My favorite Japanese movies of all time
My favorite Japanese movies of all time
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- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsTakashi ShimuraAkihiko HirataAkira TakaradaAfter a dinosaur-like beast - awoken from undersea hibernation by atom bomb testing - ravages Tokyo, a scientist must decide if his similarly dangerous weapon should be used to destroy it.
- DirectorKoji HashimotoR.J. KizerIshirô HondaStarsRaymond BurrKeiju KobayashiKen TanakaThirty years after the original monster's rampage, a new Godzilla emerges and attacks Japan.
- DirectorMasato HaradaStarsMasahiro TakashimaBrenda BakkeJames Brewster ThompsonIn a cyberpunk future, Kyron-5 supercomputer attempts to exterminate the human race, but Gunhed mechs stop it. In 2038, five thieves break into a condemned island facility to steal Kyron's dead CPU. The place turns out to be a deathtrap.
- DirectorRyûhei KitamuraStarsAya UetoKenji KohashiHiroki NarimiyaRaised to deal in cold blooded death, the teenage assassin girl Azumi must defeat three evil warlords while also battling her own heart.
- DirectorTakashi IshiiStarsRiona HazukiReiko TakashimaJinpachi NezuIkko, the six year old daughter of a yakuza gang boss witnesses the brutal slaying of her parents and is only saved from sharing their fate by an underground hitwoman who goes by the nom-de-guerre of "Black Angel." Years after escaping to America, Ikko returns to Tokyo as a young woman. She adopts the name "Black Angel" and is out for revenge.
- DirectorJûzô ItamiStarsNobuko MiyamotoTsutomu YamazakiMasahiko TsugawaIf tax evasion is an art, wheeler-dealer Hideki Gondo is Rembrandt. And so, a determined taxing woman gets the tough assignment of trying to catch him.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoMaiko KawakamiMakoto AshikawaA violence prone police officer discovers that his colleague is trafficking drugs.
- DirectorMasayuki SuôStarsKoji YakushoTamiyo KusakariNaoto TakenakaA successful but unhappy Japanese accountant finds the missing passion in his life when he begins to secretly take ballroom dance lessons.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsHiroko YakushimaruHiroyuki SanadaShin'ichi ChibaPrincess Shizu was born under a terrible curse. Only the eight legendary samurai, hailing from across Japan, can protect her from an ancient supernatural clan to fulfill their destinies as foretold by prophecy.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsSatomi KobayashiToshinori OmiMakoto Satô9th-graders Kazuo (boy) and Kazumi (girl) take a tumble at a temple in a small seacoast town in Japan. Through supernatural intervention, their minds and bodies are switched, and the result is a touching and hilarious coming-of-age comedy as they attempt to survive the pressures of junior high school life.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsRyo IshibashiMasatoshi NagaseMai HoshoA detective is trying to find the cause of a string of suicides.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsTatsuya FujiwaraAki MaedaTarô YamamotoIn the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoAya KokumaiTetsu WatanabeSeveral yakuza from Tokyo are sent to Okinawa to help end a gang war. The war then escalates and the Tokyo drifters decide to lay low at the beach.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoYusuke SekiguchiKayoko KishimotoA young, naive boy sets out alone on the road to find his wayward mother. Soon he finds an unlikely protector in a crotchety man and the two have a series of unexpected adventures along the way.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsKen KanekoMasanobu AndôLeo MorimotoDropping out of high school, two friends at first find success, one as a up-and-coming boxer and one as a low level gangster. Yet, their life decisions still find a way of catching up with them.
- DirectorAtaru OikawaStarsMiho KannoMami NakamuraYoriko DôguchiA traumatized young woman is trying to recover her memories with the help of a psychiatrist. During her hypnosis sessions, she repeats the name "Tomie" but is unable to recall where she knows it from.
- DirectorHiroyuki NasuStarsTôru NakamuraMina IchijôjiIzumi IgarashiIchijoji is a street punk who accidentally stumble across Mari and her cat. Mari and Ichijoji immediately falls in love but they are chased by both mafia and corrupted cops.
- DirectorKaizô HayashiStarsMasatoshi NagaseKiyotaka NanbaraHaruko WanibuchiMike Hama is a private investigator who has been reduced to combing the mean streets of the Yokohama waterfront on a borrowed bicycle.
- DirectorShimako SatoStarsTakeshi KaneshiroTakako MatsuTôru NakamuraSet in a fictional Japanese city in 1949, a master criminal hones in on his latest victim.
- DirectorShinsuke SatoStarsYumiko ShakuHideaki ItôYôichi NumataRaised by assassins, Yuki is the last of the Takemikazuchi royal bloodline. A deadly weapon in her own right, she learns the gruesome truth about the death of her beloved mother and joins forces with a mysterious rebel leader.
- DirectorRyûhei KitamuraStarsYumiko ShakuTakao OsawaShôsuke TaniharaA detective hunts a killer who is removing girls hearts. When his own fiancée falls victim to the killer, the detective discovers the otherworldly intentions of the killer and is helped from beyond the grave by his fiancée.
- DirectorTen ShimoyamaStarsYukie NakamaJoe OdagiriTomoka KurotaniStar-crossed lovers must fight on opposing sides in a battle that will determine the next Shogun.
- DirectorSatsuo YamamotoStarsRaizô IchikawaShiho FujimuraYûnosuke ItôA young ninja becomes embroiled in a plot to kill a tyrannical warlord. He journeys across feudal Japan, facing deceit, betrayal, and enemy ninja at every turn. Goemon must complete his mission, regain his honor, and survive.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsKiichi NakaiMayu TsurutaRiona HazukiAs the great military commander Nobunaga Oda was consolidating his power across Japan, one of his actions was to wipe out a clan of assassins, killing every man, woman and child he found in the village. Years later, one of the survivors has hired a young but skilled assassin to avenge the deaths of his friends and family. His mission: to sneak into the most heavily guarded castle in Japan, and kill the supreme ruler of the country.