Movies in Japanese
NOTE: NEWEST ADDITIONS ARE AT THE END, AND NOT LISTED ALPHABETICALLY.
All pictures and text from www.amazon.com unless otherwise noted.
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1 Animated Classics of Japanese Literature 2002 In Japanese, with English subtitles |
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2 Dolls 2002 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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This video contains two stories, "Wandering Days" and "Growing Up," both coming-of-age stories involving adolescent girls and based on stories by women authors. "Wandering Days," set in the early 20th century, focuses on young Fumiko and her attempts to excel in school despite her family's constant moving due to her father's occupation. When a teacher takes an interest in her writing, Fumiko begins to dream of a better life. "Growing Up," set in the Meiji era, takes place in the red light district of Yoshiwara and focuses on life among the adolescents of the community, emphasizing the rift that develops between two friends, the beautiful young Midori, younger sister of a prominent Geisha, and her classmate, Shin, son of the local Buddhist monk, an inveterate drunkard. (www.amazon.com) |
The title refers most directly, but not exclusively, to the theatrical tradition of Bunraku, enacted by half-life-size dolls and their visible but shrouded onstage manipulators. Such a performance--a drama of doomed lovers--occupies the first five minutes of the film, striking a keynote that resonates as flesh-and-blood characters take up the action, weaving together three stories involving a young couple, an aging yakuza, and a disfigured pop star. --Richard T. Jameson |
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The Funeral 1987 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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3 Everybody's Home 2001 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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The debut film from acclaimed Japanese director, Juzo Itami (Tampopo, A Taxing Woman) shows a very untraditional side to a very traditional ceremony. When Chizuko's (Nobuko Miyamoto) ornery father unexpectedly dies, the undertaking of the three-day funeral is too much to handle. Her family and especially her husband Wabisuke (Tsutomo Yamazaki), find themselves in hilarious situations as the younger generation struggles with the complex rituals of the Buddhist ceremony that are fading fast from modern Japanese life. From the Back Cover |
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Building a house can be a complicated affair when everybody wants their say! |
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5 Hana and Alice
2004 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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6 Hula Girls 2006 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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At 15, your best friend is everything to you. Until you start growing up... Hana and Alice are inseparable friends until Miyamoto, a cute boy they spot at a train station, comes between them. Tricking Miyamoto into believing that he is suffering from amnesia, Hana claims that she is his girlfriend. A baffled Miyamoto struggles to regain his memories as he is drawn to the prettier Alice. When the bond deepens, the girls' lifelong relationship begins to fray... propelling them apart. From one of Japan's top directors, this tender coming-of-age story beautifully captures the passion and heartache of adolescence. |
Based on a true story, this heart-warming comedy is about coal miners’ daughters who take a once-in-a-lifetime chance to escape their monotonous lives. They become unwitting heroes not only in their depressed mining town but in the whole of Japan as well. |
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7 Kikujiro to Saki (9 episodes) In Japanese, NO subtitles
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8 Kilico's Scenery In Japanese, NO subtitles
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This TV series, evoking the beauty and importance of family ties, is loosely based on the true story of the Kitano family whose son, Takeshi, became an extremely talented comedian, artist, and world-class movie director. In the series, Kikujiro, the father of the Kitano family, is strict and short-tempered, yet comically old-fashioned. Saki, the mother, while cheerful and resourceful, quarrels often with her husband, but eventually supports him in whatever hardship there may be. |
http://www.kinenaoto.com/disco/video.html
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9 Linda, Linda, Linda 2005 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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Nobody Knows 2004 In Japanese, with English subtitles
Keiko is the single mother of four children. They move into an apartment in Tokyo, where the landlord does not like noisy children. So to get the apartment Keiko claims that she only has one child: 12 year old Akira (Yûya Yagira), which she introduces to the landlord, when they move in. The two small children Shigeru and Yuki are smuggled into the apartment in suitcases and have to promise to stay hidden. Akira is left with the full responsibility of his siblings. Their mother stays away for longer and longer periods, and finally even the money stops coming. http://www.shuqi.org/asiancinema/reviews |
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The story follows an all-girl high school rock band after an untimely break-up. Only three days before their high school festival, guitarist Kei, drummer Kyoto, and bassist Nozumi must recruit a new lead vocalist for their band. They choose an unlikely Korean exchange student Son, even though her comprehension of Japanese is a bit rough! It's a race against time as the group struggles to learn three tunes for the festival's rock concert. |
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111 Safe and Sound in Japan (Episodes 1 and 2)
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Shall We Dance? (Director: Masayuki Suo) 1997 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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Educational series about everyday Japanese culture in different places: at home, at the office, etc. home.wlu.edu |
This 1996 comedy is especially noteworthy for contrasting the boldness of social dance with the buttoned-up societal mores of Japan, where people avoid public displays of emotion. |
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13 Shinobi, Heart Under Blade 2005 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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14 Tampopo 1987 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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For centuries, there lived warriors of darkness and shadow with strange powers and arcane skills, living only for battle. They were the SHINOBI. The year is 1614. Japan has been united under the Tokugawa Shoguns and the land is beginning to know peace. Two remote ninja clans, the Koga and the Iga, are ancient enemies but have long been bound by a peace agreement forbidding them to fight. The heirs to the leadership of both clans have fallen in love but a tragic fate awaits them. A cruel plot is set by the Shogun to wipe these two clans from existence by breaking the peace agreement and forcing the two clans to battle. As a great war begins it brings the two young heirs together again. But this time as enemies. |
This movie explores (with hysterical results) why food becomes such an important touchstone in life. Truck driver Goro and Gun are in search of some good food and run into a widow who is trying to run a ramen shop. Unfortunately, she's not doing too well so Goro and some unlikely guides offer her some sage advice and help her on her way to becoming a true ramenista. –C. Matsusaka |
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15 The Taste of Tea 2004 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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16 A Taxing Woman 1988 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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Meet the Harunos, a rather unconventional family. They live in a small mountain town just outside of Tokyo. Life is good - but that doesn't mean they don't have problems. As 8-year old Sachiko tries to get rid of a giant version of herself who seems to pop up everywhere, her older brother wrestles with a love-struck heart. Meanwhile, their mother is coming out of retirement as her husband watches on with apprehension. And lastly there's Grandpa, the most bizarre and perhaps the most perceptive of all… |
Ryoko Itakura is a government tax agent who has just landed a big promotion. Her first assignment is to catch wheeler-dealer Hideki Gondo. She has a tough job, since in Japan tax evasion is an art and Gondo is, in effect, Rembrandt. Her job is complicated by a growing sympathy for the rogue and by political pressure to lay off. |
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17 Train Man 2005 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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18 Water Boys 2001 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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Computer engineer Otaku (the Japanese term for "geek") is an average young man, dressed in unstylish clothes and dorky glasses. He encounters a pretty young woman on a commuter train and saves her from a lecherous molester, falling in love with her at first sight. Having never had a girlfriend or received a gift from a girl in his life, Otaku seeks out his pals on his BBS website for advice using his codename Train_Man. Encouraged by their support, Train_Man undergoes a total makeover for his first-ever date with "Hermess". Little does he know that he is about to ignite an Internet phenomenon... |
"Water Boys", in short, is a comedy about a male synchronized swimming team. A group of high school boys, persuaded by their attractive new swim coach, decide to form the first all-male high school synchronized swimming team. Some of the boys are so pathetic they can hardly even swim to begin with. But somehow they decide to persevere, despite their coach's sudden pregnancy. http://www.jfan.com/cinema/cinema.cgi?action=viewrev&selected=2 |
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19 Premonition 2004 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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Letters from Iwo Jima 2007 In Japanese, with English subtitles
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Based on a Japanese story called 'The Fear Newspaper’, Premonition looks at a few unlucky individuals who can foretell the future. When Hideki picks up a newspaper he knows what he will see...death. Foretelling ill-omened events of everything from slayings to train crashes, there is nothing Hideki can do to stop the event... or is there? When the paper predicts the demise of his daughter in a car crash, Hideki seeks out others like himself, searching for a way to change the future. |
Nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima tells the untold story of the Japanese soldiers who defended their homeland against invading American forces during World War II. With little defense other than sheer will and the volcanic rock of Iwo Jima itself, the unprecedented tactics of General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai) and his men transform what was predicted to be a swift defeat into nearly 40 days of heroic and resourceful combat. Their sacrifices, struggles, courage and compassion live on in the taut, gripping film Rolling Stone calls "unique and unforgettable." |
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21 Operator’s Side Playstation2 Video Game ESRB Rating: Mature VIDEO GAME!!! |
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Paradise 2005 In Japanese, with English subtitles  |
Put down the controller and speak up! In the first-ever voice activated action-adventure game, players will work together with the main character Rio by verbally guiding her through this heart-pounding adventure. (www.amazon.com) You are the "operator" An invited guest to the Japan Space Station Hotel and you find yourself locked in the Monitor Room. You're only hope to getting out of the Monitor Room is to verbally guide the waitress Rio through the Space Station Hotel, make her survive the monster fights, help her solve puzzles to get through an area, find your girlfriend Naomi and getting you out of the Monitor Room. Written by kong_oliver@hotmail.com |
Set in a rural fishing village in southern Japan, this is the story of Erika, a celebrated former anchorwoman now back in her hometown campaigning for a seat in the national party, and Yohei, an insecure fisherman-in-training. The two are worlds apart... |
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Dororo 2007 In Japanese, with English subtitles |
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Grave of the Fireflies 1988 In Japanese, English, etc. with English subtitles |
| In an age of epic samurai battles, one warrior must hunt down and destroy powerful demonic forces to reclaim his humanity and uncover the secret of his father’s betrayal. Based on the classic story by legendary Japanese manga (comic book) pioneer Osamu Tezuka, Dororo is a fantastical adventure filled with thrilling action and unrivalled imagination! | Isao Takahata's powerful antiwar film has been praised by critics wherever it has been screened around the world. When their mother is killed in the firebombing of Tokyo near the end of World War II, teenage Seita and his little sister Setsuko are left on their own: their father is away, serving in the Imperial Navy. The two children initially stay with an aunt, but she has little affection for them and resents the time and money they require. The two children set up housekeeping in a cave by a stream, but their meager resources are quickly exhausted, and Seita is reduced to stealing to feed his sister. | ||
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Howl's Moving Castle 2004 In Japanese, English, etc. with English subtitles  |
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Ikiru 1952 In Japanese, with English subtitles |
| Sophie, a 19-year-old girl who believes she is plain, has resigned herself to a drab life in her family's hat shop--until the Witch of the Waste transforms her into a 90-year-old woman. In her aged guise, Sophie searches for a way to break the Witch's spell and finds unexpected adventures. Like Chihiro, the heroine of Spirited Away, Sophie discovers her hidden potential in a magical environment--the castle of the title. In so doing, she wins the heart of the dashing, irresponsible wizard Howl, and brings an end to an unnecessary and destructive war. --Charles Solomon | Shimura, who nobly led the Seven Samurai two years later, is sublimely perfect as a melancholy civil servant who, upon learning that he has terminal cancer, realizes he has nothing to show for his dreary, unsatisfying life. He seeks solace in nightlife and family, to no avail, until a simple inspiration leads him to a final, enduring act of public generosity. Expressing his own thoughts about death and the universal desire for a meaningful existence, Kurosawa infuses this drama with social conscience and deep, personal conviction, arriving at a conclusion that is emotionally overwhelming and simply unforgettable. --Jeff Shannon | ||
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Princess Mononoke 1997 In Japanese, English, French  |
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Paprika 2006 In Japanese, English, etc. with English subtitles |
| Inflicted with a deadly curse, a young warrior named Ashitaka sets out for the forests of the west in search of the cure that will save his life. Once there, he becomes inextricably entangled in a bitter battle that matches Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver) and a proud clan of humans against the forest's animal gods, who are led by the brave Princess Mononoke, a young woman raised by wolves! This monumental struggle between man and nature will have you transfixed as stunning artistry blends with epic storytelling to create a uniquely entertaining motion picture! | Prepare to enter the realm of fantasy and imagination where reality and dreams collide in a kaleidoscopic mindscape of sheer visual genius. The magical tale centers on a revolutionary machine that allows scientists to enter and record a subject’s dream. After being stolen, a fearless detective and brilliant therapist join forces to recover the device before it falls into the hands of a dream terrorist in this gripping anime thriller from acclaimed director Satoshi Kon. Based on a novel by the noted Japanese science fiction writer Yasutaka Tsutui. | ||
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Spirited Away 2001 In Japanese, English, and French |
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Always Sunset on Third Street
In Japanese, with English subtitles |
| SPIRITED AWAY is a wondrous fantasy about a young girl, Chihiro, trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free herself and return her family to the outside world. An unforgettable story brimming with creativity, SPIRITED AWAY will take you on a journey beyond your imagination. "To enter the world of Hayao Miyazaki is to experience a kind of lighthearted enchantment that is unique to the world of animation" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). | The follow-up of the adventures of writer Ryunosuke Chagawa and the other characters living on 3rd Street. Chagawa still loves Hiromi though she has left, and he continues living with Junnosuke. Norifumi of the Suzuki family dreams of making his company 'Suzuki Auto' the best in Japan. | ||
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31 Departures 2008 In Japanese, with English subtitles |
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Fine, Totally Fine 2007 In Japanese, with English subtitles |
| Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living. | Teruo, the eldest son of a used bookstore owner has a dream: to build the world scariest haunted house. About to reach his 30th birthday, Teruo is still idling away his life. One day, through the introduction of childhood friend Hisanobu, an extremely clumsy painter/artist comes to work at the bookstore. Meet Akari. A cute, attractive girl that both Teruo and Hisanobu soon fall for. This small bookstore could be in any town and becomes a refuge for these individuals that have fallen out of the mainstream society. 'Fine, Totally Fine' is an eagerly awaited hilarious film that portrays an easy-going, comical and heat-warming story that unfolds in a bookstore. | ||
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