide for his wife and family.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsMieko TakamineHideko TakamineKeiko KishiA student at a woman's university takes a controversial action against the school's old-fashioned doctrines.
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsJô ShishidoKôji WadaYumiko NogawaAn injured thief on the run finds sanctuary within a brothel of united, ruthless women.
- DirectorTeinosuke KinugasaStarsMachiko KyôKazuo HasegawaIsao YamagataA samurai pursues a married lady-in-waiting.
- DirectorKazui NihonmatsuStarsKeisuke SonoiYûsuke KawazuEmi ShindôAll the insects on Earth become wild and attack humans, causing Armageddon.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsKinuyo TanakaRanko HanaiYûji HoriA 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 herself in one of the many disguises of Ginza.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsYasumi HaraKuniko IgawaJunji SonedaA young man who is unable to tell his childhood friend how he feels makes a pledge with her to reveal all of their secrets during the upcoming festival.
- DirectorHajime SatôStarsTeruo YoshidaTomomi SatôHideo KôThe survivors of a plane crash in a remote area are attacked by blob-like alien creatures that turn their victims into blood-thirsty vampires.
- DirectorKôji ShimaStarsJun NegamiFujiko YamamotoKenji SugawaraTokyo, 1890. Through avarice, a series of misunderstandings, and failures of courage, the engagement of Kan-ichi (a student) and Miya (the daughter of Kan-ichi's debtor) is canceled to enable Miya to marry Tomiyama, a wealthy banker's son. In bitter despair, Kan-ichi breaks with his friends, drops his studies, and declares he has ceased to be human. He apprentices to a money-lender, and he's soon ruthless and wealthy. Several years later, Miya's in misery, her husband mistreats her. She goes to Kan-ichi to beg forgiveness; he pushes her away. He's now pursued by Akagashi, herself a cold-hearted loan shark. Can anything free Kan-ichi's hard heart from the golden demon?
- DirectorJun FukudaStarsAkira TakaradaBibari MaedaTomomi SawaAn assassin goes on the trail of an international gold smuggling ring based in Japan.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsHiromi GôShima IwashitaShohei HinoThe tragic story of Gonza, a handsome ladies man, set in the Tokagawa Period, a time in which appearences are very important. Gonza competes with Bannojo for the honor to perform the tea ceremony to celebrate the birth of an heir to the lord of their clan. To see the sacred tea scrolls Gonza promises to marry the daughter of the family which possesses them, even though he is unofficially engaged to another. When studying the scrolls with Osai, the mother of the house, Bannajo sneaks into the house and steals their obis and runs through the town proclaiming the two as adulterers.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsMasayuki MoriChikage AwashimaRentarô MikuniTwo journalists and their lovers share an uncertain future.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsKeiji SadaYoshiko KugaChishû RyûTwo boys begin a silence strike to press their parents into buying them a television set.
- DirectorKenji MisumiStarsShintarô KatsuYukiji AsaokaMari AtsumiHanzo Itami is an incorruptible Edo officer who learns that an infamous killer has fled from his island prison. Hanzo begins tracking him down using his unorthodox interrogation techniques.
- DirectorYasuzô MasumuraStarsShintarô KatsuKeiko AikawaKazuko InanoDuring the currency devaluation by the Edo treasury, officer Hanzo deals with a temple priestess who sells her pupils as prostitutes, and a notorious thief who plans to rob the mint.
- DirectorYoshio InoueStarsShintarô KatsuKô NishimuraMako MidoriAfter extracting information by raping a ghost, Hanzo uncovers a plot among high officials to steal the shogunate's gold and loan it out to the poor.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira IshihamaShima IwashitaWhen 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.
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsKanako HiguchiTatsuya NakadaiKeiko OginomeA woman follows in her late father's footsteps and becomes a gambler, only to meet her father's murderer at a game.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsKinuyo TanakaShûji SanoChieko MurataA man returns from World War II to find his desperate wife had resorted to one night of prostitution to pay for their son's hospital bills.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsShûji SanoSetsuko HaraSugisaku AoyamaGoro is not Keizo's real brother, though he call Keizo "aniki" (brother). Goro was an orphan whose parents were killed in the war, and was raised and trained by Keizo.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMisa UeharaMinoru ChiakiLured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
- 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.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsShima IwashitaMasao KusakariRie YokoyamaA freestyle, imagined telling of the life of shaman queen Himiko, who falls in love with her half-brother, making her powers weaken thus putting her position to risk.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsKimiko IkegamiMiki JinboKumiko ÔbaA schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted.
- 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.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaKokinji KatsuraAs a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist struggles to maintain his determination to keep his ideals.
- 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.
- DirectorSadao YamanakaStarsChôjûrô KawarasakiKan'emon NakamuraTsuruzô NakamuraThe lives of two slum neighbors, one of a happy-go-lucky gambler and the other of a poor ronin, converge when the two get involved with the affairs of a powerful samurai official and his gangsters.
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsTatsuya NakadaiTetsurô TanbaYoshio HaradaAn aging Yakuza boss in the the late 18th century runs a thriving lantern and silk dying business. However, he is also a Hunter in the Dark, an shady underworld figure who unravels a mystery about a rival clan. His wife tries to protect what he wants to throw away. His new bodyguard has a missing memory. The truth lies within the code of the Yakuza, where honor and sacrifice are rewarded with a warriors death.
- DirectorKoreyoshi KuraharaStarsYûjirô IshiharaMie KitaharaIsamu KosugiA former boxer gets involved with a club hostess trying to escape the clutches of her gangster employer.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsMinoru TakadaKinuyo TanakaUtako SuzukiFeeling the position to be beneath him, a college graduate turns down a receptionist job, but soon finds it necessary to fool his mother and fiancé into thinking that he is employed.
- DirectorKoreyoshi KuraharaStarsYûjirô IshiharaRuriko AsaokaHiroyuki NagatoA celebrity impulsively leaves fast-paced Tokyo to deliver a much-needed jeep to a remote village. When his controlling manager, the woman he loves, follows, the two must reconcile while dodging reporters.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraMinoru ChiakiAn aging Japanese industrialist becomes so fearful of nuclear war that it begins to take a toll on his life and family.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsTatsuo SaitôTomio AokiMitsuko YoshikawaTwo young brothers throw a tantrum when they discover that their father isn't the most important man in his workplace.