Why do holiday movies look and sound so similar?
One of the most successful box-office hits to date in Japan is 'The Last Samurai.' Japanese actor Ken Watanabe shared top billing with Tom Cruise in this epic period drama directed by Edward Zwick.
Rinko Kikuchi became the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years, for her work in 'Babel' (2006). Alejandro González Iñárritu's psychological drama takes place in the United States, Mexico, Morocco, and Tokyo, and costars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael García Bernal.
Ridley Scott's neo-noir action thriller takes place in New York City and Tokyo and stars Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia alongside Japanese actors Ken Takakura and Yūsaku Matsuda. 'Black Rain' was Matsuda's final film, the actor succumbing to cancer shortly after the picture's completion.
'You Only Live Twice' is noted for being the only Bond movie to date that takes place more or less in one country—in this case Japan. Starring opposite Sean Connery is Akiko Wakabayashi who portrays Aki, an agent with the Japanese SIS who assists 007.
Released to major commercial and critical success, 'Lost in Translation' is set in Tokyo and stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. Directed by Sofia Coppola, the movie explores the alienation and disconnection experienced by two lonely people adrift in a vast foreign city.
'Drive My Car' won three awards at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, and was later recognized with an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 'Drive My Car' stars Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tōko Miura, and Reika Kirishima.
The sixth installment in the 'X-Men' film series, 'The Wolverine,' starring Hugh Jackman, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto, and Hiroyuki Sanada, was filmed in Tokyo, Fukuyama, and Tomonoura.
The city of Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture is notorious as the location where Minamata disease, a neurological disorder caused by severe mercury poisoning, affected numerous citizens and sparked controversy around the world. In 'Minamata,' Johnny Depp portrays American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, who documented one of the worst industrial disasters of the 20th century. Akiko Iwase costars.
'Shoplifters' won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (a category now known as Best International Feature Film) at the Oscars. Hirokazu Kore-eda's charming drama stars Lily Franky and Sakura Ando and revolves around a family that relies on shoplifting to cope with a life of poverty.
The third installment in the hugely successful 'Fast & Furious' franchise, 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' burns serious rubber in Japan's capital.
'Tora! Tora! Tora!' dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Japanese sections of the films were directed by Toshio Masuda, Kinji Fukasaku and, briefly, Akira Kurosawa.
"Actually filmed in Japan" reads the tagline on the poster art promoting 'Geisha Girl.' Made just seven years after the end of the Second World War and shot entirely in Tokyo, the movie's plot was created to educate American viewers of such Japanese traditions as a kabuki theater presentation, a Buddhist religious ceremony, and a geisha house. Unfortunately, the production also presented Japanese citizens as stock characters or simpletons of little depth and intelligence.
French director Alain Resnais' first feature-length work was a co-production between France and Japan. Emmanuelle Riva plays a French actress filming an anti-war production in Hiroshima who has an affair with a married Japanese architect, played by Eiji Okada. The pair share their differing perspectives on war, with the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima providing a central theme.
Little known and enjoying only limited success, 'Mr. Baseball' nonetheless accurately portrays the peculiarities of Japanese baseball. Tom Selleck is a veteran New York Yankees first baseman who is traded to the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League. There he meets his new skipper (Ken Takakura), with both having to overcome striking cultural differences and overwhelming expectations.
Made in Japan and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, 'Spirited Away' is included on this list as a masterful example of anime. The animated fantasy film received widespread acclaim and won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and the Golden Bear—the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Similarly, 'Akira,' an adult animated cyberpunk action film, deserves a mention as a phenomenal example of modern Japanese anime.
Sources: (Guinness World Records) (Senses of Cinema)
See also: These Hollywood celebrities are devoted anime fans
Quentin Tarantino's homage to martial arts and samurai cinema was partly shot in Shinjuku, a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis.
A supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu, which in fact is a remake of his own 2002 Japanese horror film 'Ju-On: The Grudge,' this version stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, who filmed many of her scenes in Tokyo.
International audiences are more familiar with 'The Ring' from 2002, which stars Naomi Watts. But that version is a remake of the 1998 original, known in Japan as 'Ringu.' Director Hideo Nakata's film was a huge box-office success in his own country, and acclaimed by critics. It's also cited as one of the scariest films ever made.
Audiences are introduced to 'Inception' when Saito (Ken Watanabe) first hires Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) during a helicopter flight over Tokyo. The pair, together with Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), are later seen dining in a city restaurant.
Filming of 'Equals,' a science fiction romantic drama starring Nicholas Hoult and Kristen Stewart, took place in Japan, at Hyōgo and Niigata—with some scenes also shot in Tokyo—and in Singapore.
An American comedy directed by Ron Howard, 'Gung Ho' was mostly filmed in Pittsburgh, but some scenes were also shot in Tokyo and Argentina. The movie stars Michael Keaton, with the plotline revolving around the takeover of an American car plant by a Japanese corporation.
Another early 1950s American picture made entirely in Japan, namely Tokyo, Yokohama, and the Japanese countryside, 'House of Bamboo' was praised for its production values and the way director Samuel Fuller captured the atmosphere of a country post-war and still divided, trapped between past traditions and progressive attitudes. Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, and Japanese actress Yoshiko Yamaguchi (known as Shirley Yamaguchi) head the cast.
Tokyo provided one of the filming locations for 'Kate,' an American action thriller starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Miku Martineau, and Woody Harrelson.
Well received by critics, 'Oh Lucy!' brings together Shinobu Terajima, Josh Hartnett, and Kaho Minami in director Atsuko Hirayanagi's delightful comedy set in Tokyo.
'Snowden' includes some exterior footage shot in Tokyo. Joseph Gordon-Levitt portrays Edward Snowden, the CIA whistleblower, in this Oliver Stone-directed biographical drama.
One of the greatest and most influential science fiction films ever made, 'Solaris' is a Soviet production but was partly shot in Japan. Akasaka, a residential and commercial area of Tokyo, stood in as the future city that space pilot Henri Berton (Vladislav Dvorzhetsky) traverses in his car.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa, 'Seven Samurai' is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films in cinema history. The picture effectively launched the international career of Toshiro Mifune, arguably Japan's most famous actor.
Japan's most famous monster made its debut in 1954 with director Ishirō Honda's 'Godzilla.' Since then, the prehistoric reptilian creature has become a cult figure and the subsequent movie series is recognized by Guinness World Records as the "longest continuously running film franchise" since the release of the original film.
Japan enjoys a long tradition of making outstanding films, groundbreaking movies that include 'Seven Samurai' (1954) and, more recently, 'Drive My Car' (2021). The Land of the Rising Sun is also a favorite location choice for international filmmakers, with a host of well-known and award-winning pictures having been set in the country, productions such as 'Lost in Translation' (2003) and 'Babel' (2006). In fact, cinema owes a lot to Japan and to Japanese actors and directors, and the nation looks set to continue as a stage for some of the finest films being produced today.
So, can you name the most famous movies made in Japan? Click through and take a rerun.
Famous films made in Japan
Movies with a connection to the Land of the Rising Sun
MOVIES Cinema
Japan enjoys a long tradition of making outstanding films, groundbreaking movies that include 'Seven Samurai' (1954) and, more recently, 'Drive My Car' (2021). The Land of the Rising Sun is also a favorite location choice for international filmmakers, with a host of well-known and award-winning pictures having been set in the country, productions such as 'Lost in Translation' (2003) and 'Babel' (2006). In fact, cinema owes a lot to Japan and to Japanese actors and directors, and the nation looks set to continue as a stage for some of the finest films being produced today.
So, can you name the most famous movies made in Japan? Click through and take a rerun.