Japanese Jewels
Over 100 fine films from Japan which has a rich history (1948-2018) of thoughtful and provocative cinema. Movies after #85 are highly-rated suggestions I haven't seen yet.
Top 10 Directors
Masaki Kobayashi,
Shion Sono,
Takashi Miike,
Kiyoshi Kurosawa,
Akira Kurosawa,
Kenji Mizoguchi,
Mamoru Hosoda,
Makoto Shinkai,
Satoshi Kon,
Shunji Iwai
Following Four (4) Directors
Kaneto Shindô,
Hiroshi Teshigahara,
Yôji Yamada,
Isao Takahata
Almost Made It
Yasujirô Ozu,
Shôhei Imamura,
Hirokazu Koreeda
Hayao Miyazaki
Top 10 Directors
Masaki Kobayashi,
Shion Sono,
Takashi Miike,
Kiyoshi Kurosawa,
Akira Kurosawa,
Kenji Mizoguchi,
Mamoru Hosoda,
Makoto Shinkai,
Satoshi Kon,
Shunji Iwai
Following Four (4) Directors
Kaneto Shindô,
Hiroshi Teshigahara,
Yôji Yamada,
Isao Takahata
Almost Made It
Yasujirô Ozu,
Shôhei Imamura,
Hirokazu Koreeda
Hayao Miyazaki
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216 titles
- 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.Masaki Kobayashi
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaKokinji KatsuraAs a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist struggles to maintain his determination to keep his ideals.Masaki Kobayashi
- 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.Masaki Kobayashi
- 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.Masaki Kobayashi
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsKeiko KishiTatsuya NakadaiSô YamamuraA dying businessman intends to will two hundred million yen to his three illegitimate children, but his associates scheme to take advantage of the situation.Masaki Kobayashi
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsToshirô MifuneYôko TsukasaGô KatôThe mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped away from her husband by the lord. The husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to get her back.Masaki Kobayashi
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsKô MishimaTorahiko HamadaKeiko KishiA group of rank-and-file Japanese soldiers are jailed for crimes against humanity, themselves victims of a nation refusing to bear its burdens as a whole.Masaki Kobayashi
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsKeiji SadaKeiko KishiMinoru ÔkiA talent scout moves sharply, dead-set on signing a promising athlete to his team.Masaki Kobayashi
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsShin SaburiMayumi OgawaKeiko KishiA detailed look at a Tokyo business tycoon (played by Shin Saburi) given a diagnosis of terminal cancer who must now re-assess his life and values.Masaki Kobayashi
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiKomaki KuriharaWakako SakaiThe story takes place in feudal Japan, when any commerce with the rest of the world was strictly prohibited. An idealist suddenly appears in an isolated inn (the one that the title refers to), the head-quarters of a group of smugglers, with stolen money intended to ransom his loved one who is forced to work in a brothel.Masaki Kobayashi
- DirectorSion SonoStarsMitsuru FukikoshiDendenAsuka KurosawaThe 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.Shion Sono
- DirectorSion SonoStarsKazue FukiishiTsugumiYuriko YoshitakaA teenager called Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Tokoyama, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's "family circle", which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.Shion Sono
- DirectorSion SonoStarsMasumi MiyazakiIssei IshidaRie KuwanaThe erotic novelist Taeko is writing a morbid story of a family destroyed by incest, murder and abuse. Her assistant, Yuji, sets on a mission to uncover the reality of this story, but the reality might be too much to bear.Shion Sono
- DirectorSion SonoStarsJoe OdagiriJai WestMotoki FukamiFaced by a society of criminals, these three youths avenge their rights.Shion Sono
- DirectorSion SonoStarsMiki MizunoMakoto TogashiMegumi KagurazakaA grisly murder occurs in Maruyama-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo - a love hotel district - a woman was found dead in a derelict apartment. Kazuko (Miki Mizuno) is a police officer called to investigate on this case, she will discover the story of two women who, despite appearing respectable on the outside have all manner of darkness hidden away.Shion Sono
- DirectorSion SonoStarsReina TriendlMariko ShinodaErina ManoA girl's life cascades into chaos as everyone around her suffers a gruesome fate while she becomes less certain of who she is and her once-once normal life.Shion Sono
- DirectorSion SonoStarsAmi TomiteMariko TsutsuiFujikoJapan's oldest major movie studio asks a batch of venerable filmmakers to revive its high-brow soft-core Roman Porno series.Shion Sono
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsMasato HagiwaraKoji YakushoTsuyoshi UjikiA frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsKoji YakushoJun FubukiTsuyoshi KusanagiA psychic housewife and her husband become burdened with a kidnapped girl who escaped her assailant. Junko will not let her husband call the hospital or the police for purely selfish reasons. The girl dies while still in their house and her ghost begins to haunt not only Junko but also her husband, Sato (Koji Yakusho).Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsHaruhiko KatôKumiko AsôKoyukiTwo groups of people discover evidence that suggests spirits may be trying to invade the human world through the Internet.Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsJoe OdagiriTadanobu AsanoTatsuya FujiTwo young guys work in a plant that manufactures oshibori (those moist hand-towels found in some Japanese restaurants). Their weird bond is based on uncontrollable rage--something neither can articulate or control--and the strange jellyfish that they keep as a pet.Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsTeruyuki KagawaKyôko KoizumiYû KoyanagiAn ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company.Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- StarsKyôko KoizumiHazuki KimuraManatsu KimuraThe murder of a young girl is never solved. Her mother who is torn by grief puts a curse on the four of the girl's classmates. These four girls are forced into adulthood which eventually triggers a tragic chain of events.Kiyoshi Kurosawa (TV SERIES)
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira TeraoJinpachi NezuIn 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.Akira Kurosawa
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTakashi ShimuraToshirô MifuneReizaburô YamamotoA drunken doctor with a hot temper and a violence-prone gangster with tuberculosis form a quicksilver bond.Akira Kurosawa