2010s Best Japanese Movies
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- DirectorHideaki AnnoShinji HiguchiStarsHiroki HasegawaYutaka TakenouchiSatomi IshiharaJapan is plunged into chaos upon the appearance of a giant monster.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHaruka AyaseMasami NagasawaKahoThree sisters who live in their grandmother's home invite their thirteen-year-old half sister, whom they have just met, to join them.
- 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.
- DirectorHitoshi ÔneStarsYûmi GotôTokie HiroseAya KunitakeNine men and women gather at a house party. The men are disappointed with a woman's appearance. People try to lighten the mood, but there is an awkwardness. The house party ends. Dates among the nine men and women begin.
- DirectorKeisuke YoshidaStarsKumiko AsôShôta YasudaYôko AkinoMabuchi and Yoshimi meet at a screenwriting class. Mabuchi works hard to become a writer, but can't see a future for herself. Meanwhile, Yoshimi is a bigmouth who never tries hard at anything. These two people's fate intertwined.
- DirectorDaihachi YoshidaStarsRyunosuke KamikiAi HashimotoSuzuka OhgoA story about the disappearance of Kirishima, a star athlete of the volleyball club, and how this affects every person in his school.
- 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.
- DirectorKeisuke YoshidaStarsGô MoritaGaku HamadaAimi SatsukawaGetting two stories in one, Himeanôru depicts the story of co-workers where one of them is gunning to make a cafe's waitress his. When the co-worker visits the said cafe to see the waitress his friend is yearning for, he also meets an old class-mate he has not seen in some time. In a twist and transition the waitress tells the visiting co-worker that she is being stalked by a man. That man is none other than the old class-mate.
- DirectorHitoshi ÔneStarsTakeru SatohRyunosuke KamikiNana KomatsuMoritaka Mashiro, a junior high student, forgets his notebook in class. His classmate Akito Takagi, notes Mashiro's drawings in it and asks him to become a manga artist to his stories. Mashiro declines. Takagi incites Mashiro to meet with Miho Azuki, Mashiro's crush, and tells her the two plan to become mangakas (manga artists). In response, Azuki reveals her plans to be a seiyuu (voice actress). Mashiro proposes to her that they should both marry when Azuki becomes a voice actress for the anime adaptation of their manga. The two then start creating their manga, under the pen name Muto Ashirogi, in hopes of getting serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump.
- DirectorHitoshi ÔneStarsMirai MoriyamaMasami NagasawaKumiko Asô31 years old, broke, single and lonely Yukio encounters four beautiful women suddenly appearing in his life. Will he be able to escape his "Moteki" status?
- DirectorHitoshi ÔneStarsSatoshi TsumabukiKiko MizuharaHirofumi AraiThirty-five-year-old Yuji Koroki likes singer Tamio Okuda. He is useless with women in the tradition of films like Train Man or My life Changed When I Went To A Sex Parlour. He works at a popular magazine and has a difficult time with the banter of those coworkers around. There is Akari though and is lovely and flaunting and hence desirable and attractive to Yuji and all men. With love comes misery however as Yuji is soon deep in both.
- DirectorNorihiro KoizumiStarsSuzu HiroseShûhei NomuraMackenyuThe third part of the "Chihayafuru" trilogy that takes place 2 years after "Chihayafuru Part II". Chihaya is now a high school senior who is ready to enter another national competition alongside her friends.
- DirectorDaisuke MiuraStarsSôsuke IkematsuMugi KadowakiKen'ichi TakitôFrom midnight to 5 AM, people gather at a high-end apartment in Roppongi to engage in promiscuous sexual activity. Story depicts the process of the men and women who meet for the first time there to have loveless sex.
- DirectorIsao YukisadaStarsMana AshidaMisato AoyamaAki HanoLittle Kokko is only in third grade of her primary school, but is already dissatis2fied, inquisitive, defiant and angst-ridden. It has little to do with her family either. It is all from within. She has a large family and yet - perhaps that is why she wants nothing to do with anybody and prefers to be a loner. Still, there are all the questions.
- DirectorSang-il LeeStarsKen WatanabeMirai MoriyamaAoi MiyazakiA grisly unsolved murder links three seemingly unrelated stories in three different Japanese cities.
- DirectorDaisuke MiuraStarsKasumi ArimuraSakurako MizukiFumi NikaidôLooking for jobs, five young friends regularly meet at one's apartment. Judging and gauging one another by their ability to land job pits the friends as also competitors. When one of the friends finds work the remaining four feel abandoned and the relationships are not the same anymore.
- DirectorMipo OhStarsKengo KôraMachiko OnoChizuru IkewakiThis movie has an ensemble cast which draws normal people who might be living next door, in any normal town. And it draws various problems like child abuse, chain of abuse, negligence, teasing, which might exist in any town, more than a little. The problems could be solved sometimes by "kindness" and "consideration" of people. When it comes to know in a family which is closest and smallest community for us that there is someone who has lost those feelings, what people can do? If it comes to know, just go and talk. Just go and hold their hand. It is possible that people could be saved only by that. Plants die if they don't receive nutrient, people also die without the "kindness" of someone. The "kindness" can definitely save someone, it blossoms flower in that person and someone else could also be saved. There is possibility, since everyone was once a child and someone's neighbor. This movie draws the light arising out of series of such feeling.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoKippei ShînaRyô KaseThe boss of a major crime syndicate orders his lieutenant to bring a rogue gang of drug traffickers in line, a job that gets passed on to his long-suffering subordinate.
- DirectorKeisuke YoshidaStarsMasataka KubotaHirofumi AraiKeiko EnoueKazunari, a quiet and well-behaved young man, works at a printing company. On the other hand, his older brother, Takushi, is a short-tempered, typical troublemaker who was just released from jail. Yuria, a hard-working lady at a local printing factory has a young sister, Mako, who is very attractive and popular, unlike Yuria. The life of these brothers and sisters comes across suddenly, and two pairs of "cat-and-dog" siblings accelerate their fight.
- DirectorMasahide IchiiStarsGen HoshinoKahoSei Hiraizumi35-year-old Kentaro is a social misfit and has never dated a woman in his life. He lives with his parents and holds a modest job in city hall. Kentaro doesn't have any friends, nor received a promotion in 13 years at his place of work. His parents worry about Kentaro being single for the rest of his life. They then go to a parental matchmaking event, hoping to find a woman to introduce to their son. During the meeting, Kentaro's parents has only one other couple approach. The father is Akita Imai and his wife. They exchange profiles of their children. Kentaro's parents are impressed with the Imai's beautiful daughter Naoko. Meanwhile, Akita Imai is the president of a successful company and, after reading Kentaro's bio, believes he is beneath their daughter. The Imais leave, only saying thank you. They also don't reveal to Kentaro's parents that Naoko is blind. Kentaro and Naoko will soon experience love for the first time, but will it be fleeting?
- DirectorShô MiyakeStarsTasuku EmotoShizuka IshibashiTomomitsu AdachiA love triangle that captures all the magic and melancholy of a summer, concentrating on the fleeting moments and encounters experienced by its three protagonists.
- DirectorShinji AoyamaStarsMasaki SudaKen MitsuishiYukiko ShinoharaCannes Film Festival winner Shinji Aoyama creates a chilling atmosphere in this adaptation of an award-winning novel. A young man tries to fight the deadly influence of his violent, abusive dad. Will the sins of the father carry on to the next generation in the bloodline?
- DirectorMasato HaradaStarsTakuya KimuraKazunari NinomiyaYuriko YoshitakaMogami Takeshi works at the Tokyo prosecutor's office focusing on violent criminal cases. Okino Keiichiro admires him and is happy to be assigned to work with Mogami. When a money lender is killed for his dealings with the deceased one Matsukura Shigeo is considered a suspect. He has a past involving a schoolgirl and the prosecutors strive to make the case.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHiroshi AbeYôko MakiSatomi KobayashiAfter the death of his father, a private detective struggles to find child support money and reconnect with his son and ex-wife.
- DirectorTetsuya NakashimaStarsKoji YakushoNana KomatsuSatoshi TsumabukiAs former detective Akikazu searches for his missing daughter, Kanako, he soon learns she has a mysterious secret life.
- DirectorShinobu YaguchiStarsHideaki ItôMasami NagasawaShôta SometaniAfter failing to get into university, a soft city boy randomly picks a job in forestry.
- DirectorMasaharu TakeStarsSakura AndôHirofumi AraiYôzaburô ItôA 32-year-old woman living with her parents meets a boxer and finally starts a life.
- DirectorNobuhiro YamashitaStarsAtsuko MaedaSuon KanShôko FujimuraTamako graduated from a university in Tokyo, but she now lives with her father back in Kofu. Tamako doesn't help her father or tries to get a job. She spends her time just eating and sleeping throughout the four seasons of the year.
- DirectorMipo OhStarsGô AyanoChizuru IkewakiMasaki SudaTwo troubled souls living on the fringes of a port town fall in love, but their trials are far from over.
- DirectorMasaaki AkahoriStarsHirofumi AraiKaho MinamiTomokazu MiuraAn overbearing father, frightened mother, laid off elder bother, the family makes young brother to be an indiscriminate monster.
- DirectorNorihiro KoizumiStarsSuzu HiroseShûhei NomuraMackenyuThe first part of the "Chihayafuru" trilogy. Chihaya is a high school student who loves Karuta, a traditional card game from Japan. Chihaya and her friends start a Karuta club at high school to become the greatest Karuta player in Japan.
- DirectorNobuhiro YamashitaStarsJoe OdagiriYû AoiShôta MatsudaA recently divorced and traumatized man moves to Hakodate, Hokkaido and attends a vocational college to learn carpentry along with several other students who are in the same boat as he. When a couple of the guys go to a hostess club the man meets an unconventional girl who likes him and a relationship is born.
- DirectorDaisuke MiuraStarsKazunobu MinetaMei KurokawaRyûhei MatsudaToshiyuki Tanishi (Mr Tanishi) is a 29-year-old chronic masturbator and toy vending machine salesman - he is socially awkward and down on his luck. Things change when he meets Chiharu a pretty woman who might actually be into him. Unfortunately, he has competition for Chiharu's affection from handsome, rival vending salesman Aoyama.
- DirectorSang-il LeeStarsEri FukatsuSatoshi TsumabukiDendenA young woman's murder provokes reflection on the ugliness and villainy of modern society.
- DirectorHiroshi AndoStarsYui IchikawaSôsuke IkematsuMadoka SakaiEmiko since high school meets Yo at the press club. After the first kiss, she gave him the most precious thing. She clings to her relationship with Yo even though he only sees her as a passing love for temporary satisfaction.
- DirectorYoshihiro NakamuraStarsGaku HamadaBengalAmi HachiyaAfter Satoru Watarai graduated from elementary school, he dropped out of school and decided to live within his apartment complex, never to venture outside. Satoru Watari then meets his old friends as they are coming back from their middle school classes. Satoru has now gotten a job at a cake shop within the apartment complex and eventually gets engaged to one of his friends. Satoru, still lives within the apartment complex only, but, as time passes, more of his friends leave.
- DirectorShinsuke SatoStarsYô ÔizumiKasumi ArimuraMasami NagasawaA manga artist assistant is surprised by a zombie apocalypse.
- DirectorMasato HaradaStarsJun'ichi OkadaKoji YakushoKasumi ArimuraA depiction of Japan's 17th Century Battle of Sekigahara where the Army of the East takes up arms against the Army of the West.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsToshiyuki NishidaTomokazu MiuraTakeshi KitanoAs the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoToshiyuki NishidaTatsuo NadakaFive years after surviving the all-out war between the Sanno and Hanabishi crime families, former yakuza boss Otomo now works in South Korea for Mr. Chang, a renowned fixer whose influence extends into Japan. A relatively minor incident causes tensions to rise between Chang Enterprises and the faraway powerful Hanabishi. The growing conflict gets out of hand and ignites a ferocious power struggle among the top echelons of the Hanabishi. When eventually Chang's life is endangered, devoted yakuza Otomo returns to Japan to settle things once and for all.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsHidetoshi NishijimaYûko TakeuchiToru BabaTakakura is a former detective. He receives a request from his ex-colleague, Nogami, to examine a missing family case that occurred six years earlier. Takakura follows Saki's memory. She is the only surviving family member from the case. Meanwhile, Takakura and his wife Yasuko recently moved into a new home. Their neighbor, Nishino, has a sick wife and a young teen daughter. One day, the daughter, Mio, tells him that the man is not her father and she doesn't know him at all.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsRyunosuke KamikiMone KamishiraishiRyo NaritaTwo teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.
- DirectorShûichi OkitaStarsAyumi ItoKengo KôraGô AyanoWere people's lives changed by having known Yonosuke?
- DirectorKazuya ShiraishiStarsGô AyanoYoung DaisHaruna YabukiIn this story of a good cop going rogue, we travel with Yoichi Moroboshi from his university student days to his becoming an ambitious detective on the beat who is using his brawn rather than brain to get what he wants and to where he wants to go. The lines between good and illegitimate are blurred as the detective gets closer to his assignments.
- DirectorHitoshi ÔneStarsMasaharu FukuyamaLily FrankyRika IzumiShizuka Miyakonojo (Masaharu Fukuyama) is a 40 something paparazzi photographer. He is a skilled cameraman who has a gambling addiction and is in debt. An ex journo for a weekly picture magazine 'Scoop!,' he had fame for numerous scoops. Currently working as a freelance journalist applying his talents and fishing for celebrity scandals. He is joined by Nobi Namekawa (Fumi Nikaido), who works for his old magazine, who as a rookie reporter, becomes invaluable as they are on the verge of one of the greatest Scoops in Japans history.
- DirectorYûya IshiiStarsSatoshi TsumabukiKyôzô NagatsukaSôsuke IkematsuA family drama about a family's struggles as their mother's impending death when she is diagnosed with a brain tumor brings to light financial burdens that need to be shouldered by her sons.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsTakako MatsuHaru KurokiIsao HashizumeA woman looks back on her family's life in Tokyo before and during WWII. A maid arrives from the countryside to work for an upper middle class family. She fits in well, but everyone's emotions are stirred up with the arrival of a student.
- 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.
- DirectorTatsuya NagamineStarsMayumi TanakaKazuya NakaiAkemi OkamuraA former Marine stands in the way of the Straw Hat Pirates.
- DirectorNaoko YamadaStarsAya SuzakiAtsushi TamaruYûki KanekoTamako's life changes when her best friend, Mochizou, suddenly confesses his love for her.
- DirectorKeisuke YoshidaStarsMaki HorikitaRyûhei MatsudaKimiko YoSince her father died, Mugiko lives with her older brother, Norio. Her mother Ayako left home when she was little and never come back. But one day,she suddenly appears. What will happen to this estranged family?
- DirectorSion SonoStarsRyohei SuzukiYoung DaisNana SeinoIn an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro crosses the line to conquer all of Tokyo. The war begins.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsShôta SometaniFumi NikaidôTetsu WatanabeAfter two teenagers from abusive households befriend each other, their lives take a dark adventure into existentialism, despair, and human frailty.
- DirectorYû IrieStarsTatsuya FujiwaraHideaki ItôTôru NakamuraA television reporter and a detective try to track down a serial killer known as the Tokyo Strangler.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsFumi NikaidôTakehiro HiraHideaki ItôA popular high school teacher concocts an extreme plan to deal with the rise of bullying and bad behavior among the student body.
- DirectorYûya IshiiStarsRyûhei MatsudaAoi MiyazakiJoe OdagiriMajime, an eccentric man in publishing company, who has unique ability of words, joins the team that will compile a new dictionary, 'The Great Passage.' In the eclectic team, he becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries. But the team is overwhelmed with problems. Will 'The Great Passage' ever be completed?
- DirectorKazuya ShiraishiStarsTakayuki YamadaPierre TakiLily FrankyJournalist Shuichi Fujii receives a letter from convicted killer Junji Sudo. Writing from death row, Sudo wants to confess to crimes unknown to the police. On visiting Sudo in prison, Fujii learns about a real estate broker called "Doc" who masterminded a string of murders that Sudo worked muscle for. Set up by Doc, Sudo seeks revenge and implores Fujii to find the evidence needed to bring in his former boss. Working off Sudo's sketchy memories, Fujii begins to piece together a grizzly tale of extortion, torture, rape, and arson. But as his desire to see Doc brought to justice nears the boiling point, he runs into resistance from his editor, who views the story as tripe, the police, who seem indifferent to the case, and his wife, who is at her wits' end dealing with his mother's increasing dementia. Based on true crime cases, "The Devil's Path" exposes the secret underbelly of crime in modern Japan.
- DirectorKeiichi HaraStarsAoi MiyazakiMayu MatsuokaYûko TanakaAs a young man, Keisuke Kinoshita (Ryo Kase) carried his mother on a handcart across a mountain. He grew up as a hotblooded young man and was monitored by the military. He then joined Shochiku movie company, to eventually become a movie director.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsMasami NagasawaRyûhei MatsudaHiroki HasegawaThree aliens travel to Earth in preparation for a mass invasion, taking possession of human bodies.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsMasaharu FukuyamaKoji YakushoSuzu HiroseA courtroom drama centered around the murder of a factory president.
- DirectorTomoyuki TakimotoStarsFumi NikaidôShôta SometaniYôsuke EguchiA not-too-bright cop searches for a serial bomber.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsJun KunimuraFumi NikaidôShin'ichi TsutsumiA renegade film crew becomes embroiled with a yakuza clan feud.
- DirectorKatsuyuki MotohiroStarsKanako MomotaShiori TamaiReni TakagiDevised as a vehicle for the members of Momoiro Clover Z, The Curtain Rises is the story of Saori and school-mates who are high school students and members of a performance group. When teacher Yoshioka, who has performance experience, joins the school she exhorts the girls to become more ambitious and go for the national contest.
- DirectorKôji ShiraishiStarsMizuki YamamotoTina TamashiroAimi SatsukawaThe vengeful spirits of the Ring and Grudge series face off.
- DirectorKeishi OtomoStarsTakeru SatohTatsuya FujiwaraEmi TakeiShishio has set sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the Meiji government and return Japan to chaos, carrying Kaoru with him. In order to stop him in time, Kenshin trains with his old master to learn his final technique.
- DirectorDaihachi YoshidaStarsLily FrankyKazuya KamenashiAi HashimotoIt portrays a family on Earth who come to believe that they are actually from other planets all of a sudden. They try so hard to save the endangered planet Earth but things get crazy on the way.