Best Japanese History Movies

This page is updated regularly. Subscribe, so you don't miss new recommendations. The list of "Best Japanese History Movies" contains films with the following parameters. Style: captivating, serious, realistic, stylized, epic and tense. Plot: samurai, medieval, japanese history, katana, heroes, martial arts, society, sword fight, edo period and murder. Genre: History, Drama and Action. Country: Japan, USA and UK.
Best Japanese History Movies
Best Japanese History Movies
TOP Movies: The Wind Rises (2013), When the Last Sword is Drawn (2002), Silence (2016), In This Corner of the World (2016), Kingdom (2019), The Hidden Blade (2004), Sakuran (2006), Samurai Resurrection (2003), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Yamato (2005), Sekigahara (2017), Gintama: The Movie (2010), Taboo (1999), The Twilight Samurai (2002), She Said (2022), Snow on The Blades (2014), Public Enemies (2009), Amsterdam (2022), Love and Honor (2006), Wife of a Spy (2020).

List of Best Movies

Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 134 min.
Story: Former legendary assassin Kenshin Himura has now become a wandering samurai. Offering aid & protecting those in need as atonement for his past deeds. During this time Kenshin Himura comes across and aides Kaoru Kamiya (Emi Takei). Her father ...
Style: exciting, serious, manga, realistic, anime ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: samurai, martial arts, master warrior, japanese culture, katana, drifter, swordsman, shogun, heroes, one man army, medieval, fight ...
Time: 1800s, 2010s, 1870s, 1860s, 19th century
Place: japan, asia, ancient china, tokyo, kyoto japan
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 97K
The Wind Rises (2013)
Genre: Animation, Biography, Drama, Romance, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 126 min.
Story: A lifelong love of flight inspires Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose storied career includes the creation of the A-6M World War II fighter plane.
Style: anime, touching, stylized, atmospheric, sentimental ...
Audience: kids, family friendly, teens
Plot: world war two, tuberculosis, dream, airplane, earthquake, aviation, biopic, inventions and discoveries, flying, hopes, love and romance, wartime ...
Time: 1930s, 2010s, year 2013, 1920s, 20th century ...
Place: japan, germany, asia
Is relevant ?
When the Last Sword is Drawn (2002)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 143 min.
Story: Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support ...
Style: atmospheric, captivating, realistic, bleak, serious ...
Plot: samurai, japanese history, medieval, sword fight, life is a bitch, tragic hero, human spirit, political unrest, emperor, martial arts, state affairs, unfulfillment ...
Time: 19th century
Place: japan, asia
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 122K
Silence (2016)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: USA, UK, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico
Duration: 161 min.
Story: Two Jesuit priests travel to seventeenth century Japan which has, under the Tokugawa shogunate, banned Catholicism and almost all foreign contact.
Style: philosophical, stylized, cerebral, melancholic, intellectual ...
Audience: teens
Plot: missionary, religion, christianity, religious persecution, culture clash, crisis of faith, faith, torture, doubt, betrayal, christian, clergy ...
Time: 17th century, 2010s, year 2016, year 2015
Place: japan, portugal, asia
Is relevant ?
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In This Corner of the World (2016)
Genre: Animation, Drama, Family, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 129 min.
Story: Newlywed Suzu Urano moves to her new life in Kure City on the coast of Hiroshima Prefecture, where she perseveres through World War II with pluck and determination.
Style: anime, thought provoking, suspenseful, touching, tense ...
Audience: family friendly, teens
Plot: world war two, war, wedding, bombing, female protagonist, military, evacuation, anniversary, danger, society, couples, teenager ...
Time: 1940s, 1930s, 2010s, 20th century, year 1943 ...
Place: hiroshima japan, japan, east asia, asia
Is relevant ?
 6.7
 4K
Kingdom (2019)
Genre: Action, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 134 min.
Story: Set in Qin Dynasty during the warring states period in ancient China. Shin was a war orphan. He has a dream of becoming a great general Shin has a fateful encounter with young King Eisei. King Eisei aims to unify all of China.
Style: entertaining, captivating, exciting, anime
Plot: battles, sword fight, king, medieval, warrior, best friend, doppelganger, pursuit, slave, death of friend, power struggle, heir ...
Place: china, asia
Is relevant ?
The Hidden Blade (2004)
Genre: Drama, History, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 132 min.
Story: Set in 19th Century Japan a young samurai who finds himself in love with a farm girl leaves his home to begin a new life. He has to take stock of his new life when he is put to the test and ordered to kill a traitor who just happens to be his ...
Style: serious, sentimental, stylized, epic, romantic ...
Plot: samurai, martial arts, caste system, feudal japan, vengeance, politics, love and romance, family life, medieval, edo period, ninja, winter ...
Time: 19th century, 1860s
Place: japan, asia
Is relevant ?
 6.7
 2K
Sakuran (2006)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 111 min.
Story: A young girl is sold into the red-light district Yoshiwara and is put under the care of the oiran (lead prostitute) of the Tamakiku house. The girl is rebellious, but the more experienced people in the household begin to think that she will be one ...
Style: emotional, captivating, stylized, epic, costume drama ...
Plot: geisha, courtesan, ambition, lifestyle, rebelliousness, social differences, rise to the top, rivalry, fall in love, fish out of water, gang, apprentice ...
Time: 18th century
Place: japan, tokyo, asia
Is relevant ?
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Samurai Resurrection (2003)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, History, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 106 min.
Story: Shiro Amasuka, dead leader of the Shimbara Revolt is resurrected from hell with the desire of overthrowing the shogunate for killing his companions. To do this , he resurrects an army od living dead swordsmen. Between him and his goal, only Yagyu ...
Style: serious, exciting, scary, epic, suspenseful ...
Plot: samurai, shogun, battles, ghost, zombie, heroes, danger, rivalry, vengeance, supernatural, reincarnation, curses spells and rituals ...
Place: japan
Is relevant ?
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
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 ?
 6.4
 2K
Yamato (2005)
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 145 min.
Story: Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in ...
Style: realistic, captivating, serious, exciting, touching
Plot: world war two, navy, battleship, warship, kamikaze, military, war, battles, heroes, danger, japanese history, world war ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, 2000s, year 2005, year 1945 ...
Place: japan
Is relevant ?
 6.3
 856
Sekigahara (2017)
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 150 min.
Story: In the year 1600, a battle determines the future ruler for Japan and the beginning of the rise of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Style: exciting, tense, thought provoking, suspenseful, captivating ...
Plot: shogun, japanese history, female ninja, ninja, medieval, employer employee relationship, death sentence, employer, spy, murder, slavery, betrayal ...
Time: medieval times, 17th century
Place: japan
Is relevant ?
Gintama: The Movie (2010)
Genre: Animation, Action, Comedy, History, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 96 min.
Story: Odd Jobs Gin has taken on a lot of odd work in the past, and when you're a Jack of All Trades agency based in a feudal Japan that's been conquered and colonized by aliens, the term "Odd Jobs" means REALLY ODD jobs. But when some ...
Style: anime, stylized, semi serious, exciting, humorous ...
Audience: teens
Plot: rivalry, heroes, conspiracy, danger, escapades, disorder, society, misfit partners, dishonesty, artificial intelligence, imaginary, evil alien ...
Time: middle ages
Place: japan
Is relevant ?
 6.8
 8K
Taboo (1999)
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: Japan, France, UK
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai ...
Style: stylized, atmospheric, tense, realistic, disturbing ...
Plot: gay, gays and lesbians, secrets, murder mystery, samurai, sword fight, emperor, lgbt, boys love, medieval, wartime, life philosophy ...
Time: 19th century, year 1999, 1800s
Place: japan, asia, kyoto japan
Is relevant ?
The Twilight Samurai (2002)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 129 min.
Story: Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the ...
Style: tense, emotional, realistic, atmospheric, sincere ...
Plot: samurai, sword fight, feudal japan, poverty, love, friendship, medieval, character study, tragedy, visceral, love story, assassination ...
Time: 19th century, 2000s, year 2002, y2k, 1800s
Place: japan, east asia, asia
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 28K
She Said (2022)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: USA, Japan
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.
Style: serious, sexual, interesting
Plot: sexual harassment, based on real people, rape, abuse of power, sexism, sexual assault, female protagonist, women's rights, investigation, female journalist, sexual abuse, sexual predator ...
Time: 2020s, year 2017, 2010s, year 1992, year 2016
Place: manhattan new york city, hong kong, new york, venice, ireland
Is relevant ?
Snow on The Blades (2014)
Genre: Action, Drama, History
Country: Japan, Cyprus
Duration: 119 min.
Story: At Sakurada Gate in 1860, the shogun’s chief minister and his retinue of bodyguards are ambushed and annihilated. Bearing the responsibility and shame for this failure is Shimura Kingo, master swordsman and chief of the guard. Forbidden to take ...
Style: captivating, crying
Plot: samurai, murderer, shogun, murder, vengeance, pursuit, obsession, deception, anger, fight, minister, showdown ...
Time: 19th century
Place: japan
Is relevant ?
 7.0
 317K
Public Enemies (2009)
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama, History
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 140 min.
Story: Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's charm and audacity endear him to much of America's downtrodden public, but he's also a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover and the fledgling FBI. Desperate to capture the elusive outlaw, ...
Style: suspense, stylized, factual, exciting, intense ...
Audience: manly, boys' night
Plot: bank robbery, bank robber, gunfight, mobster, group of criminals, heist, manhunt, criminal heroes, organized crime, gangster, fbi, mafia ...
Time: 1930s, year 2009, 20th century, 2000s, year 1933
Place: chicago, indiana, usa, tucson arizona, illinois ...
Is relevant ?
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 6.1
 92K
Amsterdam (2022)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 134 min.
Story: In the 1930s, three friends—a doctor, a nurse, and an attorney—witness a murder, become suspects themselves and uncover one of the most outrageous plots in North American history.
Style: dramatic, captivating, stylized, tense, suspense ...
Plot: investigation, murder, corpse, friendship, nurse, lawyer, friend, doctor, death, friends, real life, experiment ...
Time: 1930s, 2020s, year 1933, year 1918, year 1919 ...
Place: usa, belgium, france, new york, amsterdam
Is relevant ?
Love and Honor (2006)
Genre: Drama, History, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min.
Story: A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai (Kimura) and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.
Style: serious, psychological, romantic, poignant, jidai geki ...
Plot: samurai, blind character, social differences, blindness, hopes, rivalry, society, vengeance, political unrest, medieval, master warrior, japanese history ...
Time: year 2006
Place: japan, asia
Is relevant ?
Wife of a Spy (2020)
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min.
Story: It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a ...
Style: captivating, suspense, disturbing, psychological
Plot: japanese wife, spy, world war two, murder, male female relationship, occupation, wartime, social problems, female protagonist, family relations, lifestyle, war ...
Time: 1940s
Place: japan
Is relevant ?
Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part I - The Final (2021)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 138 min.
Story: In 1879, Kenshin and his allies face their strongest enemy yet: his former brother-in-law Enishi Yukishiro and his minions, who've vowed their revenge.
Style: tense, captivating, exciting, historical drama, perverse ...
Plot: medieval, swordsman, katana, master warrior, fight, destruction, combat, showdown, escapades, character change, confronting the past, changing lives ...
Place: japan
Is relevant ?
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, Japan, USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: The story of journalist, Edward R Murrow's stand against Senator McCarthy's anti-communist witch-hunts in the early 1950s.
Style: black and white, political, melancholic, factual, tense ...
Plot: media, politics, television, journalist, mccarthyism, reporter, fighting the system, cold war, journalism, communism, propaganda, politician ...
Time: 1950s, 20th century, 50s, 90s, year 2005 ...
Place: new york, california, washington d.c., usa, soviet union ...
Is relevant ?
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Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part II - The Beginning (2021)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 137 min.
Story: Kenshin Himura goes up against mysterious weapons dealer Enishi. He controls the underworld of China. The secret of Kenshin Himura’s "Jujishou" is also revealed.
Style: captivating, tense, perverse, manga, anime ...
Plot: samurai, one man army, shogun, fight, martial arts, secret, organized crime, gang leader, gang, warrior, arms dealer, bandit ...
Time: 1860s
Place: japan, china, kyoto japan
Is relevant ?
 7.9
 38K
Kagemusha (1980)
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 180 min.
Story: When a warlord dies, a peasant thief is called upon to impersonate him, in order to protect his clan from appearing weak and vulnerable. But he finds himself haunted by the warlord’s spirit as well as his own ambitions.
Style: captivating, enigmatic, bleak, costume drama, epic ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: samurai, battles, martial arts, japanese history, war, warlord, medieval, doppelganger, emperor, death, feudal japan, culture clash ...
Time: 16th century, medieval times, year 1980
Place: japan, east asia, asia
Is relevant ?
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Genre: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 144 min.
Story: In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words use by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had ...
Style: epic, factual, intense, talky, serious ...
Audience: family outing
Plot: world war two, war, navy, fighter plane, u.s. navy, aviation, battles, military life, military, world war, wartime, air raid ...
Time: year 1970, 1940s, 20th century, year 1941
Place: hawaii, japan, pearl harbor, washington d.c., asia ...
Is relevant ?
United Red Army (2007)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 190 min.
Story: The film is told in three acts, beginning with a historical background of Japan's student movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, mostly using archive footage and a narrator. The second act follows the formation of the group to their mountain ...
Style: serious, atmospheric, rough, bleak, anime ...
Plot: revolution, radical, rebellion, idealism, society, life is a bitch, military, isolation, danger, communism, hostage, terrorism ...
Time: 2000s, 20th century, 70s, year 1960, year 1972 ...
Place: japan, asia
Is relevant ?
Sakurada Gate Incident (2010)
Genre: History
Country: Japan
Duration: 137 min.
Story: A film about the assination of Ii Naosuke at the gate of Edo castle in 1860 by ronin from the mito domain.
Plot: edo period, medieval, tokugawa shogunate, assassination, anti christianity, government official, gate, japanese history, seppuku, historical event, xenophobia, sword fight ...
Time: 1860s
Place: japan
Is relevant ?
Sword of Desperation (2010)
Genre: Action, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 114 min.
Story: A talented but troubled Edo Period swordsman, Kanemi Sanzawmon. Three years earlier, Kanemi killed a woman, Renko, the corrupt mistress of the powerful daimyo Tabu Ukyou. Unexpectedly, Kanemi received a lenient sentence for his crime and is allowed ...
Style: captivating, suspenseful, atmospheric, tense, exciting ...
Plot: samurai, master warrior, loyalty, betrayal, intrigue, rivalry, medieval, under the surface, haunted by the past, death of wife, assassination plot, edo period ...
Place: japan
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 39K
She Said (2022)
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 ?
Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
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