japan inspiration
List activity
331 views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
43 titles
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsHideko TakamineShûji SanoChishû RyûA girl who had left her home village for life in Tokyo returns to her home years later, and evokes a scandal when the locals discover that she's a stripper.
- DirectorMamoru HosodaStarsKoji YakushoAoi MiyazakiShôta SometaniWhen a young orphaned boy living on the streets of Shibuya stumbles upon a fantastic world of beasts, he's taken in by a gruff warrior beast looking for an apprentice.
- StarsAya HiranoNobunaga ShimazakiRinka H.B.B.17-year-old Shinichi Izumi is partially infected by a Parasyte, monsters that butcher and consume humans. He must learn to co-exist with the creature if he is to survive both the life of a Parasyte and a human as part monster, part person.
- DirectorNaomi KawaseStarsKirin KikiMasatoshi NagaseKyara UchidaBurdened with a heavy and ever-increasing debt, a dorayaki baker hires a kind ageing woman, after tasting her delicious surprise. Little by little, she unravels her beautiful inner world. Could she be holding the secret to his success?
- DirectorHisako MatsuiStarsEmily MortimerKazuko YoshiyukiShidô NakamuraA film about the life and relationships of the early 20th century American educator, editor, and journalist Leonie Gilmour, the mother of the acclaimed artist and architect Isamu Noguchi.
- DirectorYoshimitsu MoritaStarsEtsushi ToyokawaYûki AmamiShuto TanabeJiro is in the 6th grade from a family of five. His father doesn't work and has a quick temper. Jiro gets violent with a student who makes fun of his parents. To get away from the incident and child welfare, the family moves to the father's hometown island. Here they get drawn into the an uproar over development plans for a resort. Mom and dad are arrested, but escape to live as fugitives away from their children. The children understand and support them.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHaruka AyaseMasami NagasawaKahoThree sisters who live in their grandmother's home invite their thirteen-year-old half sister, whom they have just met, to join them.
- DirectorKeiichi HaraStephanie ShehMichael SinterniklaasStarsYutaka MatsushigeAnne WatanabeErica LindbeckThe life and works of Japanese artist and ukiyo-e painter Katsushika Hokusai, as seen from the eyes of his daughter, Katsushika O-Ei.
- DirectorBuntarô FutagawaStarsTsumasaburô BandôMisao SekiUtako TamakiThe story of a decent samurai who is widely considered a scum and a criminal. His bad luck and numerous misunderstandings drag him down the social ladder straight to the gutter.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHitoshi TakagiNoriko HidakaChika SakamotoWhen two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoYusuke SekiguchiKayoko KishimotoA young, naive boy sets out alone on the road to find his wayward mother. Soon he finds an unlikely protector in a crotchety man and the two have a series of unexpected adventures along the way.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsMiho KannoHidetoshi NishijimaTatsuya MihashiThree stories of never-ending love.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûChieko HigashiyamaSô YamamuraAn old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûSetsuko HaraYumeji TsukiokaSeveral people try to talk 27-year-old Noriko into marrying, but all she wants is to keep on caring for her widowed father.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsKenji MizuhashiYoshimi KondouSatomi HanamuraTold in three interconnected segments, Takaki tells the story of his life as cruel winters, cold technology, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge to test the delicate petals of love.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsKeiji SadaYoshiko KugaChishû RyûTwo boys begin a silence strike to press their parents into buying them a television set.
- DirectorHitoshi YazakiStarsChizuru IkewakiNoriko NakagoshiYûko NakamuraStrawberry Shortcakes (2006) is a Japanese film by director Hitoshi Yazaki. The film, based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Kiriko Nananan, concerns the life of four girls, as they deal with their own insecurities while living in the metropolis of Tokyo. This movie ranked 7th Best Film at the 2006 Yokohama Film Festival and got Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography prizes from the same festival.
- DirectorTetsuya NakashimaStarsKyôko FukadaAnna TsuchiyaHiroyuki MiyasakoMomoko, a strange and seemingly emotionless girl obsessed with 18th century France, befriends a Yanki biker and the two experience the ups and downs of their unusual lives in a rural Japanese town.
- DirectorSusumu HaniStarsHaruo AsanuKazuko FukudaKuniko IshiiA teenage goldsmith with a dark past tragically falls in love with a young nude model.
- DirectorKôji WakamatsuStarsMimi KozakuraMichio AkiyamaYôko YamamotoAfter being raped in an unknown rooftop, seventeen year-old girl Poppo meets a mysterious boy, and both share their sexual traumas and fears, with fatal consequences.
- DirectorHiroshi TeshigaharaStarsEiji OkadaKyôko KishidaKôji MitsuiAn entomologist on vacation is trapped by local villagers into living with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsIchirô ArakiKazuko TajimaJûzô ItamiFour high school students preparing for their university entrance exam fantasize about a classmate, and meet up with their inebriated teacher, while singing bawdy drinking songs.
- DirectorMiwa NishikawaStarsTsurube ShôfukuteiEita NagayamaTeruyuki KagawaA young medical intern student is dismayed when he is assigned to work in a remote countryside village.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsEmmanuelle RivaEiji OkadaStella DassasA French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.
- DirectorYoshifumi KondôStarsYoko HonnaIssei TakahashiTakashi TachibanaA love story between a girl who loves reading books, and a boy who has previously checked out all of the library books she chooses.
- DirectorDoris DörrieStarsRosalie ThomassKaori MomoiNami KamataA young German woman bonds with an elderly Japanese woman while touring the Fukushima region of Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsYôji MatsudaYuriko IshidaYûko TanakaOn a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoKayoko KishimotoRen ÔsugiNishi leaves the police in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into depression, he makes questionable decisions.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsMiyuki KuwanoYûsuke KawazuYoshiko KugaA harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitch-hiking to rob middle-class men.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsTomorô TaguchiKei FujiwaraNobu KanaokaA businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyo IshibashiEihi ShiinaTetsu SawakiA widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHiroshi AbeYui NatsukawaYouA family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsKenzô KawarasakiAtsuko KakuAtsuo NakamuraUpon receiving a shocking telegram from his cousin, a man recounts his early life, as a member of a broad family full of dark secrets that slowly reveal themselves through the clan ceremonies.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsFumio WatanabeAkiko KoyamaTetsuo AbeA young boy reluctantly aids his swindling father in a threatening scam.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsKazuo GotoSukio FukuokaKenichi FukudaA metaphysical mystery involving a university student's camera getting stolen, and the thief then committing suicide. Looking back upon the event, the situation comes to be questioned if it happened at all.
- DirectorMasahiro KunimotoStarsKengo KôraMitsuki TanimuraMayumi AsakaOn September 9th, the day of the Katakai Fireworks Festival, high school student Hana comes home from the hospital after six months of treatment for leukemia. She then discovers that her older brother Taro has become a hikikomori (social recluse). Taro used to be tender, smart and proud of his younger sister, but now he even turns his back on her and stays in his room. Her parents act like there is nothing wrong with him. Later that evening, Hana attends the Katakai Fireworks Festival and observes the town's youth group happily planning for next year's event. She decides to get Taro involved with the group in an effort to bring him out of his shell. Hana drags Taro out of his room and to the youth group office. Unfortunately, Taro is not accepted as a member. Hana, nevertheless, is determined to get Taro back into society and helps him find a part-time job as a paper boy and into the adult meetings for the Katakai Fireworks Festival. With Hana's help Taro slowly opens up to the world again. Then, with winter approaching, Hana has a relapse with her leukemia. Taro comes to the hospital everyday to visit Hana and soon learns that the Katakai Fireworks Festival is a symbol of happiness for Hana. Taro then takes the initiative to make Hana happy and approaches the town's youth group once more for admittance.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsKim Min-heeHa Jung-wooCho Jin-woongA woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her.
- DirectorShinobu YaguchiStarsHideaki ItôMasami NagasawaShôta SometaniAfter failing to get into university, a soft city boy randomly picks a job in forestry.
- DirectorYôjirô TakitaStarsMasahiro MotokiRyôko HirosueTsutomu YamazakiSoon after buying an expensive cello, Daigo learns that his orchestra is disbanding. He moves back to his hometown with his wife, where he answers an ad for what Daigo thinks is a travel agency but is, in actuality, a mortuary.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsChin TsaiHsiao-Hsien HouI-Chen KoLung is a former member of the national Little League team who lives with his old childhood sweetheart Ah-chin, a traditional family woman. Although they live together, Ah-chin is weary of Lung's past liaison with another girl.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsSylvia ChangMing HsuLieh LeeTwo friends who haven't seen each other for thirteen years reunite. One is a successful concert pianist just back from a European tour and the other has just started a new business.
- DirectorNorihiro KoizumiStarsTakeru SatohRyô YoshizawaMasataka KubotaA love story between a famous 25-year-old songwriter, who keeps his identity hidden from the public, and a 16-year-old high school student who possesses a gifted voice.
- DirectorTakahiro MikiStarsYui AragakiFumino KimuraKenta KiritaniYuri Kashiwagi was once known as a genius pianist. One day, she returns to her hometown in Goto Islands from Tokyo. There, she begins to work as a temporary teacher at a middle school and an adviser of the school chorus. The chorus aims to take part at a competition. Yuri gives the chorus members an assignment - to write a letter with the title of "To myself 15 years later" upon a song that they will sing at the competition.