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Top Japanese Films

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Seven Samurai 1954 Akira Kurosawa 22
2 Tokyo Story 1953 Yasujirô Ozu 70
3 Rashômon 1950 Akira Kurosawa 72
4 Spirited Away 2001 Hayao Miyazaki 79
5 Lost in Translation1 2003 Sofia Coppola 161
6 Ran2 1985 Akira Kurosawa 197
7 Akira 1988 Katsuhiro Ôtomo 204
8 My Neighbor Totoro 1988 Hayao Miyazaki 230
9 Ugetsu 1953 Kenji Mizoguchi 241
10 Ikiru 1952 Akira Kurosawa 256
11 Children of Men1 3 2006 Alfonso Cuarón 258
12 Princess Mononoke 1997 Hayao Miyazaki 265
13 Kill Bill: Vol. 11 2003 Quentin Tarantino 274
14 Hiroshima mon amour2 1959 Alain Resnais 326
15 Yojimbo 1961 Akira Kurosawa 328
16 Grave of the Fireflies 1988 Isao Takahata 329
17 Ghost in the Shell3 1995 Mamoru Oshii 374
18 Sansho the Bailiff 1954 Kenji Mizoguchi 376
19 Throne of Blood 1957 Akira Kurosawa 507
20 Audition 1999 Takashi Miike 511
21 Dead Man1 4 1995 Jim Jarmusch 541
22 Yi yi: A One and a Two...5 2000 Edward Yang 552
23 Howl's Moving Castle 2004 Hayao Miyazaki 573
24 Godzilla 1954 Ishirô Honda 580
25 Late Spring 1949 Yasujirô Ozu 586
26 In the Realm of the Senses2 1976 Nagisa Ôshima 589
27 Battle Royale 2000 Kinji Fukasaku 600
28 Point Break1 1991 Kathryn Bigelow 661
29 High and Low 1963 Akira Kurosawa 662
30 Woman in the Dunes 1964 Hiroshi Teshigahara 667
31 Malcolm X1 1992 Spike Lee 746
32 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind1 1984 Hayao Miyazaki 750
33 Harakiri 1962 Masaki Kobayashi 754
34 Happy Together6 7 1997 Kar-Wai Wong 816
35 Ring 1998 Hideo Nakata 889
36 The Crying Game1 3 1992 Neil Jordan 958
37 The Life of Oharu 1952 Kenji Mizoguchi 986
38 Laputa: Castle in the Sky 1986 Hayao Miyazaki 1058
39 Get Out1 2017 Jordan Peele 1061
40 Fireworks 1997 Takeshi Kitano 1069
41 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai1 2 4 1999 Jim Jarmusch 1093
42 Kwaidan 1964 Masaki Kobayashi 1161
43 The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums 1939 Kenji Mizoguchi 1162
44 Paprika 2006 Satoshi Kon 1168
45 An Autumn Afternoon 1962 Yasujirô Ozu 1187
46 Dersu Uzala8 1975 Akira Kurosawa 1224
47 Red Beard 1965 Akira Kurosawa 1225
48 The Hidden Fortress 1958 Akira Kurosawa 1238
49 Dawn of the Dead1 2 9 2004 Zack Snyder 1280
50 Kiki’s Delivery Service 1989 Hayao Miyazaki 1305
51 Perfect Blue 1997 Satoshi Kon 1317
52 Russian Ark4 8 9 10 2002 Aleksandr Sokurov 1325
53 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World1 3 9 2010 Edgar Wright 1330
54 Yeelen2 4 11 1987 Souleymane Cissé 1342
55 I Was Born, But... 1932 Yasujirô Ozu 1392
56 Onibaba 1964 Kaneto Shindô 1393
57 Kagemusha1 1980 Akira Kurosawa 1416
58 Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters1 1985 Paul Schrader 1525
59 Early Summer 1951 Yasujirô Ozu 1536
60 Your Name 2016 Makoto Shinkai 1571
61 Tampopo 1985 Juzo Itami 1579
62 End of Evangelion 1997 Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki 1591
63 Ponyo 2008 Hayao Miyazaki 1608
64 Howards End1 3 1992 James Ivory 1620
65 Floating Weeds 1959 Yasujirô Ozu 1630
66 The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer 1961 Masaki Kobayashi 1669
67 The Ballad of Narayama 1983 Shôhei Imamura 1670
68 13 Assassins3 2010 Takashi Miike 1683
69 Sonatine 1993 Takeshi Kitano 1726
70 The Burmese Harp 1956 Kon Ichikawa 1732
71 Porco Rosso 1992 Hayao Miyazaki 1737
72 Good Morning 1959 Yasujirô Ozu 1752
73 Branded to Kill 1967 Seijun Suzuki 1769
74 Control1 2 3 12 2007 Anton Corbijn 1775
75 Platform2 6 13 2000 Zhangke Jia 1780
76 Good Night, and Good Luck.1 2 3 2005 George Clooney 1854
77 Samurai Rebellion 1967 Masaki Kobayashi 1861
78 Tokyo Godfathers 2003 Satoshi Kon 1869
79 Ju Dou13 1990 Fenglian Yang and Yimou Zhang 1872
80 Naked Lunch3 9 1991 David Cronenberg 1875
81 Fast Five1 14 2011 Justin Lin 1882
82 Sanjuro 1962 Akira Kurosawa 1921
83 The Last Samurai1 15 2003 Edward Zwick 1922
84 The World's Fastest Indian1 15 2005 Roger Donaldson 1957
85 Stray Dog 1949 Akira Kurosawa 1965
86 3-Iron7 2004 Ki-duk Kim 1969
87 Kubo and the Two Strings1 2016 Travis Knight 1995
88 Mystery Train1 1989 Jim Jarmusch 1997
89 Whisper of the Heart 1995 Yoshifumi Kondo 2004
90 A Page of Madness 1926 Teinosuke Kinugasa 2012
91 The Crucified Lovers 1954 Kenji Mizoguchi 2021
92 The Human Condition I: No Greater Love 1959 Masaki Kobayashi 2032
93 Only Yesterday 1991 Isao Takahata 2051
94 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 2006 Mamoru Hosoda 2053
95 Nobody Knows 2004 Hirokazu Koreeda 2073
96 The Emperor's Naked Army Marches on 1987 Kazuo Hara 2085
97 Enter the Void2 4 9 16 2009 Gaspar Noé 2115
98 Tokyo Olympiad 1965 Kon Ichikawa 2122
99 When a Woman Ascends the Stairs 1960 Mikio Naruse 2127
100 Millennium Actress 2001 Satoshi Kon 2133
101 Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence3 15 1983 Nagisa Ôshima 2162
102 The Tale of Princess Kaguya 2013 Isao Takahata 2178
103 After Life 1998 Hirokazu Koreeda 2199
104 Floating Clouds 1955 Mikio Naruse 2200
105 Fires on the Plain 1959 Kon Ichikawa 2243
106 Smoke1 4 1995 Wayne Wang 2273
107 Ninja Scroll 1993 Yoshiaki Kawajiri 2283
108 Akira Kurosawa's Dreams1 1990 Akira Kurosawa 2285
109 Blue3 1993 Derek Jarman 2296
110 The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity 1959 Masaki Kobayashi 2367
111 The Face of Another 1966 Hiroshi Teshigahara 2397
112 The Wind Rises 2013 Hayao Miyazaki 2422
113 Marie Antoinette1 2 2006 Sofia Coppola 2479
114 La Ciénaga2 17 2001 Lucrecia Martel 2485
115 Departures 2008 Yojiro Takita 2508
116 A Simple Plan1 2 3 4 1998 Sam Raimi 2523
117 Reversal of Fortune1 3 1990 Barbet Schroeder 2538
118 Zatôichi 2003 Takeshi Kitano 2550
119 Ju-on: The Grudge 2002 Takashi Shimizu 2566
120 The Castle of Cagliostro 1979 Hayao Miyazaki 2576
121 Pulse 2001 Kiyoshi Kurosawa 2593
122 Ichi the Killer 2001 Takashi Miike 2673
123 Tokyo Drifter 1966 Seijun Suzuki 2677
124 The Brave Little Toaster1 5 9 13 1987 Jerry Rees 2685
125 Drunken Angel 1948 Akira Kurosawa 2723
126 Man on the Moon1 3 4 1999 Milos Forman 2742
127 Tetsuo: The Iron Man 1989 Shinya Tsukamoto 2748
128 Love Exposure 2008 Shion Sono 2762
129 Chaplin1 2 3 16 1992 Richard Attenborough 2770
130 Society1 1989 Brian Yuzna 2798

1 Joint production with the United States.
2 Joint production with France.
3 Joint production with the United Kingdom.
4 Joint production with (West) Germany.
5 Joint production with Taiwan.
6 Joint production with Hong Kong.
7 Joint production with South Korea.
8 Joint production with the Soviet Union or Russia.
9 Joint production with Canada.
10 Joint production with Finland and Denmark.
11 Joint production with Burkino Faso and Mali.
12 Joint production with Australia.
13 Joint production with the People's Republic of China.
14 Joint production with Brazil.
15 Joint production with New Zealand.
16 Joint production with Italy.
17 Joint production with Argentina and Spain.

This page was last modified on April 15, 2020