Best Japanese movies of 2000s

Actors : Ayu Kitaura, Kyôko Kishida, Sayuri Fujii, Kazuko Yoshiyuki,
Directors : Mai Tominaga,

A pair of elderly junk collectors find their lives turned upside down when their latest procurement brings them into contact with an obsessive young knitter in the hallucinogenic feature debut of prominent short filmmaker Mai Tominaga.

Actors : Manatsu Hayashi, Tôma Ikuta, Yui Aragaki, Arata Iura,
Directors : Nobuhiro Doi,

Sae (Yui Aragaki) is a high school student who is studying hard for her college entrance exams. She lost her father when she was very young and so lives her mother Ryoko (Hiroko Yakushimaru...

Actors : Arata Furuta, Akiko Suzuki, Shôko Takada, Urara Takano,

A series of short animations by some of Japan's best animators comments to life in this collage of beautiful works of art.

Actors : Mirai Moriyama, Yû Aoi, Pierre Taki, Terunosuke Takezai,
Directors : Yuki Tanada,

A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.

Actors : Dai Watanabe, Terri Doty, Asami Mizukawa, Miori Takimoto,
Directors : Tae-gyun Kim,

Higanjima is an eerie island occupied by vampires, from where none has ever come back alive. When teenager Akira hears that his missing brother has been seen in the island, he decides to investigate with several friends.

Actors : Kengo Kôra, Kankurô Nakamura, Ryushin Tei, Yuki Uchida,
Directors : Banmei Takahashi,

'Zen' Buddhist teacher Dogen Zenji is a very important religious person during the Kamakura period, 750 years ago. After his mother died, he decides to move to China and settle as a ...

Actors : Nao Ohmori, Riho Makise, Shinobu Terajima, Jun Murakami,
Directors : Ryuichi Hiroki,

(Japanese with English subtitles) After meeting a handsome truck driver (Nao Omori) in the midst of an urban mini-mart, a 30-something freelance writer (Shinobu Terajima) embarks on a ...

Actors : Kiriko Nananan, Chizuru Ikewaki, Noriko Nakagoshi, Yûko Nakamura,
Directors : Hitoshi Yazaki,

Strawberry 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 ...

Actors : Sayaka Yamaguchi, Yôsuke Kubozuka, Makoto Togashi, Ken'ichi Endô,
Directors : Tomijiro Mitsuishi,

A young girl looking through her father's notes finds something written about the last experiment he worked on before he went insane. Everything looks ordinary until the name "Tomie" begins appearing throughout the notebook.

Actors : Kanata Hongô, Rin Takanashi, Kunihiko Ida, Mika Kamiya,
Directors : Gen Takahashi,

Morino and Kamiyama share a morbid fascination with cruelty and murder in this horror. Together they track down a brutal serial killer to find the latest two victims - not necessarily to ...

Actors : Satoshi Tsumabuki, Kumiko Endô, Masaya Kikawada, Miki Sakai,
Directors : Takashi Shimizu,

An art student disappears after murdering his model. Now his friends and family are being haunted by the resurrected woman, Tomie.

Actors : Masatoshi Nagase, Keisuke Horibe, Yoshinori Okada, Akemi Kobayashi,
Directors : Katsuhito Ishii,

Seven characters, introduced at the start of the film, get thrown together into the same hotel room: a thief who's stolen a suitcase of money from the mob, his ex-girlfriend, her obsessive ...

Actors : Seishirô Katô, Tetsuya Bessho, Kappei Yamaguchi, Tomoyo Harada,
Directors : Masaya Fujimori,

A Tyrannosaurus named Heart was brought up by a herbivorous dinosaur. Heart grew up being scared of other dinosaurs. One day, Heart meets a baby Ankylosaurus and he names the Ankylosaurus "...

Actors : Yûta Hiraoka, Yoshikuni Dôchin, Mutsutoshi Furuhata, Mitsuru Fukikoshi,
Directors : Tetsuo Shinohara,

World War II story alternates between the past and present, linked by a fateful song. Japanese sub I-77 battles an American destroyer off the coast of Okinawa. Before heading to war, the ...

Actors : Masaaki Akahori, Tamae Andô, Lily Franky, Tae Kimura,
Directors : Ryosuke Hashiguchi,

In 1993 Kanao and Shoko are a Tokyo couple awaiting the arrival of their first child. Although both have studied art, Kanao works as a shoe repairman which doesn't stretch his rather ...

Actors : Tadanobu Asano, Yuka Itaya, Kaori Fujimitsu, Eri Ishida,
Directors : Shinji Aoyama,

Kenji, abandoned by his mother, scrapes out a meager existence doing odd jobs including driving bar hostesses and their customers home. Besides this he takes care of the sister of an old ...

Actors : Kei Tanaka, Kyôsuke Yabe, Shun Oguri, Yuki Shibamoto,
Directors : Hiroyuki Nakano,

TAJOMARU is the famous 'bandit' of the forest from RASHOMON. Whoever kills Tajomaru inherits his name, status and sword. A royal brother leaves his kingdom to protect the princess he loves,...

Actors : Tôru Emori, Ryôhei Abe, Katsutaka Furuhata, Cleve Gray,
Directors : Taku Shinjô,

Young Japanese pilots are trained to sink Allied warships by flying into them.

Actors : Anna Easteden, Morgan Snyder, Rinko Kikuchi, Griffin Gluck,
Directors : Cellin Gluck,

A middle-aged Japanese man travels to California to attend the wedding of his American-based friend. Prior to the big event, they take one last trip to Napa Valley, where they taste wine, dally with romance.

Actors : Kenji Yamauchi, Kiki Sugino, Bryerly Long, Kanji Furutachi,
Directors : Kôji Fukada,

The film follows the follies that ensue when a man and his wife shack up with a family that owns a printing press in their building, the husband takes it over, and the couple begin inviting a motley crew of friends.