IMDb: Most Popular Japanese-Language Documentaries

1-50 of 2,336 titles.

Sort by: Popularity▲ \| A-Z \| User Rating \| Num Votes \| US Box Office \| Runtime \| Year \| US Release Date
1.		Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his renowned Tokyo restaurant, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu. Dir: David Gelb With: Jiro Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto, Daisuke Nakazama Documentary 81 mins.
2.		The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (2013 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X 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. Dir: Mami Sunada With: Hayao Miyazaki, Yumiko Miyoshi, Toshio Suzuki Documentary 118 mins.
3.		The Birth of Saké (2015 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X Through the unrelenting winter in the north of Japan, a small group of workers must brave unusual working... Dir: Erik Shirai Documentary \| Biography \| Family 90 mins.
4.		Love Hotel (2014 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X Pensioners, lawyers, married couples and teenagers are all customers at the Angel Love Hotel in Osaka Japan... Dir: Philip Cox, Hikaru Toda Documentary \| Romance 75 mins.
5.		Fukushima: A Nuclear Story (2015 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X A powerful documentary - shot from March 11th, 2011 through March 2015 - that sheds some light on what really happened at the Fukushima nuclear power plant after the 2011 earthquake and the tsunami that followed. Dir: Matteo Gagliardi With: Willem Dafoe, Massimo Dapporto Documentary \| News 84 mins.
6.		The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief (2006 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X Welcome to The Great Happiness Space: Rakkyo Café. The club's owner, Issei (22), has a staff of twenty... Dir: Jake Clennell Documentary 76 mins.
7.		Antonio Gaudí (1984 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X Hiroshi Teshigahara's camera takes us over, under, around, and into buildings and a park designed by Antonio Gaudí (1852 - 1926)... Dir: Hiroshi Teshigahara With: Isidro Puig Boada, Seiji Miyaguchi Documentary 72 mins.
8.		A (1998 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X Aum Shinrikyo, the Buddhist sect led by Shoko Asahara and responsible for the 1995 Sarin gas attack on a Tokyo subway, becomes the subject of this documentary. Dir: Tatsuya Mori With: Hiroshi Araki Documentary 136 mins.
9.		Making of Guinea Pig (1986 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.5/10 X The making of Sai Enterprise's Guinea Pig, Ginî piggu 2: Chiniku no hana, and Ginî piggu 3: Senritsu! Shinanai otoko. Dir: Jyunko Okamoto With: Shinsuke Araki, Hideshi Hino, Masayuki Hisamot Documentary 44 mins.
10.		Japan: A Story of Love and Hate (2008 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X Naoki once had it all - the fast car, the executive home. Boss of his own business he lived the good-life when Japan's economy was at it's height. Then the bubble burst - and he met Yoshie. Dir: Sean McAllister With: Naoki Sato, Yoshie Sato, Sean McAllister Documentary 60 mins.
11.		Tokyo Olympiad (1965 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.0/10 X Ichikawa's cameras follow the 1964 Summer Olympics from opening to closing ceremonies. Sometimes he focuses on spectators... Dir: Kon Ichikawa With: Abebe Bikila, Jack Douglas, Hirohito Documentary \| Sport 170 mins.
12.		Aokigahara: Suicide Forest (2010 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.0/10 X A short documentary on the famous Aokigahara Forest in Japan. The forest is known to be prone to people looking to commit suicide Dir: Santiago Stelley With: Azusa Hayano Documentary 21 mins.
13.		Made in Japan (2015 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X Made in Japan is the remarkable story of Tomi Fujiyama, the world's first Japanese country music superstar... Dir: Josh Bishop With: Tomi Fujiyama, Elijah Wood Documentary \| Drama \| History \| Music 90 mins.
14.		The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.3/10 X A documentary following Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old WW2 veteran notorious for his protests against Emperor Hirohito, as he tries to expose the needless executions of two Japanese soldiers during the war. Dir: Kazuo Hara With: Kenzo Okuzaki, Riichi Aikawa, Masaichi Hamaguchi Documentary \| War 122 mins.
15.		The Man in Between Two Phrases (2016 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X Dir: Yasuyuki Kubota With: Shun Kawakami Documentary 2 mins.
16.		The Woman Who Fell to Earth (2016 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X Dir: Yasuyuki Kubota With: Namacolove, Mako Principal, Venus Kawamura Yuki Documentary 5 mins.
17.		Behind 'The Cove' (2015 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X Negative media coverage on the never-ending whaling issue prompted first-time documentary filmmaker Keiko Yagi to find out more about the topic... Dir: Keiko Yagi With: David Hance, Katsunori Horihata, Joji Morishita Documentary 110 mins.
18.		A Man Vanishes (1967 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X Plastics salesman Oshima disappeared without a word to anyone, and has been missing for two years. Shohei Imamura and his crew follow Oshima's fiancé Yoshie and actor Shigeru Tsuyuguchi as they investigate the disappearance. Dir: Shôhei Imamura With: Yoshie Hayakawa, Shôhei Imamura, Shigeru Tsuyuguchi Documentary \| Drama \| Mystery 130 mins.
19.		Gatekeeper (2016 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X Patrolling a popular tourist destination of steep cliffs that plummet into the Sea of Japan, a retired police officer vigilantly intercepts troubled souls looking to jump, his count of lives saved now over 500. Dir: Yung Chang With: Misako Kawagoshi, Kenji Morioka, Yukio Shige Documentary 39 mins.
20.		Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 (1974 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X In 1972, Miyuki tells her ex-lover Kazuo that she's going to Okinawa with their son. Kazuo decides to film her... Dir: Kazuo Hara With: Kazuo Hara, Miyuki Takeda, Sachiko Kobayashi Documentary 98 mins.
21.		Visions of Eight (1973 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.0/10 X Dir: Milos Forman, Kon Ichikawa Documentary \| Sport 110 mins.
22.		Wansei Back Home (2015 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X Wansei refers to Japanese who were born in Taiwan during the colonial period. After WWII, wansei were repatriated to Japan... Dir: Ming-cheng Huang Documentary 111 mins.
23.		The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (2011 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan's recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins. Dir: Lucy Walker Documentary 39 mins.
24.		Does Your Soul Have a Cold? (2007 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X By following the lives of five Japanese individuals this documentary explores the problem of depression... Dir: Mike Mills With: Hiyaso Hayashiguchi, Taketoshi Hayashiguchi, Michiko Ishikawa Documentary 82 mins.
25.		Ken San (2016 Documentary) KEN SAN pieces together the puzzle of the life and legacy of Japan's mythical acting icon, Ken Takakura... Dir: Yûichi Hibi With: Oh-seong Yu, Lin Qiu, Martin Scorsese Documentary \| Biography \| Drama 95 mins.
26.		Oyster Factory (2015 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X In the Japanese town of Ushimado, the shortage of labor is a serious problem due to its population's rapid decline... Dir: Kazuhiro Sôda With: Shinsuke Hirano, Koichi Watanabe, Yukiko Watanabe Documentary 145 mins.
27.		Kinbaku (2010 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X In Shinto religion, in order to make something sacred, man will tie a rope around it. This sacred quality of the tying can be applied also to Kinbaku, which is an erotic, spiritual, artistic connection between the people who are doing it Dir: Jouni Hokkanen With: Steve Osada, Ageha Asagi, Haruki Yukimura Documentary 29 mins.
28.		Katatsumori (1994 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X Dir: Naomi Kawase With: Naomi Kawase, Uno Kawase Documentary 40 mins.
29.		We Don't Care About Music Anyway (2009 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X From radical turntablism (Otomo Yoshihide) to laptop music innovation (Numb), via classic instrument hijacking (Sakamoto Hiromichi), Tokyo's avant-garde music scene is internationally known for its boldness. Dir: Cédric Dupire, Gaspard Kuentz With: Hiromichi Sakamoto, Tomoko Shimazaki, Ken Takehisa Documentary 80 mins.
30.		The Story of Yanagawa's Canals (1987 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X Dir: Isao Takahata Documentary 167 mins.
31.		Hafu: The Mixed-Race Experience in Japan (2013 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X A journey into the intricacies of mixed-race Japanese and their multicultural experiences in modern day Japan... Dir: Megumi Nishikura, Lara Perez Takagi Documentary \| Biography 90 mins.
32.		Genpin (2010 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.8/10 X About Tadashi Yoshimura's maternity clinic where he practice "natural births" deep in the forest of Okazaki (Japan). Dir: Naomi Kawase With: Tadashi Yoshimura Documentary 92 mins.
33.		The Glacier Fox (1978 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X The story of a family of foxes struggling to survive in the hostile environment of northern Japan. Dir: Koreyoshi Kurahara With: Arthur Hill, Eiji Okada Documentary 114 mins.
34.		Japanese Devils (2001 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X A documentary recording the testimony of fourteen former Japanese soldiers as they recount atrocities... Dir: Minoru Matsui With: Yoshio Tsuchiya, Hakudo Nagatomi, Yoshio Shinozuka Documentary \| War 160 mins.
35.		Japan in a Day (2012 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X Accounts of the aftermath from Japan's devastating tsunami in 2011 featuring YouTube videos shot by survivors living in and near the affected areas. Dir: Philip Martin, Gaku Narita With: Adeyto, Hiroaki Aikawa, Michael Lovan Documentary
36.		I Lived, But... (1983 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X Dir: Kazuo Inoue With: Ineko Arima, Chikage Awashima, Shôhei Imamura Documentary 123 mins.
37.		Fool Cool Rock! One Ok Rock Documentary Film (2014 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 9.5/10 X Dir: Hiroyuki Nakano With: Takahiro Morita, Toru Yamashita, Ryota Kohama Documentary
38.		Goddo supiido yuu! Burakku emparaa (1976 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X The 1970s in Japan saw the rise of motorcycle gangs, which drew the interest of the media. The movie follows a member of the "Black Emperors" gang and his interaction with his parents after he gets in trouble with the police. Dir: Mitsuo Yanagimachi Documentary 90 mins.
39.		The Invention of Dr. Nakamats (2009 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X The film is about the utterly fantastic and eccentric 80-year-old Japanese inventor responsible for 3,357 inventions... Dir: Kaspar Astrup Schröder With: Yoshiro Nakamats Documentary \| Comedy 57 mins.
40.		3.11 Sense of Home (2011 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X In memory of the Japanese earthquake on 3.11, each director presents a 3 minute and 11 second short film in tribute to those who were lost that day. Dir: Víctor Erice, Naomi Kawase With: Ana Torrent, Kaori Momoi, Tao Zhao Documentary \| Animation \| Drama 75 mins.
41.		Fake (2016 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X Dir: Tatsuya Mori With: Mamoru Samuragôchi Documentary 109 mins.
42.		Inori (2012 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X Inori is a great Japanese / spiritual / scientific documentary. Uncovering deep Human Being truths. A must watch Dir: Pedro González-Rubio Documentary 72 mins.
43.		Kokoyakyu: High School Baseball (2006 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X Chiben Academy is a private, powerhouse baseball academy led by Japan's most legendary tough-as-nails coach... Dir: Kenneth Eng Documentary \| Sport 53 mins.
44.		Song of the Horse (1970 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X Dir: Akira Kurosawa With: Hiroyuki Kawase, Noboru Mitani Documentary 73 mins.
45.		Rent a Family Inc. (2012 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X This is the unique and unpredictable story about Mr. Ryuichi Ichinokawa and his unusual way of life... Dir: Kaspar Astrup Schröder Documentary 80 mins.
46.		Embracing (1992 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.0/10 X Dir: Naomi Kawase With: Naomi Kawase, Uno Kawase Documentary \| Biography 40 mins.
47.		Zenshin Shosetsuka (1994 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X An intimate portrait of the last years in the life of eccentric novelist Mitsuharu Inoue. Dir: Kazuo Hara With: Mitsuharu Inoue, Hiroshi Noma, Jakuchô Setouchi Documentary 157 mins.
48.		The Real Robin Hood (2010 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X A special about the origins of the English folk hero. Dir: M. David Melvin With: Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett Documentary \| Biography \| History 120 mins.
49.		Budo: The Art of Killing (1979 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.0/10 X This feature-length documentary presents the history and practice of Martial Arts in Japan. It focuses on the ideals and philosophy of the Samurai Warrior (Budo). Dir: Masayoshi Nemoto With: Harry J. Quini Documentary 101 mins.
50.		Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story (2006 Documentary) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X A documentary on a 13-year-old Japanese girl abducted by North Korean spies. Dir: Patty Kim, Chris Sheridan With: Teruaki Masumoto, Megumi Yokota, Sakie Yokota Documentary \| Crime \| Mystery 85 mins.