Today we’re going to take you for a culture trip through some of our favorite Japanese movies.
Aside from foods, movies are often one of the best gateways to have a closer look at one culture. If you are familiar with foreign films, you would probably agree that Japanese cinema is one of its kind.
From food-theme movies, to classic movies to cult-following anime, each genre is an art form itself. They are compelling, daring, imaginative and distinctive in style.
Today at JOC, we’re excited to share a selection of our favorite Japanese movies that will take you a deeper look into the country’s history, culture and values. It’s popcorn time; make some Homemade Popcorn with Truffle Salt!
Let us know if you have watched any of these movies on the list. And if you have any recommendations, we’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Food-Theme Japanese Movies
1. Sweet Bean あん – 2015
This drama film Sweet Bean received a Critic’s Pick by the New York Times, and it is said that “The movie, beautifully shot and acted, earns its ultimate sense of hope by confronting real heartbreak head-on, and with compassion”. The story centers around Sentaro, a middle-aged man who runs a tiny shop selling Dorayaki (Japanese sweet bean pancake). He finds himself confronted by Tokue, a woman in her mid-seventies with some deformities applying for the position when he puts up Help Wanted sign in his window. Reluctant at first, Sentaro changed his mind after tasting her homemade bean paste. This starts a relationship and life lessons that is much more than just food.
2. Tampopo タンポポ – 1985
Tampopo is a comedic tale of truck drivers Goro and Gun in search of some good eats and run into a widow who runs a small ramen shop. As she is facing some life troubles, they decide to help her on her quest for the perfect ramen recipe and make it the best noodle soup in town. The most recognizable character in the movie is Ken Watanabe. The movie is hilarious with its unique qualities. It comes with evocative accounts that weaves in social aspects of food, sex, cultural hang-ups etc. You may want to watch this while slurping some hot bowl of ramen!
3. Jiro Dreams of Sushi 二郎は鮨の夢を見る – 2011
Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a documentary of 85 year-old legendary sushi master Jiro Ono. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant located in a Tokyo subway station. Jiro clearly loves his job. As the title suggests, he even dreams about sushi in his sleep. His life-long devotion to the Japanese craft also brings about a complex relationship between him and his two sons.
4. Little Forest: Summer & Autumn リトルフォレスト夏/秋 – 2014
Little Forest: Summer & Autumn is set in a rustic rural mountainside. The story follows a young woman named Ichiko returns to her hometown of Komori (which means ‘Little Forest)’ after being unable to find her place in the big city. Upon her return, she comes to enjoy the simple life as she discovers her new-found connection with food and the surrounding nature and its people. As Ichiko continues to find her own self through the changing seasons, she is also facing her conflicted feelings about her return to Komori. If you don’t mind its slow pace rhythm, this simple movie may make you want to take refuge in the kitchen and start making your own bread & jam from scratch. What’s fascinating is the film has captured the desires of many stress-out city folks for a simple organic lifestyle. The bigger question: is the return to the hometown simply an escape, or the right decision?
5. Kamome Shokudo (Kamome Diner) かもめ食堂 – 2006
Kamome Diner is about a young woman who opens a Japanese diner in Helsinki, Finland. The specialty of her menu is onigiri (Japanese rice balls). As the story develops, the diner appears to attract customers with personal problems. Her delicious food and personable nature seems to help lessen their misery. Relatively slow-pace, this independent film focuses on its visual aesthetic and character development. At the heart of Kamome Diner, food has a powerful way to bring people together and of self-discovery.
Japanese Anime
6. Spirited Away 千と千尋の神隠し – 2001
Dubbed as the Japanese Alice in the Wonderland, this international acclaim anime film is about Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by spirits, witches and gods, and where humans are changed into beasts. Spirited Away is bound to ignite your imagination.
7. Grave of the Fireflies 火垂るの墓 – 1988
Grave of the Fireflies is a story of a young boy and his little sister’s struggle for survival in Japan in the aftermath of the World War II. Get your kleenex ready!
8. The Wind Rises 風立ちぬ – 2013
The Wind Rises is loosely based on the real life story of Jiro Horikoshi, the chief engineer of Japanese fighter planes during Word War 2. Despite the many controversies that surfaced during its release, the film is a remarkable work of Hayao Miyazaki, as it entwines imaginations with reality, ambitions with failures and love with war.
9. My Neighbour Totoro となりのトトロ – 1988
For a more family oriented anime, My Neighbour Totoro is definitely our pick for children and adults alike. The fantasy film takes you to the adventures of two little girls who befriend with the forest spirits when they move into a house to be closer to their ailing mother. One of the magical creatures they meet is Totoro, a huge friendly bear. Together, they set out on several magical adventures. Visually enchanting, the film taps into the wonder and innocence of being a child.
Japanese Classic Movies
10. Seven Samurai – 1954
Set during the civil unrest of 16th-century Japan, the story follows a village of farmers that hire masterless samurai to protect them against the bandit attacks every harvest season. An unforgettable masterpiece of director Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai is an all-time legendary picture you must watch.
11. Rashomon – 1950
Considered one of the most daring films of its era, Rashomon is another acclaimed work of Kurosawa that served an introduction of Japanese film for international audience. The plot recounts how a crime was recalled from different perspectives of a bandit, a samurai, the samurai’s wife, and a woodcutter, before ending on a climax that questions the nature of humanity. You may heard of the term ‘Rashomon Effect’? It gets the name from the movie, which refers to contradictory narratives of the same event given by different people.
Japanese Drama
12. Like Father, Like Son そして父になる – 2013
Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Like Father, Like Son follows a story of a successful businessman whose world is turned outside down when he finds out his biological son was switched with another child at birth that he has been raising. When he faces the reality, he must make the decision to choose between his true son or the boy he raised as his own. You can expect powerful performance in this touching family drama.
More Japanese Movies?
Enjoy Japanese Movies!
We hope you enjoy this movie list we put together. You can watch some of the trailers on Youtube or find them on Amazon or your local library. Don’t want to miss a recipe?
Hi Nami, thank you for the movie listing. I’ve seen many but still some new ones to me. Ever since your mentioning of Midnight Diner, I’ve completed the 3 seasons prior to Netflix version. ❤❤Love the show! Had to look up where I’ve seen the “Master” before and IMDB supplied my answer – Quill (Japanese movie 2004).
Hi Christina! So happy to hear you are watching Midnight Diner! I’m only watching off from Netflix, so one season so far… Looking forward to share recipes from the show! How was the Quill? I remember it was at the theatre in Japan… but haven’t watched it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quill_(film)
Quill: it was so long ago but I remembered that I really enjoyed the movie.
Shinya Shokudo: managed to find older versions of season 1,2,3 on YouTube or dramacool
http://dramacool.es/shinya-shokudo-season-1-episode-2.html with English subtitles. I don’t have Netflix, so would have to wait for the Midnight Diner, Tokyo Stories version to be made into DVDs.
One Japanese movie that I would recommend to you is one I saw at the 2004 Montreal International Film Festival – Fuon (Crying Wind). Despite the mentioning of events related to World War II, I enjoyed the rural life of Okinawa and poetic quality of the movie.
Hi Christina! Thank you for your feedback on Quill!
Thanks for the link for episode 1 and 2! To be able to talk about the episodes, I feel the source has to be legal… I still need to wait until next season comes out.
Thank you for recommending Fuon! 🙂
Sorry I didn’t realize the link was not legit.
Of course, I promise not mention anything about the show so not to spoil the viewing pleasure of others.
Wait a minute. I thought Netflix is showing newly-made espisodes of Shibuya Shokudo. From your reply I get the impression that’s not the case. So is Netflix showing old espisodes of the show? Rerun of already-made shows of season 1,2,3?
In conclusion, I just wanted to say that the show reminds me of Alexander McCall Smith’s book series The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. It’s all about interpersonal relationships.
Hi Christina! I just don’t want to get caught by recommending it publicly on the blog. 😉
Neflix shares “Season 1” and it has ONLY 10 episodes in there. I heard Netflix Season 1 is the real season 3 or something like that from JOC readers. Ah interpersonal relationships! That’s a new word for me, and that’s it! Thank you for recommending the book series!
Yes of course. ????
Maybe interpersonal relationships might not be the best description for the show but it’s the closest I can think of. Hehe. Just as the book series, it mentions detective but there’s hardly a anything graphic or bloody. It’s a lot on human behaviour and interactions. Anyway I hope you will read one of the books to get what I can’t express in words.
Thanks Christina! 🙂
Are these series of Shinyo Shokudo completely different to Netflix’ Midnight Diner series 1 and 2, does anyone know? I really like how Midnight Diner 2 has developed the clients’ stories more.
Hi Susie! Yes, the order is different for Netflix series. I don’t know why… 🙁
Found Sweet Bean on Netflix but I should have read the description you gave first! Great movie but I cried it was so moving. Can’t wait to see more from the list.
Hi Kaylee! Yeah my eyes were swollen from watching that movie… very good movie!
I love almost all of studio Ghibli anime, specially My neighbor Totoro.
I love Totoro and Castle in the Sky most, my recent favorite is The Secret World of Arrietty. 😀
I totally agree with your #1. What a fantastic movie. Also, Tampopo and Jiro Dreams of Sushi. What did you think of Departures from 2008?
Hi Hannah! Oh yeah, I love Departures (and Mokkun – the actor)!
My favorite Japanese movie would have to be Mononoke-hime. I love everything about it…the theme, the music, the story, etc. One of my favorite movies of all time, too.
Hi Brandi! I love it too! Thank you for your comment! 🙂
Some of m favorites are: Battle Royale, Bandage, Otoko Densha, Death Note, and Ore Ore. Also the movie Vancouver Asahi it made me cry. I felt so bad for them it was a great movie.
Hi Bonnie! Thank you for your suggestion! I need to watch them – I haven’t seen movies from your list! >_<
Wow, I’m surprised I’ve seen so many of these! I must admit I’m a really big anime fan. I grew up watching anime and if not for that I don’t think I would have learned about how wonderful Japan and Japanese culture is. So… of course I love the Miyazaki films.
I’ve also seen a handful of Kurosawa films! Rashomon is my favorite! Seven Samurai is also great! When I think of old movies I often think of lots of talking, drama, generally booooring. Haha. But these movies are very exciting and seem ahead of their time.
Princess Mononoke is my favorite Miyazaki film, with Spirited Away close behind. Have you seen the films of Mamoru Hosoda? They are brilliant. He is my favorite Japanese director. Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and The Boy and The Beast… all four of his movies so far are just amazing! I can’t pick a favorite! Summer Wars made me want to learn hanafuda koi koi, and now most of my friends really enjoy it and play with me! It’s cool learning about Japanese culture from movies. I hope I can visit there someday.
I must see Jiro Dreams of Sushi…. sushi is my favorite food…. I just have to make sure I do it on a day where I can afford to go get sushi afterward. Hahaha.
Hi Lion! No, I don’t know those movies by Mamoru Hosoda. I should check it out! It always amazes me that some non-Japanese like you are far more knowledge about Japanese cultures than young generation Japanese… I’ve seen Hanafuda being played by my family members but I never thought of learning it. LOL. I hope you can visit Japan one day. And I’d love to hear your travel stories afterwards! I think you’ll love Jiro Dreams of Sushi!
Kurosawa’s Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Tokyo Monogatari, Departures, Ballad of Narayama, and many on your list as well!
Hi Courtenay! I don’t think I watched Ikiru. Some of readers mentioned about Ballad of Narayama. I gotta watch it! Thank you for sharing!
Love Tampopo! Lots of fun!
Hi Ken! Ohhh Ken Watanabe! I recognized you from our FB conversation. Thank you for commenting here! 🙂
Miyazaki films are a given, but I watched Sweet Bean today and cried so much…it’s a new favorite!!!
Hi Jeanette! So glad you watched Sweet Bean! I cried like crazy!
Good list there! I really enjoyed Jiro, Grave of the Fireflies and Spirited Away too.
One of my favourites is Departures 🙂
Hi Stacey! I love Departures too! I’m a big fan of the actor…. He he he.
i thought that Tampopo was racy and should be rated R.
How about Hula Girls (true story)?
Hi Tamala! It wasn’t rated R?! Really! I would freak out if my kids were accidentally watching with me… so weird! I’ve never heard of Hula Girls before. I’ll check it out!
My favorite of the Japanese movies is: My Neighbor Totoro. I also like Spirited Away and Grave of the Fireflies..
Hi Misty Rains! Yeah I like all of them too! 🙂
Hi Nami,
your movie selection is excellent. We’ve watched five of your picks and they are fantastic. Problem here in Southwestern Ontario is the unavailability at the local library and on line too. Any suggestions on where to watch these will be most welcome.
Regards,
Edgar
Hi Edgar! It’s hard, they are available streaming on TV (Netflix, Amazon etc), DVD, or online (legal or not) including YouTube. 🙂
Tampopo has been on my personal top ten most favorite movies for many years! Never tire of watching it again…..about once a year, since I first saw it in about 1986. Unfortunately, I still only have my old VHS tape of it. Really should get the dvd! One other of my top ten is Narayama Bushiko — The Ballad of Narayama — the one made in the 1980s.
Hi David! It’s really interesting to know that a lot of non-Japanese people LOVE Tampopo! It was not a successful movie in Japan. But non-Japanese really liked it. I wonder why?
I don’t think I know The Ballad of Narayama. Thank you for recommendation! 🙂