West North West

2015

Japanese

5.0

♡ 6

Takuro Nakamura Director

Yûka Yamauchi as Ai

Hanae Kan as Kei

Sahel Rosa as Naima

Kei works at a cocktail bar, while Ai works as a model. Fearing she'll be ostracized by society, Kei chooses not to admit her sexual orientation to anyone, and, as a result, she becomes distressed and lonely. One day, Kei gets close to Naima, an Iranian student studying art in Japan.

Always: Sunset on Third Street

2005

Japanese

7.7

♡ 4

90%

japanese economic miracle

shōwa era (1926-89)

tokyo, japan

Takashi Yamazaki Director Koyuki

Koyuki as Hiromi Ishizaki

Tomokazu Miura as Shirô "Akuma" Takuma

Yôichi Nukumizu as The Bicycle Shopkeeper

Pierre Taki as The Ice Seller

Teenage Mutsuko comes to Tokyo for work but ends up at a repair shop. She befriends the owner's family. Neighbors Hiromi, writer Chagawa with admirer Junnosuke strive alongside them in postwar Tokyo's evolution.

20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End

2008

Japanese

6.6

♡ 4

Yukihiko Tsutsumi Director

Hiroyuki Miyasako as Keroyon

Hitomi Kuroki as Kiriko Endô

Shirô Sano as Yan-bô / Mâ-bô

Tamaki Matsumoto as Young Yukiji

In 1969, Kenji, an elementary school kid and his friends built a secret base during their summer holidays. They fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world and wrote them in the Book of Prophecies. Years later in 1997, Kenji becomes a convenience store manager and leads a regular life after giving up his dreams to become a rock star. His boring life is suddenly turned upside down when his old classmate dies mysteriously and an entire family in the neighbourhood disappears. At the same time, a religious cult and its mysterious leader, Friend emerges and a strange chain of events duplicating exactly the events described in the Book of Prophecies follow. Is this the beginning of the end of the world? Who is Friend?

Remembering Every Night

2022

Japanese

6.1

♡ 1

87%

Drama

tokyo, japan

Yui Kiyohara Director

Ai Mikami as

Tadashi Okuno as

Mizuho Nojima as

Shintarô Yûya as (as Yûya Shintarô)

A visit to the employment office, practicing dance steps, making music with friends: several women’s everyday lives are captured in long shots and with a superb sense of place. A film like a summer's day, bright, friendly, with the occasional chill.

Stray Dog

1949

Japanese

7.8

♡ 31

100%

Akira Kurosawa Director

Kappei Matsumoto as Bar owner

Toshirô Mifune as Detective Murakami

Reikichi Kawamura as Officer Ichikawa

Eijirô Tôno as Old man of wooden tub shop

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

Kyrie

2023

Japanese

6.6

♡ 5

Shunji Iwai Director

Marika Matsumoto as

Nijirô Murakami as

Kosuke Toyohara as

Suzu Hirose as Ikko

Luca lost her family in the Great East Japan Earthquake causing her not to be able to speak. However, her singing voice shakes the hearts of those who listen to her. It is a hymn of compassion played by Luca and the people.

Gantz: Perfect Answer

2011

Japanese

6.2

♡ 28

50%

live action adaptation of manga

Shinsuke Sato Director

Gô Ayano as Man in Black 1

Takayuki Yamada as Masamitsu Shigeta

Naho Toda as Reiko Kitakura

Yuriko Yoshitaka as Tae Kojima

Summoned by the black sphere, Kei and Masaru fight against extraterrestrials until Masaru grows tired of fighting and refuses to continue.

The Grudge

2004

English

5.9

♡ 100

41%

Takashi Shimizu Director

Ted Raimi as Alex

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Karen

Bill Pullman as Peter

KaDee Strickland as Susan

An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.

Street of Shame

1956

Japanese

7.8

♡ 13

80%

82%

Action

based on novel or book

Kenji Mizoguchi Director

Eiko Miyoshi as Kadowaki Saku, Yumeko's mother-in-law

Machiko Kyô as Mickey

Sadako Sawamura as Tatsuko Taya

Ayako Wakao as Yasumi

The lives of five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation is debating the passage of an anti-prostitution law.

Early Spring

1956

Japanese

7.7

♡ 17

100%

87%

Action

co-workers relationship

Yasujirô Ozu Director

Masami Taura as Kôichi Kitagawa

Fujio Suga as Tanabe

Eijirô Tôno as Tokichi Hattori

Keijirô Morozumi as Tsuji

A young Tokyo salary man and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he has an extramarital affair.

Ants on a Shrimp

2016

English

6.9

♡ 1

78%

Maurice Dekkers Director

René Redzepi as (as Rene Redzepi)

Thomas Frebel as Self

Dan Giusti as Self

Kim Mikkola as Self

One of the world's best restaurants, the Copenhagen-based NOMA and its renowned chef-owner René Redzepi relocate the restaurant and its entire staff to Tokyo.

Roujin Z

1991

Japanese

6.8

♡ 9

Hiroyuki Kitakubo Director

Chisa Yokoyama as Haruko Mitsuhashi

Ryûji Saikachi as Old Man

Takumi Yamazaki as Reporter D

Rica Matsumoto as Tomoe Satô

Mr. Takazawa, an elderly invalid who is cared for at his home by Haruko, a young nursing student, is chosen by the Japanese Ministry of Public Welfare to test the Z-001, a computerized hospital bed with robotic features that allegedly displays more efficiency and skills than any human nurse, but Haruko mistrusts a machine unable to consider human feelings.

A True Story of the Private Ginza Police

6.7

Jun'ya Satô Director

Hiroko Fuji as

Ryôji Hayama as

Jirô Sagawa as

Hiroshi Kondô as

Japan, 1946, just after the end of World War II. As the US occupation army patrols the dilapidated streets of Tokyo, a desperate and ambitious group of war veterans and gamblers struggle to take control of the Ginza district's underworld with the help of a deranged soldier.

Tokyo Cowboy

2023

English

7.0

♡ 7

92%

person in a strange world

tokyo, japan

Marc Marriott Director

Masashi Arifuku as Matsuyama

Robin Weigert as Peg

Ryô Iwamatsu as President Miwa

Jun Kunimura as Wada

Brash businessman Hideki (Arata Iura) convinces his Tokyo bosses he can turn a profitless Montana cattle ranch into a premiere-performing asset. However, when his Japanese Wagyu-beef expert fails him, Hideki is poised to fail unless he identifies a missing element that's key to the transformation: himself.

Tokyo Godfathers

2003

Japanese

7.8

♡ 67

92%

Satoshi Kon Director

Ryûji Saikachi as Aged Man

Rikiya Koyama as Bridegroom

Mitsuru Ogata as Hidenari Ugaki

Satomi Kôrogi as Kiyoko, the Gangster's Daughter

On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.

Ocean Waves

1993

Japanese

6.6

♡ 36

89%

Tomomi Mochizuki Director

Sumi Shimamoto as Additional Voices

Takahiro Sakurai as Boy

Tomokazu Seki as Minarai

Toshihiko Seki as Yutaka Matsuno

At Kichijōji Station, Tokyo, Taku Morisaki glimpses a familiar woman on the platform opposite boarding a train. Later, her photo falls from a shelf as he exits his apartment before flying to Kōchi Prefecture. Picking it up, he looks at it briefly before leaving. As the aeroplane takes off, he narrates the events that brought her into his life...

Early Summer

1951

Japanese

8.0

♡ 23

100%

Yasujirô Ozu Director

Toyo Takahashi as Nobu Tamura

Setsuko Hara as Noriko Mamiya

Ichirô Sugai as Shukichi Mamiya

Kuniko Igawa as Takako

A 28-year-old single woman is pressured to marry.

King Kong Escapes

1967

Japanese

5.5

♡ 5

Ishirô Honda Director

Paul Frees as Dr. Who

Akira Takarada as Lt. Commander Jiro Nomura

Shigeo Katô as Transport Ship Sailor

David de Keyser as (voice)

An adaptation of the Rankin/Bass cartoon, "The King Kong Show". King Kong is brought in by the evil Dr. Who to dig for Element X in a mine when the robot Mechani-Kong is unable to do the task. This leads to the machine and the real Kong engaging in a tremendous battle atop Tokyo Tower.

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

1952

Japanese

7.6

♡ 14

93%

husband wife relationship

Yasujirô Ozu Director

Kôji Shitara as Koji Yamauchi

Eijirô Yanagi as Naosuke Yamauchi

Keiko Tsushima as Setsuko Yamauchi

Mie Kitahara as Waitress

The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet and rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.

Museum

2016

Japanese

6.0

♡ 14

Action

co-worker relationship

Crime

family secrets

Horror

husband wife relationship

Keishi Ohtomo Director

Masatô Ibu as

Mikako Ichikawa as

Shun Oguri as

Yutaka Matsushige as Kozo Sekihata

In Tokyo, Japan, several grotesque murders take place on rainy days. Detective Sawamura, who is in charge of the case, soon discovers that his own family is connected to the crimes.

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West North West

Always: Sunset on Third Street

20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End

Remembering Every Night

Stray Dog

Kyrie

Gantz: Perfect Answer

The Grudge

Street of Shame

Early Spring

Ants on a Shrimp

Roujin Z

A True Story of the Private Ginza Police

Tokyo Cowboy

Tokyo Godfathers

Ocean Waves

Early Summer

King Kong Escapes

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

Museum