Best Japanese Drama Movies
This page is updated regularly. Subscribe, so you don't miss new recommendations. The list of "Best Japanese Drama Movies" contains films with the following parameters. Style: sincere, captivating, touching, psychological, thought provoking and sentimental. Plot: love, asian, coming of age, girl, family relations, friendship, husband wife relationship, teenager, father daughter relationship and child. Genre: Drama, Animation and Romance. Country: Japan, USA and France.
Best Japanese Drama Movies
TOP Movies: A Silent Voice (2016), Drive My Car (2021), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Red Beard (1965), Still Walking (2008), Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020), Your Name. (2016), From Me To You (2010), Her Love Boils Bathwater (2016), Departures (2008), Little Forest: Winter/Spring (2015), Soul (2020), Go (2001), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Up (2009), Like Father, Like Son (2013), Coco (2017), Inside Out (2015), 37 Seconds (2019), She Said (2022).
List of Best Movies
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Genre: Animation, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya ...
Style:
anime, touching, sincere, romantic, sweet ...
Audience:
teens, kids
Plot:
teenager, bullying, disability, deaf, sign language, friendship, high school, japanese schoolgirl, japanese school, coming of age, deafness, suicide attempt ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
japan
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 179 min.
Story:
Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanja at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to ...
Style:
poetic, slow cinema, art house, inspirational, relaxing ...
Plot:
infidelity, driver, japanese wife, stage play, snow, loss of wife, grief, audition, asian, amor, anton chekhov, car ...
Time:
2020s, 2010s
Place:
japan, hiroshima japan, tokyo
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Japan, France
Duration: 145 min.
Story:
A sweeping romantic epic set in Japan in the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.
Style:
sentimental, romantic, stylized, captivating, dramatic ...
Audience:
chick flick, teens, girls' night, teen drama
Plot:
love story, geisha, women, age difference, japanese culture, older man younger woman relationship, brothel, beauty, love and romance, orphan, young woman, mentor ...
Time:
1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 20th century, year 2005 ...
Place:
japan, asia, china, east asia, america ...
Is relevant ?
21K
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 185 min.
Story:
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but ...
Style:
black and white, cerebral, realistic, emotional, touching ...
Plot:
samurai, doctor, poverty, medical profession, medical, medieval, intern, medicine, asian, japanese history, knight, time travel ...
Time:
19th century, year 1965, 1800s
Place:
japan, asia, tokyo
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
Twelve years after their beloved eldest son, Junpei, drowned while saving a stranger's life, Kyohei and Toshiko welcome their surviving children home for a family reunion. Younger son Ryota still feels that his parents resent that he isn't ...
Style:
serious, contemplative, realistic, touching, sincere ...
Plot:
family reunited, family gatherings, family life, generation gap, bereavement, dealing with death, reconciliation, parents and children, old age, generation, father daughter relationship, love ...
Time:
year 2008, 2000s
Place:
japan, east asia, asia
Is relevant ?
Genre: Animation, Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
A youth romantic drama with themes of growing up, the story focuses on college student Tsuneo and dreamer Josee, who lives her life stuck in a wheelchair. Josee—named after the heroine in Françoise Sagan’s Wonderful Clouds—spends most of her ...
Style:
anime, sincere, captivating
Plot:
relationships, lifestyle change, woman in a wheelchair, love, teenage life, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, lifestyle, teenager, slice of life, wheelchair bound, disabled child, disability ...
Is relevant ?
315K
Genre: Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must ...
Style:
anime, sweet, touching, melancholic, romantic ...
Audience:
teens, date night, kids, family outing, teen drama
Plot:
time travel, body swapping, school, beautiful scenery, friendship, girl, love, destiny, teenager, schoolgirl, memory loss, boy ...
Time:
2010s, year 2016, 2020s, year 2013
Place:
tokyo, japan, east asia
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
Sawako Kuronuma, called Sadako by her classmates for her resemblance to the character from Ring, has always been feared and misunderstood because of her appearance. There are rumors that Sawako can see ghosts and curse people. However, despite her ...
Style:
shoujo, sentimental, captivating, sweet, psychological ...
Plot:
feminine wiles, love, teenage girl, school, father daughter relationship, fall in love, high school life, social misfits, couples, love story, friendship, teenager ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
japan, east asia
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
A terminally ill single mother is determined to reconcile her splintered family.
Style:
psychological, sincere, captivating, melancholic, sentimental ...
Plot:
japanese woman, bullying, father daughter relationship, east asian woman, terminal illness, siblings, diagnosis, cancer, husband wife relationship, schoolgirl, runaway, dead mother ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
japan, mount fuji, tokyo
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a ...
Style:
sad, philosophical, psychological, touching, thought provoking ...
Plot:
self discovery, funeral, father son relationship, pregnant wife, workplace, small town, character study, new job, small town life, heartwarming, music, melancholy ...
Time:
year 2008, 21st century
Place:
japan, asia, tokyo
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Ichiko (Ai Hashimoto) lived in a big city, but goes back to her small hometown Komori, located on a mountain in the Tohoku region. She is self-sufficient. Ichiko gains energy living among nature and eating foods she makes from seasonal ingredients.
Style:
thought provoking, realistic, sincere, captivating, epic ...
Plot:
food, japanese girl, japanese culture, nature, solitude, abandoned by mother, isolation, society, backpacking, cookery, agriculture, inspiration ...
Place:
japan
Is relevant ?
375K
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful gig at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls ...
Style:
3d animation, touching, philosophical, sincere, captivating ...
Audience:
kids, family friendly
Plot:
jazz, self discovery, life after death, afterlife, meaning of life, lifestyle change, acceptance, life & death, following a dream, life, teaching the ways of the world, death ...
Time:
2020s, 2010s, future, 21st century
Place:
hawaii, tibet, manhattan new york city, new york
Is relevant ?
3K
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Isao Yukisada spins this gritty coming-of-age tale about Sugihara, a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean who struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him. The film begins with Sugihara studying at a Korean junior high school ...
Style:
serious, sentimental, sincere, touching, sweet ...
Plot:
racism, boxing, coming of age, teenage love, youth, society, fish out of water, parents and children, high school life, lgbtq, traumatic childhood, misfit ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
japan, asia
Is relevant ?
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min.
Story:
The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
Style:
bleak, realistic, epic, contemplative, disturbing ...
Audience:
family outing, adult
Plot:
world war two, war, military, japanese history, battles, survival, anti war, japanese army, imperial japan, brutality, japanese military, violence ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 2006, 2000s, ancient times ...
Place:
japan, asia, nebraska, tokyo
Is relevant ?
1.1M
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives ...
Style:
feel good, inspirational, touching, sweet, tear jerker ...
Audience:
kids, family outing, family friendly, pre-teens, date night ...
Plot:
dog, loneliness, friendship, unlikely friendships, follow your dream, hopes, friends, animal life, journey, obsessive quest, aging, wilderness ...
Time:
year 2009, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
south america, iran, venezuela, latin america, mount everest
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. He learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth. He must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.
Style:
touching, disturbing, psychological, sincere, intense ...
Audience:
family friendly
Plot:
family drama, family reunited, boy, parents and children, architect, father son relationship, family relations, self discovery, moral dilemma, introspection, identity crisis, life turned upside down ...
Time:
year 2013, 21st century
Place:
japan, tokyo, asia
Is relevant ?
583K
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Music, Mystery
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead ...
Style:
touching, feel good, sincere, sweet, atmospheric ...
Audience:
kids, teens, family outing, family friendly, chick flick ...
Plot:
day of the dead, afterlife, life after death, musician, music, life & death, death, childhood, memory, good versus evil, boy, dog ...
Time:
2010s, year 2017
Place:
mexico, tibet
Is relevant ?
778K
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. ...
Style:
inspirational, touching, emotional, 3d animation, motivational ...
Audience:
kids, family outing, family friendly, teens, pre-teens ...
Plot:
imaginary friend, memory, creativity, dream, joy, childhood, parents and children, life philosophy, subconscious, coming of age, friendship, happy ending ...
Time:
2010s, year 2015, year 2016, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
san francisco, minnesota, california, tibet, usa
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
In 37 Seconds, 23-year-old comic book artist Yuma, physically disabled due to profound cerebral palsy and emotionally stunted by her well-meaning but overly protective mother, forges her own unusual path to sexual awakening and independence while at ...
Style:
suspense, psychological, disturbing, captivating, manga ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
disability, cerebral palsy, artist, coming of age, japanese woman, virgin, exploring sexuality, character study, life is a bitch, adaptation, rivalry, love affair ...
Place:
japan, tokyo, thailand
Is relevant ?
39K
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 129 min.
Story:
New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor break one of the most important stories in a generation — a story that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood.
Plot:
biopic, journalism, communication, hollywood, sexual abuse, abuse of power, real life, sexual harassment, sexual assault, new york times, judiciary, believe in yourself ...
Time:
2010s, year 2016, year 1992, year 2017, 21st century
Place:
italy, manhattan new york city, hong kong, venice, new york ...
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan, Germany
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Hirayama seems utterly content with his simple life as a cleaner of toilets in Tokyo. Outside of his very structured everyday routine he enjoys his passion for music and for books. And he loves trees and takes photos of them. A series of unexpected ...
Style:
psychological, captivating, thrilling
Plot:
janitor, job, life, lifestyle, social issues, social problems, tree, uncle niece relationship, solitude, design, slice of life, coworker relationship ...
Time:
2020s
Place:
tokyo, japan
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to nature.
Style:
thrilling, captivating, psychological
Plot:
village, life, nature, social problems, social issues, countryside, father daughter relationship, urbanism, multiple perspectives, winter, water, contamination ...
Place:
japan
Is relevant ?
16K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know what's going on. But as the story unfolds through the ...
Style:
thrilling, captivating, semi serious, suspense thriller, suspense ...
Audience:
kids
Plot:
teacher student relationship, lgbt child, coming of age, elementary school, gay, life is a bitch, family life, family relations, family problems, social problems, relationships, gay love ...
Place:
japan
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
A psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.
Style:
unusual plot structure, twisted, disturbing, visually appealing, mind twisting ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
vengeance, revenge, teachers and students, grief, japanese schoolgirl, dead daughter, teenage murderer, twists and turns, bullying, child murder, extreme, asian ...
Time:
2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
japan, east asia, tokyo
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 131 min.
Story:
An unapologetic former sex worker starts working at a bento stand in a small seaside town, bringing comfort to the lonely souls who come her way.
Style:
thrilling, captivating, psychological, social, sexy
Plot:
slice of life, loneliness, life, social problems, life is a bitch, lifestyle, social issues, humanity, ex prostitute, parent child relationship, high school, cooking ...
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 317 min.
Story:
Jun, Akari, Sakurako and Fumi truly believe that they can confide in each other. But one day, at a party, Jun confesses that she is seeking a divorce from her husband and this information seems to upset the other three. They follow her trial as she ...
Style:
captivating, sentimental, melancholic, exciting, feel good ...
Plot:
slutty wife, sluttiness, wench, harlot, abusive wife, slutty attitude, narcissistic woman, narcissism, promiscuous woman, divorce, infidelity, premarital sex ...
Time:
future, 2010s
Place:
japan, asia
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
A story about the disappearance of Kirishima, a star athlete of the volleyball club, and how his disappearance affects every person in school.
Style:
realistic, atmospheric, semi serious, touching, psychological ...
Plot:
high school, disappearance, society, friendship, youth, social relations, high school student, rivalry, asian, great ending, teenager, japanese schoolgirl ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
japan
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
Majime, an eccentric man in publishing company, who has unique ability of words, joins the team that will compile a new dictionary, ‘The Great Passage.’ In the eclectic team, he becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries. But the team is ...
Style:
serious, realistic, sentimental, sincere, feel good ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
workplace, fall in love, love and romance, obsession, workplace situations, social misfits, depression, asian, socially awkward, unsuccessful, japanese culture
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
asia, japan
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 141 min.
Story:
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Style:
depressing, touching, serious, atmospheric, bleak ...
Audience:
kids, teens
Plot:
childhood, poverty, dysfunctional family, boy, young kid, innocence lost, children, child abandonment, brother brother relationship, tragedy, coming of age, family relations ...
Time:
year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
japan, tokyo, east asia, asia
Is relevant ?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, China
Duration: 136 min.
Story:
Scott has been a case of arrested development ever since his firefighter father died when he was seven. He’s now reached his mid-20s having achieved little, chasing a dream of becoming a tattoo artist that seems far out of reach. As his ambitious ...
Style:
humorous, psychological, funny, ironic, feel good ...
Plot:
slacker, tattoo artist, arrested development, re-education, stoner, fear of commitment, coming of age, nepotism, family relations, dancer, felony, teenage boy ...
Place:
new york, hawaii, manhattan new york city
Is relevant ?
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