My Favorite Japanese Cinematic Works

This list is of my personal favorite Japanese cinematic works and was requested by D1. The name(s) that follow each title are the respective director(s). It was completed 02/20/2026.

1.     Battle Royale (2000, Kinji Fukasaku)

2.     Redline (2009, Takeshi Koike)

3.     Whisper of the Heart (1995, Yoshifumi Kondō)

4.     Summer Wars (2009, Mamoru Hosoda)

5.     Hausu (1977, Nobuhiko Obayashi)

6.     The Castle of Cagliostro (1979, Hayao Miyazaki)

7.     Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus (2023, Neo Sora)

8.     The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979, Kazuhiko Hasegawa)

9.     Samurai Rebellion (1967, Masaki Kobayashi)

10.  Intimidation (1960, Koreyoshi Kurahara)

11.  Sanjuro (1962, Akira Kurosawa)

12.  Princess Mononoke (1997, Hayao Miyazaki)

13.  Cruel Gun Story (1964, Takumi Furukawa)

14.  Supermarket Woman (1996, Juzo Itami)

15.  Kill! (1968, Kihachi Okamoto)

16.  Your Name (2016, Makoto Shinkai)

17.  Memories (1995, Kōji Morimoto, Tensai Okamura & Katsuhiro Otomo)

18.  After Life (1998, Hirokazu Kore-eda)

19.  Voices of a Distant Star (OVA short) (2002, Makoto Shinkai)

20.  The Cat Returns (2002, Hiroyuki Morita)

21.  Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000, Yoshiaki Kawajiri)

22.  Twenty-Four Eyes (1954, Keisuke Kinoshita)

23.  Ponyo (2008, Hayao Miyazaki)

24.  Kagemusha (1980, Akira Kurosawa)

25.  Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II – The Battle for Doldrey (2012, Toshiyuki Kubooka)

26.  Killers on Parade (1961, Masahiro Shinoda)

27.  Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985, Paul Schrader)

a. Okay, okay, I kinda cheated here. This is a primarily US production, but it is entirely in Japanese… so I put it on the list.

28.  The Burmese Harp (1956, Kon Ichikawa)

29.  Snow Trail (1947, Senkichi Taniguchi)

30.  Harakiri (1962, Masaki Kobayashi)

31.  Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011, Makoto Shinkai)

32.  Porco Rosso (1992, Hayao Miyazaki)

33.  Space Battleship Yamato (2010, Takashi Yamazaki)

34.  Drunken Angel (1948, Akira Kurosawa)

35.  Kuroneko (1968, Kaneto Shindō)

36.  The Ballad of Narayama (1958, Keisuke Kinoshita)

37.  Hokusai (short) (1953, Hiroshi Teshigahara)

38.  Red Beard (1965, Akira Kurosawa)

…and the nominees (out of 357 possible titles) that didn’t make the cut 😊

(Just to provide a little extra quality watching)

In alphabetical order:

Ø  Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990, Akira Kurosawa)

Ø  The Castle of Sand (1974, Yoshitarō Nomura)

Ø  Cat Soup (short) (2001, Tatsuo Satō)

Ø  Chikamatsu Monogatari (1954, Kenji Mizoguchi)

Ø  Crazed Fruit (1956, Kō Nakahira)

Ø  Death by Hanging (1968, Nagisa Ōshima)

Ø  Empire of Passion (1978, Nagisa Ōshima)

Ø  Equinox Flower (1958, Yasujirō Ozu)

Ø  Fight, Zatoichi, Fight (1964, Kenji Misumi)

Ø  The Garden of Words (2013, Makoto Shinkai)

Ø  Ghost in the Shell (1995, Mamoru Oshii)

Ø  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006, Mamoru Hosoda)

Ø  I Flunked, but… (1930, Yasujirō Ozu)

Ø  Kwaidan (1964, Masaki Kobayashi)

Ø  Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986, Hayao Miyazaki)

Ø  Late Chrysanthemums (1954, Mikio Naruse)

Ø  Madadayo (1993, Akira Kurosawa)

Ø  Millennium Actress (2001, Satoshi Kon)

Ø  Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984, Hayao Miyazaki)

Ø  Pale Flower (1964, Masahiro Shinoda)

Ø  Samurai Spy (1965, Masahiro Shinoda)

Ø  Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa)

Ø  Shoplifters (2018, Hirokazu Kore-eda)

Ø  Stakeout (1958, Yoshitarō Nomura)

Ø  Stray Dog (1949, Akira Kurosawa)

Ø  Tampopo (1985, Juzo Itami)

Ø  Throne of Blood (1957, Akira Kurosawa)

Ø  Ugetsu Monogatari (1953, Kenji Mizoguchi)

Ø  Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees (1975, Masahiro Shinoda)

Ø  Vengeance Is Mine (1979, Shōhei Imamura)

Ø  When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960, Mikio Naruse)

Ø  Yearning (1964, Mikio Naruse)

Ø  Youth of the Beast (1963, Seijun Suzuki)

Ø  Zatoichi on the Road (1963, Kimiyoshi Yasuda)

Ø  Zatoichi’s Flashing Sword (1964, Kazuo Ikehiro)

Ø  Zatoichi’s Revenge (1965, Akira Inoue)