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Top Japanese Films

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Seven Samurai 1954 Akira Kurosawa 29
2 Tokyo Story 1953 Yasujirô Ozu 73
3 Rashômon 1950 Akira Kurosawa 75
4 Spirited Away 2001 Hayao Miyazaki 86
5 Lost in Translation1 2003 Sofia Coppola 169
6 Ran2 1985 Akira Kurosawa 191
7 Ikiru 1952 Akira Kurosawa 235
8 Ugetsu 1953 Kenji Mizoguchi 253
9 Akira 1988 Katsuhiro Ôtomo 261
10 Hiroshima mon amour2 1959 Alain Resnais 279
11 My Neighbor Totoro 1988 Hayao Miyazaki 308
12 Princess Mononoke 1997 Hayao Miyazaki 326
13 Yojimbo 1961 Akira Kurosawa 361
14 Sansho the Bailiff 1954 Kenji Mizoguchi 406
15 Ghost in the Shell 1995 Mamoru Oshii 475
16 Grave of the Fireflies 1988 Isao Takahata 482
17 In the Realm of the Senses2 1976 Nagisa Oshima 498
18 The Audition 1999 Takashi Miike 504
19 Throne of Blood 1957 Akira Kurosawa 530
20 Yi yi: A One and a Two...3 2000 Edward Yang 540
21 Late Spring 1949 Yasujirô Ozu 572
22 The Crying Game4 1992 Neil Jordan 612
23 Malcolm X1 1992 Spike Lee 618
24 Godzilla 1954 Ishirô Honda 622
25 Dead Man1 5 1995 Jim Jarmusch 633
26 Woman in the Dunes 1964 Hiroshi Teshigahara 711
27 The Life of Oharu 1952 Kenji Mizoguchi 743
28 Ring 1998 Hideo Nakata 774
29 Battle Royale 2000 Kinji Fukasaku 842
30 High and Low 1963 Akira Kurosawa 899
31 Howl's Moving Castle 2004 Hayao Miyazaki 940
32 Dersu Uzala6 1975 Akira Kurosawa 960
33 Fireworks 1997 Takeshi Kitano 980
34 Harakiri 1962 Masaki Kobayashi 985
35 Kagemusha1 1980 Akira Kurosawa 997
36 An Autumn Afternoon 1962 Yasujirô Ozu 1019
37 Point Break1 1991 Kathryn Bigelow 1033
38 Happy Together7 8 1997 Kar-Wai Wong 1063
39 The Ring1 2002 Gore Verbinski 1084
40 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 1984 Hayao Miyazaki 1096
41 Onibaba 1964 Kaneto Shindô 1143
42 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai1 2 5 1999 Jim Jarmusch 1150
43 The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums 1939 Kenji Mizoguchi 1172
44 The Hidden Fortress 1958 Akira Kurosawa 1174
45 Tampopo 1985 Juzo Itami 1201
46 Kiki’s Delivery Service 1989 Hayao Miyazaki 1213
47 Russian Ark5 6 9 10 2002 Aleksandr Sokurov 1218
48 Red Beard 1965 Akira Kurosawa 1220
49 After Life 1998 Hirokazu Koreeda 1250
50 Sonatine 1993 Takeshi Kitano 1252
51 Howards End1 4 1992 James Ivory 1275
52 I Was Born, But... 1932 Yasujirô Ozu 1281
53 Kwaidan 1964 Masaki Kobayashi 1297
54 Dawn of the Dead1 2 9 2004 Zack Snyder 1317
55 Yeelen2 5 11 1987 Souleymane Cissé 1321
56 Early Summer 1951 Yasujirô Ozu 1455
57 The Ballad of Narayama 1983 Shohei Imamura 1463
58 Ju Dou12 1990 Fenglian Yang and Yimou Zhang 1468
59 Laputa: Castle in the Sky 1986 Hayao Miyazaki 1486
60 Naked Lunch4 9 1991 David Cronenberg 1495
61 Floating Weeds 1959 Yasujirô Ozu 1574
62 Branded to Kill 1967 Seijun Suzuki 1606
63 The Burmese Harp 1956 Kon Ichikawa 1623
64 Perfect Blue 1997 Satoshi Kon 1690
65 The Crucified Lovers 1954 Kenji Mizoguchi 1797
66 Platform2 7 12 2000 Zhangke Jia 1800
67 Smoke1 5 1995 Wayne Wang 1818
68 Ponyo 2008 Hayao Miyazaki 1821
69 Good Night, and Good Luck.1 2 4 2005 George Clooney 1856
70 Tokyo Godfathers 2003 Satoshi Kon 1862
71 Sanjuro 1962 Akira Kurosawa 1884
72 Good Morning 1959 Yasujirô Ozu 1885
73 A Page of Madness 1926 Teinosuke Kinugasa 1896
74 Blue4 1993 Derek Jarman 1900
75 Mystery Train1 1989 Jim Jarmusch 1919
76 A Simple Plan1 2 4 5 1998 Sam Raimi 1923
77 Akira Kurosawa's Dreams1 1990 Akira Kurosawa 1924
78 Paprika 2006 Satoshi Kon 1936
79 Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters1 1985 Paul Schrader 1976
80 Tokyo Olympiad 1965 Kon Ichikawa 1980
81 Fires on the Plain 1959 Kon Ichikawa 2001
82 Reversal of Fortune1 4 1990 Barbet Schroeder 2007
83 Porco Rosso 1992 Hayao Miyazaki 2026
84 The Human Condition: A Soldier's Prayer 1961 Masaki Kobayashi 2047
85 Whisper of the Heart 1995 Yoshifumi Kondo 2052
86 End of Evangelion 1997 Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki 2070
87 Wonder Boys1 4 5 2000 Curtis Hanson 2081
88 No Direction Home: Bob Dylan1 4 2005 Martin Scorsese 2088
89 Samurai Rebellion 1967 Masaki Kobayashi 2121
90 Control1 4 13 2007 Anton Corbijn 2128
91 The Last Samurai1 14 2003 Edward Zwick 2134
92 Millennium Actress 2001 Satoshi Kon 2154
93 The Emperor's Naked Army Marches on 1987 Kazuo Hara 2167
94 Tora! Tora! Tora!1 1970 Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, and Toshio Masuda 2175
95 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World1 4 9 2010 Edgar Wright 2208
96 3-Iron8 2004 Ki-duk Kim 2251
97 Drunken Angel 1948 Akira Kurosawa 2287
98 Ju-on: The Grudge 2002 Takashi Shimizu 2289
99 The Human Condition: No Greater Love 1959 Masaki Kobayashi 2304
100 13 Assassins4 2010 Takashi Miike 2327
101 When a Woman Ascends the Stairs 1960 Mikio Naruse 2333
102 Stray Dog 1949 Akira Kurosawa 2348
103 An Actor's Revenge 1963 Kon Ichikawa 2362
104 Floating Clouds 1955 Mikio Naruse 2372
105 Zatôichi 2003 Takeshi Kitano 2408
106 Tokyo Drifter 1966 Seijun Suzuki 2414
107 Tetsuo: The Iron Man 1989 Shinya Tsukamoto 2424
108 Osama15 2003 Siddiq Barmak 2425
109 Ichi the Killer 2001 Takashi Miike 2428

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

This page was last modified on July 14, 2016