All out Japan, a list by Tadaa

8.6

/398096/

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.

89

8.1

/194452/

79

/3188/

80

/2433/

4.2

/264948/

98

/64/

93

/2665/

98

/18/

4.0

age 15+

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

89

8.4

/69684/

84

/1467/

83

/1059/

4.6

/185667/

97

/70/

95

/556/

90

/17/

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

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.

87

7.9

/20542/

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.

87

7.9

/26079/

80

/983/

78

/407/

4.3

/140198/

100

/58/

93

/725/

87

/18/

4.0

In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.

86

7.9

/97948/

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.

86

8.1

/26830/

80

/582/

77

/342/

4.1

/12071/

99

/69/

94

/817/

82

/25/

4.0

Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?

85

8.0

/34815/

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.

85

8.0

/59551/

78

/1065/

79

/945/

4.3

/103590/

96

/49/

93

/1068/

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

84

7.8

/39678/

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.

84

7.5

/75244/

75

/2757/

74

/1427/

4.2

/360182/

97

/216/

78

/269/

91

/42/

4.0

age 15+

Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to drive his car. In between rides, secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions will be unveiled.

84

7.6

/15355/

76

/399/

72

/258/

4.2

/51515/

88

/34/

90

/386/

91

/19/

4.0

On a cold Monday morning, a group of counselors clock in at an old-fashioned social services office. Their task is to interview the recently deceased, record their personal details, then, over the course of the week, assist them in choosing a single memory to keep for eternity.

83

7.7

/198562/

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.

83

8.0

/17610/

80

/703/

79

/498/

4.4

/76045/

90

/21/

88

/243/

78

/11/

A Catholic teenager’s desperate pursuit of sin leads him into a surreal underworld of voyeurism, cult control, and fractured identity, as love becomes both his salvation and his undoing.

82

8.0

/57118/

80

/1164/

78

/890/

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.

81

7.5

/11120/

74

/422/

72

/342/

4.1

/54861/

99

/115/

81

/18/

86

/19/

3.5

An unexpected love triangle, a seduction trap, and a random encounter are the three episodes, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.

81

7.6

/13626/

75

/364/

74

/265/

4.2

/38730/

94

/87/

80

/389/

80

/22/

3.5

A young boy takes interest in piano while his family begins to disintegrate around him after his father loses his job.

81

7.8

/30650/

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.

81

7.5

/71241/

75

/2540/

73

/1218/

3.9

/55909/

95

/129/

88

/1792/

84

/33/

3.5

age 18+

A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.

80

7.6

/34621/

76

/2227/

76

/941/

4.1

/137965/

100

/98/

84

/155/

86

/14/

2.5

Real zombies arrive and terrorize the crew of a zombie film being shot in an abandoned warehouse, said to be the site of military experiments on humans.

80

7.4

/8425/

74

/211/

72

/171/

3.9

/12731/

93

/76/

84

/81/

80

/22/

3.5

age 10+

Twelve-year-old Koichi, who has been separated from his brother Ryunosuke due to his parents' divorce, hears a rumor that the new bullet trains will precipitate a wish-granting miracle when they pass each other at top speed.

80

7.5

/35775/

76

/1658/

75

/715/

4.3

/302795/

94

/66/

85

/255/

70

/13/

A detective starts spiraling out of control when a wave of gruesome murders with seemingly similar bizarre circumstances is sweeping Tokyo.

80

7.7

/5940/

79

/376/

75

/183/

4.1

/17959/

92

/24/

86

/57/

75

/12/

3.0

age 9+

Follows the behind-the-scenes work of Studio Ghibli, focusing on the notable figures Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki.

80

7.4

/14032/

73

/493/

71

/370/

3.9

/27639/

96

/136/

80

/31/

84

/26/

3.5

Ryota is an unpopular writer although he won a literary award 15 years ago. Now, Ryota works as a private detective. He is divorced from his ex-wife Kyoko and he has an 11-year-old son Shingo. His mother Yoshiko lives alone at her apartment. One day, Ryota, his ex-wife Kyoko, and son Shingo gather at Yoshiko's apartment. A typhoon passes and the family must stay there all night long.

79

7.5

/205422/

74

/7404/

72

/3685/

3.9

/377848/

90

/51/

88

/8548/

81

/7/

age 17+

In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.

79

7.7

/12381/

75

/199/

74

/173/

4.0

/12534/

90

/51/

89

/587/

66

/17/

3.5

A bored accountant spots a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.

79

7.6

/18651/

77

/731/

75

/532/

4.1

/47952/

93

/121/

83

/73/

75

/31/

3.0

After the death of their estranged father, 3 adult sisters invite their teenaged half-sister to live with them.

79

7.7

/44618/

77

/1608/

75

/943/

4.0

/60324/

81

/16/

88

/553/

Devastated at the death of her four-year-old daughter, a grieving middle school teacher is horrified to discover that her students aren't as innocent as she thinks.

78

7.0

/12770/

68

/582/

67

/273/

3.8

/107134/

91

/165/

83

/8/

83

/40/

3.5

Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to nature.

78

7.4

/53056/

74

/1280/

72

/921/

3.7

/26022/

87

/123/

88

/1672/

75

/33/

3.5

age 17+

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.

82

78

7.6

/7789/

76

/232/

75

/156/

4.2

/20966/

100

/18/

87

/130/

77

/5/

A spell of time in the life of a family in rural Tochigi prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.

77

7.3

/1339/

72

/68/

72

/29/

3.6

/3720/

93

/60/

90

/26/

71

/17/

3.0

Now one of the world’s most celebrated artists, Yayoi Kusama broke free of the rigid society in which she was raised, and overcame sexism, racism, and mental illness to bring her artistic vision to the world stage. At 88 she lives in a mental hospital and continues to create art.

82

77

7.8

/9436/

79

/240/

77

/175/

4.2

/14639/

93

/290/

While combing through the belongings of his recently deceased aunt, Matsuko, nephew Sho pieces together the crucial events that sank Matsuko's life into a despairing tragedy.

77

7.2

/84800/

72

/2713/

70

/1572/

3.6

/212731/

98

/46/

81

/2285/

A mysterious video has been linked to a number of deaths, and when an inquisitive journalist finds the tape and views it herself, she sets in motion a chain of events that puts her own life in danger.

79

76

7.4

/10452/

75

/299/

72

/213/

4.0

/8168/

93

/539/

Five bizarre stories with no apparent connection to one another eventually become intertwined, resulting in surreal circumstances.

82

76

7.6

/5853/

79

/226/

78

/139/

4.3

/51225/

91

/218/

A tale of delinquent and lazy school girls. In their efforts to cut remedial summer math class, they end up poisoning and replacing the school's brass band.

76

7.5

/17876/

73

/305/

76

/343/

3.9

/14116/

72

/39/

88

/550/

71

/16/

3.0

Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.

76

7.5

/19770/

76

/1344/

76

/629/

3.6

/13899/

84

/63/

Kenshin has settled into his new life with Kaoru and his other friends when he is approached with a request from the Meiji government. Makoto Shishio, a former assassin like Kenshin, was betrayed, set on fire and left for dead. He survived, and is now in Kyoto, plotting with his gathered warriors to overthrow the new government. Against Kaoru's wishes, Kenshin reluctantly agrees to go to Kyoto and help keep his country from falling back into civil war.

82

75

7.7

/4638/

77

/114/

77

/97/

4.3

/10516/

91

/44/

91

/64/

79

/22/

In rural Japan, the survivors of a tragedy converge and attempt to overcome their damaged selves, all while a serial killer is on the loose.

80

75

7.5

/5576/

79

/218/

75

/135/

4.2

/50571/

87

/15/

87

/247/

74

/6/

Only three days before their high school festival, guitarist Kei, drummer Kyoko, and bassist Nozomi are forced to recruit a new lead vocalist for their band. They choose Korean exchange student Son, though her comprehension of Japanese is a bit rough! It's a race against time as the group struggles to learn three songs for the festival's rock concert—including a classic '80s song by the Japanese punk rock band The Blue Hearts called "Linda Linda".

75

7.1

/9505/

74

/469/

73

/309/

4.0

/22376/

83

/41/

80

/73/

68

/11/

3.0

In Japan, gonzo filmmakers hatch a three-pronged plan to save an actress's career, end a yakuza war and make a hit movie.

75

7.4

/13947/

76

/650/

74

/588/

3.9

/27718/

84

/58/

85

/47/

60

/16/

3.0

The master of a dorayaki pastry store hires a 76-year-old woman whose talents attract customers from all over. But she's hiding a troubling secret. Life's joys are found in the little details, and no matter what may be weighing you down, everyone loves a good pastry.

76

75

7.5

/15934/

76

/1111/

77

/543/

3.7

/12007/

81

/36/

Shishio sets sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the government. In order to stop him, Kenshin trains with his old master to learn his final technique.

75

7.4

/30938/

75

/1990/

75

/873/

3.5

/21085/

85

/231/

In 1868, after the Bakumatsu war ends, the ex-assassin Kenshin Himura traverses Japan with an inverted sword, to defend the needy without killing.

80

74

7.2

/10433/

73

/1019/

72

/270/

3.9

/52844/

99

/69/

90

/21/

A cafe owner discovers that the TV in his cafe suddenly shows images from the future, but only two minutes into the future.

81

74

8.0

/7150/

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.

74

7.1

/97817/

71

/2864/

71

/1697/

3.8

/256127/

81

/81/

80

/4510/