Worthwhile Japanese productions
with enjoyed stories
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- DirectorRob MarshallStarsZiyi ZhangKen WatanabeMichelle YeohThe heartwarming tale of Nitta Sayuri, a young Japanese woman who transcended from her fishing-village roots and became one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoYusuke SekiguchiKayoko KishimotoA young, naive boy sets out alone on the road to find his wayward mother. Soon he finds an unlikely protector in a crotchety man and the two have a series of unexpected adventures along the way.
- CreatorNaoko MatsudaStarsHaru KurokiJoe OdagiriKentarô SakaguchiA woman who used to be a contender for the Olympic Judo Team had to give up on her dream due to an injury. She ends up working at manga magazine when the publishing industry is going through a turbulent time.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsArata IuraErika OdaSusumu TerajimaAfter death, people have a week to choose only one memory to keep for eternity.
- 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.
- CreatorKozueko MorimotoStarsYukie NakamaKatsuhisa NamaseKen UtsuiGokusen is the story of Kumiko Yamaguchi, aka. Yankumi, a fourth generation crime syndicate member. She's gone straight and wants to be a teacher though, but she's one you don't want to mess with.
- StarsCarrie KeranenJon AvnerSeizô KatôThe story follows Kumiko Yamaguchi, the granddaughter of a yakuza boss and teacher at an all-male private school.
- DirectorTôya SatôStarsYukie NakamaKatsuhisa NamaseAya HirayamaA young teacher is given the toughest classroom in the school. Based on the TV series.
- StarsTomohisa YamashitaMasami NagasawaNana EikuraThis is a romantic comedy in which a young man who missed a chance to confess his love, is given a second chance and struggles to undo the past and win the heart of the woman on the day she is getting married to someone else.
- DirectorNaomi KawaseStarsNijirô MurakamiJunko AbeMiyuki MatsudaOn a subtropical island, a teenage couple deal with the interwoven cycle of life, death and love.
- DirectorNaomi KawaseStarsKirin KikiMasatoshi NagaseKyara UchidaBurdened with a heavy and ever-increasing debt, a dorayaki baker hires a kind ageing woman, after tasting her delicious surprise. Little by little, she unravels her beautiful inner world. Could she be holding the secret to his success?
- 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.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHideaki AnnoHidetoshi NishijimaMiori TakimotoJiro Horikoshi studies assiduously to fulfill his aim of becoming an aeronautical engineer. As WWII begins, fighter aircraft designed by him end up getting used by the Japanese Empire against its foes.
- StarsMitsuki TakahataItsuki SagaraTae KimuraRight after the war, Tsuneko launches a lifestyle magazine created for the sake of females together with sisters Mariko and Yoshiko in a devastated Tokyo.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsRyunosuke KamikiMone KamishiraishiRyo NaritaTwo teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.
- DirectorHiromasa YonebayashiStarsSara TakatsukiKasumi ArimuraNanako MatsushimaAnna, a shy 12-year-old girl, is sent to spend time with her aunt and uncle who live in the countryside, where she meets Marnie. The two become best friends. But Anna gradually discovers that Marnie is not quite who she appears to be.
- StarsKôichi KitamuraMami KoyamaAkira MurayamaA compelling story in which orphaned Remi gets hired out to a traveling street entertainer Vitalis when her foster parents fall on hard times.
- StarsHelga AndersIrina WankaEva Ingeborg ScholzThis is an animated adaptation of the classic story of Nils Holgerson, a naughty boy who is transformed to a very little dwarf and goes through many adventures, flying with a band of wild geese.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsTsutomu TatsumiAyano ShiraishiAkemi YamaguchiA young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsLily FrankySakura AndôKirin KikiOn the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders are united by loyalty, a penchant for petty theft and playful grifting. When the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence.
- StarsYui AragakiRyûhei MatsudaKei TanakaAkira is thirty-years-old and a good employee. People like her. She is pretty. Kosei is thirty-three-years old and also popular at work and personally. He is hard to get. The two meet at a bar and hit it off.
- StarsKankurô KudôKyôko YoshineYûko NakamuraA slice of life comedy where Kanji Furutachi and Kenichi Takito play poor brothers Ichiro and Jiro respectively. Ichiro, the older one, is very serious while Jiro, the younger one, is trying to start rental father/uncle service and they have to deal with issues from their clients.
- StarsYui AragakiGen HoshinoRyôhei OhtaniMoriyama Mikuri had graduated from university and got no job offers. She became a temporary employee but was even laid off. Now, she works as a housekeeper for bachelor Tsuzaki Hiramasa by chance and he proposes a contract marriage to her.
- DirectorFuminori KanekoStarsMunetaka AokiYui AragakiNana AsakawaMikuri learns that she is pregnant and Hiramasa decides to take paternity leave before an important project is finished. The couple experience unfamiliar situations involving childbirth and rearing.
- CreatorMaki EnjojiStarsMone KamishiraishiTakeru SatohKatsuya MaigumaNanase Sakura met Doctor Kairi Tendo and fell in love with him. She then studied hard to became a nurse and finally meets Kairi Tendo again. But she realizes that he has a totally different personality than what she imagined.
- StarsYui AragakiGô AyanoKyôhei ShibataInaba Rika, whose childhood dream was to become a news reporter, is instead a director for an informative TV program. At one point, she was a reporter; however, her career was cut short after her ambitious habits for obtaining and reporting news provoked too many people. Sorai Daisuke is a former fighter pilot, who was so~ close to achieving his dream of being a pilot for the flying squadron, "Blue Impulse. Unfortunately, his involvement in an accident causes him to be reassigned to the public relations office. This is the story about how two people who have to deal with having their dreams crushed.
- StarsTakashi SorimachiNanako MatsushimaYôsuke KubozukaOnizuka, a former delinquent finds himself in the role of a high school teacher, facing students who behave just as he used to. Using unusual methods, he manages to reach through to his students and help them with their problems.
- StarsTakashi SorimachiIkki SawamuraHisashi IgawaCheap love is about Nanami, a teacher, and Junichi who is a scout for nightclubs. Nanami lives a boring life preparing to get married to a boring man. When she meets Junichi she sees a chance of doing something exciting, but she did not think of falling in love. Also Junichi falls for the woman and it is the first time he believes that he can be worth for more than nothing.But a lot of things happen and of course, it is not that easy for them to be together and it always seems that they will not be able make it. But maybe there is a happy end after all?
- StarsKazuya KamenashiFumino KimuraShinnosuke MitsushimaMakoto Masaki and Haruko Kogetsu are both single and they have passed each other since they were children, yet they are not aware of each other at all. One day, a man introduces himself as God who tells about their destined soul mate.
- StarsYui AragakiRyô NishikidoHiroko YakushimaruAyukawa Wakaba is full of ambition. She lands a job at an international law firm, but to her disappointment, the first prestigious assignment that is given to her is to babysit the boss' 5 year old daughter, Hinata.
- StarsMisaki ItôAtsushi ItôMiho ShiraishiWith the help of an online community, a nerdy and socially awkward man gathers the courage to start dating an attractive lady he met on a train.
- StarsNoriko IriyamaJun ShisonTerunosuke TakezaiSumire Iwaya (Noriko Iriyama) works as an editor for a well known newspaper. She is attractive and graduated from a prestigious university. She goes through a difficult period after being dumped by her boyfriend and getting demoted at work. One day, she picks up a beautiful young man, Takeshi Goda (Jun Shison), out of a box. Takeshi looks like her former pet Momo and Sumire offers to let Takeshi live in her home as her pet.
- StarsYukino KishiiIssei TakahashiShôgo HamaSet in modern-day Japan, two aromantic asexuals start living together and form a special bond.
- DirectorShinobu YaguchiStarsFumiyo KohinataEri FukatsuYuki IzumisawaAfter a sudden worldwide power cut, a Tokyo family are caught up in the chaos as millions traverse the country in search of electricity.
- StarsTakeru SatohHaruka AyaseYumi AsôAkiko Iwaki is a career woman who works very hard at her job. She gets married to Ryoichi Miyamoto who has a daughter. Akiko must now deal with housework and raising her stepdaughter.
- StarsAnne WatanabeHiroki HasegawaRyôko KuninakaYoriko is a hard-working and rigid young woman and Takumi is an unemployed young man. They believe that they are unsuited for love, think of marriage as a contract and and start dating with the goal of getting married.
- StarsShin'ichi TsutsumiWakana MatsumotoYoshiyuki YamaguchiNodoka Iwasaki is a young single mother with no money, no house, and no work. While Nodoka decides that she will do anything to eat, she meets a fisherman, Hiroshi Kataoka, who offers her "10,000 yen to rebuild the coast". Thus, Nodoka now carries the dreams of the local fishermen whose lives are on her shoulders. Despite her limited knowledge of the fishing industry, Nodoka does her best working with the stubborn sea men, breaks through the old common sense and customs with her boldness, and creates a revolution in the industry.
- StarsHiroshi AbeTakashi TsukamotoMitsuko KusabueA 40-year-old gifted architect enjoys living alone and doesn't communicate well with people. He has three female friends. Will he ever marry?
- StarsGeorge TokoroHiroko MoriguchiMegumiToddlers, aged two to four, are followed by cameras as they are sent on their first errands by themselves. From delivering forgotten items to shopping trips, the little ones get to make their first independent journeys into the world.
- StarsHaruka AyaseMirai UchidaRyôko HirosueIsayama Nami, in order to start over her life and to find happiness, married the man she fell in love with at first sight during a blind date and moved to a quiet high-end residential area. Nami isn't really good with domestic chores in general, including cooking or cleaning, but she has a very strong sense of justice and it would be very ill-advised to make her angry. She was born and raised without a single relative and had to experience a life without knowing what it means to love or be loved. By making friends with other housewives, who she occasionally saves from various predicaments, and by cuddling close to her husband, it's the first time for Nami to experience true kindness and warmth in her life.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
- CreatorNiwa TanbaStarsKana KurashinaFuka KoshibaHaruka KinamiAn office lady with a secret obsession for comic-book culture does her best to balance her job and hobby day by day.
- CreatorMitsuhiro MizunoTakeshi NatsuharaAkira ÔtaniStarsTomohisa YamashitaHayato IchiharaHaruka FukuharaNagase Saichi is the number one salesperson at a real estate agency whose biggest fault is being overly honest and unable to lie.
- CreatorYayu MurataStarsAju MakitaRyunosuke KamikiYoh Yoshidaa husband and his daughter, who lost their beloved wife 10 years ago and lost the meaning of life, unexpectedly reunited with their wife. As his wife is reborn as a 10-year-old elementary school student, the family is reborn.
- StarsSuzu HiroseRyunosuke KamikiAnna IshibashiHigh-school student Haruna Tsubame becomes the student council president after being persuaded by her peers. With the help of a talented speechwriter, she aims to transform her school using the power of words.
- DirectorHayato KawaiStarsSuzu HiroseYûki AmamiAyami NakajôLed by a demanding coach, an unlikely squad of small town girls vie for victory in a major US cheer dance championship. Based on true events.
- DirectorTakahiro MikiStarsSôta FukushiNana KomatsuMasahiro HigashideOn the way to his university in Kyoto, a 20 y.o. man falls in love with a woman on the train. He tells her. They start dating. She has a supernatural secret.
- StarsShun OguriSatomi IshiharaSaki AibuHyuga Toru who run an internet website from his small room and doesn't like to socialize makes a lot of money. He then meets Sawaki Chihiro, a hardworking student who by an unexpected occurrence begins to work for Toru.