Top 100 Japanese Films (Excluding Anime), a list by GalacticBoy

8.8

/8481/

86

/212/

84

/202/

4.6

/25705/

97

/28/

After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his dear wife and his old life, Kaji faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his fellow men sneak behind enemy lines.

91

8.6

/88624/

85

/1880/

84

/1144/

4.7

/197912/

100

/10/

97

/415/

85

/9/

4.0

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

92

8.6

/398058/

84

/5714/

84

/4069/

4.6

/383477/

100

/103/

97

/6724/

98

/7/

4.0

age 13+

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

90

8.4

/25018/

81

/540/

82

/500/

4.5

/59770/

100

/33/

93

/343/

4.0

A vacationing entomologist suffers extreme physical and psychological trauma after being taken captive by the residents of a poor seaside village and made to live with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.

90

8.3

/100744/

82

/1704/

83

/1271/

4.5

/174362/

98

/57/

96

/1465/

92

/20/

4.0

age 11+

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

86

8.3

/15412/

81

/267/

82

/256/

4.3

/20243/

100

/9/

93

/171/

90

/9/

3.0

The 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.

90

8.3

/19631/

79

/389/

81

/411/

4.4

/34418/

100

/20/

95

/266/

96

/17/

4.0

In medieval Japan, a woman and her children journey to find the family's patriarch, who was exiled years earlier.

90

8.2

/149647/

80

/2532/

80

/1722/

4.5

/224656/

96

/94/

95

/2188/

97

/21/

4.0

Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.

88

8.1

/27907/

78

/561/

80

/626/

4.3

/55624/

100

/34/

93

/412/

4.0

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

85

8.0

/45235/

79

/841/

80

/669/

4.1

/60355/

96

/52/

92

/830/

89

/16/

In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.

85

8.0

/34813/

80

/849/

79

/603/

4.4

/98249/

92

/92/

93

/907/

88

/31/

3.5

In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.

78

59

8.0

/3170/

74

/47/

76

/90/

4.1

/4391/

From 1928 to 1946, the lives of 12 young people and their school teacher in a poor Japanese village are profoundly affected by historical events and personal circumstances.

81

62

8.0

/2376/

75

/50/

81

/68/

4.2

/7280/

89

/36/

War widow Reiko rebuilds and runs the grocery shop in the house of her husband's family. Many years later, their business is threatened by a newly built supermarket and Reiko's in-laws plan to convert their small shop into a supermarket, to her detriment.

85

78

8.0

/5606/

77

/140/

76

/150/

4.2

/15883/

100

/7/

92

/52/

87

/6/

Two sisters find out the existence of their long-lost mother, but the younger cannot accept the fact that she was abandoned as a child.

81

74

8.0

/7148/

76

/131/

79

/164/

4.1

/8490/

90

/10/

91

/154/

73

/7/

In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.

84

75

8.0

/6698/

78

/111/

79

/137/

4.2

/9446/

100

/7/

85

/39/

A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.

86

8.0

/8293/

76

/138/

76

/188/

4.2

/12753/

100

/14/

89

/66/

4.0

In 17th century Edo Period Japan, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.

86

82

8.0

/10522/

78

/206/

78

/200/

4.2

/20005/

100

/11/

92

/97/

94

/5/

A 28-year-old single woman is pressured to marry.

87

8.0

/11784/

78

/272/

79

/311/

4.2

/31049/

95

/21/

90

/81/

91

/17/

4.0

Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter. Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

85

8.0

/43893/

80

/911/

80

/689/

4.1

/59774/

100

/29/

95

/760/

83

/15/

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

82

8.0

/57114/

80

/1164/

78

/887/

4.1

/31065/

80

/108/

92

/1971/

68

/27/

4.0

Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.

86

7.9

/97881/

79

/4005/

77

/1730/

4.3

/710849/

96

/186/

93

/34/

80

/38/

4.0

age 12+

Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on finding beauty in the world.

88

7.9

/93951/

79

/3577/

78

/2214/

4.3

/280254/

99

/230/

91

/197/

93

/40/

4.0

age 16+

In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence begins to unravel. As the family grows attached to her, buried secrets surface, forcing them to confront the true meaning of love, belonging, and what makes a family.

84

75

7.9

/5757/

77

/100/

75

/120/

4.1

/6648/

100

/19/

93

/98/

In the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier afflicted with tuberculosis is abandoned by his company and left to wander the Philippine island of Leyte.

85

7.9

/9656/

77

/186/

75

/198/

4.1

/18074/

96

/23/

91

/122/

4.0

When a theater troupe's master visits his old flame, he unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences.

80

77

7.9

/13012/

76

/272/

77

/248/

4.1

/23207/

80

/10/

90

/377/

Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.

82

7.9

/22464/

76

/523/

77

/433/

4.2

/50771/

91

/46/

89

/336/

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.

82

58

7.9

/3402/

74

/113/

76

/84/

4.2

/14479/

97

/12/

Tells the story of the samurai Gengobe, who seeks revenge after falling prey to the schemes of a geisha and her husband.

83

80

7.9

/12949/

80

/324/

77

/239/

4.1

/36579/

96

/456/

Hiroko attends the memorial service of her fiancé, Itsuki Fujii, who died in a mountain-climbing incident. Although Itsuki's mother says that their old house is gone, Hiroko records the address listed under his name in his yearbook and sends him a letter. Surprisingly, she receives a reply, and discovers it came from his old classmate, a girl who also happens to be called Itsuki Fujii.

87

7.9

/20541/

80

/600/

77

/419/

4.3

/58245/

100

/66/

90

/301/

89

/21/

4.0

A family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.

85

7.9

/40538/

77

/741/

78

/709/

4.2

/43692/

89

/27/

92

/710/

84

/15/

4.0

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.

84

7.8

/39660/

79

/1955/

79

/803/

4.3

/379349/

97

/173/

90

/93/

79

/40/

3.5

After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.

82

79

7.8

/11732/

77

/280/

78

/273/

4.2

/50296/

86

/7/

90

/103/

A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his new doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality and causing him to question his identity.

79

67

7.8

/5328/

77

/88/

76

/144/

4.1

/11253/

80

/10/

82

/31/

The lives of five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation is debating the passage of an anti-prostitution law.

81

72

7.8

/5326/

76

/92/

74

/161/

4.0

/10755/

89

/9/

87

/49/

83

/6/

Wataru Hirayama's outwardly liberal views on marriage are severely tested when his daughter declares that she is in love with a coworker and is adamant to live life her own way, instead of agreeing to an arranged marriage. Outwitted by his female relatives, Hirayama stubbornly refuses to admit defeat.

83

7.8

/4088/

76

/101/

75

/84/

4.0

/7431/

86

/7/

88

/33/

4.0

In Kabuki style, the film tells the story of a remote mountain village where the scarcity of food leads to a voluntary but socially-enforced policy in which relatives carry 70-year-old family members up Narayama mountain to die. Granny Orin is approaching 70, content to embrace her fate. Her widowed son Tatsuhei cannot bear losing his mother, even as she arranges his marriage to a widow his age. Her grandson Kesa, who's girlfriend is pregnant, is selfishly happy to see Orin die. Around them, a family of thieves are dealt with severely, and an old man, past 70, whose son has cast him out, scrounges for food. Will Orin's loving and accepting spirit teach and ennoble her family?

82

73

7.8

/4816/

74

/111/

78

/124/

4.1

/8470/

94

/18/

91

/37/

In late 19th century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that he is only praised for his acting due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated by this, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully follows him.

80

7.8

/4319/

71

/70/

75

/126/

4.0

/5739/

86

/14/

89

/54/

3.5

Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.

79

68

7.8

/5239/

77

/94/

74

/86/

3.7

/2383/

92

/306/

Takumi and his six-year-old son, Yuji, haven't come to terms with their wife and mother's death. One day, they meet a woman with an uncanny resemblance to her sheltering from the rain near their home.

81

7.8

/30645/

77

/947/

77

/772/

4.2

/61588/

86

/102/

89

/162/

73

/33/

3.5

Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. He learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth. He must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.

83

64

7.7

/3407/

79

/235/

83

/183/

4.0

/57733/

96

/14/

age 13+

With only a year left to live, 17-year-old Akito finds new meaning in life by bringing joy to a terminally ill girl who has just six months remaining.

83

7.7

/198489/

77

/11691/

76

/2939/

4.1

/821811/

99

/213/

98

/1981/

81

/34/

3.0

age 11+

In postwar Japan, Godzilla brings new devastation to an already scorched landscape. With no military intervention or government help in sight, the survivors must join together in the face of despair and fight back against an unrelenting horror.

78

7.7

/32072/

77

/667/

77

/527/

4.2

/89237/

67

/30/

86

/799/

Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s canvases, nuclear nightmares, and a water-mill utopia—meditate on childhood, art, mortality, and humanity’s uneasy bond with nature.

81

7.7

/7922/

73

/178/

75

/148/

4.0

/12026/

100

/11/

88

/173/

85

/13/

3.0

A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.

79

61

7.7

/2338/

73

/40/

73

/62/

4.0

/4174/

94

/445/

An ingratiating bride develops warm ties to her father-in-law while her cold husband blithely slights her for another woman.

82

73

7.7

/4849/

74

/64/

74

/105/

4.0

/8475/

100

/9/

86

/53/

84

/5/

The 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.

81

77

7.7

/9742/

75

/272/

74

/223/

4.1

/29325/

96

/24/

85

/85/

In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost. He encounters the two beautiful women in an eerie, beautiful scene. After spiritual purification, he meets the demon in a thrilling fight.

75

38

7.7

/2528/

70

/32/

70

/38/

3.6

/931/