Top 100 Japanese Movies In 21st Century
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- DirectorKatsuhito IshiiStarsMaya BannoTakahiro SatôTadanobu AsanoA spell of time of a rural family's slightly surreal life.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsLily FrankySakura AndôKirin KikiOn 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.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsYûya YagiraAyu KitauraHiei KimuraIn 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.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHiroshi AbeYui NatsukawaYouA family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsMasaharu FukuyamaMachiko OnoYôko MakiRyota is a successful workaholic businessman. When he learns that his biological son was switched with another boy after birth, he faces the difficult decision to choose his true son or the boy he and his wife have raised as their own.
- DirectorTetsuya NakashimaStarsTakako MatsuYoshino KimuraMasaki OkadaA psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.
- DirectorJun'ichi MoriStarsAi HashimotoMayu MatsuokaYôichi NukumizuIchiko lived in a big city, but goes back to her small hometown Komori, located on a mountain in the Tohoku region. She is self-sufficient. Ichiko gains energy living among nature and eating foods she makes from seasonal ingredients.
- DirectorJun'ichi MoriStarsAi HashimotoMayu MatsuokaYôichi NukumizuIchiko lived in a big city, but goes back to her small hometown Komori, located on a mountain in the Tohoku region. She is self-sufficient. Ichiko gains energy living among nature and eating foods she makes from seasonal ingredients.
- DirectorShinobu YaguchiStarsHideaki ItôMasami NagasawaShôta SometaniAfter failing to get into university, a soft city boy randomly picks a job in forestry.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsTakuya KimuraRei DanMitsugorô BandôA look at the relationship between a young blind samurai (Kimura) and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsHiroyuki SanadaRie MiyazawaNenji KobayashiAs 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.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsMasatoshi NagaseTakako MatsuHidetaka YoshiokaA 19th Century samurai, held in low esteem due to an action by his late father, must resolve his history with a maid and with his close friend.
- DirectorTakashi YamazakiStarsMaki HorikitaHidetaka YoshiokaShin'ichi TsutsumiLeaving her provincial home, teenage Mutsuko arrives in Tokyo by train to take a job in a major automotive company but finds that she is employed by a small auto repair shop owned by Norifumi Suzuki. Suzuki's hair-trigger temper is held somewhat in check by the motherly instincts of his wife, Tomoe, and his young son Ippei immediately bonds with Mutsuko as if she were his older sister. The Suzuki shop lies almost in the shadow of the Tokyo Tower as it rises steadily above the skyline during construction in 1958. Others in the neighborhood also are striving to better themselves as Japan continues to emerge from the shadow of war. Hiromi has just abandoned her shady life as a dancer to start a sake bar. Abandoned by his single mother, young Junnosuke is first handed off to Hiromi but she passes him off to Ryunosuke Chagawa, a struggling writer who runs a candy shop and only manages to sell adventure stories for boys as his serious novels continue to be rejected. Junnosuke is an avid reader of Chagawa's stories and begins to idolize him upon learning about his authorship. Junnosuke also writes stories, and makes friends with Ippei and others when they discover his tales that show Japan in the hi-tech future of the 21st century.
- DirectorTakashi YamazakiStarsShin'ichi HatoriMaki HorikitaFumiyo KohinataChagawa finds it increasing difficult to support his young ward Junnosuke in his store across the street from the Suzuki garage on Third Street. Unless he can provide a better life, Junnosuke's rich father, Kawabata will take him away. Chagawa focuses once again on winning the "Akutagawa-sho" literary award and the prize money coming with it. Mika, a 7-year old relative of the Suzukis is left to stay with them when her father has business reverses. She is accustomed to a richer life style and at first her behavior is very spoiled but is humbled when sees the menial chores that her same-aged cousin Ippei performs. Mutsuko continues to work in the family as a mechanic but has an aspiring boyfriend Takeo, who is studying cooking. Chagawa seeks to find Hiromi, who has become successful once more as the exotic dancer "Betty."
- DirectorTakashi YamazakiStarsHidetaka YoshiokaShin'ichi TsutsumiKoyukiThe Tokyo Olympics are about to open, and Rynosuke Chagawa is excited to receive a new TV set to watch the upcoming events. His wife Hiromi is pregnant and he has built a second level on his shop to provide his adopted son Junnosuke with a private space to study for entrance to Tokyo University to set up a career with a major company. He dreams of sparing Junnosuke the struggles that he has faced as a writer. The family continues to rely upon Hiromi's income from her bar. Meanwhile a rival story, The Virus, by a new writer has appeared in the periodical that has been publishing his stories "Boy's Adventure Book" and he fears the new competition. Norifumi Suzuki also receives a new TV, but more of a deluxe model. Mutsuko Hoshino (Roku) is still the principal mechanic in the Suzuki family's auto repair shop, but she dresses up some mornings to go to a nearby street with the hope of a "chance" meeting with Dr. Kikuchi, who earlier treated a burn on her arm. High school student Ippei Suzuki dreams of becoming a rock star. All the residents on Third Street in the shadow of Tolyo Tower feel a great sense of pride in Japan's hosting of the Olympics.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsTeruyuki KagawaKyôko KoizumiYû KoyanagiAn ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsAnne SuzukiYû AoiTomohiro KakuWhen two best friends develop a crush on the same boy, they develop a plan to trick him into dating them.
- DirectorShinobu YaguchiStarsJuri UenoYûta HiraokaShihori KanjiyaA tale of delinquent and lazy school girls. In their efforts to cut remedial summer math class, they end up vitiating and replacing the schools brass band.
- DirectorShin'ichirô UedaStarsTakayuki HamatsuYuzuki AkiyamaHarumi ShuhamaThings go badly for a hack director and film crew shooting a low budget zombie movie in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility, when they are attacked by real zombies.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsKôki MaedaOshiro MaedaRyôga HayashiTwelve-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.
- DirectorKeishi OtomoStarsTakeru SatohEmi TakeiYû AoiA former assassin who has resolved to never kill again has his vow sorely tested.
- DirectorNobuhiro DoiStarsYûko TakeuchiShidô NakamuraAkashi TakeiA young woman returns from the dead to her guilt-ridden husband and son, but she cannot remember them.
- DirectorSabuStarsKen'ichi MatsuyamaKarinaMana AshidaA man adopts his six-year-old aunt and raises her as his own kid.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsJun KunimuraFumi NikaidôShin'ichi TsutsumiA renegade film crew becomes embroiled with a yakuza clan feud.
- DirectorKenji UchidaStarsMasato SakaiTeruyuki KagawaRyôko HirosueA failed actor switches identities with a stranger at a bath house thinking it is his way out of his life of misery but only to find himself filling the shoes of an elite assassin.