My favorite Japanese films
Drawing a distinction between "favorite" and "best"...
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- DirectorHiroshi TeshigaharaStarsEiji OkadaKyôko KishidaKôji MitsuiAn entomologist on vacation is trapped by local villagers into living with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.
- DirectorTeinosuke KinugasaStarsRaizô IchikawaYukiko FujiMiyako EndôA Buddhist priest becomes also a magician, dedicating himself to the protection of life wherever it's needed, whereupon he finds himself in direct service of the Queen. Political intrigue tightens around him as it is increasingly assumed that he harbors ulterior motives. Set in Japan's Nara Era (710 - 794 A.D.), the story is loosely based on Mikado (Empress) Koken-Shotoku and Dokyo, a Yamabushi (mountain warrior monk who practices a rugged, intense form of Vajrayana Buddhism founded by his master, Do-en).
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsRentarô MikuniMichiyo AratamaMisako WatanabeA collection of four Japanese folk tales with supernatural themes.
- DirectorKoreyoshi KuraharaStarsKen TakakuraTsunehiko WataseEiji OkadaTwo Japanese scientists, Ushioda and Ochi, develop a bond with their sled dogs while on an expedition in Antarctica. Ushioda and Ochi eventually leave Antarctica, only to return to search for the dogs inadvertently marooned there.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsMasayuki MoriMachiko KyôKinuyo TanakaA tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsKichiemon NakamuraShima IwashitaShizue KawarazakiA doomed love between a paper merchant and a courtesan.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsYoshiko TanakaKazuo KitamuraEtsuko IchiharaThe story of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, based on Masuji Ibuse's novel.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsMaksim MunzukYuriy SolominMikhail BychkovThe Russian army sends an explorer on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.
- DirectorYoshishige YoshidaStarsMariko OkadaYasunori IrikawaRuriko AsaokaA young man who's about to marry is torn between his fiancée and the love for his mother. His past, dreams and desires unfold simultaneously.
- DirectorAkio JissôjiStarsShin KishidaEiji OkadaMikio NaritaFollows the life of the famous classical printmaker, Utamaro Kitagawa, set during the time when Utamaro is commissioned to produce pornographic woodblocks.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTatsuya NakadaiKeiju KobayashiA crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen trying to save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.
- DirectorYasuzô MasumuraStarsAyako WakaoKyôko KishidaEiji FunakoshiA childless housewife falls in love with a beautiful model.
- 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.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsKinuyo TanakaTeiji TakahashiYûko MochizukiA kabuki theatre-inflected story about a poor village whose people have to be carried to a nearby mountain to die once they get old.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsKen OgataSumiko SakamotoTonpei HidariIn a poor 19th century rural Japanese village, everyone who reaches the age of 70 has to climb a nearby mountain to die. An elderly woman is reaching close to her cut-off age during her last days with her family.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsHideko TakamineTatsuya NakadaiMasayuki MoriA middle-aged bar hostess, constantly in debt, is faced with numerous social constraints and challenges posed to her by her family, customers and friends.
- DirectorHiroshi InagakiStarsYûzô KayamaChûsha IchikawaToshirô MifuneAfter their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.
- DirectorYoshishige YoshidaStarsRentarô MikuniChôichirô KawarasakiOrie SatôAn old woman has died and her widower with dementia confesses to killing her. After this, the story goes back in time to show the events leading up to her death.
- DirectorKazuo KurokiStarsMariko KagaHiroyuki NagatoShôichi OzawaFollowing the journey of a caterpillar along the Japanese islands from Nagasaki to Hokkaido, this allegorical and oblique first feature film by Kuroki depicts in exquisite images a series of encounters and life's turning points.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûShima IwashitaKeiji SadaAn aging widower arranges a marriage for his only daughter.
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsRentarô MikuniShôji YasuiTatsuya MihashiA conscience-driven Japanese soldier traumatized by the events of WWII adopts the lifestyle of a Buddhist monk.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaYoshiaki HanayagiKyôko KagawaIn medieval Japan, a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression.
- DirectorKihachi OkamotoStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaYûzô KayamaThrough his unconscionable actions against others, a sociopath samurai builds a trail of vendettas that follow him closely.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsMasahiro MotokiRenji IshibashiMakoA salaryman and yakuza are each sent by their bosses to a remote Chinese village but discover more than they expected.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsKimiko IkegamiMiki JinboKumiko ÔbaA schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsDavid BowieTom ContiRyuichi SakamotoDuring WWII, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid bloodshed.
- DirectorHaruki KadokawaStarsTakaaki EnokiMasahiko TsugawaAtsuko AsanoIn 16th century Japan, two samurai engage in massive battles across the countryside, one attempting to conquer and the other attempting to defend his land while repressing his love for a woman after taking a vow of celibacy.