The Best Japanese Films of the New Millennium (2016 Edition)
An updated version of the old list.
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- DirectorTetsuichirô TsutaStarsRina TakedaShima ÔnishiMin TanakaAs a tunnel construction project threatens the natural order of one of Japan's last untouched regions, an old man and his granddaughter Haruna's humble lifestyle begins to influence the outlook of a man from Tokyo.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHiroshi AbeYui NatsukawaYouA family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsHayato IchiharaShûgo OshinariAyumi ItoThe problematic lives of teenager students for whom the singer Lily Chou-Chou's dreamy music is the only way to escape an alienating, violent and insensitive society.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsTakahiro NishijimaHikari MitsushimaSakura AndôA bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.
- DirectorMasaaki YuasaKôji MorimotoStarsKôji ImadaSayaka MaedaTakashi FujiiAfter a deadly encounter with two yakuza, a loser with a crush on his childhood girlfriend goes to heaven and back, embarking on a psychedelic self-discovery experience with her and his friends.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsDaveigh ChaseSuzanne PleshetteMiyu IrinoDuring her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
- DirectorHideaki AnnoStarsShunji IwaiAyako FujitaniJun MurakamiA disillusioned filmmaker has an encounter with a young girl who has a ritual of repeating "Tomorrow is my birthday" everyday. He tries to communicate with her through his video camera.
- DirectorYûya IshiiStarsHikari MitsushimaKôtarô ShigaRyô IwamatsuAfter 5 years in Tokyo, 5 part-time jobs, 5 boyfriends, Sawako's life is going nowhere. When her father gets seriously ill she have to take over his struggling factory. Gradually she becomes the decider of her own life.
- DirectorTatsushi ÔmoriStarsHirofumi AraiJoe HyûgaMansaku IkeuchiA child's horrific murder brings to light the haunted truth of an affair between her mother and a neighbor. As a magazine reporter investigates the case, he finds that nothing is as it seems.
- DirectorAkihiko ShiotaStarsAoi MiyazakiSeiichi TanabeTetsu SawakiFollowing the divorce of her parents, her mother's suicide attempt, and the rumors of an affair with her teacher, a lonely 7th grader starts skipping school in an attempt to find herself.
- 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.
- DirectorMahiro MaedaMasayukiKazuya TsurumakiStarsMegumi OgataMegumi HayashibaraYûko MiyamuraFourteen years have passed since the near Third Impact. Most of the world has changed, except for Shinji Ikari, who awakens in a strange new environment without having aged.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsYûya YagiraAyu KitauraHiei KimuraIn a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
- DirectorNobuhiro YamashitaStarsBae DoonaAki MaedaYû KashiiA music group of girls need to learn to play a song before the school festival.
- DirectorShinji AoyamaStarsKoji YakushoAoi MiyazakiMasaru MiyazakiThe traumatized survivors of a murderous bus hijacking come together and take a road trip to attempt to overcome their damaged selves. Meanwhile a serial killer is on the loose.
- DirectorSatoshi KonKô MatsuoStarsMiyoko ShôjiShôzô ÎzukaMami KoyamaA TV interviewer and his cameraman meet a former actress and travel through her memories and career.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsChloë Grace MoretzJames CaanMary SteenburgenKaguya is a beautiful young woman coveted by five nobles. To try to avoid marrying a stranger she doesn't love, she sends her suitors on seemingly impossible tasks. But she will have to face her fate and punishment for her choices.
- DirectorShûichi OkitaStarsAyumi ItoJun KunimuraGô AyanoWere people's lives changed by having known Yonosuke?
- DirectorKazuyoshi KumakiriStarsMitsuki TanimuraPistol TakeharaRyô KaseIn the city of Kaitan, during the winter, the local shipyard is downsized and workers are laid off. Futa (Pistol Takehara) lives with his younger sister Honami (Mitsuki Tanimura). He loses his job at the shipyard and, feeling uneasy about their situation, goes with Honami to see the sunrise on a nearby mountainside for New Year's Day. Makoto (Takashi Yamanaka), a new city hall employee, visits the only remaining house in a redevelopment area. The home belongs to a 70-year-old woman,Toki (Aki Nakazato) who lives with her cat and a few animals in her backyard. Toki refuses to vacate the land and Makoto tries to persuade her that she will be forcibly evicted. 49-year-old Ryuzo (Kaoru Kobayashi) works in a small planetarium, while his relationship with his wife Haruyo (Haruyo Hika) and teenage son is deteriorating. Haruyo finds release by working as a hostess in a cabaret. Haruo (Ryo Kase) has taken over the operation of his father's gas company, but he worries about the state of his business. He also has a strained relationship with his wife, who takes out her anger on their son Akira. Taichiro, a street car driver, spots his son, Hiroshi (Masaki Miura) walking in downtown Kaitan. Although Hiroshi lives & works in Tokyo, he has come back to Kaitan for business. But he doesn't contact his father, even though it is the holiday season.
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsRinko KikuchiRyô KaseShôsuke TaniharaThe Kildren, a group of eternally young fighter pilots, experience the sudden loss of innocence as they battle the enemy in astonishing dogfights above the clouds.
- DirectorRyûichi HirokiStarsShôta SometaniAtsuko MaedaRoy 5tionOver one day at this love hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo - where guests have the choice of staying for a short time or overnight - the dreams and desires of these characters intersect while aspiring for something greater.
- DirectorNoriyuki KitanoharaKazuya SakamotoNoriko TakaoStarsAya HiranoTomokazu SugitaMinori ChiharaA week before Christmas, Kyon wakes up in a world where the SOS Brigade doesn't exist. Mikuru and Yuki don't recognize him, and Haruhi and Itsuki seem to have vanished.
- DirectorNobuhiro YamashitaStarsKeishi NagatsukaHiroshi YamamotoMachiko OnoTsuboi and Kinoshita have just arrived at a desolate town. Both of them are amateur filmmakers. Tsuboi is a screenwriter and Kinoshita a director. They have come to this town because Funaki, an actor, has tempted them to come here, but he has yet to arrive. Tsuboi and Kinoshita start wandering around the town and happen to meet a young woman, Atsuko. The three of them go on a journey together and become friends. But one day, Atsuko disappears.
- DirectorMasashi AbeTakao AboTakahiro HaradaStarsYûichi NakamuraAya EndôMegumi NakajimaA young stunt pilot named Alto Saotome's life is changed after he joins SMS, a military company on the Frontier. By some fate, Alto begins to fall for the galactic idol, Sheryl Nome, along with his friend and rising pop star, Ranka Lee.
- DirectorShûichi OkitaStarsKoji YakushoShun OguriTsutomu YamazakiRookie movie director Koichi and his crew travels to the mountain village of Yamamura to film his next movie. The villagers are eventually enlisted to help film the movie and, in particular, 60-year-old lumberjack Katsuhiko helps against his will.