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Top Japanese Films

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Seven Samurai 1954 Akira Kurosawa 36
2 Rashômon 1950 Akira Kurosawa 91
3 Tokyo Story 1953 Yasujiro Ozu 130
4 Ran1 1985 Akira Kurosawa 177
5 Spirited Away 2001 Hayao Miyazaki 246
6 Ugetsu 1953 Kenji Mizoguchi 250
7 Hiroshima mon amour1 1959 Alain Resnais 281
8 Ikiru 1952 Akira Kurosawa 316
9 Lost in Translation2 2003 Sofia Coppola 353
10 Yojimbo 1961 Akira Kurosawa 384
11 Akira 1988 Katsuhiro Ôtomo 386
12 Sansho the Bailiff 1954 Kenji Mizoguchi 459
13 The Crying Game3 1992 Neil Jordan 503
14 Throne of Blood 1957 Akira Kurosawa 581
15 In the Realm of the Senses1 1976 Nagisa Oshima 660
16 Yi yi: A One and a Two... 4 2000 Edward Yang 773
17 Dead Man1 5 1995 Jim Jarmusch 782
18 Princess Mononoke 1997 Hayao Miyazaki 791
19 Woman in the Dunes 1964 Hiroshi Teshigahara 827
20 Howards End3 1992 James Ivory 835
21 Late Spring 1949 Yasujiro Ozu 875
22 My Neighbor Totoro 1988 Hayao Miyazaki 892
23 Ju Dou6 1990 Fenglian Yang and Yimou Zhang 918
24 The Life of Oharu 1952 Kenji Mizoguchi 954
25 The Hidden Fortress 1958 Akira Kurosawa 987
26 Kagemusha 1980 Akira Kurosawa 1007
27 After Life 1998 Hirokazu Koreeda 1048
28 Tampopo 1985 Juzo Itami 1053
29 Dersu Uzala7 1975 Akira Kurosawa 1092
30 Ghost in the Shell3 1995 Mamoru Oshii 1116
31 Ballad of Narayama 1983 Shohei Imamura 1127
32 The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums 1939 Kenji Mizoguchi 1131
33 Children of Men2 3 2006 Alfonso Cuarón 1142
34 Grave of the Fireflies 1988 Isao Takahata 1188
35 Ring 1998 Hideo Nakata 1189
36 Naked Lunch3 8 1991 David Cronenberg 1224
37 The Audition9 1999 Takashi Miike 1233
38 Sonatine 1993 Takeshi Kitano 1239
39 High and Low 1963 Akira Kurosawa 1251
40 Fireworks 1997 Takeshi Kitano 1261
41 Onibaba 1964 Kaneto Shindô 1278
42 Reversal of Fortune2 3 1990 Barbet Schroeder 1357
43 Godzilla 1954 Ishirô Honda 1405
44 The Burmese Harp 1956 Kon Ichikawa 1494
45 An Autumn Afternoon 1962 Yasujiro Ozu 1525
46 A Simple Plan1 2 3 5 1998 Sam Raimi 1609
47 Akira Kurosawa's Dreams2 1990 Akira Kurosawa 1619
48 An Actor's Revenge 1963 Kon Ichikawa 1648
49 Primary Colors1 2 3 5 1998 Mike Nichols 1651
50 Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto 1954 Hiroshi Inagaki 1716
51 Godzilla, King of the Monsters!2 1956 Ishirô Honda and Terry O. Morse 1717
52 Battle Royale 2000 Kinji Fukasaku 1726
53 The Ring2 2002 Gore Verbinski 1757
54 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai1 2 5 1999 Jim Jarmusch 1782
55 Wonder Boys2 3 4 2000 Curtis Hanson 1790
56 Shall We Dance? 1996 Masayuki Suo 1797
57 Floating Weeds 1959 Yasujiro Ozu 1809
58 Tora! Tora! Tora!2 1970 Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, and Toshio Masuda 1832
59 Tokyo Olympiad 1965 Kon Ichikawa 1846
60 Smoke2 5 1995 Wayne Wang 1862
61 I Was Born, But... 1932 Yasujiro Ozu 1941
62 Kiki’s Delivery Service 1989 Hayao Miyazaki 1961
63 Stray Dog 1949 Akira Kurosawa 1998
64 Sanjuro 1962 Akira Kurosawa 2008
65 Night on Earth1 2 3 5 1991 Jim Jarmusch 2084
66 Samurai 3: Duel at Ganryu Island 1956 Hiroshi Inagaki 2120
67 Samurai 2: Duel at Ichijoji Temple 1955 Hiroshi Inagaki 2133
68 The Makioka Sisters 1983 Kon Ichikawa 2196
69 Harakiri 1962 Masaki Kobayashi 2218
70 Kwaidan 1964 Masaki Kobayashi 2224
71 Laputa: Castle in the Sky 1986 Hayao Miyazaki 2276
72 Platform1 6 10 2000 Zhang Ke Jia 2286
73 Red Beard 1965 Akira Kurosawa 2326
74 Good Night, and Good Luck.1 2 3 2005 George Clooney 2453
75 Boy 1969 Nagisa Oshima 2454
76 A Taxing Woman 1987 Juzo Itami 2515

1 Joint production with France.
2 Joint production with the United States.
3 Joint production with the United Kingdom.
4 Joint production with Taiwan.
5 Joint production with Germany.
6 Joint production with the People's Republic of China.
7 Joint production with the Soviet Union.
8 Joint production with Canada.
9 Joint production with South Korea.
10 Joint production with Hong Kong.

This page was last modified on April 2, 2008