Japanese romance
List activity
111 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
40 titles
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsSatomi KobayashiToshinori OmiMakoto Satô9th-graders Kazuo (boy) and Kazumi (girl) take a tumble at a temple in a small seacoast town in Japan. Through supernatural intervention, their minds and bodies are switched, and the result is a touching and hilarious coming-of-age comedy as they attempt to survive the pressures of junior high school life.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsYasuko TomitaToshinori OmiYumiko FujitaLonely and love-struck, high-school student Hiroki pursues one girl but another one mysteriously appears in his life. Is she a figment of his lonely psyche, or real? An intricate triangle develops, and the viewer can't quite be sure what is happening until the whole story is neatly resolved at the end.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKen TakakuraChieko BaishôKaori MomoiThree complete strangers embark on a road-trip to Hokkaido.
- DirectorTakashi YamazakiStarsMaki HorikitaHidetaka YoshiokaShin'ichi TsutsumiLeaving her provincial home, teenage Mutsuko arrives in Tokyo by train to take a job in a major automotive company but finds that she is employed by a small auto repair shop owned by Norifumi Suzuki. Suzuki's hair-trigger temper is held somewhat in check by the motherly instincts of his wife, Tomoe, and his young son Ippei immediately bonds with Mutsuko as if she were his older sister. The Suzuki shop lies almost in the shadow of the Tokyo Tower as it rises steadily above the skyline during construction in 1958. Others in the neighborhood also are striving to better themselves as Japan continues to emerge from the shadow of war. Hiromi has just abandoned her shady life as a dancer to start a sake bar. Abandoned by his single mother, young Junnosuke is first handed off to Hiromi but she passes him off to Ryunosuke Chagawa, a struggling writer who runs a candy shop and only manages to sell adventure stories for boys as his serious novels continue to be rejected. Junnosuke is an avid reader of Chagawa's stories and begins to idolize him upon learning about his authorship. Junnosuke also writes stories, and makes friends with Ippei and others when they discover his tales that show Japan in the hi-tech future of the 21st century.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsMasato HagiwaraKoji YakushoTsuyoshi UjikiA frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.
- DirectorShun NakaharaStarsKazuyuki AijimaMichiko HayashiZen KajiharaIn a jury room, jurors deliberate on the guilt or innocence of a bar hostess accused of pushing her ex-husband into the path of an oncoming truck. Most of the jurors are nice folks unwilling to believe a women could do such an evil act. Juror #2 then takes the initiative to convince his peers.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsTakahiro NishijimaHikari MitsushimaSakura AndôA bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHiroshi AbeYui NatsukawaYouA family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.
- DirectorKazuki ÔmoriStarsMasato FuruoyaRan ItôMasahiro MitsutaA medical student wonders if he's really cut out to be a doctor.
- DirectorTakashi IshiiStarsNaoto TakenakaKimiko YoJinpachi NezuA private investigator takes on an odd job to retrieve a lost Rolex, only to find himself lured into a case filled with violence and sex by his mysterious employer.
- DirectorTôru KawashimaStarsShôji KanekoEiko NagashimaKôji KitaRyuji tries to quit yakuza and spend a decent life with his wife Mariko and daughter Aya, but as he's used to getting easy money, it'd become hard for him to work hard and get little. Eventually he's back to where he belongs.
- DirectorMasayuki SuôStarsUsagi AsôMiki YamajiKaoru KazeThe film tells a story about a woman and her relationship with the family of her husband's, in particular her husband's younger brother and father-in-law. Her husband, on the other hand, has an affair with a dominatrix and is obsessed in S&M games.
- DirectorItsumichi IsomuraStarsRena TanakaMami ShimizuWakana ChizakiEtsuko - a typical Japanese high school student, who's unlucky in love, an academic failure, and plain bored with life. That's until one day, the view of a boat gliding gracefully in the sea inspires her to take up the oar. Since she's rejected by her school's all-male rowing team, she decides to form her own all-women team. Nothing will ever be the same again.
- DirectorRyûsuke HamaguchiStarsSachie TanakaHazuki KikuchiMaiko MiharaA slow-burning epic chronicling the emotional journey of four thirty something women in the misty seaside city of Kobe.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsLily FrankySakura AndôKirin KikiOn the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders are united by loyalty, a penchant for petty theft and playful grifting. When the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsPark Hae-ilTang WeiLee Jung-hyunA detective investigating a man's death in the mountains meets the dead man's mysterious wife in the course of his dogged sleuthing.
- DirectorRyûsuke HamaguchiStarsKotone FurukawaAyumu NakajimaHyunriAn unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.
- DirectorNobuhiro DoiStarsYûko TakeuchiShidô NakamuraAkashi TakeiA young woman returns from the dead to her guilt-ridden husband and son, but she cannot remember them.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoKayoko KishimotoRen ÔsugiNishi leaves the police in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into depression, he makes questionable decisions.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsHayato IchiharaShûgo OshinariAyumi ItoThe problematic lives of teenager students for whom the singer Lily Chou-Chou's dreamy music is the only way to escape an alienating, violent and insensitive society.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoAya KokumaiTetsu WatanabeSeveral yakuza from Tokyo are sent to Okinawa to help end a gang war. The war then escalates and the Tokyo drifters decide to lay low at the beach.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsClaude MakiHiroko ÔshimaSabu KawaharaThe lives of a young, hearing-impaired and gloomy couple are fulfilled after the boy holds interest in surfboarding.
- DirectorPen-Ek RatanaruangStarsTadanobu AsanoSinitta BoonyasakTakashi MiikeA suicidal, obsessively compulsive Japanese librarian is forced to lie low in Thailand with a pot-smoking woman coping with the recent loss of her sister.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsEtsushi ToyokawaShinobu ÔtakeNaomasa MusakaToward the end of World War II, middle-aged soldier Keita is entrusted with a postcard from a comrade who is sure he will die in battle. After the war ends, Keita visits his comrade's wife Yuko and bears witness to the tragic life she has led. This year's Oscar entry from Japan finds SHINDO in top form and his 49th and reportedly last film as fresh and poignant as ever.
- DirectorHiroshi IshikawaStarsAoi MiyazakiHidetoshi NishijimaHiromi NagasakuA high school student named Yu has a crush on one of her classmates, Yosuke. The boy spends most of his time sitting outside and playing his guitar, and Yu sits nearby and listens. One day, however, a terrible tragedy occurs, and the two do not see each other again for many years.
- DirectorFelicity TillackStarsYukiko ItoWilliam YagiKazuya MoriyamaThe story of a traditional, Kyoto woman who runs a failing, kimono business and the biracial entrepreneur who comes to help keep it solvent. Along the way they fall in love but his need for change clashes with her desire for the world to stay the same.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsTakako MatsuSeiichi TanabeKazuhiko KatoIn spring, a young girl leaves the island of Hokkaido to attend university in Tokyo.
- DirectorKentarô OhtaniStarsMika NakashimaAoi MiyazakiHiroki NarimiyaA chance encounter between two girls of the same name, "Nana," triggers a series of events and relationships.
- DirectorSeok-ho YunStarsHidekazu MashimaMasumi SanadaTomoharu HasegawaVideo artist Ryosuke visits the suburb of Furano in Hokkaido, where his friend lives, in order to shoot a video. His car breaks down and Ryosuke decides to walk to a house and ask for a phone. The person that opens the door is his former girlfriend and first love Haruka. They meet for the first time in 23 years. Even though Ryosuke knows that she is married, he takes her to his video shooting and they get close. Ryosuke leaves Hokkaido in 2 days and he asks Haruka to spend one more day with him.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsHaru KurokiCoccoGô AyanoNanami is an apathetic, part-time junior high school teacher, whose only solace comes from connecting with others on "Planet".
- DirectorKosuke TsurumiStarsKansai EtoTatsuya FujiwaraYoshihiko HakamadaSeiji has to look after his brother Michio who has Xeroderma Pigmentosum, a desire that is fatal if exposed to sunlight. Also, Michio, is equal to that of a child. Seiji is forced to join the Yakuza and work through the ranks. But one night, Seiji saves a young woman from a drunk pervert who happens to be Michio's nurse.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsMiho KannoHidetoshi NishijimaTatsuya MihashiThree stories of never-ending love.
- DirectorJun'ichi MoriStarsAi HashimotoMayu MatsuokaYôichi NukumizuIchiko lived in a big city, but goes back to her small hometown Komori, located on a mountain in the Tohoku region. She is self-sufficient. Ichiko gains energy living among nature and eating foods she makes from seasonal ingredients.
- DirectorPen-Ek RatanaruangStarsAnanda EveringhamLalita PanyopasPorntip PapanaiEvery relationship has an expiration date. Every relationship needs its fantasies...some more real than others... A violent death of a relative brings Wit and his wife, Dang, back to Bangkok from America, where they own a Thai restaurant, for the first time in 7 years. As soon as they arrive in Bangkok at 5.30 am. Wit and Dang check into a five-star hotel downtown. Wit finds out that he is out of cigarettes once they are inside the room. He goes down to the lobby bar. After getting his pack of cigarette from the bartender Wit decides to order a cup of coffee and smoke his cigarette there. The girl from the table in the dark corner comes to Wit to ask if she could borrow his lighter. Wit hands her his lighter. Then she asks if she could borrow one cigarette too. The girl sits down and lights up one of his cigarettes and they somehow strike up a conversation. Wit learns that her name is PLOY. This is how our little tale of love and jealousy begins. A highly detailed psychological drama with three strangers locked inside one hotel room. It starts with subtle suspicions and builds up to hilarious jealousy, as the appearance of the young woman triggers the couple to suddenly realize how they had grown apart in their seven-year marriage, before reaching a devastating climax. In the final act, the couple is faced with the choice of going separate ways or turns around and embraces each other for a new beginning.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsTadanobu AsanoNami TsukamotoKikiAfter a tragic car accident where his girlfriend Ryôko Ooyama (Nami Tsukamoto) died, Hiroshi Takagi (Tadanobu Asano) suffers amnesia with his memories completely blanked. When he sees a book about dissection, he decides to join the medical school with the support of his parents. In the dissection class, his group participates of the autopsy of a young woman, and while cutting apart the tissue, he partially recalls his accident. Later, when he sees a tattoo in the arm of the corpse, he discloses that she was his girlfriend and becomes obsessed to go further in the examination of the body.
- DirectorKatsuhito IshiiStarsMaya BannoTakahiro SatôTadanobu AsanoA spell of time of a rural family's slightly surreal life.
- DirectorPen-Ek RatanaruangStarsFay AtsawetPhaibunkiat KhiaogaoRay MacDonaldA young working woman has to follow obscure advice by an old sage in order to prevent a worst-case scenario. A returning nightmare of a family home built by her deceased mother for the still-living father in the hereafter gives her and her fortune teller the necessary instructions. A loving, yet complex tale of the new Thai middle class. Houses are built, family members live in parallel worlds and the presence is a very Asian mix of the 19th and 21st Centuries.
- DirectorSatoko YokohamaStarsKen'ichi MatsuyamaKumiko AsôSeiji NozoeYojin, an eccentric young farmer living in the countryside, falls in love for the first time in his life. Her name is Machiko, she teaches in a kindergarten and is from Tokyo.
- DirectorKenji UchidaStarsYasuhi NakamuraReika KirishimaSo YamanakaSix months passed and Takeshi Miyata is still depressed after his girlfriend dumped him in a sudden way especially after he bought a big apartment for both of them but in one night after he just finished work his childhood friend.
- DirectorPatrick TamStarsKenny BeeTony Leung Chiu-waiJoey WangTwo lovers are willing to do anything to reunite after criminals separate them.