Best Japanese Movies: The Top 60 of All Time

by David McElhinney & Jes Kalled | ART

The vast world of Japanese films is incredibly hard to narrow down. Where does one begin? Here are 60 Japanese films from various genres, directors and historical backgrounds. A diverse list to jumpstart your introduction or further your indulgence into contemporary Japanese movies, post war classics, feminist shorts and even silent movies. We know you’ve seen Totoro already, so here is an array of other delights!

Many of these Japanese movies are available to buy online, so where possible we have provided a link. If you do buy through these links we may receive a commission at no cost to you.

1. Rashomon / 羅生門 - Akira Kurosawa (1950)

Arguably Akira Kurosawa’s best ever film, and certainly his most influential, Rashomon left a cultural legacy in its wake that transcended the entertainment industry. The story of a samurai murdered in a bamboo grove – adapted from two of Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short stories, In a Grove and Rashomon – it’s told from three conflicting perspectives: the accused bandit, Tajomaru; the samurai’s wife and principal witness, Masago; and the deceased samurai, Takehiko, speaking through a medium. The story delivers not a single conclusion but requires viewers to draw their own by questioning the nature of subjective truth – which of the protagonists are we to believe? The term Rashomon effect was subsequently coined to describe an unreliable narrator and is used in a variety of disciplines today, from storytelling to criminal court proceedings.

Rashomon – Available at Amazon

2. Drive My Car /ドライブ・マイ・カー - Ryusuke Hamaguchi (2021)

Academy Award winner for Best International Film in 2022, Drive My Car helped reestablish Japan as a cinematic force on the world map. It’s the poignant story of Ryusuke Kafuku, who two years after his wife’s death, is invited to direct a play at a Hiroshima theater festival. There he meets Misaki, his assigned chauffeur, with whom he develops a strong rapport allowing him to confront the skeletons in his closet. Shades of Haruki Murakami, from whose stories Drive My Car is adapted, are worn heavily on the narrative which explores how one can find purpose after their life has fallen to pieces.

Drive My Car – Available at Amazon

3. Ringu / リング - Hideo Nakata (1998)

Japanese cinema has mastered the horror genre, and few scary movies have had the cultural impact of Ringu (subsequently adapted for the Hollywood screen in 2002 as The Ring.) Based on the Japanese folktale Bancho Sarayashiki, which centers around an onryo (vengeful spirit) who met her fate in a well, Ringu modernized the theme by focusing on a fuzzy video tape circulating on the Izu Peninsula which causes the death of any viewers seven days after they’ve watched it. Protagonist and journalist Reiko sets out to find the source of the tape’s curse, leading her on a wild and horrifying ghost chase that spirals towards the shadowy past of a deceased girl who’s spirit resides within a well.

Ringu – Available at Amazon

4. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind / 風の谷のナウシカ - Hayao Miyazaki (1984)

Ghibli auteur Hayao Miyazaki’s first movie, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, established its creator as a true visionary in the anime meta-genre. Telling a prophetic tale which bears much resemblance to its better-known spiritual successor, Princess Mononoke, the post-apocalyptic film focuses on the titular princess who sets out to save her small, self-sufficient kingdom and the natural world from warring empires and giant killer insects. The themes of heroism, environmentalism and spirituality present in the film have defined Miyazaki’s work for the past four decades.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind – Available at Amazon

5. Battle Royale / バトル・ロワイアル - Kinji Fukasaku (2000)

Battle Royale was a controversial movie upon its release, inspired by equally controversial source material: Koushun Takami’s 1999 novel of the same name. A fusion of coming-of-age high school drama tropes with a slasher thriller, Battle Royale pits an unlucky group of students in a fight-to-the-death, every-man-for-themselves scenario as punishment for the transgressions of youth in a fascistic version of modern Japan. Starring Takeshi Kitano as the cold-hearted game master, this blood-soaked tale is as much about love and self-sacrifice as it is about the fatal actions of teenagers in the clutches of desperation.

Battle Royale – Available at Amazon

6. Fireworks / はなび - Takeshi Kitano (1997)

Takeshi Kitano is one of the most revered names in Japanese cinema, and Fireworks was the moment the nation began to stand up and take notice. Takano wrote, directed and starred in this film about a sensitive Tokyo cop, Nishi, who’s faced with the recent death of his daughter and his wife’s terminal illness, causing him to spiral out of control and into the depths of the criminal underworld. Fireworks balances the delicate interpersonal struggles of Nishi’s family life with elements of a hard-nosed action flick so skillfully that it was awarded a Golden Lion at the 54th Venice International Film Festival.

Fireworks – Available at Amazon

7. Gojira /ゴジラ - Ishiro Honda (1954)

The first film in the now acclaimed Godzilla franchise, Gojira centers on the Japanese authorities as they deal with the appearance of a giant reptilian monster in postwar Japan. The movie was a revelation upon its release, pioneering an early form of cinematic visual effect, known as suitmation, in which an actor wears a realistic suit or costume (in this case disguising himself as the monster) and interacts with miniature sets. Though suitmation looks dated by 21st-century standards, Gojira remains an important piece of cinema history and gave birth to what many argue is the world’s longest running movie franchise.

Gojira – Available at Amazon

8. Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train / 劇場版「鬼滅の刃」無限列車編 - Haruo Sotozaki (2020)

Following the acclaimed anime series Demon Slayer, which took Japan by storm in 2019, Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train continued the tale of demon hunter Tanjiro Kamado as he embarks on a new mission aboard a train presided over by an evil spirit. Selling more than 41 million tickets and generating over $500 million, it was the highest-grossing film of 2020 at the global box office and the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time. This a testament both to the movie’s high level of production quality and anime’s continued metastasis throughout the international entertainment industry.

Demon Slayer the Movie – Available at Amazon

9. Ghost in the Shell / 攻殻機動隊 - Mamoru Oshii (1995)

For many 80s and 90s otaku kids, Ghost in the Shell will have served as their introduction to Japanese animated cinema. A cyberpunk thriller set in the year 2029, it follows Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg security agent in Tokyo, as he pursues a criminal hacker known as the Puppet Master. It was a prescient film, dealing with the consequences and moral implications of general artificial intelligence, and the erasure of the self in a futuristic techtopia. Furthering its credentials, Ghost in the Shell is beautifully drawn and scored, backed by exceptional voice acting in the Japanese original.

10. Audition / オーディション - Takashi Miike (1999)

Based on a Ryu Murakami novel of the same name, Audition is a psychological horror about a widower who stages an audition to meet a new lover. Viewed as controversial in the West due to a brutal torture scene that punctuates the film, Audition is a compelling story that gives great insight into the twisted style of the source material’s author. It is now viewed as one of the great horror films to come out of Japan – high praise, indeed – and director Takashi Miike has since been credited as an inspiration for fellow dramatists, such as the Sosaka Sisters of Dead Hooker in a Trunk and See No Evil 2.

Audition – Available at Amazon

11. 13 Assassins / 十三人の刺客 - Takashi Miike (2010)

The samurai genre is one of the most firmly cemented in the Japanese cinematic canon, with most entries that roll of the tongue coming from the postwar boom era of the 1950s and 60s. 2010’s 13 Assassins, a reimaging of the 1963 classic of the same name, continues the tradition of its forebears with brooding intensity and a captivating cast of characters. Following a group of 13 samurai who set forth on a suicide mission to kill the sadistic heir to the Shogunate, Lord Naritsugu, 13 Assassins retains defining themes of the genre – such as honor, duty and death as glory – as it drives towards a final David-vs-Goliath showdown in the fortified town of Ochiai.

13 Assassins – Available at Amazon

12. Shoplifters / 万引き家族 - Hirokazu Koreeda (2018)

A Palme d’Or-winning drama about a family of thieves who take in a child from the streets, Shoplifters is a thought-provoking film that builds towards a truly unexpected denouement. Taking aim at the hypocrisies and untold truths of modern Japan, Shoplifters also touches on themes of morality and complicated family relations. Director Hirokazu Koreeda shines and the fantastic central cast deliver excellent performances, cementing Shoplifters’ place as one of the great modern Japanese films.

Shoplifters – Available at Amazon

13. Like Father, Like Son / そして父になる - Hirokazu Koreeda (2013)

Also directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, Like Father, Like Son depicts a workaholic salaryman, Ryota Nonomiya, whose life is inverted when he discovers his biological son was switched with another boy at birth. This creates the central dilemma of the plot: should Nonomiya seek out his true genetic son, or develop the relationship he has largely foregone as the absentee father of another man’s child? It’s a beautiful cinematic portrait of the struggles of fatherhood and another worthy addition to the stellar resume of its star director.

14. One Cut of the Dead / カメラを止めるな! - Shinichiro Ueda (2017)

In the documovie-style of Paranormal Activity or The Blair Witch Project, One Cut of the Dead follows a film crew shooting a low-budget zombie flick in an abandoned Second World War facility when a real zombie horde attacks them. This novel idea delivered on a shoestring budget resulted in a horror-comedy that was a smash hit at international film festivals in 2017. Full of plot twists, inventive storytelling, meta-analysis on the craft of movie-making and a sprinkling of erratic humor, One Cut of the Dead proves that creativity can oust budget if enough of the former is applied.

One Cut of the Dead – Available at Amazon

15. Vengeance Is Mine / 復讐するは我にあり - Shohei Imamura (1979)

Chronicling the life of Iwao Enokizu, a murderous thief on the run, Vengeance is Mine is more deeply resonant and artistic than its 80s, B-movie action title suggests. Based on the exploits of real-life serial killer Akira Nishiguchi, the movie describes in detail the cold-blooded and emotionless rationale which guided the destruction in his life. Devastatingly portrayed by Ken Ogata, under the expert direction of Shohei Imamura, Enokizu’s story makes for difficult if inherently compelling watching.

Vengeance Is Mine – Available at Amazon

16. The Castle of Sand / 砂の器 - Yoshitaro Nomura (1974)

The Castle of Sand sounds like it could be a heartwarming tale from Studio Ghibili, but rather focuses on Tokyo detectives investigating the murder of an old man bludgeoned to death in a rail yard. What follows is a classic, time-spanning whodunnit whose web of leads carries the duo of detectives across the country in search of clues, suspects and ever-elusive answers until the final, tragic plot twist is revealed.

17. The Ballad of Narayama / 楢山節考 - Shohei Imamura (1983)

Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival, The Ballad of Narayama focuses on the apocryphal Japanese practice of ubasute, whereby elderly people were carried to the top of a mountain and left to die. Superbly directed by Shohei Imamura, the film is highly stylized in its portrayal of rural Japanese beauty, which contrasts the harsh and brutal lives of its cast of 19th-century villagers and the poignant plot line of the condemned elder Orin’s last journey.

The Ballad of Narayama – Available at Amazon

18. Seven Samurai / 七人の侍 - Akira Kurosawa (1954)

And so we visit Akira Kurosawa once more, and a film that 60 years on is still required viewing for cinema buffs across the world. Seven Samurai, said to have inspired the spaghetti Western genre which consumed Hollywood in the 1960s, is set in feudal Japan in the late-1500s when the country was embroiled in over 100 years of continued bloodshed. A rag-tag group of samurai are recruited to defend a fishing village from a group of bandits, but as their individual way-of-the-warrior ideals are challenged by chance encounters and circumstance the movie develops into a web of juicy plot twists and masterful storytelling that keeps viewers enraptured for its near four-hour runtime. The “classic” tag is bandied around rather wantonly in the modern world, but few would deny that Seven Samurai fulfills the necessary criteria.

Seven Samurai – Available at Amazon

19. Our Little Sister / 海街 - Hirokazu Koreeda (2015)

A wholesome portrait of family life – a theme Japanese storytelling often excels at – Our Little Sister was a smash hit from acclaimed director Hirokazu Koreeda upon its release. Based off the Umimachi Diary manga, it tells the story of three twenty-something sisters who live together in the old family home. Upon their estranged father’s death, they discover they have a younger half-sister who repurposes and gives new meaning to their lives. What follows is an undeniably sweet and tender cinematic journey; perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Our Little Sister – Available at Amazon

20. Hara-kiri / 切腹 - Masaki Kobayashi (1962)

Hara-kiri, a 17th-century period drama which takes its name from ritualistic suicide, is regarded as one of the great samurai films of the golden era of Japanese cinema. It follows the story of a ronin (masterless samurai), Hanshiro Tsugumo, who requests to commit suicide in the home of a feudal lord. While flagrantly questioning the much-vaunted bushido, or samurai code of ethics, Tsugumo recounts the tale that brought him to the act of hara-kiri with unexpected revelations that build tension exponentially until the final line is delivered. Legendary Japanese-film critic Donald Richie would go on to proclaim Hara-kiri as director Masaki Kobayashi's "single finest picture".

Hara-kiri – Available at Amazon

21. Glasses / めがね - Naoko Ogigami (2001)

Glasses or Megane is a purposefully slow-paced movie, meant to lead viewers into a sleepy state. Director Naoko Ogigami even warned the audience of this theme and side effect in its San Francisco screening. In the film, protagonist Taeko moves to an island to get away from the city. She stays at the Hamada Inn and meets an eclectic group of people there. At first, Taeko is somewhat overwhelmed by their quirks. Megane takes us through a journey with Taeko, giving her space and time to adapt to new surroundings, and introducing her to a different way of living that allows for simplicity, and appreciation.

Glasses - Available at Amazon

22. Sonatine / ソナチネ - Takeshi Kitano (1993)

Takeshi Kitano is a well known actor, writer, editor and director of several hit gangster films. Sonatine was received poorly in Japan, but rather well overseas. It was seen as a new kind of gangster genre. According to an article by Rob Mackie published in The Guardian in 1998, “...it's a largely peaceful, contemplative work, punctuated by moments of extreme violence.” The plot follows a tired yakuza gangster played by Takeshi. His boss sends him to Okinawa, where he wonders if he will be ambushed. Although moments of gunfire and violence break out throughout the movie, the story also contains lulls where the men are relaxing on the beach, playing games that are tinged with suspense.

Sonatine - Available at Amazon

23. The Great Passage / 舟を編む - Yuya Ishii (2013)

A charming love story that attempts to define love, literally. This drama/comedy follows a young linguist enthusiast who is passionate about words. Recruited by a group of other editors, protagonist Majime takes on the project of writing a “living dictionary.” The project is no easy feat, and has already taken years and years of work. In addition to his labor of love, Majime has begun to fall for his landlord’s granddaughter. The exterior of this film plays on Majime’s idiosyncrasies and charming nerdy-ness. But a deeper look shows how words connect people, and the different ways we must learn to express them to the people we care about most.

The Great Passage - Available at Amazon

24. Shall We Dance? / Shall We ダンス? - Masayuki Suo (1996)

Shall We Dance? is a romantic comedy about a successful salaryman named Shohei who has sunken into a bit of a depression despite his outward good fortune. While walking home one night, Shohei sees a woman framed in a window sill. His interest in her piquing to the point where he decides to take dance lessons at her ballroom studio in order to get closer to her. Shohei grapples with the embarrassment of taking secret dance lessons, but discovers a new kind of appreciation for self love, and movement, even if it originated from the west. Shall We Dance? is entertaining and cute, earning it additional recognition outside Japan upon its initial release in 1996.

Shall We Dance? - Available at Amazon

25. Kamome Diner / かもめ食堂 - Naoko Ogigami (2006)

Set in the Finnish capital of Helsinki, Kamome Diner, follows a Japanese woman named Midori, who has just opened a small restaurant that serves Japanese food. Midori is independent and determined to share onigiri and other Japanese soul foods to this foreign city she now calls home, but her new business is slow, and her customers are few. Similar to director Naoko Ogigami’s earlier film, Megane, the protagonist meets other quirky individuals throughout her journey. Interestingly in Kamome Diner, these characters form a bond despite their somewhat mysterious backgrounds that slowly unfold.

Kamome Diner - Available at Amazon

26. Woman in the Dunes / 砂の女 - Hiroshi Teshigahara (1964)

A Japanese new wave film from 1964, Woman in the Dunes won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Shot in the Tottori Sand Dunes, the story centers around Junpei who is kidnapped by local villagers who live by the sea. Junpei eventually becomes entrapped in the sand dune with a young widow, whose job has become to dig sand, not only for employment but also to save her own life. The cabin threatens to be swallowed by sand at any moment. With nothing but a reappearing rope later that teases freedom, the two lose track of time and space in their capture. Brutal and erotic, Woman in the Dunes explores the depths of human existence.

Woman in the Dunes - Available at Amazon

27. A Whisker Away / 泣きたい私は猫をかぶる - Junichi Sato and Tomotaka Shibayama (2020)

Originally meant for theatrical release in early June of 2020, Whisker Away was sold to Netflix and released in mid June for an “at home” premier due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This animated film tells the fantastical love story of Miyo, who longs for the attention of her crush, Hinode. Unable to connect with him in person, instead Miyo begins bonding with Hinode in the form of a cat, of which she’s able to transform into with a magical Noh mask. Caught between her life of being a human and her life of being a cat, the magic that allows her to spend time with her crush threatens to change her life permanently. This film captures the essence of youth and summer festivals in Japan.

28. Floating Clouds / 浮雲 - Mikio Naruse (1955)

Mikio Naruse is well known for his shomin-geki films, or in other words, films about the lives of everyday people. He is also well known for writing strong, independent female protagonists into his films, most of which lead and carry the film’s plot. Floating Clouds is based on a novel by Fumiko Hayashi that takes place in the post WWII era. The story follows Yukiko, a woman who has just returned to Japan from then French-Indochina. Upon her return to Tokyo the audience watches her take in the city’s wreckage after the war. She acts as a kind of flaneur, walking or floating through the city, experiencing loneliness also in part due to the absence of her lover, Kengo. The film shows us flashbacks of their romantic time together years before. Through Yukiko, we wonder if they will reunite in happiness once more.

Floating Clouds - Available at Amazon

29. The Chef of South Polar / 南極料理人 - Shuichi Okita (2009)

Despite the freezing cold of the South Pole, The Chef of South Polar warms your heart with its approach. Eight men have set off on a research expedition in Antarctica. The mission is both rewarding and isolating. Jun Nishimura’s job is to cook for everyone day in and day out. He takes great pleasure in making the group various delicacies, and takes pride in their enjoyment of his meals. Due to the restrictions and limitations and the very nature of their work in sub zero temperatures, meal time becomes the one place they indulge in. Based on the autobiographical essays by Jun Nishimura, this adaptation by award winning director Shuichi Okita tells a story of comradery, loneliness, and mouth watering food.

The Chef of South Polar - Available at Amazon

30. Muddy River / 泥の河 - Kohei Oguri (1981)

A black and white classic about two young boys becoming friends in a post-war Osaka, Japan. The children come together and befriend one another without judgement, but soon learn of their family’s backgrounds and are introduced to the bleak reality of societal discrimination. Muddy River’s director, Kohei Oguri made only 6 films throughout his long career. Precision and restraint seem to hold this delicate tale together. Simple shots emote the undercurrent of grief and struggle that many underwent during that era.

31. Mori, The Artist’s Habitat / モリのいる場所 - Shuichi Okita (2018)

Based on one day in the life of the non-fictional famous painter, Morikazu Kumagai, Mori, The Artist’s Habitat sheds light on the artist’s seclusion and his genius. The last few decades of Kumagai’s life were spent in his garden. The film shows his admiration for the micro details he discovers in his backyard, which appear endless. One with the nature he emulates in his work, Kumagai is met with the challenge of protecting the atmosphere of his home from the property developers who want to build apartments that will alter what is his entire world.

32. Sandakan No.8 / サンダカン八番娼館望郷 - Kei Kumai (1974)

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Sandakan No.8 tells the sensitive story of the Japanese girls and women who were sold as sex slaves in the early 20th century (karayuki san). The film, similar to the book published in 1972, follows a journalist named Keiko who meets an elderly woman (Osaki) whom she suspects was sold into brothel work abroad. Eventually, Osaki begins to share her story with Keiko, which are viewed as flashbacks into the 1920’s. Sandakan No.8 focuses on a subject that is rarely discussed, and often skimmed over even today.

Sandakan No.8 - Available at Amazon

33. Sweet Bean / あん - Naomi Kawase (2015)

Starring real-life grandmother and granddaughter Kirin Kiki and Kyara Uchida, Sweet Bean is a heartfelt, human drama that may make you cry. The film begins with an eldery woman named Tokue approaching Sentaro, a middle aged man who owns a dorayaki shop. Tokue confesses she’s always wanted to work at a dorayaki shop. Initially worried about her age, Sentaro turns down her application, but changes his mind when he tries some of her bean paste, which is superior to his own. The film tugs on your heartstrings, and urges the audience to take delight in the wonder of a single moment, to overwhelmingly appreciate those experiences over societal pressures.

Sweet Bean - Available at Amazon

34. Tokyo Chorus / 東京の合唱 - Yasujiro Ozu (1931)

Tokyo Chorus is a silent film from the beginning of the talkies era. Known as a silent comedy despite being set against the then contemporary backdrop of the depression, Ozu’s Tokyo Chorus plays in class politics and stands up against capitalistic bullies. The story begins with a young school boy, Okajima, who gets in trouble for misbehaving. The real reason for the young boy not wanting to take off his jacket, is that there is no shirt underneath. Next, the story finds Okajima as an adult man, employed but in a position to stand up for a colleague less fortunate than he, and his son asking for a bicycle. “Tokyo, city of the unemployed” reads a caption in the film. Although surely a commentary, Tokyo Chorus celebrates good, moral character, and dances through the hardship, just managing to stay afloat.

35. Departures / おくりびと - Yojiro Takita (2008)

The film, Departures, was initially stigmatized by the nature of its subject matter: death, and the people that deal with death. So much so that Japanese distributors were reluctant to release it at first. In the story, a cellist named Daigo returns to his childhood home of Yamagata after he loses his job in Tokyo. Daigo applies for the position of “departures assistant” which he assumes to be related to travel, only to find out he is meant to assist a mortician. The nature of the job is so taboo in Japan that he keeps it a secret from his wife. Profound in its composition of emotions and human aversion to death, Departures aims to move its audience with a soft touch on a hard subject.

Departures - Available at Amazon

36. Streets of Shame / 赤線地帯 - Kenji Mizoguchi (1956)

Mizoguchi’s last film, Streets of Shame, tells several first hand stories from women working in a brothel. Each woman has a different background and different perspectives, and aspirations to share. The stories take place amid a Diet decision on whether or not to ban prostitution. The lives that the audience see unfolding in the film are seen within the lens of a post-war Japan, very much affected by the ripples of poverty. True to Mizoguchi’s other films, Streets of Shame once again sheds light onto the oppression of women in Japan by sharing the complexity of their stories.

37. A Piece of Our Life / カケラ - Momoko Ando (2010)

Momoko Ando’s first film Kakera or A Piece of Our Life follows a young college student (Haru) and a bi-sexual prothetist (Riko) who takes interest in her. The two women embark on a relationship with one another, but not without talking about why or how throughout the film. It’s a story that is conscious of exploring what love means. Haru is in a loveless relationship with her boyfriend, but finds intimacy with Riko. “It’s not that I like girls, it’s you I like, Haru.” Says Riko. Kakera is a coming of age story and self realization that stands out in subject matter and originality, its two characters beginning as antithesis of one another. Haru: floating and unsure, almost in a dreamlike state. Riko: in a profession of making people’s bodies feel whole again.

A Piece of Our Life - Available at Amazon

38. Black Cat / 藪の中の黒猫 - Kaneto Shindo (1968)

Black Cat is based on a folklore ghost story from Japan’s feudal times. The black and white horror film is a 35mm tale about two women who get revenge on the samurai men that raped them. It’s filled with unsettling music, and fluctuating moods that surprise and haunt the viewer. Realistic and campy effects take the stage. Pairing social commentary with magical and spiritual folklore, director Shindo embarked on a unique film that stands out in comparison with others he has written or directed such as The Naked Island (1960).

Kuroneko (Black Cat) - Available at Amazon

39. 21st Century Girl / 21世紀の女の子 - 14 Female Directors under 30 (2019)

In a recent project spearheaded by 14 female directors under 30, 21st Century Girl attempts to grasp what it means to be female in Japan in this compilation of short films made by women for women. The theme centers around gender, and the complexity of what that means in a Japanese society context. Each film is under 8 minutes long, and highlights a body of topics largely missing from male-centric films. Some films such as Yurina Kaneko’s Projection focuses on the subtle fragility of self awareness, body image, and condemning societal beauty standards. Other films like U-ki Yamoto’s For Lonesome Blossoms is an observance of the powerful relationships between mother and daughters.

40. Love Letter / 恋文 - Kinuyo Tanaka (1953)

The second ever woman to direct a movie in Japan was Kinuyo Tanaka. (The first being Tazuko Sakane, who famously wore men’s clothing and whose work was tragically lost in time). It was extremely difficult in the 1950’s for women to maintain leadership positions in the film industry due to the pressures of a patriarchally run society and economy. However, Tanaka’s romance drama titled, Love Letter premiered in the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. Love Letter takes place in a post war Japan. Its protagonist is a naval veteran named Reikichi who clings to a love letter from his former lover who informs him she is to be married to someone else against her wishes. She is now a war widow, but he hasn’t been able to find her since. Our protagonist comes into contact with an old fellow naval friend, whose new job is to draft letters from Japanese women to the foreign soldiers who left them after the war. Twists of fate ensue, but none without the societal pressures of that time.

41. Paprika / パプリカ - Satoshi Kon (2006)

Based on the novel of the same name, Paprika is an Japanese animation classic, even jumping across the Pacific Ocean to gain popularity in the U.S. where it was widely released. The science-fiction psychological thriller is a dizzying daydream that catapults you into a waking nightmare in a matter of seconds. Layered, vividly bright (in both senses of the word), and mysterious, the film tells the story of Doctor Atsuko Chiba who upon entering her psychiatric patient’s dreams assumes an alter-ego detective of sorts: Paprika. The plot thickens when the devices used to enter her patients dreams are stolen, and consequently used for much more insidious means. Paprika explores the far out corners of her patients whimsical and terrifying dreams in order to prevent the citizens of Japan from completely losing their minds and sense of self.

Directed by the late Satoshi Kon, animator and skilled artist in all things dream-like, Paprika was made with the intention of blurring the lines between fact and fiction. In contrast to Disney cartoons, and other forms of animation that often lays the foundations for viewers to happily escape reality, directors like Satoshi Kon aimed for something different. There is no limit to the imagination that exudes from movies like Paprika, but perhaps its most evocative element is its connection to reality; a dysfunctional dreamworld that can still be manipulated by whoever holds the means of entering it from the real one.

Paprika - Available at Amazon

42. Tokyo Story / 東京物語 - Yasujiro Ozu (1953)

The scenes that unfold in Tokyo Story are static and calm, but filled with pathos and close-ups of a family’s heartstrings being pulled. Ozu arguably laid the groundwork for many contemporary directors today, such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, who follow similar patterns of detailed, slow-moving human drama. Tokyo Story, unlike its predecessors or descendants evokes a non judgemental tone in every frame, indicative of Ozu’s delight in the complexity of what is simple.

The narrative follows an elderly retired couple who live in south-western Japan. The couple travels to Tokyo to visit their adult children only to find that they are too busy to make time to see them. The only family member that makes a substantial effort to spend time with them is their widowed daughter-in law. Instead of feeling bad about their preoccupied children, the parents seem to float through their feelings as if with the current of a river, the sound of water a subtle companion throughout the movie. Instead of swimming upstream, Tokyo Story observes the ways of life, letting things fall into place as if to say this is the way it is. This film is often thought to be the epitome of Japanese cinema.

Tokyo Story - Available at Amazon

43. The Mourning Forest / 殯の森 - Naomi Kawase (2007)

Winning the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, The Mourning Forest is an emotionally impactful film centered around a young woman, Machiko, who has lost her son and secretly blames herself for his death. The film takes place at a rural retirement home where Machiko works as a caregiver, striking up an odd friendship with Shigeki, a patient at the retirement home who has lost his wife many years before. When their car gets stuck in a ditch, the two commence a two day journey through the forest.

Naomi Kawase was the first woman and the first Japanese director in fifty years to have appeared at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 1997. Before her was the renowned Akira Kurosawa. Kawase is well known for her style that centers itself around nature and nostalgia.

Mourning Forest - Available at Amazon

44. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya / かぐや姫の物語 - Isao Takahata (2013)

This long awaited Studio Ghibli animation made by Isao Takahata is based on the 10th-century Japanese folktale, The Tale of The Bamboo Cutter. Takahata, known for taking his time, took eight years to complete this film. Unlike other animations, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, is composed entirely of line drawings. Steering clear of CGI assistance, Takahata drew everything by hand.

The story begins when a bamboo cutter, Sanuki, discovers a small baby in the forest that fits in the palm of his hand. He brings the magical child home to his wife, and together they watch as she grows up rapidly into a beautiful woman whose looks and charm motivates Sanuki to move them to the capital to live a finer, nobler life. The Princess has difficulty adjusting to this new life, and longs for her home in the woods and the friends that they left behind. The plot is one of heartbreak, loss and identity. An adventurous girl who comes to earth from the moon.

Check out some other great anime art from these Top Female Manga Artists!

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - Available at Amazon

45. Nobody Knows / 誰も知らない - Hirokazu Kore-eda (2004)

Kore-eda kantoku is by far one of the most internationally recognized Japanese directors of today. His most recent work, Shoplifters (Mambiki no Kazoku), was awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018. Well known for his careful attention to detail in family and human drama, Kore-eda has long since been crafting feature films as if they are stylized documentaries. Similarly, his 2004 piece, Nobody Knows (Dare mo Shiranai), although fiction in its storytelling and approach, is based on a real event. The viewer will note the naturalistic qualities that this gracefully and patiently paced film carries with it from scene to scene.

In a society prone to being left uncriticized by the everyday media, Kore-eda’s films narrow in on the microcosmic circumstances of family, unveiling Japan’s social dilemmas on a much larger scale. In Nobody Knows, Kore-eda re-imagines the true events of a children abandonment case, where the eldest brother, Akira who is just twelve years old, cares for his younger three siblings in a Tokyo apartment. There is much to adore about the affection the four children have for one another, and how they pass the time whilst alone together. You are recommended to have a box of tissues on hand when watching this contemporary film!

Nobody Knows - Available at Amazon

46. Tokyo Sonata / トウキョウソナタ - Kiyoshi Kurosawa (2008)

After losing his job at a respectable company in Tokyo, a Japanese salaryman begins his descent into secrecy. He doesn’t tell his family of his misfortune, and he carries his shame with him wherever he goes, often leaving the house under the ruse of going to work but instead going to over-crowded agencies, or even homeless shelters serving meals. Meanwhile, his son Kenji, a sixth grader trying to navigate his older brother’s rebellious life choices to join the U.S. military and the family’s other burdens, decides to secretly begin taking piano lessons against his family’s incessant will not to.

Sentimental to its core, especially in its final moving scene, this film is a departure from Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s usual horror flicks. Sitting down with Tokyo Sonata is like looking through a window to the inside of the pressures of Japanese society; the agony of losing a job equal to losing one’s own identity and life purpose.

For more great stories from Japan, check out these 20 Best Japanese Authors of All Time!

Tokyo Sonata - Available at Amazon

47. When A Woman Ascends the Stairs / 女が階段を上る時 - Mikio Naruse (1960)

A delicate telling of the life of a bar hostess, Keiko, who can no longer rely on her youth in post-war Ginza nightclubs. The stairs that Keiko ascends each night are symbolic to her and to the diegesis of the film, bringing her one step closer to a world ruled by men, catered to by women. Plagued with financial and family concerns, Keiko begins to consider becoming a mistress to a wealthy man in order to rid herself of these troubles. She despises this idea, so looks to open her own bar instead.

Mikio Naruse focused on the female as the protagonist in most of his films. When A Woman Ascends the Stairs is a precise meditation on the decisions that women had to make in order to survive in Japan after world war two. To marry a man is represented as both a freedom and restraint, the epitome of modernity if there ever was one. A great Japanese movie, and a modern classic.

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs - Available at Amazon

48. Branded to Kill / 殺しの烙印 - Seijun Suzuki (1967)

A crime film pushed to bizarre ends, Branded to Kill is one of Seijun Suzuki’s most exemplary experiments with new wave and grotesque psycho-surrealistic scenes of murder and delirium. Due to its outlandish and fragmented storytelling, Suzuki was fired after the making of Branded to Kill, and found it very difficult to get a job at any other studio. The story of a yakuza hitman with a fetish for smelling boiled rice has since become a sensation. Suzuki is now known as a celebrated cult cinema director who disregarded boundaries and limitations.

The plot, though simple in its straightforward “yakuza fails to make a hit and becomes the main target” kind of way, has many twists and turns and trusts that the viewer knows the crime genre enough to exploit one’s expectations and desires. A black and white classic thriller that will leave you impressed and somewhat confused.

Branded to Kill - Available at Amazon

49. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time / 時をかける少女 - Mamoru Hosoda (2006)

Gifted suddenly with the ability to manipulate time, and initially sparing her own life from getting hit by an oncoming train, Makoto navigates her new responsibility with time travel. At first she begins by using it to perfect her days at high school that are somewhat clumsily spent otherwise. Makoto quickly learns that her decisions affect others, and is slammed with a question from her friend, Chiaki, who asks her if they should be a couple. To undo this question and prevent their precious friendship from changing any further Makoto leaps back in time. A decision that she comes to deeply regret.

This heartbreaking coming-of-age animated feature is made in the image of Hosoda’s usual style: sentimental and personal. Protagonist, Makoto, is often faced with small decisions that turn into much, much bigger ones, a reflection of Hosoda’s goal of creating characters that must eventually face the truth, and more specifically, change. Hosoda is also well known for his other touching animated features such as Mirai, Summer Wars, and Wolf Children.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - Available at Amazon

50. The Hungry Lion / 飢えたライオン - Takaomi Ogata (2017)

The Hungry Lion made its premier at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2017 to an audience who didn’t quite know how to react. The film’s main character, Hitomi, a popular student at her high school is under suspicion for being the girl in a sex video with her homeroom teacher. Suspicions turn into full on accusations, even those closest to her doubting her vehement denials. The exploitation of her situation runs rampant, and she ultimately makes a desperate decision. The second half of the film focuses on the media fall out. The viewer is subjugated to the intensity of Japanese press, social media, and other tools of invading privacy. A kind of social commentary on today’s method of receiving and sharing information that may or may not be unfounded.

Ironically, the film, in particular its ending, was highly debated in discussions that followed its release. Perhaps this is a testament to the success of the film’s own criticism towards the criminalization of victims, especially young girls, and women who have a different story to tell than the one being told to them.

51. Still Walking / 歩いても歩いても - Hirokazu Kore-eda (2008)

Still Walking formulates around a family reunion that’s tinged with the sadness of a lost son, Junpei, who died years before while saving a stranger from drowning. Kore-eda, perhaps once again emulating Ozu’s mastering of family drama, creates a simmering atmosphere of anger and regret that has long since been buried deep within. The young boy that Junpei has saved is now a full grown man of little means and integrity. Grudgingly, Junpei’s family invites him around for tea every year out of obligation and politeness. The surviving brother, Ryo, has long since suffered under his family’s adoration of his deceased brother, never being able to receive the same amount of approval as Junpei did, even after his death.

Peaceful and undramatic, this stylized film gently guides a viewer through subtle stages of poised grief and regret. Kore-eda’s uncalculated attempt at showing how love seeps in despite strained circumstances is sure to tug on one’s heartstrings.

Still Walking - Available at Amazon

52. Lady Snowblood / 修羅雪姫 - Toshiya Fujita (1973)

A bloody journey lead by a woman bent on revenge, Lady Snowblood has without a doubt influenced the likes of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. Toshiya Fujita reaching international notoriety primarily due to the success of Lady Snowblood and its sequel.

Born to a dying mother in prison, Yuki is raised with the single intent of murdering those responsible for her mother’s rape and murder. She grows to become a skilled samurai assassin with a sword of vengeance, cutting down anyone who stands in her way. The dispassionate, calm expression on her face when she makes a kill suggests she couldn’t care less about the blood she spills, as long as she spills it. Empowered and seemingly unstoppable, Yuki tries to carve her way to an emancipated victory of forgive-me-not glory.

Lady Snowblood - Available at Amazon

53. Akira / アキラ - Katsuhiro Otomo (1988)

Post-apocalyptic in narrative and nature, Akira disturbs and thrills. Set in a 2019 dystopian Neo-Tokyo built upon the ruins of the 1988 massacred Tokyo, the popular animated Japanese film dives into the controversy of atomic bombs, and top secret ESP experiments on children. The plot is carried on the backs of two teenage friends, Kaneda and Tetsuo, the latter of which is seemingly always trying to prove himself. After a motorcycle accident and injury, Tetsuo is taken by the government to be used as a guinea pig for a new experiment. It’s up to Kaneda and his bike gang to surpass scientists, politicians, terrorists, and various other challenges in order to save Tetsuo from the clutches of cyberpunk corruption.

Most notably, Akira was made before the integration of computerized animation, and is one of the last features to be made with several layers of hand painted cells. Before Akira was a classic cult film, it was a manga series made by the same writer and director, Katsuhiro Otomo, who remarkably turned his own work into a saturated, 125 minute moving masterpiece.

Akira - Available at Amazon

54. She and He / 彼女と彼 - Susumu Hani (1963)

Two young newlyweds eagerly enter their new roles as attentive housewife, Naoko, and diligent businessman, Eiichi. As time passes, however, the couple become restless and consumed by the new structure of their lives. Eiichi has less and less time to spend with his wife, and in turn she begins to seek fulfillment elsewhere. Quite comfortable in their middle class apartment, Naoko wakes up to the discovery of the poverty around her as she explores Tokyo with new eyes.

Later referenced as a member of the new wave genre, director Susumu Hani pursues filmmaking with a documentary-esque style. Occasionally using handheld shots in She and He to incite a closeness and urgency to the characters he depicts. An interview with Hani in Midnight Eye, a recently retired Japanese cinema online magazine, depicts the director as “difficult to pigeonhole.” And “one of the most unjustly neglected Japanese filmmakers of the 1960s.” His movies are difficult to find, so if you happen to come across a screening, don’t miss it!

55. A Man Vanishes / 人間蒸発 - Shohei Imamura (1967)

“Where can anyone missing be in such a small country?” This is the question posed at the start of the film. Interview after interview asking after Oshima, the business man who has suddenly disappeared without a trace, leaves the viewer questioning if they are actually watching a non-fiction. As the accounts of Oshima’s character pile up in interviews about his personality, his true character also seems to vanish. Unable to pin-point in location as well as in memory. The film is somewhat haunting in that it cannot provide answers for either the fictional characters’ relentless pursuit of a missing man, nor the viewers who may start to doubt their own idea of what a man is or isn’t.

Director Shohei Imamura was assistant to Yasujiro Ozu for a few films, including that of Tokyo Story. Differently from Ozu, there is an urgency to Imamura’s films that implies truth seeking, and truth showing—a kind of cinéma vérité. At times perhaps he told the truth too effectively, resulting in his temporary suspension from the same company that fired Suzuki Seijun.

56. Tampopo / タンポポ - Juzo Itami (1985)

Tampopo breaks the fourth wall almost immediately, but instead of shattering the possibility of an audience escaping into another reality, this moment seems to solidify that a wild journey is about to take place. A comedy and a western, affectionately dubbed a “ramen western,” this film is a delicious dive into the whimsical adventures of two milk truck drivers who amiably help a woman bring her ramen business to life by finding the best recipes for her restaurant.

Itami doesn’t hesitate with story or plot, often dipping into several different storylines and even genres. The one constant companion the viewer has to keep them company is food itself, almost everything else feels consistently inconsistent. Delightedly so. It’s touching, it’s funny, it’s wonderfully crazy, and certainly deserves a place on any list of the best Japanese movies!

Tampopo - Available at Amazon

57. Dreams / 夢 - Akira Kurosawa (1990)

A departure from the usual Kurosawa recommendation list, Dreams is the film most movie-goers and cinema lovers may not have seen. Dreams is a collection of eight unrelated stories that unfold in a surrealistic telling of sights, sounds, and sensations. The scenes grow majestically and beautifully but seem to remain distant and out of reach. Dreams feels like a compilation of what engages Kurosawa most introspectively, and unconsciously, as insinuated from its title.

In part one, “Sunshine Through the Rain” a young boy is told by his mother not to go looking for foxes today due to the fact that they will most likely be holding a wedding ceremony. She warns him that foxes don’t like to be seen. Naturally the boy runs into the forest hoping to witness such a fantastical event. Dreams reads like a cluster of metaphors and lessons that we must learn or even forget upon waking.

Dreams - Available at Amazon

58. Suzaku / 萌の朱雀 - Naomi Kawase (1997)

At the young age of 27, Kawase took home the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for her debut film Suzaku. This film takes a close look at the disintegration of a small town and family. The town’s insignificance has intensified due to its disconnection to the outside world, quite literally because of a railway project that has been neglected and forgotten. The family lives peacefully together but experiences some friction what feels like depression due to the isolation. The daughter, Michiru even coming to have feelings for her cousin, Eisuke.

Throughout the film, there are tensions about whether or not the family should leave the timber trodden town and seek life elsewhere. Kawase, in this film, as with her others that follow, distinctly leaves her atmospheric and intimate mark. Words like “vague” that have been used to describe some of her stylistic choices, could perhaps be replaced with “interpretative” or “art.”

59. The Taste of Tea / 茶の味 - Katsuhito Ishii (2004)

This film is another delightful digression from a director’s usual filmmaking style. Heralding from a rural, ordinary town in Tochigi prefecture, The Taste of Tea is a pleasant surreal movie about the individuals that make up the Haruno family. Each member has their own story to tell, and a strange behavioral way to tell it. Nobuo, the father, a practicing hypnotist occasionally experiments with his own family. While young Sachiko, the daughter, is often visited by a giant double of herself who takes to staring at her blankly. It’s quite the conundrum. The pace of everyday life seems to highlight ever so interestingly the distinct qualities of each character. Although under the same roof, very, very different narratives are autonomously evolving.

The Taste of Tea - Available at Amazon

60. Antiporno / アンチポルノ - Sion Sono (2017)

Controversial and “pro porno” director, Sion Sono is not shy of exploitation and decadence. In Antiporno, there are no signs that give you direction, or tell you where to go. The carpet is ripped out from beneath your feet and suddenly you are in a different dreamlike narrative where the main character is just an actor, and instead of abusing, she is getting abused. Anitporno is critical of the practices in the porn industry but flaunts sexual delights just the same. Most overwhelmingly this film isn’t afraid of fronting its number one feature: energy, energy, energy. And color. Regardless of how you take it, there is no denying that the film is conscious of its main character, Kyoto’s, trials and tribulations of being simultaneously trapped and emancipated by sex and the industry that perpetuates the selling of it, but makes no move to truly set her free. A cult classic film by a cult classic director that may give you pause.

October 7, 2022 | Art

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