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100 Best Japanese Movies of All Time I'm a big fan of Japanese cinema and was impressed by the list that TheCinemaholic put together of greatest Japanese films. It includes all the names you expect, in quantity, but not necessarily in the order we might expect. There are also a lot of more obscure films here that we might not expect. There are more than a hundred films in the list because a couple of selections, like the Samurai trilogy, Battles without Honor and Humanity and Lone Wolf and Cub are series sharing one place. Oddly, however, The Human Condition got three places instead of one. The source is here at TheCinemaholic website. The List # Title Year Director IMDb 1 High & Low 1963 Akira Kurosawa IMDb 2 Late Spring 1949 Yasujirô Ozu IMDb 3 Woman in the Dunes 1964 Hiroshi Teshigahara IMDb 4 Pale Flower 1964 Masahiro Shinoda IMDb 5 Seven Samurai 1954 Akira Kurosawa IMDb 6 Harakiri 1962 Masaki Kobayashi IMDb 7 Rashomon 1950 Akira Kurosawa IMDb 8 The Face of Another 1966 Hiroshi Teshigahara IMDb 9 My Neighbor Totoro 1988 Hayao Miyazaki IMDb 10 Eros + Massacre 1969 Yoshishige Yoshida IMDb 11 Samurai Rebellion 1967 Masaki Kobayashi IMDb 12 Fires on the Plain 1959 Kon Ichikawa IMDb 13 Tokyo Story 1953 Yasujirô Ozu IMDb 14 Throne of Blood 1957 Akira Kurosawa IMDb 15 An Autumn Afternoon 1962 Yasujirô Ozu IMDb 16 Princess Mononoke 1997 Hayao Miyazaki IMDb 17 Ran 1985 Akira Kurosawa IMDb 18 Audition 1999 Takashi Miike IMDb 19 Yojimbo 1961 Akira Kurosawa IMDb 20 Vengeance is Mine 1979 Shôhei Imamura IMDb 21 Eureka 2000 Shinji Aoyama IMDb 22 Tokyo Twilight 1957 Yasujirô Ozu IMDb 23 Pitfall 1962 Hiroshi Teshigahara IMDb 24 A Fugitive from the Past 1965 Tomu Uchida IMDb 25 Death by Hanging 1968 Nagisa Ôshima IMDb 26 Spirited Away 2001 Hayao Miyazaki IMDb 27 Black Cat 1968 Kaneto Shindô IMDb 28 Ringu 1998 Hideo Nakata IMDb 29 Double Suicide 1969 Masahiro Shinoda IMDb 30 The Human Condition III: A Soldier’s Prayer 1961 Masaki Kobayashi IMDb 31 Blind Beast 1969 Yasuzô Masumura IMDb 32 Ikiru 1952 Akira Kurosawa IMDb 33 Hausu 1977 Nobuhiko Ôbayashi IMDb 34 The Sword of Doom 1966 Kihachi Okamoto IMDb 35 Branded to Kill 1967 Seijun Suzuki IMDb 36 The Naked Island 1960 Kaneto Shindô IMDb 37 Assassinations 1964 Masahiro Shinoda IMDb 38 Intentions of Murder 1964 Shôhei Imamura IMDb 39 Heroic Purgatory 1970 Yoshishige Yoshida IMDb 40 The Human Condition II: The Road to Eternity 1960 Masaki Kobayashi IMDb 41 The Hidden Fortress 1959 Akira Kurosawa IMDb 42 A Page of Madness 1926 Teinosuke Kinugasa IMDb 43 The Burmese Harp 1956 Kon Ichikawa IMDb 44 Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto 1954 Hiroshi Inagaki IMDb 44 Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple 1955 Hiroshi Inagaki IMDb 44 Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island 1956 Hiroshi Inagaki IMDb 45 Grave of the Fireflies 1988 Isao Takahata IMDb 46 Tokyo Drifter 1966 Seijun Suzuki IMDb 47 Kwaidan 1964 Masaki Kobayashi IMDb 48 Battles without Honor and Humanity 1973 Kinji Fukasaku IMDb 48 Hiroshima Death Match 1973 Kinji Fukasaku IMDb 48 Proxy War 1973 Kinji Fukasaku IMDb 48 Police Tactics 1974 Kinji Fukasaku IMDb 48 Final Episode 1974 Kinji Fukasaku IMDb 49 Pulse 2001 Kiyoshi Kurosawa IMDb 50 The Insect Woman 1963 Shôhei Imamura IMDb 51 The Man without a Map 1968 Hiroshi Teshigahara IMDb 52 The Red Angel 1966 Yasuzô Masumura IMDb 53 Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets 1971 Shûji Terayama IMDb 54 The Human Condition I: No Greater Love 1959 Masaki Kobayashi IMDb 55 Profound Desires of the Gods 1968 Shôhei Imamura IMDb 56 A Wife Confesses 1961 Yasuzô Masumura IMDb 57 Akitsu Springs 1962 Yoshishige Yoshida IMDb 58 Shall We Dance? 1996 Masayuki Suô IMDb 59 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 1984 Hayao Miyazaki IMDb 60 Your Name 2016 Makoto Shinkai IMDb 61 The Tale of Princess Kaguya 2012 Isao Takahata IMDb 62 Mandara 1971 Akio Jissôji IMDb 63 The Ballad of Narayama 1983 Shôhei Imamura IMDb 64 Confessions Among Actresses 1971 Yoshishige Yoshida IMDb 65 Still Walking 2008 Hirokazu Koreeda IMDb 66 Demons 1971 Toshio Matsumoto IMDb 67 Sonatine 1993 Takeshi Kitano IMDb 68 Onibaba 1964 Kaneto Shindo IMDb 69 Sansho the Bailiff 1954 Kenji Mizoguchi IMDb 70 Akira 1988 Katsuhiro Ôtomo IMDb 71 Yûkoko: The Rite of Love and Death 1966 Yuiko Mishima IMDb 72 Dark Water 2002 Hideo Nakata IMDb 73 Perfect Blue 1997 Satoshi Kon IMDb 74 Pastoral: To Die in the Country 1974 Shûji Terayama IMDb 75 Floating Weeds 1959 Yasujirô Ozu IMDb 76 Street of Shame 1956 Kenji Mizoguchi IMDb 77 Mr. Thankyou 1937 Hiroshi Shimizu IMDb 78 Twenty-Four Eyes 1954 Keisuke Kinoshita IMDb 79 Jigoku 1960 Nobuo Nakagawa IMDb 80 Go Go Second Time Virgin 1969 Kôji Wakamatsu IMDb 81 Silence 1971 Masahiro Shinoda IMDb 82 Humanity and Paper Balloons 1937 Sadao Yamanaka IMDb 83 Black Rain 1989 Shôhei Imamura IMDb 84 Tetsuo: The Iron Man 1989 Shin’ya Tsukamoto IMDb 85 The Bad Sleep Well 1960 Akira Kurosawa IMDb 86 Cure 1997 Kiyoshi Kurosawa IMDb 87 Inferno of First Love 1968 Susumu Hani IMDb 88 Ugetsu 1953 Kenji Mizoguchi IMDb 89 Ornamental Hairpin 1941 Hiroshi Shimizu IMDb 90 Ecstasy of the Angels 1972 Kôji Wakamatsu IMDb 91 Paprika 2006 Satoshi Kon IMDb 92 Funeral Parade of Roses 1969 Toshio Matsumoto IMDb 93 Dreams 1990 Akira Kurosawa IMDb 94 The Life of Oharu 1952 Kenji Mizoguchi IMDb 95 Crazed Fruit 1956 Kô Nakahira IMDb 96 Godzilla 1954 Ishirô Honda IMDb 97 Battle Royale 2000 Kinji Fukasaku IMDb 98 Ichi the Killer 2001 Takashi Miike IMDb 99 Sword of Vengeance 1972 Kenji Misumi IMDb 99 Baby Cart at the River Styx 1972 Kenji Misumi IMDb 99 Baby Cart to Hades 1972 Kenji Misumi IMDb 99 Baby Cart in Peril 1972 Buichi Saitô IMDb 99 Baby Cart in the Land of Demons 1973 Kenji Misumi IMDb 99 White Heaven in Hell 1974 Yoshiyuki Kuroda IMDb 100 Gate of Hell 1953 Teinosuke Kinugasa IMDb

Last update: 18th August, 2025