Japanese
by wordimobi | created - 18 Oct 2021 | updated - 27 Oct 2021 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Norwegian Wood (2010)
Not Rated | 133 min | Drama, Romance
Toru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.
Director: Anh Hung Tran | Stars: Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara, Kengo Kôra
Votes: 12,465 | Gross: $0.01M
2. The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
Not Rated | 130 min | Drama
In a poor 19th century rural Japanese village, everyone who reaches the age of 70 has to climb a nearby mountain to die. An elderly woman is reaching close to her cut-off age during her last days with her family.
Director: Shôhei Imamura | Stars: Ken Ogata, Sumiko Sakamoto, Tonpei Hidari, Aki Takejô
Votes: 9,138
3. The Ballad of Narayama (1958)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama
A kabuki theatre-inflected story about a poor village whose people have to be carried to a nearby mountain to die once they get old.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Teiji Takahashi, Yûko Mochizuki, Danko Ichikawa
Votes: 3,790
4. The Insect Woman (1963)
Not Rated | 123 min | Drama
Life story of a woman born in poverty trying to succeed. Through her many schemes, she faces her ups and downs in a cyclical nature, fueled mostly by self-interest.
Director: Shôhei Imamura | Stars: Seizaburô Kawazu, Kazuo Kitamura, Tanie Kitabayashi, Teruko Kishi
Votes: 2,502
5. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
R | 120 min | Biography, Drama
A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Ken Ogata, Masayuki Shionoya, Hiroshi Mikami, Junya Fukuda
Votes: 13,787 | Gross: $0.44M
6. Cold Fish (2010)
Not Rated | 146 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The lives of a bored suburban couple are changed forever when a seemingly nice old man gives their daughter a job at his fish store, and soon his gruesome hobbies are brought to light.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Denden, Asuka Kurosawa, Megumi Kagurazaka
Votes: 14,529
7. Ugetsu (1953)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy, War
A tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyô, Kinuyo Tanaka, Mitsuko Mito
Votes: 25,827 | Gross: $0.01M
8. Red Beard (1965)
Not Rated | 185 min | Drama
In 19th-century Japan, a rough-tempered yet charitable town doctor trains a young intern.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Yûzô Kayama, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Reiko Dan
Votes: 21,111
9. Orgies of Edo (1969)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Horror
A collection of stories dealing with punishment toward women.
Director: Teruo Ishii | Stars: Teruo Yoshida, Toyozô Yamamoto, Masumi Tachibana, Michiko Ai
Votes: 569
10. Late Spring (1949)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
Several people try to talk 27-year-old Noriko into marrying, but all she wants is to keep on caring for her widowed father.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Chishû Ryû, Setsuko Hara, Yumeji Tsukioka, Haruko Sugimura
Votes: 19,351
11. The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
Not Rated | 151 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A vengeful young man marries the daughter of a corrupt industrialist in order to seek justice for his father's suicide.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Kyôko Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi
Votes: 14,029
12. 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: 5,950
13. 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: 7,648
14. 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: 5,664
15. Boy (1969)
97 min | Drama
A young boy reluctantly aids his swindling father in a threatening scam.
Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: Fumio Watanabe, Akiko Koyama, Tetsuo Abe, Tsuyoshi Kinoshita
Votes: 1,884
16. Hiroshima (1953)
TV-PG | 85 min | Drama, War
Brilliant and extremely realistic retelling of the day in Hiroshima that the bomb dropped and following days.
Director: Hideo Sekigawa | Stars: Isuzu Yamada, Eiji Okada, Yoshi Katô, Yumeji Tsukioka
Votes: 649
17. The Strange Tale of Oyuki (1992)
116 min | Biography, Drama
The film tells the story of Japanese writer Kafu Nagai (1879-1959), a man about sixty with a huge reputation of seducer who falls madly in love for a young geisha named Oyuki. Meticulous ... See full summary »
Director: Kaneto Shindô | Stars: Masahiko Tsugawa, Yuki Sumida, Kazuyo Asari, Jun Hamamura
Votes: 180
18. This Old Road: Konomichi (2019)
104 min | Drama
Director: Kiyoshi Sasabe | Stars: Akira, Michiko Hada, Shihori Kanjiya, Fujiko Kojima
Votes: 25
19. Sorekara (1985)
130 min | Drama
Daisuke (Yusaku Matsuda) is supposed to be out looking for a respectable job and equally respectable wife. He is 30 years old and devotes his attention to music and literature; his family ... See full summary »
Director: Yoshimitsu Morita | Stars: Yûsaku Matsuda, Miwako Fujitani, Kaoru Kobayashi, Morio Kazama
Votes: 359
20. Sharaku (1995)
138 min | Biography, Drama, History
A crippled kabuki player is taken into a strolling company of itinerant actors. An influential publisher notices his honest, bold drawings, and nurtures him despite persecution and betrayal... See full summary »
Director: Masahiro Shinoda | Stars: Hiroyuki Sanada, Furankî Sakai, Shima Iwashita, Tsurutarô Kataoka
Votes: 196
21. Ikitai (1999)
119 min | Drama
It is based on the story of The Ballad of Narayama updated to the present day, with the substitution of putting a parent into an old people's home for the abandonment of the original.
Director: Kaneto Shindô | Stars: Rentarô Mikuni, Shinobu Ôtake, Akira Emoto, Hideko Yoshida
Votes: 137
22. Harakiri (1962)
Not Rated | 133 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
When 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.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba
Votes: 68,733
23. Swastika (1964)
91 min | Drama, Romance
A childless housewife falls in love with a beautiful model.
Director: Yasuzô Masumura | Stars: Ayako Wakao, Kyôko Kishida, Eiji Funakoshi, Yûsuke Kawazu
Votes: 1,124
24. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
PG | 81 min | Documentary
A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his renowned Tokyo restaurant, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.
Director: David Gelb | Stars: Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto, Daisuke Nakazama
Votes: 38,027 | Gross: $2.55M
25.
Zero Hour (2004– )
Episode:
Terror in Tokyo
(2004)
TV-14 | 53 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
ZERO HOUR is a unique documentary format - a ticking clock hour of television which transports the viewer into the gripping countdown to some of the most dramatic events in recent history. ... See full summary »
Director: Jonathan Hacker | Stars: David Morrissey, Mitsuru Kono, Yuriko, Tatsuhide Nojiri
Votes: 55
26. Garage Rockin' Craze (2017)
100 min | Documentary, Music
A savage journey into the heart of underground Tokyo rock and roll, a look at the people who make it thrive, and stories of their dedication to keeping DIY culture alive.
Director: Mario Cuzic | Stars: Daddy O'Nov, Jimmy Mashiko, Rockin' Enocky, Guitar Wolf
Votes: 11
27. Dodes'ka-den (1970)
Not Rated | 140 min | Drama
Various tales in the lives of Tokyo slum dwellers, including a mentally deficient young man obsessed with driving his own commuter trolley.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, Toshiyuki Tonomura, Shinsuke Minami
Votes: 7,625
28. Erotic Campus: Rape Reception (1977)
66 min | Comedy
A serial rapist transfers to a new high school, and starts sexually assaulting a group of female students, including the school's top athlete and its most influential student, a track and field star.
Director: Koretsugu Kurahara | Stars: Asami Ogawa, Asami Morikawa, Jun Aki, Tatsuya Hamaguchi
Votes: 148
29. 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: 3,908
30. Floating Clouds (1955)
123 min | Drama, Romance
A tragic social drama set in post war Japan and concerns a lonely woman trying to find purpose and stability in a devastated Tokyo.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Masayuki Mori, Mariko Okada, Isao Yamagata
Votes: 3,148
31. 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: 1,297
32. After the Rain (1999)
91 min | Drama
During a downpour, a generous ronin and his supporting wife are stranded at a country inn. The ronin comes to the attention of a lord who wants to hire him as an instructor for his men, who treat the ronin with disrespect.
Director: Takashi Koizumi | Stars: Akira Terao, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Shirô Mifune, Fumi Dan
Votes: 4,464
33. Eros + Massacre (1969)
Not Rated | 216 min | Biography, Drama
Two interwoven stories. The first is a biography of anarchist Sakae Osugi which follows his relationship with three women in the 1920s. The second centers around two 1960s students researching Osugi's theories.
Director: Yoshishige Yoshida | Stars: Mariko Okada, Toshiyuki Hosokawa, Yûko Kusunoki, Kazuko Inano
Votes: 2,322
34. This Transient Life (1970)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama
Near a remote Buddhist monastery, a young man falls in love with his sister and gets her pregnant. After a monk finds out, the young man becomes an assistant to a master sculptor, only to proceed to complicate matters with his affairs.
Director: Akio Jissôji | Stars: Michiko Tsukasa, Ryô Tamura, Eiji Okada, Isao Sasaki
Votes: 1,379
35. Sandakan No. 8 (1974)
120 min | Drama, History, War
A journalist interviews an old woman who was forced into prostitution, just like many other Japanese women working in Asia outside of Japan during the first half of the 20th century. She worked in a Malaysian brothel called Sandakan 8.
Director: Kei Kumai | Stars: Komaki Kurihara, Yôko Takahashi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Takiko Mizunoe
Votes: 755
36. Gan (1953)
104 min | Drama, Romance
A lowly divorcee is tricked into becoming the mistress of a despised moneylender but soon falls in love with a student.
Director: Shirô Toyoda | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Hiroshi Akutagawa, Jûkichi Uno, Eijirô Tôno
Votes: 325
37. Coup d'Etat (1973)
Not Rated | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
A freestyle biopic of Ikki Kita, the ultranationalist intellectual whose ideas inspired the failed military coup in 1936.
Director: Yoshishige Yoshida | Stars: Rentarô Mikuni, Yasuo Miyake, Akiko Kurano, Tadahiko Sugano
Votes: 536
38. The Sea and Poison (1986)
123 min | Drama
Downed American fliers in WWII are vivisected by Japanese surgeons in cruel medical experiments.
Director: Kei Kumai | Stars: Eiji Okuda, Ken Watanabe, Takahiro Tamura, Kyôko Kishida
Votes: 324
39. Captive Hearts (1987)
PG | 97 min | Drama, Romance, War
December 1944. As their bomber is shot down during a mission over Japan, Sergeant McManus and Robert, a young lieutenant, have no other choice but make a parachute jump. They are captured ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Almond | Stars: Pat Morita, Chris Makepeace, Mari Sato, Michael Sarrazin
Votes: 232 | Gross: $3.00M
40. A Cappella (2016)
132 min | Drama
The movie is set in 1969, when Japanese students were enmeshed with campus riots, anti-war rallies, and the growth of subcultures in music, cinema, literature, and theater. Influenced by ... See full synopsis »
Director: Hitoshi Yazaki | Stars: Riko Narumi, Sôsuke Ikematsu, Takumi Saitô, Nina Endô
Votes: 114
41. Yôtô monogatari: hana no Yoshiwara hyakunin-giri (1960)
109 min | Action, Fantasy
A successful textile industrialist from the provinces, beloved by his employees for his kindness, cannot find a wife because of a disfiguring birthmark on his face. Even the courtesans in ... See full summary »
Director: Tomu Uchida | Stars: Chiezô Kataoka, Yaeko Mizutani, Isao Kimura, Akiko Santô
Votes: 315
42. 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
43. Parisiennes (2015)
85 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Seeking inspiration for the main character in her next novel, Japanese author Kyoko Murakai heads to the French capital of Paris to meet six women from all walks of life. Instead, she finds herself on a mythical journey of self-discovery and renewal.
Director: Slony Sow | Stars: Eriko Takeda, Alex Brendemühl, Judith Magre, Agnès Château
Votes: 11
44. Jû-kai no mosukîto (1983)
108 min | Drama
Jukkai no Mosukito is the tragic story of a policeman who has never succeeded in anything in life and seems to be hopelessly bound to failure in all his undertakings. His ex-wife and ... See full summary »
Director: Yôichi Sai | Stars: Yûya Uchida, Ann Lewis, Kyôko Koizumi, Kai Atô
Votes: 159
45. 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: 6,180
46. Shoplifters (2018)
R | 121 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
On the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders are united by loyalty, a penchant for petty theft and playful grifting. When the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Lily Franky, Sakura Andô, Kirin Kiki, Mayu Matsuoka
Votes: 86,488 | Gross: $3.31M
47. Tokyo Story (1953)
Not Rated | 136 min | Drama
An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Chishû Ryû, Chieko Higashiyama, Sô Yamamura, Setsuko Hara
Votes: 68,650
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