Cinema of Japan
List of Japanese films
Pre 1920
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s

Japanese cinema (映画; Eiga) has a history in Japan that spans more than 100 years. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1400x1498, 558 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Cinema of Japan This is chronological list of films produced in Japan in order. ...

Genres

• Anime: Animation. Anime refers to "Japanese animation" in English.
• Jidaigeki, period pieces featuring samurai, also known as chambara (onomatopoeia describing the sound of swords clashing).
• Horror films such as Ring, also known as J-Horror
• Cult Horror, such as Battle Royale or Suicide Club
• Kaiju: monster films, such as Godzilla
• Pink films, softcore pornographic films. Often more socially-engaged and aesthically well-crafted than simple pornography.
• Yakuza films: films about mobsters.

The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ... Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Jidaigeki (時代劇) is a genre of film and television in Japan. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Look up onomatopoeia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... DVD cover showing horror characters as depicted by Universal Studios. ... Ring ) is a 1998 Japanese horror mystery film from director Hideo Nakata, adapted from a novel of the same name by Koji Suzuki. ... Poster for Dark Water J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction in popular culture. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Battle Royale ) is a film released on December 16, 2000, in Japan — based on the novel of the same name — released on April 22, 1999, in Japan. ... Suicide Circle (自殺サークル), also known as Suicide Club or Jisatsu Circle, is a 2002 Japanese independent film and part of a trilogy that gained a considerable amount of notoriety in film festivals around the world for its controversial subject matter and gory presentation, which led to its becoming a cult movie. ... Kaijū (怪獣) is a Japanese term that generically translates to monster. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Godzilla ) is a 1954 Japanese science fiction film, produced and distributed by Toho Company Ltd. ... Pink film ) is a style of Japanese softcore pornographic films. ... Softcore is a form of pornography that is less explicit than hardcore pornography in depicting or describing sexual behaviour. ... Pornographic films are motion pictures that explicitly depict sexual intercourse and other sexual acts, typically for the purpose of sexual arousal in the viewer. ... The Yakuza are a popular subject in films Yakuza are a popular subject in Japanese cinema. ... The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra), is a criminal secret society which first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily. ...

History

The Silent Era

The first films produced in Japan were Bake Jizo (Jizo the Spook) and Shinin no sosei (Resurrection of a Corpse), both from 1898^[1]. The short Geisha no teodori (芸者の手踊り) was the first documentary, made in June 1899.

Japan's first star was Matsunosuke Onoe, a kabuki actor who appeared in over 1,000 films, mostly shorts, between 1909 and 1926. He and director Shozo Makino helped to popularize the jidaigeki genre.^[2] Matsunosuke Onoe ) (September 12, 1875 – September 11, 1926), sometimes known as Medama no Matchan (Eyeballs Matsu), was a Japanese actor. ... The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... Shozo Makino (September 22, 1878- July 25, 1929) was a Japanese film director, film producer and businessman who is regarded as the pioneering director of Japanese film. ... Jidaigeki (時代劇) is a genre of film and television in Japan. ...

The first female Japanese performer to appear in a film professionally was the dancer/actress Tokuko Nagai Takagi, who appeared in four shorts for the American-based Thanhouser Company between 1911 and 1914.^[3] A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... The Thanhouser Company (later the Thanhouser Film Corporation) was a motion picture studio founded in New Rochelle, New York in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser. ...

Some of the most discussed silent films from Japan are those of Kenji Mizoguchi, whose later works (e.g., The Life of Oharu) are still highly regarded today. Kenji Mizoguchi Kenji Mizoguchi (溝口 健二 Mizoguchi Kenji; May 16, 1898 – August 24, 1956) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. ... The Life of Oharu (西鶴一代女 Saikaku Ichidai Onna) is a 1952 film by director Kenji Mizoguchi starring Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, a one-time concubine of a daimyō (and mother of a later daimyō) who struggles to escape the stigma of having been sold...

Most Japanese cinema theatres at the time employed benshi, narrators whose dramatic readings accompanied the film and its musical score which, like in the West, was often performed live. ^[4] Benshi (弁士 in Japanese) were performers who provided live narration for silent Japanese films. ... For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ...

The 1923 earthquake, the Allied bombing of Tokyo during World War II, as well as the natural effects of time and Japan's humidity on the then more fragile filmstock have all resulted in a great dearth of surviving films from this period. A view of the destruction in Yokohama The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake ) struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58 on the morning of September 1, 1923. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, plus dyes and other agents, generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic. ...

A study of the gendaigeki (contemporary/modern film drama) and writing for film in Japan in the 1910s to early 1920s, with select translations of scripts (complete as well as excerpts) is available in "Writing in Light: The Silent Scenario and the Japanese Pure Film Movement" (Joanne Bernardi, Wayne State University Press, 2001).

The 1930s

Unlike Hollywood, silent films were still being produced in Japan well into the 1930s. Notable talkies of this period include Kenji Mizoguchi's Sisters of the Gion (Gion no shimai, 1936), Osaka Elegy (1936) and The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums (1939), along with Sadao Yamanaka's Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937) and Mikio Naruse's Wife! Be Like A Rose! (Tsuma Yo Bara No Yoni, 1935), which was one of the first Japanese films to gain a theatrical release in the U.S. However, with increasing censorship, the left-leaning tendency films of directors such as Daisuke Ito also began to come under attack. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... East Asian cinema (sometimes called Far Eastern cinema, Eastern cinema, Asian cinema or Oriental cinema) is a term used to refer to the film industry and films produced in, and/or by natives of, East Asia. ... The history of Chinese language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. ... The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan. ... The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China and Cinema of Taiwan. ... Korean cinema encompasses the motion picture industries of North Korea and South Korea. ... 1902 poster advertising Gaumonts sound films, depicting an optimistically vast auditorium A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. ... Osaka Elegy (浪華悲歌, in Japanese) is a 1936 film by Kenji Mizoguchi, probably the first well-known film from his middle period. ... The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (残菊物語 Zangiku monogatari, 1939) is a Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. ... Sadao Yamanaka (山中 貞雄 Yamanaka Sadao) (November 7, 1909 – September 17, 1938) was a Japanese film director and writer who directed more than 20 films during a seven-year stretch of the 1930s. ... Humanity and Paper Balloons (Ninjo Kami Fusen, 1937) is the last film completed by Japanese filmmaker Sadao Yamanaka. ... Mikio Naruse Mikio Naruse (成瀬巳喜男 Naruse Mikio) (August 20, 1905 – July 2, 1969) was a Japanese film director, writer and producer who directed some 89 films spanning from the end of the silent era (1930) through the sixties (1967). ... A tendency film or keikō-eiga is a name given to the socially-conscious, left-leaning films produced in Japan during the 1920s and 30s. ...

The 1940s

Akira Kurosawa made his feature film debut with Sugata Sanshiro in 1943. With the SCAP occupation following the end of WWII, Japan was exposed to over a decade's worth of American animation that had been banned under the war-time government. Akira Kurosawa , 23 March 1910—6 September 1998) was a prominent Japanese film director, film producer, and screenwriter. ... Sanshiro Sugata , aka Judo Saga) is a 1943 film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, based on a novel by Tomita Tsuneo. ... Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) was the title for Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation of Japan following WWII. The title did belong to Dwight David Eisenhower during WWII, however, he had nothing to do with the attacks on Japan. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. ...

The 1950s

The 1950s were the zenith of Japanese cinema, and three of its films (Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Tokyo Story) made the Sight & Sound's 2002 Critics and Directors Poll for the best films of all time.^[5] The decade started with Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and marked the entrance of Japanese cinema onto the world stage. It was also the breakout role for legendary star Toshiro Mifune.^[6] 1952 and 1953 saw another Kurosawa film, Ikiru, as well as Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story. This article or section cites its sources but does not provide page references. ... For other uses, see Seven Samurai (disambiguation). ... Tokyo Story ) is a 1953 Japanese dike cunt nigger bitch fag cunt whore cock sucker movie by Yasujiro Ozu, in which elderly parents from the southwestern seaside town of Onomichi visit their busy children in Tokyo — a journey which, before the introduction of the bullet train, took almost a day... Sight & Sound is a British monthly magazine about film. ... The Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Foreign Language Film is a yearly US award for the best film in a language other than English, released in the period October - September in the country of origin. ... Toshiro Mifune in the film Drunken Angel. ... Ikiru (生きる) is a 1952 black and white movie written and directed by the acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and inspired by Leo Tolstoys The Death of Ivan Ilyich. ... Yasujiro Ozu (小津 安二郎 Ozu Yasujirō) (December 12, 1903 - December 12, 1963) was an influential Japanese film director. ...

The year 1954 saw two of Japan's most influential films released. The first was the Kurosawa epic Seven Samurai, about a band of hired samurai who protect a helpless village from a rapacious gang of thieves, which was remade in the West as The Magnificent Seven. For other uses, see Seven Samurai (disambiguation). ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Magnificent Seven The Magnificent Seven is a 1960 western film directed by John Sturges, essentially an American remake of Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai). ...

That same year Ishirō Honda released the anti-nuclear horror film Gojira, which was translated in the West as Godzilla. Though it was severely edited for its Western release, Godzilla became an international icon of Japan and spawned an entire industry of Kaiju films. In 1955, Hiroshi Inagaki won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for Part I of his Samurai Trilogy. Ishirō Honda (本多 猪四郎 Honda Ishirō, May 7, 1911 in Yamagata Prefecture – February 28, 1993) was a Japanese film director. ... Godzilla ) is a 1954 Japanese science fiction film, produced and distributed by Toho Company Ltd. ... For other uses, see Godzilla (disambiguation). ... KaijÅ« (怪獣) is a Japanese term that generically translates to monster. ... Hiroshi Inagaki (30 December 1905 - 21 May 1980) is a Japanese filmmaker most known for the Academy Award winning Samurai Trilogy that he directed. ... The Criterion Collection DVD cover. ...

Kon Ichikawa directed two anti-war dramas: The Burmese Harp (1956), and Fires On The Plain (1959), along with Enjo (1958), which was adapted from Yukio Mishima's novel Temple Of The Golden Pavilion. Kon Ichikawa (市川 崑 Ichikawa Kon) (born November 20, 1915, Ujiyamada, Mie Prefecture) is one of the better known Japanese film directors. ... The Burmese Harp a. ... Fires on the Plain ) is a 1959 Japanese film directed by Kon Ichikawa. ... This article should belong in one or more categories. ... Yukio Mishima Yukio Mishima ) was the public name of Kimitake Hiraoka , January 14, 1925—November 25, 1970), a Japanese author and playwright, famous for both his highly notable nihilistic post-war writings and the circumstances of his ritual suicide by seppuku. ...

Masaki Kobayashi made two of the three films which would collectively become known as the The Human Condition Trilogy: No Greater Love (1958), and The Road To Eternity (1959). The trilogy was completed in 1961, with A Soldier's Prayer. Masaki Kobayashi (小林正樹 Kobayashi Masaki, February 14, 1916 – October 4, 1996) was a Japanese director who is probably best known for Kwaidan (怪談), a collection of four ghost stories (drawn from the book by Lafcadio Hearn), each of which has a surprise ending. ... The Human Condition is a film trilogy by Japanese film director Masaki Kobayashi. ...

Kenji Mizoguchi directed The Life of Oharu (1952), Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954). He won the Silver Bear at the Venice Film Festival for Ugetsu. Ugetsu, aka Ugetsu Monogatari (雨月物語), is a 1953 film by acclaimed Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi. ... Sansho the Bailiff (山椒大夫 Sanshō Dayū) is a 1954 film by Japanese film director Kenji Mizoguchi. ... The Venice Film Festival (it: Mostra Internazionale dArte Cinematografica) is the oldest Film Festival in the World (began in the 1932) and takes place every year in late August/early September on the Lido di Venezia in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, in Venice, Italy. ...

Mikio Naruse made Repast (1950), Late Chrysanthemums (1954), The Sound of the Mountain (1954) and Floating Clouds (1955). Repast ) is a 1951 film by Mikio Naruse, starring Setsuko Hara. ...

Yasujiro Ozu directed Good Morning (1959) and Floating Weeds (1958), which was adapted from his earlier silent A Story of Floating Weeds (1934), and was shot by Rashomon/Sansho the Bailiff cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Good Morning (Japanese: お早よう, Ohayō) is a 1959 comedy film by director Yasujiro Ozu. ... A 1959 film directed by Yasujiro Ozu and shot (in colour) by Kazuo Miyagawa, one of Japans greatest cinematographers. ... A Story of Floating Weeds is a 1934 film directed by Yasujiro Ozu which he later remade as Floating Weeds in 1959. ... Kazuo Miyagawa (宮川 一夫 February 25, 1908 - August 7, 1999) is generally recognized as having been one of the finest Japanese cinematographers. ...

The 1960s

Akira Kurosawa directed the 1961 classic Yojimbo, which is considered a huge influence on the Western. Yasujiro Ozu made his final film, An Autumn Afternoon, in 1962. Mikio Naruse directed the widescreen melodrama When a Woman Ascends the Stairs in 1960; his final film was Scattered Clouds, the second of two films he completed in 1967. Yojimbo (Japanese: 用心棒, Yōjinbō) is a 1961 jidaigeki (period drama) film by Akira Kurosawa. ... An Autumn Afternoon, 1962 was the final film directed by Yasujiro Ozu. ... When a Woman Ascends the Stairs ) is a 1960 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. ...

Technicolor arrived in Japan in the 1960s. Kon Ichikawa captured the watershed 1964 Olympics in his three-hour documentary Tokyo Olympiad (1965). Seijun Suzuki was fired by Nikkatsu for "making films that don't make any sense and don't make any money" after his surrealist yakuza flick Branded to Kill (1967). Logo celebrating Technicolors 90th Anniversary Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc. ... The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, were held in 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. ... Tokyo Olympiad (東京オリンピック) is a 1965 documentary film directed by Kon Ichikawa which documents the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. ... Seijun Suzuki (鈴木 清順 Suzuki Seijun, born 24 May 1923 in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese film director. ... The Nikkatsu Company ) is Japanese entertainment company well known for its film and television productions. ... The Yakuza are a popular subject in films Yakuza are a popular subject in Japanese cinema. ... Branded to Kill ) is a 1967 Japanese yakuza eiga and the 40th and final film directed by Seijun Suzuki for the Nikkatsu Company. ...

Nagisa Oshima, Kaneto Shindo, Susumu Hani and Shohei Imamura emerged as major filmmakers during the decade. Oshima's Cruel Story of Youth, Night and Fog in Japan and Death By Hanging became three of the better-known examples of Japanese New Wave filmmaking, alongside Shindo's Onibaba, Hani's She And He and Imamura's The Insect Woman. Nagisa Oshima (大島 渚 ÅŒshima Nagisa, born March 31, 1932) is a famous Japanese director. ... Kaneto Shindo , born 28 April 1912) in Hiroshima, Japan is a Japanese film director. ... Susumu Hani (羽仁 進, Hani Susumu) (born on 10 October 1928 in Tokyo) is a Japanese film director, one of the most prominent representatives of the 1960s New Wave. ... Shohei Imamura (今村 昌平 Imamura Shōhei) (born 15 September 1926 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese film director. ... Cruel Story Of Youth (Seishun Zankoku Monogatari, 1960), was the second film directed by Nagisa Oshima. ... Night and Fog in Japan is a 1960 film from Japanese director Nagisa Oshima. ... Suicide by hanging. ... The Japanese New Wave, or Nuberu bagu  ; from the French nouvelle vague), is the term for a group of Japanese film directors emerging from the late 1950s through the early 1970s. ... Onibaba ) is a 1964 Japanese horror film, directed by Kaneto Shindo and starring Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura and Kei Sato. ... Spoiler warning: The Insect Woman is a 1963 film directed by Shōhei Imamura. ...

Hiroshi Teshigahara's Woman in the Dunes (1964) won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film Oscars. Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan (1965) also picked up the Special Jury Prize at Cannes. Hiroshi Teshigahara (勅使河原 宏 Teshigahara Hiroshi, January 28, 1927 - April 14, 2001) was an avant-garde Japanese film-maker. ... Woman in the Dunes (砂の女, Suna No Onna, also translated as Woman of the Dunes), is a novel by Kobo Abe and a film based on that novel directed by Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara. ... Cannes Film Festival logo. ... The Academy Award for Directing is an accolade given to the person that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences feels was best director of the past year. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... Kwaidan (怪談, Kaidan, 1965) is a film directed by Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi and is based on one of Lafcadio Hearns collections of Japanese folk tales, Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1903). ...

The 1970s

Nagisa Oshima directed In the Realm of the Senses (1976), a World War II period piece about Sada Abe. Staunchly anti-censorship, he insisted that the film would contain hardcore pornographic material; as a result the exposed film had to be shipped to France for processing, and an uncut version of the film has still, to this day, never been shown in Japan. However, the pink film industry became the stepping stone for young independent filmmakers of Japan. In the Realm of the Senses (dvd) In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no Korīda, 愛のコリーダ, lit. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Newspaper photo taken shortly after her arrest. ... Pink film ) is a style of Japanese softcore pornographic films. ...

Yoji Yamada introduced the commercially successful Tora-San series, while also directing other films, notably the popular The Yellow Handkerchief. Yoji Yamada (山田 洋次 Yamada Yōji, born September 13, 1931 in Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese director best known for his Tora-san series of films. ... Statue of Tora-san Otoko wa tsurai yo (男はつらいよ, Its tough being a man) is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as Tora-san (寅さん), a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. ...

Kinji Fukasaku completed the epic Battles Without Honor and Humanity series of yakuza films. Kinji Fukasaku (深作欣二 Fukasaku Kinji) (3 July 1930 – 12 January 2003) was a Japanese film actor, writer and director. ... For the instrumental piece by Tomoyasu Hotei featured in the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill, see Battle Without Honor or Humanity Battles Without Honor and Humanity ) is a groundbreaking 1973 yakuza film by Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku and adapted from a series of newspaper articles by Koichi Iiboshi, a journalist...

New wave filmmakers Susumu Hani and Shohei Imamura retreated to documentary work, though Imamura made a dramatic return to feature filmmaking with Vengeance Is Mine (1979). Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... Vengeance is Mine (Japanese title: 復讐するは我にあり, fukushū suru wa ware ni ari) is a 1979 film directed by Shohei Imamura, based on the book of the same name by Ryuzo Saki. ...

The 1980s

Hayao Miyazaki adapted his manga Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind into a feature film in 1984. Katsuhiro Otomo followed suit with his Akira in 1988. New anime movies were run every summer and winter with characters from popular TV anime. Shohei Imamura won the Golden Palm at Cannes for The Ballad of Narayama (1983). Hayao Miyazaki ) (Born January 5, 1941 in Tokyo, Japan) is a director of animated films and a co-founder of the animation studio and production company Studio Ghibli. ... Manga )   (pl. ... This article is about a manga. ... Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ) is a 1984 film by Japanese writer, illustrator, and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, based on his manga of the same name. ... Katsuhiro Otomo Katsuhiro Otomo (大友克洋 ÅŒtomo Katsuhiro) (born April 14, 1954 in Hasama, Miyagi, Japan) is a Japanese manga artist and anime director. ... Akira ) is a 1988 animated film by Katsuhiro Otomo based on his manga of the same name. ... The Ballad of Narayama ) is a 1983 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura. ...

Akira Kurosawa directed Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985). Likewise, Seijun Suzuki made a comeback, beginning with Zigeunerweisen in 1980. Kagemusha ) is a 1980 film by Akira Kurosawa. ... Ran (Japanese: , chaos, wretchedness) is a 1985 film written and directed by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. ... Zigeunerweisen ) is a 1980 Independent Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and based on Hyakken Uchidas novel, Disk of Sarasate. ...

Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to Akira Kurosawa) debuted, initially with pink films and genre horror, though growing beyond this (and generating international attention) beginning in the mid 1990s. Kiyoshi Kurosawa (黒沢 清 Kurosawa Kiyoshi) is a Japanese filmmaker. ...

The 1990s

Shohei Imamura again won the Golden Palm (shared with Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami), this time for The Eel (1997), joining Alf Sjöberg, Francis Ford Coppola and Bille August as only the fourth two-time recipient. Abbas Kiarostami (Persian: `Abbās KiyārostamÄ«; born 22 June 1940) is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film producer. ... The Eel (うなぎ, Unagi) is a 1997 film directed by Shohei Imamura starring Koji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baisho and Akira Emoto. ... Alf Sjöberg (June 21, 1903 – April 16, 1980) was a Swedish film director. ... Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is a five-time Academy Award winning American film director, producer, and screenwriter. ... Bille August (born November 9, 1948) is a Danish film and television director. ...

Takeshi Kitano emerged as a significant filmmaker with works such as Sonatine (1993), Kids Return (1996) and Hana-bi (1997), which was given the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Takeshi Kitano , born January 18, 1947) is a Japanese comedian, actor, presenter, author, poet, painter, one-time video game designer, and film director who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. ... For the piano piece by Maurice Ravel, see Sonatine (Ravel). ... Kids Return is a 1996 movie written and directed by Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. ... Hana-bi (花火 Hanabi) is a 1997 film starring, written, directed by Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. ...

Takashi Miike launched a prolific career, making up to 50 films in a decade, building up an impressive portfolio with titles such as, Audition (1999), Dead or Alive (1999) and The Bird People in China (1998). Takashi Miike ) (born August 24, 1960) is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. ... Audition (Japanese: Ōdishon) is a 1999 film directed by Takashi Miike based on a Ryu Murakami novel of the same title, starring Ryo Ishibashi and Eihi Shiina. ... Dead or Alive ), abbreviated as DOA (Dii ō ei), is a 1999 Japanese yakuza action film directed by Takashi Miike. ... The Bird People in China (中国の鳥人 Chûgoku no chôjin) is a Japanese movie directed by Takashi Miike. ...

Former documentary filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda launched an acclaimed feature career with Maborosi (1996) and After Life (1999). Hirokazu Koreeda (是枝裕和 Koreeda Hirokazu, born in 1962 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese film director. ... Maborosi, known in Japan as Maboroshi no Hikari (幻の光, literally phantasmic light) (1995) is a Japanese film by director Hirokazu Koreeda starring Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano and Takashi Naitō. Based on a novel by Teru Miyamoto. ... After Life , lit. ...

Hayao Miyazaki directed two mammoth box office and critical successes, Porco Rosso (1992) which beat E.T. (1982) as the highest-grossing film in Japan, and Princess Mononoke (1997) which also claimed the top box office spot until Titanic (1997) beat it. Porco Rosso , lit. ... E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace and Peter Coyote. ... Princess Mononoke ) is a Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki that was first released in Japan on July 12, 1997 and in the United States on October 29, 1999 in select cities and on November 26, 1999. ... Titanic is a 1997 romantic drama / disaster film directed, written and co-produced by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic. ...

In addition, several new anime directors rose to widespread recognition, bringing with them newfound notions of anime as not only entertainment, but modern art:

• Mamoru Oshii released the internationally-acclaimed philosophical sci-fi action film Ghost in the Shell in 1996, based on the manga by Masamune Shirow. The film garnered great success and recognition in theatrical releases worldwide, and Oshii and later went on to direct several live action films.
• Satoshi Kon directed the award-winning psychological thriller Perfect Blue, based on a novel by Toshiki Sato. The film was theatrically released to decent commercial and considerable critical success in America and several other countries around the world.
• Hideaki Anno also gained considerable recognition after the release of his hugely successful (and controversial) psychological sci-fi epic Neon Genesis Evangelion, which started as a TV series in 1995 and concluded with the theatrical release of The End of Evangelion, the series' postmodern, apocalyptic conclusion, in 1997. (The film was not released internationally until the early 2000's, and then in straight-to-DVD format.) Evangelion is widely considered to be one of the most influential anime of all time.

Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer Mamoru Oshii (押井守 Oshii Mamoru; born August 8, 1951 in Tokyo) is a Japanese animation and live-action film writer and director famous for his philosophy-orietned storytelling. ... This article is about the first film adaptation. ... Masamune Shirow ) is a manga artist of international renown, born Masanori Ota (太田 まさのりOta Masanori) on November 23, 1961. ... Satoshi Kon (今敏 Kon Satoshi, born 12 October 1963 in Kushiro,Hokkaido,Japan) is a highly-regarded director of anime films Perfect Blue (1997), Millennium Actress (2001) and Tokyo Godfathers(2003). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Hideaki Anno (庵野秀明 Anno Hideaki, born 22 May 1960 in Ube, Japan) is a Japanese animation and video director. ... Original run October 4, 1995 – March 27, 1996 No. ... The End of Evangelion ) is a 1997 anime film written and chief directed by Hideaki Anno; it won the Japan Academy Prize for popularity. ...

2000 and after

Battle Royale was released, based on a popular novel by the same name. It gained cult film status in Japan and in Britain. Hayao Miyazaki came out of retirement to direct Spirited Away (2001), breaking Japanese box office records and winning the U.S. Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. In 2002, Dolls was released, followed by a high-budget remake, Zatoichi in 2003, both directed and written by Takeshi Kitano. The J-Horror films Ringu, Kairo, Dark Water, Yogen, and the Grudge series were remade in English and met with commercial success. In 2004, Godzilla: Final Wars, directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, was released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Godzilla. In 2005, director Seijun Suzuki made his 56th film, Princess Raccoon. Hirokazu Koreeda claimed film festival awards around the world with two of his films Distance and Nobody Knows. In 2004, Mamoru Oshii released Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (known in Japan simply as "Innocence",) which, like the first film, received noteworthy critical praise around the world. Satoshi Kon also released three quieter, but nonetheless highly successful films in 2001, 2003 and 2006 respectively: Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, and Paprika. Battle Royale ) is a film released on December 16, 2000, in Japan — based on the novel of the same name — released on April 22, 1999, in Japan. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Spirited Away, originally known in Japan as Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi ), is an Academy Award winning 2001 film by the Japanese anime studio Studio Ghibli, written and directed by famed animator Hayao Miyazaki. ... The Academy Awards are the oldest awards given to achievements in film; the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was given the first time for the 2001 film year. ... Dolls (Japanese: ドールズ) is a 2002 film directed by the Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. ... Zatoichi (座頭市 Zatōichi) is a Japanese samurai drama and martial arts film, released in 2003. ... Poster for Dark Water J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction in popular culture. ... Ring ) is a 1998 Japanese horror mystery film from director Hideo Nakata, adapted from a novel of the same name by Koji Suzuki. ... Kairo (2001) (aka Pulse) is a film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. ... Dark Water is a 2002 Japanese horror film directed by Hideo Nakata, who is perhaps better known to the general public as the director of Ringu and Ringu 2. ... Yogen (予言; lit. ... Promotional posters for The Grudge in Japan retained the original series title prefix of Ju-on. ... Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) is the 50th anniversary film in the Godzilla series of films. ... Ryuhei Kitamura (北村龍平 Kitamura RyÅ«hei, born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director growing in popularity in Japan and in the international Japanese film community. ... Princess Raccoon (オペレッタ狸御殿, Operetta Tanuki Goten) is a 2005 Japanese film, directed by Seijun Suzuki. ... Distance is a 2001 movie by Japanese director Koreeda Hirokazu, starring Arata, Asano Tadanobu, Iseya Yusuke, Terajima Susumu, and Natsukawa Yui. ... Nobody Knows (誰も知らない; Dare mo shiranai) is a 2004 Japanese film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. ... Batou, the protagonist. ... Millennium Actress (千年女優; Sennen Joyu) is a 2001 animated film by Japanese director Satoshi Kon. ... Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ Tōkyō Goddofāzāzu) is a 2003 anime film by Japanese director Satoshi Kon. ... This article is for the 2006 film Paprika Paprika, see Paprika (1991 film) Paprika ) is a Japanese animated science fiction film, based on Yasutaka Tsutsuis 1993 novel Paprika, about a female detective who investigates criminal cases by entering the dreams of her subjects. ...

Japanese films

• List of Japanese films

Cinema of Japan This is chronological list of films produced in Japan in order. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ http://www.seekjapan.jp/article-1/765/J-Horror:+An+Alternative+Guide
2. ^ Who's Who in Japanese Silent Films (html). Matsuda Film Productions. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
3. ^ Cohen, Aaron M.. Tokuko Nagai Takaki: Japan's First Film Actress (html). Bright Lights Film Journal 30 (October 2000). Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
4. ^ For more on benshi, see the books:
5. ^ http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/
6. ^ Prince, Stephen (1999). The Warrior's Camera. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01046-3. , p.127.

Dym, Jeffrey A. (2003). Benshi, Japanese Silent Film Narrators, and Their Forgotten Narrative Art of Setsumei: A History of Japanese Silent Film Narration. Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 0-7734-6648-7. (review) and

(2001) The Benshi-Japanese Silent Film Narrators. Tokyo: Urban Connections. ISBN 4-900849-51-0.  [1])

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Bowyer, Justin (2004). 24 Frames: The Cinema of Japan and Korea. Wallflower Press, London. ISBN 1-904764-11-8. 

• Mellen, Joan (1976). The Waves At Genji's Door: Japan Through Its Cinema. Pantheon, New York. ISBN 0-394-49799-6. 

• Prince, Stephen (1999). The Warrior's Camera. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01046-3. 

• Richie, Donald (2005). A Hundred Years of Japanese Film: A Concise History, with a Selective Guide to DVDs and Videos. Kodansha America. ISBN 4-7700-2995-0. 

• Sato, Tadao (1982). Currents In Japanese Cinema. Kodansha America. ISBN 0-87011-815-3. 

External links

• Asia Society: The Cinema Scene - Asia Society's regular podcast program containing news, reviews and interviews related to Asian Film
• Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
• Midnight Eye
• Resources for the study of Japanese Cinema at the University of Iowa Library
• Japanese Cinema to 1960 by Gregg Rickman
• The Problem of Identity in Contemporary Japanese Horror Films, discussion paper by Timothy Iles in the Electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies, 6 October 2005.
• Female Voices, Male Words: Problems of Communication, Identity and Gendered Social Construction in Contemporary Japanese Cinema, discussion paper by Timothy Iles in the *Reviews of Japanese Films, in the electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies
• Japan Cultural Profile - national cultural portal for Japan created by Visiting Arts/Japan Foundation

October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• World cinema
• Samurai cinema
• Anime
• East Asian cinema
• Glossary:Japanese film credit terms
• History of cinema
• Japan Academy Prize
• Japanese television programs
• List of Japanese Actors
• List of Japanese Actresses
• List of Japanese Directors
• List of Japanese language films
• List of Japanese movie studios
• Nuberu bagu (The Japanese New Wave)
• Seiyū
• Tendency film
• Tokusatsu

v • d • e

Cinema of Japan

Films A-Z • Films by year:   1898-1919 • 1920s • 1930s • 1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Actors • Directors • Cinematographers • Festivals • Producers • Screenwriters • This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... While earlier Samurai period pieces were more dramatic rather than action based, Samurai movies post world war 2 have become more action based, with darker and more violent characters. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ... East Asian cinema (sometimes called Far Eastern cinema, Eastern cinema, Asian cinema or Oriental cinema) is a term used to refer to the film industry and films produced in, and/or by natives of, East Asia. ... Origins of motion picture arts and sciences Any overview of the history of cinema would be remiss to fail to at least mention a long history of literature, storytelling, narrative drama, art, mythology, puppetry, shadow play, cave paintings and perhaps even dreams. ... The Japan Academy Prize ), often called the Japan Academy Awards or the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Nippon Academy-shō Association for excellence in Japanese film. ... Japanese television programs are mostly broadcast in Japan, although satellite and cable services outside Japan offer TV shows selected to fit local tastes. ... See also Category:Japanese actors, List of Japanese actresses Abe Hiroshi Aiba Hiroki Aijima Kazuyuki Aikawa Sho Aizawa Kazunari Akagi Keiichiro Akatsuka Maoto Amano Hironari Anan Kenji Aoyama Sota Arai Hirofumi Arata Asano Tadanobu Ato Kai Atsumi Kiyoshi Azuma Kouhei Ban Daisuke Bannai Matsuo Bessyo Tetsuya Chiba Shinichi (Sonny Chiba... See also Category:Japanese actors, List of Japanese actors. ... A Abe Yutaka Anno Hideaki F Fukasaku Kinji Furuhata Yasuo H Harada Masato Hirayama Hideyuki I Ichikawa Kon Imamura Shohei Ishii Sogo Itami Juzo Ito Shunya Iwai Shunji K Kasugi Nozumi Kawase Naomi Kinusaga Teinosuke Kitamura Ryuhei Kitano Takeshi Kobayashi Masaki Koizumi Takashi Kon Satoshi Koreeda Hirokazu Kurosawa Akira Kurosawa... This is a partial list of Japanese films: for American movies shot in Japan, see List of movies set in Japan To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... List of Japanese movie studios: Daiei Motion Picture Company Kadokawa Pictures Nikkatsu Corporation Shintoho Shochiku Toei Company Toho Company Categories: Japan-related stubs | Japanese movie studios ... Nuberu bagu (from French nouvelle vague) is the term for a group of Japanese film directors emerging from the late 1950s through the early 1970s. ... Voice Animage, a magazine about all things seiyÅ«. A seiyÅ«, seiyuu or seiyu ) is a Japanese voice actor. ... A tendency film or keikō-eiga is a name given to the socially-conscious, left-leaning films produced in Japan during the 1920s and 30s. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...