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James Marsh

When Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon won the Golden Lion award at the 1951 Venice Film Festival, it announced Japanese cinema’s arrival on the world stage.
It was already a flourishing industry back home, but the works of Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Kurosawa and many others helped sustain this international interest for decades to come.
The Asia Extreme wave of darkly outrageous genre films sparked renewed attention as the new millennium loomed, and 20 years on, Japan continues to produce a steady stream of blockbusters, intelligent indie fare and art house darlings.
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Limiting our selections to just one film per director (to avoid auteurs like Hirokazu Kore-eda and Takashi Miike dominating this list), here are 25 of the best Japanese films from the 21st century:


1. Battle Royale (directed by Kinji Fukasaku, 2000)
Fukusaku’s swan song transformed Koushun Takami’s speculative sci-fi novel into an ultra-violent teen melodrama that became a global sensation. Tatsuya Fujiwara and Chiaki Kuriyama are among the high-schoolers who are relocated to a remote island and ordered to fight each other until only one survives.


2. Pulse (dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2001)
Arguably the pinnacle of the J-horror wave, eclipsing even the extreme thrills of Ring and Audition.
Kurosawa’s terrifying tale of a haunted website, that reveals ghosts to those who dare to browse, articulates a growing wariness of invasive new technologies, and remains as defiantly nihilistic as ever.


3. Visitor Q (dir. Takashi Miike, 2001)
Miike’s astonishingly prolific career has explored every conceivable genre, but nothing comes close to the taboo-shattering exploits of this extreme reworking of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Theorem.
The home of a shockingly dysfunctional family is invaded by a violent loner, who unearths a microcosm of incest, murder and mayhem.


4. Spirited Away (dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
This Oscar-winning blend of magic and mythology brought the animated delights of Studio Ghibli to a global audience.
Miyazaki’s dazzling fairy tale follows 10-year-old Chihiro, who stumbles mistakenly into a mystical world governed by elemental forces and populated by dragons, witches and other fantastical beasts.


5. All About Lily Chou-Chou (dir. Shunji Iwai, 2001)
By turns achingly beautiful and shockingly brutal, Iwai charts the collapse of a friendship between two troubled teenagers.
As one devolves into a vicious bully, the other retreats into an introverted existence, made bearable only by the ethereal music of singer Lily Chou-Chou.


6. Dark Water (dir. Hideo Nakata, 2002)
Nakata has never recaptured the chilling success of Ring, though he came closest with this genuinely unsettling story of a young divorcee (Hitomi Kuroki) who moves into a new apartment with her young daughter, only for the growing damp patch on the ceiling to trigger all manner of supernatural shenanigans.


7. The Twilight Samurai (dir. Yoji Yamada, 2002)
Winner of 12 Japanese Academy Awards, master filmmaker Yoji Yamada’s old-fashioned epic tells the heartbreaking story of a widowed, low-ranking samurai (Hiroyuki Sanada) who is struggling to care for his ailing mother and two young daughters and is reluctantly drawn back into a life of violence.


8. Zatoichi (dir. Takeshi Kitano, 2003)
Eschewing the minimalist style of his yakuza dramas, writer-director-editor-star Kitano resurrects the iconic blind samurai for a shamelessly entertaining jidaigeki adventure.
Gorgeous period detail and a series of dazzling sword fights build to an all-singing, all-dancing musical finale that is pure cinematic joy.


9. The Taste of Tea (dir. Katsuhito Ishii, 2004)
Echoing the surrealism of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s films, Ishii’s delightfully quirky drama observes an ordinary rural family as they navigate romantic pitfalls and vocational challenges at a languid, unhurried pace.
Elements of the absurd linger persistently on the fringes, infusing their lives with a dreamlike innocence.


10. Linda Linda Linda (dir. Nobuhiro Yamashita, 2005)
Few songs are as infectious as the Blue Hearts’ Linda Linda, especially when performed by an all-girl teenage rock band, featuring Bae Doona’s Korean exchange student on vocals, who have just three days to rehearse before performing for the entire school. A feel-good masterpiece.


11. Paprika (dir. Satoshi Kon, 2006)
Broaching several themes later explored in Christopher Nolan’s Inception , Kon’s mind-bending science-fiction masterpiece follows a police officer and a psychologist through a network of intertwining psychedelic dreams.
They attempt to solve a murder and retrieve a stolen piece of experimental technology before it triggers a neurological Armageddon.


12. The Magic Hour (dir. Koki Mitani, 2008)
Mitani struck gold with this star-studded farce about gangsters, dames and filmmaking. Koichi Sato dazzles as a struggling actor, conned into playing a legendary assassin in what he believes to be a new movie. Little does he realise the other hoodlums are the real deal.


13. Love Exposure (dir. Sion Sono, 2008)
A misguided attempt to appease his father sees a troubled teenager (Takahiro Nishijima) embark on a quest to discover new ways of sinning, bringing him into contact with thieves, pornographers, a sinister religious cult and the girl of his dreams in Sono’s blistering four-hour gonzo epic.


14. Fish Story (dir. Yoshihiro Nakamura, 2009)
Can punk rock save the world? In Nakamura’s expertly crafted shaggy dog story, intertwining the lives of record store clerks, taxi drivers, terrorists and astronauts across four decades, a dusty recording of an obscure rock track might prove pivotal in saving Earth from a giant asteroid.


15. Symbol (dir. Hitoshi Matsumoto, 2009)
Matsumoto’s comedy genius is on full display in this brilliantly ridiculous exercise, intercutting the struggling career of a Mexican luchador with the efforts of a pyjama-clad man to escape from a seemingly featureless room.
A masterclass in physical absurdity that crescendos to an almost transcendental epiphany.


16. Confessions (dir. Tetsuya Nakashima, 2010)
Nakashima’s stylised story of grief and revenge is as shocking and confrontational as it is visually audacious.
Takako Matsu is electrifying as the young teacher and grieving mother who vows bloody vengeance on her own students, whom she believes are responsible for the death of her infant daughter.


17. Kotoko (dir. Shinya Tsukamoto, 2011)
Musician Cocco wrote, designed and stars in this relentlessly unforgiving and divisive tale of a young mother whose internal demons see her separated from her baby.
Double vision, a nervous breakdown, and a violent sadomasochistic relationship all conspire to send Kotoko insane, with music her only escape.


18. Wolf Children (dir. Mamoru Hosoda, 2012)
Hayao Miyazaki’s heir apparent wears his influences proudly on his sleeve in this beautiful salutation to the struggles of motherhood. After her werewolf lover is killed, a young woman is left to raise her litter of two half-wolf children alone, in a dangerous and unforgiving world.


19. The Story of Yonosuke (dir. Shuichi Okita, 2013)
Humble, unassuming and helplessly naive, the perpetually dishevelled Yonosuke (Kengo Kora) brings happiness and warmth into the lives of everyone he encounters.
These meetings, friendships and romances are remembered in a collection of heart-warming reminiscences in Okita’s delightful adaptation of Shuichi Yoshida’s bestselling novel.


20. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (dir. Isao Takahata, 2013)
In what would be his final film, Takahata adapts The Tale of the Wood Cutter into a heartbreaking masterpiece, illuminated by startling watercolour animation. Discovered by destitute farmers, Kaguya’s magic brings them wealth, but she soon falls prey to the rich and powerful.


21. Wood Job! (dir. Shinobu Yaguchi, 2014)
In this classic rural vs urban drama, Shota Sometani’s university dropout impulsively enrols in a forestry training programme after seeing Masami Nagasawa’s face on a poster. At first regretful, he eventually grows to love his new vocation, the close-knit community and even their bizarre festival rituals.


22. 100 Yen Love (dir. Masaharu Take, 2014)
A knockout performance from Sakura Ando propels Take’s inspirational drama, with her slobbish thirty-something vowing to turn her life around by joining a boxing gym.
What follows is an exhilarating roller-coaster, inside and outside the ring, as we witness the actress’ incredible physical and emotional transformation.


23. I Am a Hero (dir. Shinsuke Sato, 2015)
Proving there’s still life in the zombie genre, Sato’s riotously entertaining adaptation of Kengo Hanazawa’s manga perfectly balances its laughs and scares, as a reclusive comic book artist (Yo Oizumi), prone to flights of heroic fantasy, finds his true calling when the undead overrun Tokyo.


24. Your Name (dir. Makoto Shinkai, 2016)
After years languishing in obscurity, Shinkai’s indisputable genius was finally recognised with this box office behemoth.
An apocalyptic love story stretched across time and space, his vividly realised rural vs urban body-swap fantasy dazzles with photorealistic animation and an infectious soundtrack from boy band Radwimps.


25. Shoplifters (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018)
Capping a run of indisputable masterpieces, Kore-eda won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his perfectly pitched tale of a struggling underclass that much of Japanese society would rather ignore.
From its faultless ensemble cast to its exploration of nature vs nurture, Shoplifters never puts a foot wrong.
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Takako Matsu in a still from Confessions (2010).

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This image released by Disney shows Yifei Liu in the title role of "Mulan." Disney said Friday, June 26, 2020 that it would delay the release of the live-action adaptation until Aug, 21, 2020, after having already delayed its release from March until July because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Disney Enterprises, Inc. via AP)

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Fan Bingbing in a still from X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

Li Bingbing and Jason Statham in a still from The Meg (2018).

Jing Tian in a still from Kong: Skull Island (2017).

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Zhang Ziyi in a still from House of Flying Daggers. She is one of a handful of Chinese actresses acting in Hollywood today.

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Akira Kurosawa was once considered Japan’s most famous film director. Photo: Getty Images

A Japanese poster for the 1954 Japanese historical drama film 'Shichinin no Samurai', or 'Seven Samurai', directed by Akira Kurosawa. (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)

ScÃ¨ne du film 'Ran' d'Akira Kurosawa en avril 1985, Japon. (Photo by Kurita KAKU/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CA - CIRCA 1990: Steven Spielberg, Akira Kurosawa and George Lucas attends the 62nd Academy Awards circa 1990 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Miguel Rajmil/IMAGES/Getty Images)

1951:  Toshiro Mifune (1920 - 1997, left) and Daisuke Kato (1910 - 1975) in a fight scene from Akira Kurosawa's film 'Rashomon', adapted from the novel 'Inside A Bush' by Ryunosuke Akutagawa.  (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa took what he learned from watching director John Ford’s films and applied it to his own work. In turn, his movies have inspired, and continue to inspire, Hollywood. Photo: Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

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A still from the Japanese animated film Akira (1988).

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Nanako Matsushima in a still from Ring (1998).

Hiroyuki Sanada in a still from Ring (1998).

Picture for Features, Sunday Review. Cover Story, Japanese horror film. Ring (1998)

Daveigh Chase in a still from The Ring (2002).

Martin Henderson in a still from The Ring (2002).

Naomi Watts in a still from The Ring (2002). This US remake was a box office success, but many prefer the Japanese original.

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From left: Hiroyuki Sanada, Johnny Depp, and Minami. Photo: EPA-EFE/Clemens Bilan

(L-R) Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada, US director, producer and screenwriter Andrew Levitas, US actor Johnny Depp, Japanese actress Minami and writer Aileen Mioko Smith pose during a press conference for the film "Minamata" screened in the Berlinale Special Gala on February 21, 2020 at the 70th Berlinale film festival in Berlin. - The 11-day Berlinale, one of Europe's most prestigious film extravaganzas alongside Cannes and Venice, celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2020 and will be running from February 20 to March 1, 2020. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

Hiroyuki Sanada (left) in a still from Minamata.

From left to right: HIROYUKI SANADA and TOM CRUISE in Warner Bros. Pictures' epic drama The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise. PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE USED SOLELY FOR ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PUBLICITY OR REVIEWS OF THIS SPECIFIC MOTION PICTURE AND TO REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE STUDIO. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION

Minami and Johnny Depp in a still from Minamata.

A still from Minamata.

Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada at the premiere of Minamata. Photo: John MacDougall/AFP

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Japan has produced a steady stream of blockbusters, intelligent indie fare and art house darlings over the last 20 years
Selections are limited to just one film per director, to avoid prolific auteurs like Hirokazu Kore-eda and Takashi Miike dominating



From Battle Royale to Spirited Away to Shoplifters, this selection of the best Japanese movies of the 21st century highlights the strength of the country’s cinema industry over the last 20 years.


Asian cinema

Cinema

Hayao Miyazaki

Fame and celebrity

The 25 best Japanese movies of the 21st century

Japan has produced a steady stream of blockbusters, intelligent indie fare and art house darlings over the last 20 years Selections are limited to just one film per director, to avoid prolific auteurs like Hirokazu Kore-eda and Takashi Miike dominating

Japan has produced a steady stream of blockbusters, intelligent indie fare and art house darlings over the last 20 years

Selections are limited to just one film per director, to avoid prolific auteurs like Hirokazu Kore-eda and Takashi Miike dominating