Japanese Movie Listing

I have loved the Japanese culture and Feudal Japan in particular since I was young. I have watched many Japanese movies over the years, and have put my own notes along with the notes of friends and family. Over the this list has grown and grown, thanks to the input of many web visitors!

Note that since each of these movies was seen by a normal human being, what you read here is just one person's opinion :) Your own opinion may of course be different! If you notice that a movie listing is missing or incorrect, please Contact Me (Really!! WRITE ME!!!) so I can update the list!

Check out Japanese Movies By Director if you want to see what movies a given director made. Otherwise, use this alphabetical listing to view your movie by title.

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Penny Serenade (1941)
Cary Grant, Irene Dunn. Brief interlude set in Japan (done in the studio), which includes an earthquake. . .

Picture Bride (1995) In 1918, a young Japanese woman leaves everything behind and moves to Hawaii to embark on an arranged marriage. She soon discovers that it's not what she imagined it to be. But slowly, her disillusionment turns to passion as a whole new world opens up for her. Youki Kudoh, Tamlyn Tomita, Akira Takayama, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Toshiro Mifune (Cameo). Directed by: Kayo Hatta.

Poppy (1935) 72m. (Gubijinso)
A recently rediscovered work not screened in the West until 1976, Mizoguchi's Poppy is an ornate melodrama made on a lavish budget, and finds the director experimenting in American-style filmmaking. Based on a 1908 novel by Soseki Natsume, the film stars Kuniko Miyake as Fujio, an affluent and able young woman engaged to a rising young diplomat. Despite her betrothal, she finds herself falling in love with Ono, the young student hired to tutor her in English. He is attracted by Fujio's wealth and beauty, but is himself engaged to another. When self-centred Fujio resolves to forsake everything for Ono, the consequences prove dire. Poppy "shows that the range of Mizoguchi's experimentation at this period was great indeed. . . [It was shot] to exploit to the full the possibilities of Western style dramatic editing. . . The film is by no means a negligible piece of work and was clearly the object of considerable thought and care. It is as if Mizoguchi felt the need to give the Western mode one serious, thorough-going try before striking out in his own, Japanese, direction" (Noël Burch). Director: Kenji Mizoguchi. Cast: Kuniko Miyake, Ichiro Tsukida, Daijiro Natsukawa. B&W, In Japanese with English subtitles. [Daniel Richard]

Pray for Death (1985)
The story begins in Japan, where Akira Saito (played by Sho Kosugi) debates whether or not he should move to the U.S. His wife who is half American (played by Donna Kei-Benz) wants them to move. He decides to go to the temple where he was raised. There he is confronted by his father (played by Robert Ito), who tells Akira that no matter where he goes he cannot escape his shadows, that he will always be a ninja. Akira, his wife and his two sons (played by Sho's real life sons Kane and Shane) move to the U.S. They unwittingly become the target of some local mobsters, and Akira's wife and one of his son's are involved in a hit and run. Akira tracks down the thug who ordered the hit and run, and tells him that if he doesn't leave the Saito family alone, he will "pray for death". This angers the thug even more and he kills Akira's wife. Akira then takes the law into his own hands and returns to the shadows, to the world of the ninja. He tracks down the mobsters, and cleans house. (In my opinion, Sho's second best ninja film. Similar to "Revenge of the Ninja". Higher production values than usual. The first foreign-made ninja film ever to be shown in Japan. Quite an honor, if you ask me. This is a very good ninja film. Sho once again is very impressive. -- Richard ) [Daniel Richard]

Princess Mononoke (Mononoke hime) (1997) D: Hayao Miyazaki Ashitaka, a brave warrior, is cursed by a beast he has killed. To remove his curse, he has to travel far south to find a forest god Shishigami. On his journey, Ashitaka meets Eboshi, a woman who wants to kill Shishigami to get a reward for his head. Opposing Eboshi is a girl named San, a.k.a. Princess Mononoke, who lives with wolves and fights humans. Ashitaka's mission is to put an end to the war and to save Shishigami. [A. Blaine]

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