Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keywords "japanese", "japanese-culture"

1. 47 Ronin (2013)

PG-13 | 128 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy

A band of samurai sets out to avenge the death and dishonor of their master at the hands of a ruthless shogun.

Director: Carl Rinsch | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Kô Shibasaki, Tadanobu Asano

Votes: 171,339 | Gross: $38.36M

2. Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

PG-13 | 145 min | Drama, Romance

The heartwarming tale of Nitta Sayuri, a young Japanese woman who transcended from her fishing-village roots and became one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.

Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Suzuka Ohgo

Votes: 161,011 | Gross: $57.49M

3. Harakiri (1962)

Not Rated | 133 min | Action, Drama, Mystery

When 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.

Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba

Votes: 68,897

4. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

R | 120 min | Biography, Drama

A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.

Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Ken Ogata, Masayuki Shionoya, Hiroshi Mikami, Junya Fukuda

Votes: 13,821 | Gross: $0.44M

5. Rising Sun (1993)

R | 129 min | Action, Crime, Drama

When an escort girl is found dead in the offices of a Japanese company in Los Angeles, detectives Web Smith and John Connor act as liaison between the company's executives and the investigating cop Tom Graham.

Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Sean Connery, Wesley Snipes, Harvey Keitel, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Votes: 48,301 | Gross: $63.10M

6. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

R | 123 min | Drama, War

During WWII, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid bloodshed.

Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano

Votes: 20,056 | Gross: $2.31M

7. The Pillow Book (1995)

Not Rated | 126 min | Drama

A woman with a body-writing fetish seeks to find a combined lover and calligrapher.

Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor, Yoshi Oida, Ken Ogata

Votes: 13,658 | Gross: $2.29M

8. Topsy-Turvy (1999)

R | 160 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

Set in the 1880s, the story of how, during a creative dry spell, the partnership of the legendary musical/theatrical writers Gilbert and Sullivan almost dissolves, before they turn it all around and write the Mikado.

Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Jim Broadbent, Allan Corduner, Dexter Fletcher, Sukie Smith

Votes: 13,489 | Gross: $6.20M

9. The Ramen Girl (2008)

PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

An American woman is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a râmen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master.

Director: Robert Allan Ackerman | Stars: Brittany Murphy, Toshiyuki Nishida, Tammy Blanchard, Soji Arai

Votes: 11,110

10. Late Autumn (1960)

Not Rated | 128 min | Comedy, Drama

A widow tries to marry off her daughter with the help of her late husband's three friends.

Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Mariko Okada, Keiji Sada

Votes: 6,192

11. My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)

PG | 104 min | Animation, Comedy, Family

The life and misadventures of a family in contemporary Japan.

Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Yukiji Asaoka, Tôru Masuoka, Masako Araki, Hayato Isohata

Votes: 15,984

12. The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)

Approved | 123 min | Comedy, Drama

In post-WWII Japan, an American captain is brought in to help build a school, but the locals want a teahouse instead.

Director: Daniel Mann | Stars: Marlon Brando, Glenn Ford, Machiko Kyô, Eddie Albert

Votes: 3,782

13. Love & Pop (1998)

110 min | Drama

A high school girl engages in compensated dating in order to buy an expensive ring before the day ends.

Director: Hideaki Anno | Stars: Tadanobu Asano, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Megumi Hayashibara, Akira Ishida

Votes: 1,878

14. Toppuresu (2008)

108 min | Comedy, Drama

The ever-lively and upbeat Natsuko tries to mend a broken heart by carrying on with a string of short-lived affairs after her break-up with Tomomi. But when Tomomi announces her plans to ... See full summary »

Director: Eiji Uchida | Stars: Mina Shimizu, Erika Okuda, Aya Ohmasa, Akifumi Uchida

Votes: 108

15. The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (2013)

Not Rated | 118 min | Documentary

Follows the routines of those employed at Studio Ghibli, including filmmakers Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki as they work to release two films simultaneously, The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

Director: Mami Sunada | Stars: Hayao Miyazaki, Yumiko Miyoshi, Toshio Suzuki, Shinsuke Nonaka

Votes: 5,666

16. Fear and Trembling (2003)

Unrated | 107 min | Comedy, Drama

A Belgian woman looks back on her year at a Japanese corporation in Tokyo in 1990. She is Amélie, born in Japan, living there until age 5. After college graduation, she returns with a ... See full summary »

Director: Alain Corneau | Stars: Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, Tarô Suwa, Bison Katayama

Votes: 4,814

17. The Hedgehog (2009)

Unrated | 100 min | Drama

The life of a determined young girl is changed when she befriends her building's concierge, a solitary woman who is more than what she seems.

Director: Mona Achache | Stars: Josiane Balasko, Garance Le Guillermic, Togo Igawa, Anne Brochet

Votes: 9,777

18. The Dragon Painter (1919)

TV-PG | 53 min | Drama, Romance

A wild man and genius becomes a master painter's disciple, but loses his divine gift when he finds love.

Director: William Worthington | Stars: Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki, Edward Peil Sr., Toyo Fujita

Votes: 682

19. Osen (2008– )

Comedy

Handa Sen is the "okami" (proprietress) of a long-standing restaurant in one of the lower parts of Tokyo. Though she is normally air-headed and loves to drink, she has an impressive mastery... See full summary »

Stars: Orie Tôjô, Yû Aoi, Ranran Suzuki, Hiroki Uchi

Votes: 139

20. I Survived a Japanese Game Show (2008–2009)

60 min | Adventure, Game-Show, Reality-TV

Ten Americans, many of whom have never traveled beyond the borders of the United States, head to Japan to compete in the ultimate Japanese game show. Hilarity presumably ensues. The final winner will take home $250,000.

Stars: Rome Kanda, Donnell Pittman, Meaghan Cooper, Mary Catherine Greenawalt

Votes: 584

21. Tokyo Idols (2017)

TV-14 | 90 min | Documentary, Music

Girl bands and their pop music permeate every moment of Japanese life. Following an aspiring pop singer and her fans, Tokyo Idols explores a cultural phenomenon driven by an obsession with ... See full summary »

Director: Kyoko Miyake | Stars: Rio Hiiragi, Yuzuha Oda, Masayoshi Sakai

Votes: 1,316

22. Picture Bride (1994)

PG-13 | 94 min | Drama, Romance

Riyo marries a man more than twice her age. She is devastated and labors in the sugar cane field. At the end she is able to love her husband.

Director: Kayo Hatta | Stars: Yûki Kudô, Akira Takayama, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Tamlyn Tomita

Votes: 1,186 | Gross: $1.24M

23. Maria Watches Over Us (2004– )

Not Rated | Animation, Comedy, Drama

Sachiko has offered to be Yumi's soeur, the most popular girl at the school as her "sister" and guide for all her years at the academy. The whole idea has Yumi completely flustered because they hardly know each other.

Stars: Kana Ueda, Sarah Hauser, Candice Moore, Miki Itô

Votes: 291

24. Come Back Anytime (2021)

81 min | Documentary

For more than forty years, ramen master Masamoto Ueda has been serving his legendary Tokyo-style ramen to a community of regulars who are not only his customers, but true friends.

Director: John Daschbach | Star: Masamoto Ueda

Votes: 178

25. Lowlife Love (2015)

110 min | Drama, Romance

Tetsuo (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) is a lowlife. A film director with a small indie hit many years back, yet he has never gotten any further as he refuses to go against his 'artistic integrity'. ... See full summary »

Director: Eiji Uchida | Stars: Masahiko Aoki, Masato Arai, Denden, Kanji Furutachi

Votes: 492

26. Banzai (2001–2003)

30 min | Comedy, Game-Show

Surreal interactive betting show.

Stars: Burt Kwouk, Eiji Kusuhara, Masashi Fujimoto, Jit Loi Chong

Votes: 195

27. The Geisha House (1998)

113 min | Drama

Young Tokiko works at a geisha house as a maid, waiting for her maiko practice (apprenticeship of geisha) to begin. The movie depicts detailed lifestyle of geishas at that time, showing their rules, loves, beauties and humanities.

Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Maki Miyamoto, Sumiko Fuji, Kaho Minami, Mai Kitajima

Votes: 257

28. Afro Samurai (2009 Video Game)

M | Action, Adventure, Drama

In this video game adaption of the popular anime, you gain control over the emotionless Afro Samurai as he kills various cyborgs, assassins, and ninjas to become Number 1.

Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Kelly Hu, Ron Perlman, S. Scott Bullock

Votes: 416

29. Thousand Cranes (1969)

96 min | Drama, Romance

The entangled relations between the son of a seductive tea-ceremony teacher and the women in his father's life. Based on the novel by Kawabata Yasunari.

Director: Yasuzô Masumura | Stars: Ayako Wakao, Machiko Kyô, Mikijirô Hira, Eiko Azusa

Votes: 48

30. Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water's Edge (2010 Video Game)

E10+ | Adventure, Mystery

Teen detective Nancy Drew travels to Japan and investigates ghost sightings at a traditional inn.

Director: Tim Burke | Stars: Lani Minella, Kira Dorrian, Mikano Fukaya, Walayn Sharples

Votes: 75

31. Big Joys, Small Sorrows (1986)

130 min | Drama

A lighthouse keeper and his family follow work from town to town, each time making new friends and receiving a visit from his troublesome father.

Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Gô Katô, Hitoshi Ueki, Reiko Ôhara, Yoko Shinoyama

Votes: 80

32. Ayatsuri Sakon (1999–2000)

Animation, Mystery, Thriller

The series depicts the journey of Sakon who is a ventriloquist, and his puppet Ukon; their ability to solve mysteries, and the unusual bond between them.

Stars: Kikuko Inoue, Kazuya Nakai, Megumi Ogata, Yumi Tôma

Votes: 41

33. Ramen Fever (2021)

91 min | Documentary

A Documentary on Nakamura brothers, Shigetoshi who is a superstar ramen chef of NAKAMURA in New York and Hiroto who is the CEO of a legendary ramen chain AFURI.

Director: Masato Kobayashi | Stars: David Gelb, Shigetoshi Nakamura, Hiroto Nakamura, Kazuyuki Takei

Votes: 11

34. Japanese Language and People (2002– )

540 min | Family

An introduction to Japanese language and culture presented by Tokyo reporter Yuka Nukina

Star: Yuka Nukina

Votes: 13

35. Lengua Viva (2018)

14 min | Short

A living tongue is a repertoire for expressions, constantly growing and changing. Tomoko is a retired Japanese woman in an exchange program in Argentina, where she soaks up new words and gestures in a constant quest to communicate.

Director: Michelle Gualda | Stars: Gael Gorbatt, Lucas Howard, Tomoko Miyamura, Alexandra Natsiopoulos

Votes: 7

36. The Grand Masters: 1988 International Ancient Martial Arts and Cultural Exhibition (1988 Video)

52 min | Documentary, Sport

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Director: Brian Grant

37. Okusama wa toriatsukai chûi (2017)
Episode: Episode #1.2 (2017)

60 min | Comedy, Drama

The women do their best to rekindle their domestic love life and excite their husbands to mixed success. They learn how to dress, act, serve, cook and more. The kimono class' instructor is ... See full summary »

Director: Ryûichi Inomata | Stars: Haruka Ayase, Mirai Uchida, Ryôko Hirosue, Tsubasa Honda