Japanese films
by tomedwards-95237 | created - 07 Jan 2023 | updated - 3 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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: 86,540 | Gross: $3.31M
2. Karate Girl (2011)
TV-MA | 92 min | Action
A mysterious group kidnap a girl's sister. Years later, the group reappears and she is determined to get her sister back.
Director: Yoshikatsu Kimura | Stars: Rina Takeda, Hina Tobimatsu, Tatsuya Naka, Kazutoshi Yokoyama
Votes: 594
3. The Tale of Iya (2013)
169 min | Drama
As a tunnel construction project threatens the natural order of one of Japan's last untouched regions, an old man and his granddaughter Haruna's humble lifestyle begins to influence the outlook of a man from Tokyo.
Director: Tetsuichirô Tsuta | Stars: Rina Takeda, Shima Ônishi, Min Tanaka, Hitoshi Murakami
Votes: 373
4. Audition (1999)
R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura
Votes: 89,313
5. Ichi the Killer (2001)
R | 129 min | Action, Crime, Drama
As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of achieving.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Tadanobu Asano, Nao Ômori, Shin'ya Tsukamoto, Paulyn Sun
Votes: 60,082 | Gross: $0.02M
6. Your Name. (2016)
PG | 106 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
Two teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.
Director: Makoto Shinkai | Stars: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Ryo Narita, Aoi Yûki
Votes: 320,937 | Gross: $5.02M
7. A Silent Voice: The Movie (2016)
Not Rated | 130 min | Animation, Drama
A young man is ostracized by his classmates after he bullies a deaf girl to the point where she moves away. Years later, he sets off on a path for redemption.
Directors: Taichi Ishidate, Naoko Yamada | Stars: Miyu Irino, Saori Hayami, Aoi Yûki, Kenshô Ono
Votes: 101,510
8. Perfect Blue (1997)
R | 81 min | Animation, Crime, Drama
A pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past.
Director: Satoshi Kon | Stars: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Ôkura
Votes: 95,759 | Gross: $0.78M
9. Devilman: Crybaby (2018)
TV-MA | 25 min | Animation, Action, Drama
With demons reawakened and humanity in turmoil, a sensitive demon-boy is led into a brutal, degenerate war against evil by his mysterious friend, Ryo.
Stars: Kôki Uchiyama, Ayumu Murase, Kyle McCarley, Griffin Burns
Votes: 28,309
10. KILL la KILL (2013–2014)
TV-14 | 25 min | Animation, Action, Comedy
A young girl arrives at a school of superhumans to find out the truth behind her father's murder.
Stars: Ami Koshimizu, Aya Suzaki, Toshihiko Seki, Shin'ichirô Miki
Votes: 16,820
11. Battle Royale (2000)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama
Votes: 194,543
12. The Twilight Samurai (2002)
129 min | Drama, Romance
As the feudal Japan era draws to a close, a widower samurai experiences difficulty balancing clan loyalties, 2 young daughters, an aged mother, and the sudden reappearance of his childhood sweetheart.
Director: Yôji Yamada | Stars: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Nenji Kobayashi, Ren Ôsugi
Votes: 25,530
13. Ran (1985)
R | 160 min | Action, Drama, War
In Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryû
Votes: 136,318 | Gross: $4.14M
14. Seven Samurai (1954)
Not Rated | 207 min | Action, Drama
Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki
Votes: 367,067 | Gross: $0.27M
15. 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: 12,468 | Gross: $0.01M
16. Pulse (2001)
R | 119 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Two groups of people discover evidence that suggests spirits may be trying to invade the human world through the Internet.
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Stars: Haruhiko Katô, Kumiko Asô, Koyuki, Kurume Arisaka
Votes: 25,631 | Gross: $0.05M
17. Wood Job! (2014)
116 min | Adventure, Comedy
After failing to get into university, a soft city boy randomly picks a job in forestry.
Director: Shinobu Yaguchi | Stars: Hideaki Itô, Masami Nagasawa, Shôta Sometani, Nana Seino
Votes: 3,792
18. Alice in Borderland (2020– )
TV-MA | 50 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
Obsessed gamer Arisu suddenly finds himself in a strange, emptied-out version of Tokyo in which he and his friends must compete in dangerous games in order to survive.
Stars: Kento Yamazaki, Tao Tsuchiya, Nijirô Murakami, Eleanor Noble
Votes: 96,930
19. Three... Extremes (2004)
R | 125 min | Horror
An Asian cross-cultural trilogy of horror films from accomplished indie directors.
Directors: Fruit Chan, Park Chan-wook, Takashi Miike | Stars: Bai Ling, Lee Byung-hun, Kyoko Hasegawa, Pauline Lau
Votes: 20,881 | Gross: $0.08M
20. Blade of the Immortal (2017)
R | 140 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
Cursed with a life of immortality, a samurai is tasked by a young girl to help avenge the death of her father. Based on the manga series by Hiroaki Samura.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sôta Fukushi, Hayato Ichihara
Votes: 19,453 | Gross: $0.15M
21. One Million Yen Girl (2008)
121 min | Drama
A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.
Director: Yuki Tanada | Stars: Yû Aoi, Mirai Moriyama, Pierre Taki, Terunosuke Takezai
Votes: 1,714
22. One Missed Call (2003)
R | 112 min | Horror, Mystery
People mysteriously start receiving voicemail messages from their future selves, foretelling their deaths.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Kô Shibasaki, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Kazue Fukiishi, Anna Nagata
Votes: 19,328
23. Suicide Club (2001)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A detective is trying to find the cause of a string of suicides.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Masatoshi Nagase, Mai Hosho, Tamao Satô
Votes: 22,235
24. 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: 14,540
25. Love Exposure (2008)
Unrated | 237 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
A bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Sakura Andô, Yutaka Shimizu
Votes: 15,923
26. Shin Godzilla (2016)
Not Rated | 120 min | Action, Drama, Horror
Japan is plunged into chaos upon the appearance of a giant monster.
Directors: Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi | Stars: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Ren Ôsugi
Votes: 36,528 | Gross: $1.92M
27. Re/Member (2022)
102 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A high school student and her friends are trapped in a time loop by a ghost and the only way to escape is to find the corpse of the ghost's previous victim.
Director: Eiichirô Hasumi | Stars: Kanna Hashimoto, Gordon Maeda, Maika Yamamoto, Fûju Kamio
Votes: 3,839
28. Nowhere Girl (2015)
85 min | Action, Thriller
Ai, who is a student at a girl school, is talented and extremely good in the arts. Unfortunately, the implication of this is that her school-mates are jealous and the grown-ups see her as a... See full summary »
Director: Mamoru Oshii | Stars: Nana Seino, Nobuaki Kaneko, Lily, Hirotarô Honda
Votes: 160
29. The Machine Girl (2008)
Not Rated | 96 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
Maimed while seeking revenge, a girl becomes stronger than ever.
Director: Noboru Iguchi | Stars: Minase Yashiro, Asami, Nobuhiro Nishihara, Kentarô Shimazu
Votes: 10,702
30. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
Not Rated | 67 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal.
Director: Shin'ya Tsukamoto | Stars: Tomorô Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, Nobu Kanaoka, Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Votes: 25,950
31. Blue Spring (2001)
83 min | Drama
A group of a run-down Tokyo high school students face the struggles of growing up, growing apart from their friends and worrying about their future, while living in a highly violent environment.
Director: Toshiaki Toyoda | Stars: Ryûhei Matsuda, Hirofumi Arai, Sôsuke Takaoka, Yûsuke Ôshiba
Votes: 4,388
32. Crazy Samurai Musashi (2020)
91 min | Action
The most famous battle of the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Miyamoto fights against 588 enemies, one after the other. There is no room for error, no room for trivial, outdated, or unconvincing movements.
Director: Yûji Shimomura | Stars: Tak Sakaguchi, Kento Yamazaki, Arata Yamanaka, Shinji Sasahara
Votes: 910
33. My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday (2016)
111 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
On the way to his university in Kyoto, a 20 y.o. man falls in love with a woman on the train. He tells her. They start dating. She has a supernatural secret.
Director: Takahiro Miki | Stars: Sôta Fukushi, Nana Komatsu, Masahiro Higashide, Yuki Yamada
Votes: 5,266
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