Tony Takitani – 2004 – Jun Ichikawa

Beauty and materialism are weaved together with tragic consequences in this artful adaptation of a Murakami Haruki short story. This is one of, if not the best, adaptations I have seen; tinged with the universal elements in Murakami’s writing – sadness, yearning, loneliness, strangeness, music, love and despair. JJ

Naked Blood – 1995 – Hisayasu Sato

A very bizarre, dated, Japanese movie about a high-school teenager’s quest to rid the world of sadness and pain, by replacing it with happiness and ecstasy. He spikes his mother’s experimental test subjects with his test serum, and videotapes their progression as well as orgies and the elation of eventual death. A weird film. Brian Murray

Zatoichi – 2003 – Takeshi Kitano

Tale of swordsmanship presenting an aesthetic shamelessly plundered by Tarantino for his Kill Bill films. Bizarrely, after much sword-wielding and slaying, Zatoichi’s staggering narrative closes with a merry tap-dancing choreography, which ought to number among the best dance episodes in film ever.

Sabine Wolf

After Life – 1998 – Hirokazu Koreeda

When you die what do you want on the ‘otherside’? A ‘company’ works with the deceased to crystalize one chosen memory to last an eternity. The first kiss, the birth of a child, the first raindrop after a prison sentence. Shot like a documentary, this Japanese masterpiece is intimately woven.

William Hilderbrandt

Spirited Away – 2001 – Hayao Miyazaki

A film from Japan’s most famous animation director. Miyazaki’s affluent imagination produced this fantastic world, with lots of weird, scary, funny, and cute characters throughout the film. If you’ve seen this film before, I believe you still remember Yubaba. She is unforgettable!!!
Tomomi-san

Ikiru – 1952 – Akira Kurosawa

Takashi Shimura plays a broken bureaucrat of 30 years who realizes upon discovering his terminal illness that he has made nothing of his life. His battle to resolve this in his remaining time is as heartbreaking as it is beautiful. Comfortably rivals James Stewart in It’s A Wonderful Life.
Sam Potts

Zatôichi – 2003 – Takeshi Kitano

Legend of Japanese cinema Takeshi Kitano directs and stars in this playful costume drama. Zatoichi is a blind old man given to gambling but has never lost his swordsmanship. Geishas, ronins and ex-samurai all battle; blood flows before honor is restored. Predictable samurai tale, but witty and entertaining.
JJ

Seven Samurai- Akira Kurosawa-1954

Seven Samurai – this three hour long epic movie is Kurosawa’s most well known film in the West. Set in 16th century Japan – despondent villagers hire a band of samurai to protect them from bandits. Quite stunning if drawn out, this is a filmmakers’ film. -JJ