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The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that earned 54.9% of a box office total of US$2.338 billion. Films have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived. ''

Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international recogni ...

'' (1953) ranked number three in ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' critics' list of the 100 greatest films of all time. ''Tokyo Story'' also topped the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' directors' poll of The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time, dethroning '' Citizen Kane'', while

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

's '' Seven Samurai'' (1954) was voted the greatest foreign-language film of all time in

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's 2018 poll of 209 critics in 43 countries. Japan has won the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for the Best International Feature Film four times, more than any other Asian country. Japan's Big Four film studios are

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

, Toei,

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not ...

and

Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...

, which are the only members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ). The annual

Japan Academy Film Prize The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

hosted by the Nippon Academy-shō Association is considered to be the Japanese equivalent of the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

History

Early silent era

The

kinetoscope The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device, designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but it introduced the basic approach that woul ...

, first shown commercially by

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

in the United States in 1894, was first shown in Japan in November 1896. The

Vitascope Vitascope was an early film projector first demonstrated in 1895 by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat. They had made modifications to Jenkins' patented Phantoscope, which cast images via film and electric light onto a wall or screen. The ...

and the

Lumière Brothers Lumière is French for 'light'. Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to: * Lumières, the philosophical movement in the Age of Enlightenment People *Auguste and Louis Lumière, French pioneers in film-making Film and TV * Institut Lumière, ...

' Cinematograph were first presented in Japan in early 1897, by businessmen such as

Inabata Katsutaro was a Japanese industrialist and film pioneer. Career Born to a Kyoto family that ran a long-standing wagashi store, Inabata attended the Kyoto-fu Shihan Gakkō (now the Kyoto University of Education) and in 1877 earned a scholarship to attend ...

. Lumière cameramen were the first to shoot films in Japan. Moving pictures, however, were not an entirely new experience for the Japanese because of their rich tradition of pre-cinematic devices such as ''gentō'' (''utsushi-e'') or the

magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...

. The first successful Japanese film in late 1897 showed sights in Tokyo. In 1898 some ghost films were made, the Shirō Asano shorts '' Bake Jizo'' (Jizo the Spook / 化け地蔵) and '' Shinin no sosei'' (Resurrection of a Corpse). The first documentary, the short '' Geisha no teodori'' (芸者の手踊り), was made in June 1899. Tsunekichi Shibata made a number of early films, including '' Momijigari'', an 1899 record of two famous actors performing a scene from a well-known

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is though ...

play. Early films were influenced by traditional theater – for example, kabuki and

bunraku (also known as ) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or (puppeteers ...

20th century

At the dawn of the 20th century theaters in Japan hired

benshi were Japanese performers who provided live narration for silent films (both Japanese films and Western films). ''Benshi'' are sometimes called or . Role The earliest films available for public display were produced by Western studios, portray ...

, storytellers who sat next to the screen and narrated silent movies. They were descendants of

jōruri,

kōdan is a style of traditional oral Japanese storytelling. The form evolved out of lectures on historical or literary topics given to high-ranking nobles of the Heian period, changing over the centuries to be adopted by the general samurai class and ...

storytellers, theater barkers and other forms of oral storytelling. Benshi could be accompanied by music like silent films from cinema of the West. With the advent of sound in the early 1930s, the benshi gradually declined. In 1908, Shōzō Makino, considered the pioneering director of Japanese film, began his influential career with ''Honnōji gassen'' (本能寺合戦), produced for

Yokota Shōkai was a Japanese film studio active in the early years of cinema in Japan. Its origins can be traced back to when Einosuke Yokota received one of the first Lumiere cinematograph machines in Japan from Inabata Katsutarō to conduct traveling ex ...

. Shōzō recruited

Matsunosuke Onoe , sometimes known as Medama no Matchan (''"Eyeballs" Matsu''), was a Japanese actor. His birth name is Tsuruzo Nakamura. He is sometimes credited as Yukio Koki, Tamijaku Onoe, or Tsunusaburo Onoe, and as a kabuki artist he went by the name Tsuru ...

, a former

actor, to star in his productions. Onoe became Japan's first

film star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and wh ...

, appearing in over 1,000 films, mostly shorts, between 1909 and 1926. The pair pioneered the ''

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—'' Portrait of H ...

'' genre.

Tokihiko Okada (February 18, 1903 – January 16, 1934) was a silent film star in Japan during the 1920s and early 1930s. A native of Tokyo, he first started at the Taikatsu studio and later he was a leading player for Japanese directors such as Yasujirō ...

was a popular romantic lead of the same era. The first Japanese film production studio was built in 1909 by the

Yoshizawa Shōten was a film studio and importer active in the early years of cinema in Japan. Originally involved in the magic lantern business, Yoshizawa bought a cinématographe camera off a visiting Italian and began exhibiting motion pictures in 1897. Run by ...

company in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. 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 The Thanhouser Company (later the Thanhouser Film Corporation) was one of the first motion picture studios, founded in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser, his wife Gertrude and his brother-in-law Lloyd Lonergan. It operated in New York City until 1920, ...

between 1911 and 1914. Sessue Hayakawa 1918

Among intellectuals, critiques of Japanese cinema grew in the 1910s and eventually developed into a movement that transformed Japanese film. Film criticism began with early film magazines such as ''Katsudō shashinkai'' (begun in 1909) and a full-length book written by Yasunosuke Gonda in 1914, but many early

film critics Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

often focused on chastising the work of studios like

Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...

and Tenkatsu for being too theatrical (using, for instance, elements from

and

shinpa (also rendered ''shimpa'') is a form of theater in Japan, usually featuring melodramatic stories, contrasted with the more traditional ''kabuki'' style. It later spread to cinema. Art form The roots of ''Shinpa'' can be traced to a form of agi ...

such as

onnagata (also ) are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. History The modern all-male kabuki was originally known as ("male kabuki") to distinguish it from earlier forms. In the early 17th century, shortly after the emergence of the g ...

) and for not utilizing what were considered more

cinematic techniques This article contains a list of cinematic techniques that are divided into categories and briefly described. Basic definitions of terms ;180-degree rule :A continuity editorial technique in which sequential shots of two or more actors within ...

to tell stories, instead relying on benshi. In what was later named the

Pure Film Movement The was a trend in film criticism and filmmaking in 1910s and early 1920s Japan that advocated what were considered more modern and cinematic modes of filmmaking. Critics in such magazines as '' Kinema Record'' and '' Kinema Junpo'' complained th ...

, writers in magazines such as ''

Kinema Record was a Japanese film magazine published during the 1910s that played an important role in the Pure Film Movement. In 1914, with no serious film magazines being published in Japan at the time, Norimasa Kaeriyama, Yoshiyuki Shigeno and other stud ...

'' called for a broader use of such cinematic techniques. Some of these critics, such as

Norimasa Kaeriyama (1 March 1893 – 6 November 1964) was a pioneering Japanese film director and film theorist. Biography Beginning with articles he submitted to Yoshizawa Shōten's magazine ''Katsudō shashinkai'' while still a student, Kaeriyama developed ...

, went on to put their ideas into practice by directing such films as ''

The Glow of Life is a Japanese film directed by Norimasa Kaeriyama made in 1918 and released in 1919 by Tenkatsu. It is considered the first in a series of films aimed at reforming and modernizing Japanese cinema. Plot A country girl Teruko falls in love with ...

'' (1918), which was one of the first films to use actresses (in this case,

Harumi Hanayagi was a pioneering Japanese film and stage actress. Career In 1915, Hanayagi became a student at the Geijutsuza, the modern theater troupe led by Hōgetsu Shimamura and Sumako Matsui, and made her stage debut. She moved to the Tōjisha troupe in 1 ...

). There were parallel efforts elsewhere in the film industry. In his 1917 film ''The Captain's Daughter'', Masao Inoue started using techniques new to the silent film era, such as the close-up and cut back. The Pure Film Movement was central in the development of the gendaigeki and

scriptwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, devel ...

. New studios established around 1920, such as

and Taikatsu, aided the cause for reform. At Taikatsu, Thomas Kurihara directed films scripted by the novelist Junichiro Tanizaki, who was a strong advocate of film reform. Even Nikkatsu produced reformist films under the direction of

Eizō Tanaka was an early Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor. Life and career Tanaka initially trained as a stage actor in the shingeki movement under Kaoru Osanai, but eventually joined the Nikkatsu film studio in 1917. He debuted as a directo ...

. By the mid-1920s, actresses had replaced onnagata and films used more of the devices pioneered by Inoue. Some of the most discussed silent films from Japan are those of

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Ugets ...

, whose later works (including ''

Ugetsu , is a 1953 Japanese historical drama and fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi starring Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō. It is based on two stories in Ueda Akinari's 1776 book of the same name, combining elements of the '' jidaigeki'' ( ...

''/''Ugetsu Monogatari'') retain a very high reputation. Japanese films gained popularity in the mid-1920s against foreign films, in part fueled by the popularity of

movie stars A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and wh ...

and a new style of

. Directors such as Daisuke Itō and

Masahiro Makino was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza genres. His real name was , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including , , and ). Career Masa ...

made

samurai films , also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of '' ...

like ''

A Diary of Chuji's Travels is a silent Japanese jidaigeki made in 1927 starring Denjirō Ōkōchi and directed by Daisuke Itō. It was originally released in three parts, all of which were long thought to be lost until portions of the second part and much of the third pa ...

'' and ''

Roningai , also known as ''Samurai Town: Story 1, Story 2 and Story 3'', are respectively 1928 and 1929 black and white Japanese silent films directed by Masahiro Makino. Serving as parts of a 4-part series, the first and second installments are represen ...

'' featuring rebellious antiheroes in fast-cut fight scenes that were both critically acclaimed and commercial successes. Some stars, such as Tsumasaburo Bando,

Kanjūrō Arashi was a Japanese film actor. His nickname was "Arakan." He is famous for playing the role of '' Kurama Tengu'' sereies. He entered the film industry in 1927 and came to fame playing Kurama Tengu, a character in the Bakumatsu era created by Jirō ...

, Chiezō Kataoka,

Takako Irie was a Japanese film actress. Born in Tokyo into the aristocratic Higashibōjō family (her birth name was ), she graduated from Bunka Gakuin before debuting as an actress at Nikkatsu in 1927. She became a major star, even starting her own produ ...

and Utaemon Ichikawa, were inspired by

Makino Film Productions Makino Film Productions was a successful early film producing company active in Japanese cinema in the 1920s and 1930s. It was founded by the pioneering film director Shozo Makino in 1923. Makino produced many prominent films of the early era, and ...

and formed their own independent production companies where directors such as

Hiroshi Inagaki was a Japanese filmmaker best remembered for the Academy Award-winning '' Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto'', which was released in 1954. Career Born in Tokyo as the son of a shinpa actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining t ...

Mansaku Itami Mansaku Itami (伊丹万作; real name Yoshitoyo Ikeuchi 池内義豊; 2 January 1900 – 21 September 1946) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter known for his critical, sometimes satirical portraits of Japan and its history. H ...

and

Sadao Yamanaka was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed 26 films between 1932 and 1938. He was a contemporary of Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi and one of the primary figures in the development of the ''jidaigeki'', or histori ...

honed their skills. Director

Teinosuke Kinugasa was a Japanese filmmaker. He was born in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture and died in Kyoto. Kinugasa won the 1954 Palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival for '' Gate of Hell''. Biography Kinugasa began his career as an onnagata (actor specializing in ...

created a production company to produce the experimental masterpiece '' A Page of Madness'', starring Masao Inoue, in 1926. Many of these companies, while surviving during the silent era against major studios like

, Teikine, and Toa Studios, could not survive the cost involved in converting to sound. With the rise of left-wing political movements and labor unions at the end of the 1920s, there arose so-called

tendency films is a genre of socially conscious, left-leaning films produced in Japan during the 1920s and 1930s. Tendency films reflected a perceived leftward shift in Japanese society in the aftermath of the 1927 Shōwa financial crisis. Japan's left-wing lit ...

with left-leaning tendencies. Directors

, Daisuke Itō,

Shigeyoshi Suzuki was a Japanese football player who played for and later managed the Japan national team. Club career Suzuki was born in Fukushima Prefecture on October 13, 1902. He was a founding member of the football team at Waseda University High School in ...

, and

Tomu Uchida , born Tsunejirō Uchida on 26 April 1898, was a Japanese film director. The stage name "Tomu" translates to “spit out dreams”. Early career Uchida started out at the Taikatsu studio in the early 1920s, but came to prominence at Nikkatsu, ad ...

were prominent examples. In contrast to these commercially produced 35 mm films, the Marxist Proletarian Film League of Japan (Prokino) made works independently in smaller gauges (such as 9.5mm and

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ed ...

), with more radical intentions. Tendency films suffered from severe censorship heading into the 1930s, and Prokino members were arrested and the movement effectively crushed. Such moves by the government had profound effects on the expression of political dissent in 1930s cinema. Films from this period include: '' Sakanaya Honda, Jitsuroku Chushingura, Horaijima,

Orochi , or simply , is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon/serpent. Mythology Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. The 712 AD transcribes this dragon name ...

, Maboroshi,

Kurutta Ippeji is a 1926 Japanese silent film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. Lost film, Lost for 45 years until it was rediscovered by Kinugasa in his storehouse in 1971, the film is the product of an avant-garde group of artists in Japan known as the Shinka ...

Jujiro , also known as ''Crossways'', ''Shadows of the Yoshiwara'' or ''Slums of Tokyo'', is a 1928 silent film, silent Japanese drama film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. It is believed to be the first or one of the first Japanese films to be screened ...

, Kurama Tengu: Kyōfu Jidai'', and ''Kurama Tengu''. A later version of ''The Captain's Daughter'' was one of the first

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

films. It used the

Mina Talkie System Mina may refer to: Places Iran * Minaq, East Azerbaijan * Mina, Fars * Mineh, Lorestan Province * Mina, Razavi Khorasan * Mehneh, Razavi Khorasan Province United States * Mina, California * Mina, Nevada * Mina, New York * Mina, Ohio * Mina, ...

. The Japanese film industry later split into two groups; one retained the Mina Talkie System, while the other used the Eastphone Talkie System used to make Tojo Masaki's films. The 1923 earthquake, the bombing of Tokyo during World War II, and the natural effects of time and Japan's

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity dep ...

on flammable and unstable

nitrate film Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...

have resulted in a great dearth of surviving films from this period. Humanity and Paper Balloons poster

Unlike in the West, silent films were still being produced in Japan well into the 1930s; as late as 1938, a third of Japanese films were silent. For instance,

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...

's ''An Inn in Tokyo'' (1935), considered a precursor to the neorealism genre, was a silent film. A few Japanese sound shorts were made in the 1920s and 1930s, but Japan's first feature-length talkie was '' Fujiwara Yoshie no furusato'' (1930), which used the ''

''. Notable talkies of this period include

Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily shomin-geki ("common people drama") films with female protagonists, ...

's ''

Wife, Be Like A Rose! ''Wife! Be Like a Rose!'' ''Kimiko'' ( ja, 妻よ薔薇のやうに, Tsuma yo bara no yô ni) is a 1935 Japanese comedy drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on the shinpa play ''Futari tsuma'' (二人妻, lit. ''Two Wives'') by Mino ...

'' (''Tsuma Yo Bara No Yoni'', 1935), which was one of the first Japanese films to gain a theatrical release in the U.S.;

's '' Sisters of the Gion'' (''Gion no shimai'', 1936); ''

Osaka Elegy is a 1936 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It forms a diptych with Mizoguchi's ''Sisters of the Gion'' which shares much of the same cast and production team, and is considered an early masterpiece in the director's career. Plot S ...

'' (1936); and '' The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939); and

's '' Humanity and Paper Balloons'' (1937). Film criticism shared this vitality, with many film journals such as ''

Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

'' and newspapers printing detailed discussions of the cinema of the day, both at home and abroad. A cultured "impressionist" criticism pursued by critics such as

Tadashi Iijima was a Japanese film critic and screenwriter. He has been called "a leader who established film criticism and film research in Japan". Career After graduating from the Tokyo Prefectural First Middle School (now Hibiya High School), he attended t ...

, Fuyuhiko Kitagawa, and

Matsuo Kishi (18 September 1906 – 17 August 1985) was a Japanese film critic, director, screenwriter, producer, and biographer. His real name was Aji Shūichirō. Born in Tokyo, he became interested in film from his days in high school and, continuing on to ...

was dominant, but opposed by leftist critics such as

Akira Iwasaki (18 November 1903 – 16 September 1981) was a prominent left-wing Japanese film critic, historian, and producer. Born in Tokyo, he became interested in film from his student days at Tokyo University. Early on, he helped introduce German experimen ...

and Genjū Sasa who sought an ideological critique of films. Mizunoe takiko in northern china

The 1930s also saw increased government involvement in cinema, which was symbolized by the passing of the Film Law, which gave the state more authority over the film industry, in 1939. The government encouraged some forms of cinema, producing

propaganda films Propaganda Films was an American music video and film production company founded in 1986 by producers Steve Golin and Sigurjón Sighvatsson and directors David Fincher, Nigel Dick, Dominic Sena and Greg Gold. By 1990, the company was prod ...

and promoting

documentary films A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

(also called ''bunka eiga'' or "culture films"), with important documentaries being made by directors such as Fumio Kamei. Realism was in favor;

film theorist Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for unde ...

s such as

Taihei Imamura was a Japanese film critic and film theorist. Born in Saitama Prefecture, he attended the Kobe University of Commerce (the precursor to Kobe University , also known in the Kansai region as , is a leading Japanese national university located in ...

and Heiichi Sugiyama advocated for documentary or realist drama, while directors such as Hiroshi Shimizu and

Tomotaka Tasaka was a Japanese film director. Career Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, he began working at Nikkatsu's Kyoto studio in 1924 and eventually came to prominence for a series of realist, humanist films made at Nikkatsu's Tamagawa studio in the late 193 ...

produced fiction films that were strongly realistic in style. Films reinforced the importance of traditional Japanese values against the rise of the Westernised

modern girl (also shortened to ) were Japanese women who followed Westernized fashions and lifestyles in the period after World War I. were Japan's equivalent of America's flappers, Germany's , France's , or China's (). By viewing through a Japanese ...

, a character epitomised by Shizue Tatsuta in Ozu's 1930 film ''Young Lady''.

Wartime movies

Because of World War II and the weak economy, unemployment became widespread in Japan, and the cinema industry suffered. During this period, when Japan was expanding its Empire, the Japanese government saw cinema as a propaganda tool to show the glory and invincibility of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

. Thus, many films from this period depict patriotic and militaristic themes. In 1942 Kajiro Yamamoto's film ''

Hawai Mare oki kaisen is a 1942 black-and-white Japanese war film directed by Kajiro Yamamoto, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Plot Production ''Hawai Mare oki kaisen'' was the most costly film made in Japan up to that time, costing over , when a typica ...

'' or "The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya" portrayed the attack on Pearl Harbor; the film made use of special effects directed by

Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director and cinematographer. Known as the he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the ''Godzilla'' series, as well as the main creator of the ...

, including a miniature scale model of Pearl Harbor itself.

Yoshiko Yamaguchi was a Japanese singer, actress, journalist, and politician. Born in China, she made an international career in film in China, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. Early in her career, the Manchukuo Film Association concealed her Japanese ori ...

was a very popular actress. She rose to international stardom with 22 wartime movies. The

Manchukuo Film Association or (Chinese: 株式會社滿洲映畫協會) was a Japanese film studio in Manchukuo during the 1930s and 1940s. Background Man'ei was established by the Kwantung Army in the occupied northeast part of China in 1937. Man'ei controlled the en ...

let her use the Chinese name Li Xianglan so she could represent Chinese roles in Japanese propaganda movies. After the war she used her official Japanese name and starred in an additional 29 movies. She was elected as a member of the

Japanese parliament The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

in the 1970s and served for 18 years.

made his feature film debut with '' Sugata Sanshiro'' in 1943.

American occupation and Post-war period

Yoko Sugi and Setsuko Hara in Aoi Sanmyaku

In 1945, Japan was defeated in World War II, the rule of Japan by the SCAP ( Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers) began. Movies produced in Japan were managed by GHQ's subordinate organization CIE (Civil Information Educational Section, 民間情報教育局). This management system lasted until 1952, and it was the first time in the Japanese movie world that management and control by a foreign institution was implemented. During the planning and scripting stages it was translated to English, only the movies approved by the CIE were produced. For example,

's “

Akatsuki no Dassō is a 1950 Japanese List of anti-war films, anti-war film directed by Senkichi Taniguchi. Co-written by Taniguchi and Akira Kurosawa, the film is based on ''Story of a Prostitute'' by Taijiro Tamura. The film revolves around a tragic affair betwee ...

” (1950) was originally a work depicting a Korean military comfort woman starring

, but with dozens of CIE censorship, it became an original work. The completed film was censored a second time by a CCD ( Civil Censorship Detachment). The censorship was also carried out retroactively to past movie works. Japan was exposed to over a decade's worth of American animation that were banned under the war-time government. Furthermore, as part of the occupation policy, the issue of responsibility for war spread to the film industry, and when voices of banning war cooperators in movie production during the war began to be expressed,

Nagamasa Kawakita was a Japanese entrepreneur, film producer and importer. Together with his wife Kashiko Kawakita and daughter Kazuko Kawakita, he was instrumental in the development of the Japanese film industry, sponsoring actors and actresses, and in promotin ...

Kanichi Negishi Kan'ichi or Kanichi (written: , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese historian *, Japanese politician *, Imperial Japanese Navy officer *, Japanese voice actor and comedian *, Japanese philo ...

Shiro Kido Shiro, Shirō, Shirow or Shirou may refer to: People * Amakusa Shirō (1621–1638), leader of the Shimabara Rebellion * Ken Shiro (born 1992), Japanese boxer * Shiro Azumi, Japanese football player 1923–1925 * Shiro Ichinoseki (born 1944), ...

in 1947, the person who was involved in such high-motion films was exiled. However, as in other genre pursuits, the position of responsibility for war has been dealt with vaguely in the film industry, and the above measures were lifted in 1950. The first movie released after the war was “Soyokaze” (そよかぜ) 1945 by Yasushi Sasaki, and the theme song “ Ringo no Uta” by

Michiko Namiki Michiko is a Japanese given name, used for females. Although written romanized the same way, the Japanese language written forms (kanji, katakana, hiragana) can be different. Common forms include: * 美智子 — "beautiful wise child" * 美 ...

was a big hit. In the production ban list promulgated in 1945 by CIE's David Conde, nationalism, patriotism, suicide and slaughter, brutal violent movies, etc. became prohibited items, making the production of historical drama virtually impossible . As a result, actors who have been using historical drama as their business appeared in contemporary drama. This includes Chiezō Kataoka's “

Bannai Tarao is the name of a set of Japanese mysteries (the first, , being made in 1946), featuring a detective of the same name who could take on seven different faces, in similar fashion to the protagonists of later series '' 7-Color Mask'', '' Rainbowman ...

” (1946),

Tsumasaburō Bandō was one of the most prominent Japanese actors of the twentieth century. Famous for his rebellious, sword fighting roles in many jidaigeki silent films, he rose to fame after joining the Tōjiin Studio of Makino Film Productions in Kyoto in ...

's “

Torn Drum Torn may refer to: Film and television * ''Torn'' (2009 film), an American film by Richard Johnson * ''Torn'' (2013 American film), directed Jeremiah Birnbaum * ''Torn'' (2013 Nigerian film), directed by Moses Inwang * ''Torn'' (TV series), a ...

(破れ太鼓)” (1949),

's “The Child Holding Hands (手をつなぐ子等)”, and Daisuke Itō's “King (王将)”. Yoshiko Kuga 530406 Scan10007

In addition, many propaganda films were produced as democratic courtesy works recommended by SCAP. Significant movies among them are,

Setsuko Hara Setsuko (written: or in hiragana) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, later of Japan *, actress *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese actress and model *Setsuko Klossowska de Rola (born 1942), Japane ...

appeared in

's “

No Regrets for Our Youth is a 1946 Japanese film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is based on the 1933 Takigawa incident. The film stars Setsuko Hara, Susumu Fujita, Takashi Shimura and Denjirō Ōkōchi. Fujita's character was inspired by the real-life Hotsu ...

” (1946),

Kōzaburō Yoshimura was a Japanese film director. Biography Born in Shiga Prefecture, he joined the Shōchiku studio in 1929. He debuted as director in 1934, but continued working as an assistant director for such filmmakers as Yasujirō Ozu and Yasujirō Shim ...

's “ A Ball at the Anjo House” (1947),

Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for social realist filmmaking informed by a left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and ''Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life Although leaning towards left-wing p ...

's “

Aoi sanmyaku is a 1949 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for social realist filmmaking informed by a left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and ''Bushid ...

” (1949), etc. It gained national popularity as a star symbolizing the beginning of a new era. In Yasushi Sasaki's " Hatachi no Seishun (はたちの青春)" (1946), the first kiss scene of a Japanese movie was filmed. The first collaborations between

and actor

Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and ' ...

were ''

Drunken Angel is a 1948 Japanese ''yakuza'' film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is notable for being the first of sixteen film collaborations between director Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune. Plot Sanada (Takashi Shimura) is an alcoholic doctor (the tit ...

'' in 1948 and '' Stray Dog'' in 1949.

directed the critically and commercially successful ''

Late Spring is a 1949 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and written by Ozu and Kogo Noda, based on the short novel ''Father and Daughter'' (''Chichi to musume'') by the 20th-century novelist and critic Kazuo Hirotsu. The film was written and s ...

'' in 1949. The

Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...

was created in 1946. Yasujiro Ozu 01

The 1950s are widely considered the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

of Japanese cinema. Three Japanese films from this decade (''

Rashomon is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura ...

'', '' Seven Samurai'' and ''

'') appeared in the top ten of ''

''s critics' and directors' polls for the best films of all time in 2002. They also appeared in the 2012 polls, with ''Tokyo Story'' (1953) dethroning '' Citizen Kane'' at the top of the 2012 directors' poll. War movies restricted by SCAP began to be produced, Hideo Sekigawa's “ Listen to the Voices of the Sea” (1950),

's “Himeyuri no Tô - Tower of the Lilies” (1953), Keisuke Kinoshita's “

Twenty-Four Eyes is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Sakae Tsuboi. The film stars Hideko Takamine as a schoolteacher named Hisako Ōishi, who lives during the rise and fall of Japanese nati ...

” (1954), “

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary '' Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won ...

's “ The Burmese Harp” (1956), and other works aimed at the tragic and sentimental retrospective of the war experience, one after another, It became a social influence. Other Nostalgia films such as

Battleship Yamato (1953) was the lead ship of Yamato-class battleship, her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, , were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever construct ...

and

Eagle of the Pacific , also known as ''Operation Kamikaze'', is a 1953 Japanese epic war film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film dramatizes the start of Japan's military action in World War II, with an emphasis on the role of ...

(1953) were also mass-produced. Under these circumstances, movies such as "Emperor Meiji and the Russo-Japanese War (明治天皇と日露大戦争)" (1957), where

played Emperor Meiji, also appeared. It was a situation that was unthinkable before the war, the commercialization of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

who was supposed to be sacred and inviolable. Tokyo monogatari poster

Godzilla (1954) Teizô Toshimitsu final design

The period after the American Occupation led to a rise in diversity in movie distribution thanks to the increased output and popularity of the film studios of

Daiei , based in Kobe, Hyōgo, Kobe, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Maruben ...

, and Toei. This period gave rise to the four great artists of Japanese cinema:

Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy ''The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films '' Harakiri'' (1962) and '' Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology ''Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Sens ...

, and

. Each director dealt with the effects the war and subsequent occupation by America in unique and innovative ways. The decade started with

's ''Rashomon'' (1950), which won the Golden Lion at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

in 1951 and the Academy Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1952, and marked the entrance of Japanese cinema onto the world stage. It was also the breakout role for legendary star

. In 1953 ''

Entotsu no mieru basho , also titled ''Four Chimneys'', is a 1953 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Heinosuke Gosho. It was entered into the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. Based on a novel by Rinzō Shiina, ''Where Chimneys Are Seen'' is regarded as one ...

'' by

Heinosuke Gosho was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first sound film, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shomin-geki (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his most noted works ...

was in competition at the

3rd Berlin International Film Festival The 3rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18 to 28 June 1953. Description This year's festival did not give any official jury prizes; instead awards were given by audience voting. This continued until the FIAPF granted Be ...

The first Japanese film in

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

was '' Carmen Comes Home'' directed by Keisuke Kinoshita and released in 1951. There was also a black-and-white version of this film available. '' Tokyo File 212'' (1951) was the first American feature film to be shot entirely in Japan. The lead roles were played by

Florence Marly Florence Marly (2 June 1919 – 9 November 1978) was a Czech-born French film actress. During World War II, Marly moved to neutral Argentina with her Jewish husband, film director Pierre Chenal, where she appeared in several films. She also acted ...

and Robert Peyton. It featured the geisha Ichimaru in a short cameo. Suzuki Ikuzo's Tonichi Enterprises Company co-produced the film. '' Gate of Hell'', a 1953 film by

, was the first movie that filmed using

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...

film, ''Gate of Hell'' was both

's first color film and the first Japanese color movie to be released outside Japan, receiving an Academy Honorary Award in 1954 for Best Costume Design by

Sanzo Wada was a Japanese painter and costume designer who won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for his work on the jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most ...

and an Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also won the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, the first Japanese film to achieve that honour. 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. The same year,

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda enter ...

directed the anti-nuclear monster-drama ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films prod ...

'', which was released in America two years later under the title ''

Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is a 1956 ''kaiju'' film directed by Terry O. Morse and Ishirō Honda. It is a heavily re-edited American localization, commonly referred to as an "Americanization", of the 1954 Japanese film ''Godzilla (1954 film), Godzilla''. The film was a ...

''. Though edited for its Western release,

became an international icon of Japan and spawned an entire subgenre of '' kaiju'' films, as well as the longest-running film franchise in history. Also in 1954, another Kurosawa film, ''

Ikiru is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed and co-written (with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni) by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat (played by Takashi Shimura) and his final quest for meaning. ...

'' was in competition at the

4th Berlin International Film Festival The 4th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18 to 29 June 1954. This year's festival did not give any official jury prizes, instead awards were given by audience voting. This continued until the FIAPF granted Berlin "A-Status ...

. In 1955,

won an Academy Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film for

Part I Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer *Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer * Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor * Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) ...

of his ''Samurai'' trilogy and in 1958 won the Golden Lion at the

for ''

Rickshaw Man , also released as ''Muhomatsu, the Rickshaw Man'' or ''The Rikisha-Man'', is a 1958 color Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. It is a remake of his own 1943 film. In the 1943 version Tsumasaburo Bando played the role of Muhōmatsu. In Oct ...

''.

directed two anti-war dramas: '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956), which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, and '' Fires On The Plain'' (1959), along with '' Enjo'' (1958), which was adapted from

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered fo ...

's novel ''Temple Of The Golden Pavilion''.

made three films which would collectively become known as '' The Human Condition Trilogy'': ''No Greater Love'' (1959), and ''The Road To Eternity'' (1959). The trilogy was completed in 1961, with ''A Soldier's Prayer''. Kenji Mizoguchi, who died in 1956, ended his career with a series of masterpieces including ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''

'' (1953) and '' Sansho the Bailiff'' (1954). He won the Silver Bear at the

for ''Ugetsu''. Mizoguchi's films often deal with the tragedies inflicted on women by Japanese society.

made '' Repast'' (1950), ''Late Chrysanthemums'' (1954), ''The Sound of the Mountain'' (1954) and ''Floating Clouds'' (1955). Yasujirō Ozu began directing color films beginning with ''Equinox Flower'' (1958), and later ''

Good Morning "Good morning" is a common greeting in the English language. It may also refer to: Television * ''Good Morning!!!'' (Australian show), a children's show * ''Good Morning'' (New Zealand show), a daytime talk show * ''Good Morning'' (Russian ...

'' (1959) and ''

Floating Weeds is a 1959 Japanese drama directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Nakamura Ganjirō II and Machiko Kyō. It is a remake of Ozu's own black-and-white silent film ''A Story of Floating Weeds'' (1934) and considered one of the greatest films ever made. ...

'' (1958), which was adapted from his earlier silent '' A Story of Floating Weeds'' (1934), and was shot by ''Rashomon'' and ''Sansho the Bailiff'' cinematographer

Kazuo Miyagawa was a Japanese cinematographer. Career Born in Kyoto, Miyagawa was taken with sumi-e Chinese ink painting from the age of eleven and began to sell his work as an illustrator while a teenager. He became interested in the cinema during the 1920s, ...

. The

Blue Ribbon Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan. The awards were established in 1950 by which is composed of film correspondents from seven Tokyo-based sports newspapers. In 1961, the six major Japanes ...

were established in 1950. The first winner for Best Film was '' Until We Meet Again'' by

The number of films produced, and the cinema audience reached a peak in the 1960s. Most films were shown in double bills, with one half of the bill being a "program picture" or B-movie. A typical program picture was shot in four weeks. The demand for these program pictures in quantity meant the growth of film series such as '' The Hoodlum Soldier'' or '' Akumyo''. The huge level of activity of 1960s Japanese cinema also resulted in many classics. Akira Kurosawa directed the 1961 classic ''

Yojimbo is a 1961 Japanese Samurai cinema, samurai film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Ats ...

''. Yasujirō Ozu made his final film, ''

An Autumn Afternoon is a 1962 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu for Shochiku Films. It stars Ozu regular Chishū Ryū as the patriarch of the Hirayama family who eventually realises that he has a duty to arrange a marriage for his daughter Michiko (Shim ...

'', in 1962. Mikio Naruse directed the wide screen melodrama ''

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is a 1960 Japanese drama directed by Mikio Naruse. Plot Keiko (called " Mama" by the other characters), a young widow approaching 30, is a hostess at a bar in Ginza. Realizing she is getting older, she decides after talking to her bar manager, ...

'' in 1960; his final film was 1967's ''Scattered Clouds''. Kon Ichikawa captured the watershed

1964 Olympics 1964 Olympics refers to both: *The 1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Ba ...

in his three-hour documentary ''

Tokyo Olympiad ''Tokyo Olympiad'', also known in Japan as , is a 1965 Japanese documentary film directed by Kon Ichikawa which documents the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Like Leni Riefenstahl's '' Olympia'', which documented the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berli ...

'' (1965).

Seijun Suzuki , born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predo ...

was fired by

for "making films that don't make any sense and don't make any money" after his surrealist yakuza flick ''

Branded to Kill is a 1967 Japanese yakuza film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Joe Shishido, Koji Nanbara, Annu Mari and Mariko Ogawa. The story follows contract killer Goro Hanada as he is recruited by a mysterious woman named Misako for a seemingly im ...

'' (1967). The 1960s were the peak years of the ''

Japanese New Wave The is a group of loosely-connected Japanese filmmakers during the late 1950s and into the 1970s. Although they did not make up a coherent movement, these artists shared a rejection of traditions and conventions of classical Japanese cinema in ...

'' movement, which began in the 1950s and continued through the early 1970s.

Nagisa Oshima NaGISA (Natural Geography in Shore Areas or Natural Geography of In-Shore Areas) is an international collaborative effort aimed at inventorying, cataloguing, and monitoring biodiversity of the in-shore area. So named for the Japanese word "nagisa ...

Kaneto Shindo was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include '' Children of Hiroshima'', '' The Naked Island'', '' Onibaba'', '' Kuroneko'' an ...

Masahiro Shinoda is a retired Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s. Early life Shinoda attended Waseda University, where he studied theater and also partici ...

Susumu Hani is a Japanese film director, and one of the most prominent representatives of the 1960s Japanese New Wave. Born in Tokyo, he has directed both documentaries and feature films. He won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his firs ...

and Shohei Imamura emerged as major filmmakers during the decade. Oshima's '' Cruel Story of Youth'', ''

Night and Fog in Japan is a 1960 Japanese film directed by Nagisa Ōshima. It is an intensely political film both in subject matter (Zengakuren opposition in 1950 and 1960 to the Anpo treaty) and in thematic concerns such as political memory and the interpersonal dynam ...

'' and ''

Death By Hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

'', along with Shindo's '' Onibaba'', Hani's '' Kanojo to kare'' and Imamura's ''

The Insect Woman is a 1963 Japanese drama film directed by Shōhei Imamura. It was entered into the 14th Berlin International Film Festival, where Sachiko Hidari won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award. It was also awarded numerous national film prizes. Plo ...

'', became some of the better-known examples of Japanese New Wave filmmaking. Documentary played a crucial role in the New Wave, as directors such as Hani,

Kazuo Kuroki was a Japanese film director who was particularly known for his films on World War II and the question of personal guilt. Career While Kuroki was often listed as being born in Miyazaki Prefecture, he was actually born in Matsusaka, Mie. He atten ...

, Toshio Matsumoto, and

Hiroshi Teshigahara was a Japanese avant-garde filmmaker and artist from the Japanese New Wave era. He is best known for the 1964 film '' Woman in the Dunes''. He is also known for directing other titles such as '' The Face of Another'' (1966), ''Natsu No Heitai'' ( ...

moved from documentary into fiction film, while feature filmmakers like Oshima and Imamura also made documentaries.

Shinsuke Ogawa (25 June 1935 - 7 February 1992) was a Japanese documentary film director. Ogawa and Noriaki Tsuchimoto have been called the "two figures hattower over the landscape of Japanese documentary." Career Ogawa began his career at Iwanami Production ...

and Noriaki Tsuchimoto became the most important documentarists: "two figures

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

tower over the landscape of Japanese documentary." Teshigahara's ''

Woman in the Dunes is a 1964 Japanese New Wave drama directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, starring Eiji Okada as an entomologist searching for insects and Kyōko Kishida as the titular woman. It received positive critical reviews and was nominated for two Academy A ...

'' (1964) won the Special Jury Prize at the

, and was nominated for

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

and Best Foreign Language Film

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. Masaki Kobayashi's ''

Kwaidan is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative". Overall meaning and usage In its broadest sense, ''kaidan'' refe ...

'' (1965) also picked up the Special Jury Prize at Cannes and received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. ''

Bushido, Samurai Saga , also titled ''Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai'' and ''Cruel Tale of Bushido'', is a 1963 Japanese drama film, drama and jidaigeki film directed by Tadashi Imai. It was entered into the 13th Berlin International Film Festival where it w ...

'' by

won the Golden Bear at the

13th Berlin International Film Festival The 13th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 21 June to 2 July 1963. The Golden Bear was awarded ''ex aequo'' to the Italian film ''Il diavolo'' directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro and Japanese film '' Bushidô zankoku monogatari ...

. ''

Immortal Love ''Immortal Love'' ''Bitter Spirit'' ( ja, 永遠の人, Eien no hito, The eternal person) is a 1961 Japanese drama film written and directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Masakazu Tam ...

'' by Keisuke Kinoshita and ''

Twin Sisters of Kyoto is a 1963 Japanese drama film directed by Noboru Nakamura and the first adaptation of the novel ''The Old Capital'' (1962) by Nobel prize-winning Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Lang ...

'' and ''

Portrait of Chieko is a 1967 Japanese drama film directed by Noboru Nakamura. It is based both on the poetry collection ''Chieko-shō'' by Japanese poet and sculptor Kōtarō Takamura, which reminisces about his wife Chieko, and on the novel ''Shōsetsu Chieko-s ...

'', both by

Noboru Nakamura was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Biography After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University in 1936, Nakamura joined the Shochiku film studios, working as an assistant director for Torajirō Saitō and Yasujirō Shimazu. He debu ...

, also received nominations for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. '' Lost Spring'', also by Nakamura, was in competition for the Golden Bear at the

17th Berlin International Film Festival The 17th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 23 June – 4 July 1967. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Belgian film '' Le départ'' directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. Jury The following people were announced as being on the ju ...

. The 1970s saw the cinema audience drop due to the spread of television. Total audience declined from 1.2 billion in 1960 to 0.2 billion in 1980. Film companies fought back in various ways, such as the bigger budget films of

Kadokawa Pictures Kadokawa Daiei Studio, formerly is the film division of the Japanese company the Kadokawa Corporation. It is one of the four members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ), and is therefore one of Japan's Big Four film studi ...

, or including increasingly sexual or violent content and language which could not be shown on television. The resulting pink film industry became the stepping stone for many young independent filmmakers. The seventies also saw the start of the " idol eiga", films starring young "idols", who would bring in audiences due to their fame and popularity. Nakadai

Toshiya Fujita Toshiya is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Toshiya can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *敏也, "agile, to be" *敏矢, "agile, arrow" *敏哉, "agile, how (interrogative par ...

made the revenge film '' Lady Snowblood'' in 1973. In the same year,

Yoshishige Yoshida , also known as Kijū Yoshida, was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Life and career Graduating from the University of Tokyo, where he studied French literature, Yoshida entered the Shōchiku studio in 1955 and worked as an assistant ...

made the film '' Coup d'État'', a portrait of

Ikki Kita was a Japanese author, intellectual and political philosopher who was active in early Shōwa period Japan. Drawing from an eclectic range of influences, Kita was a self-described socialist who has also been described as the "ideological father ...

, the leader of the Japanese coup of February 1936. Its experimental cinematography and mise-en-scène, as well as its avant-garde score by

Toshi Ichiyanagi was a Japanese avant-garde composer and pianist. One of the leading composers in Japan during the postwar era, Ichiyanagi worked in a range of genres, composing Western-style operas and orchestral and chamber works, as well as compositions usin ...

, garnered it wide critical acclaim within Japan. In 1976, the

Hochi Film Award The are film-specific prizes awarded by the ''Hochi Shimbun , previously known as , is a Japanese-language daily sports newspaper. In 2002, it had a circulation of a million copies a day. It is an affiliate newspaper of ''Yomiuri Shimbun''. ...

was created. The first winner for Best Film was '' The Inugamis'' by

. Nagisa Oshima directed ''

In the Realm of the Senses ''In the Realm of the Senses'' (french: link=no, L'Empire des sens, Japanese: , ''Ai no Korīda'', "Bullfight of Love") is a 1976 erotic art film written and directed by Nagisa Ōshima. It is a fictionalised and sexually explicit treatment of a ...

'' (1976), a film detailing a crime of passion involving

Sada Abe was a Japanese geisha and prostitute who murdered her lover, , via strangulation on May 18, 1936, before cutting off his penis and testicles and carrying them around with her in her kimono. The story became a national sensation in Japan, acqu ...

set in the 1930s. Controversial for its explicit sexual content, it has never been seen uncensored in Japan.

Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking," Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty yakuza films, typified by the ''Battles Without Honor ...

completed the epic ''

Battles Without Honor and Humanity , also known in the West as ''The Yakuza Papers'', is a Japanese yakuza film series produced by Toei Company. Inspired by a series of magazine articles by journalist Kōichi Iiboshi that are based on memoirs originally written by real-life yak ...

'' series of yakuza films.

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (''The Twilight Samurai'', ''The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job ...

introduced the commercially successful ''Tora-San'' series, while also directing other films, notably the popular ''

The Yellow Handkerchief The Yellow Handkerchief or Yellow Handkerchief may refer to: * ''The Yellow Handkerchief'' (1977 film), Japanese film *''Yellow Handkerchief'', 2003 television program broadcast by Korean Broadcasting System * ''The Yellow Handkerchief'' (2008 fil ...

'', which won the first Japan Academy Prize for Best Film in 1978. New wave filmmakers Susumu Hani and Shōhei Imamura retreated to documentary work, though Imamura made a dramatic return to feature filmmaking with '' Vengeance Is Mine'' (1979). '' Dodes'ka-den'' by Akira Kurosawa and '' Sandakan No. 8'' by Kei Kumai were nominated to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The 1980s saw the decline of the major Japanese film studios and their associated chains of cinemas, with major studios

and Toei barely staying in business,

supported almost solely by the ''

Otoko wa tsurai yo is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans. Spanning 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995, all of the ' ...

'' films, and

declining even further. Of the older generation of directors, Akira Kurosawa directed ''

Kagemusha is a 1980 jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is set in the Sengoku period of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class criminal who is taught to impersonate the dying ''daimyō'' Takeda Shingen to dissuade opposing lords fr ...

'' (1980), which won the Palme d'Or at the

1980 Cannes Film Festival The 33rd Cannes Film Festival was held between 9 and 23 May 1980. The Palme d'Or went to the '' All That Jazz'' by Bob Fosse and ''Kagemusha'' by Akira Kurosawa. The festival opened with '' Fantastica'', directed by Gilles Carle and closed with ' ...

, and ''

Ran Ran, RaN and ran may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ran'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa * "Ran" (song), a 2013 Japanese song by Luna Sea * '' Ran Online'', a 2004 MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) * ...

'' (1985). Seijun Suzuki made a comeback beginning with ''

Zigeunerweisen ''Zigeunerweisen'' (''Gypsy Airs'', es, Aires gitanos, link=no), Op. 20, is a musical composition for violin and orchestra written in 1878 by the Spanish composer Pablo de Sarasate. It was premiered the same year in Leipzig, Germany. Like his ...

'' in 1980. Shohei Imamura won the

at the

for '' The Ballad of Narayama'' (1983).

made '' A Promise'' (1986), his first film since 1973's ''Coup d'État''. 1992 Juzo Itami

New directors who appeared in the 1980s include actor

Juzo Itami , born , was a Japanese actor, screenwriter and film director. He directed eleven films (one short and ten features), all of which he wrote himself. Early life Itami was born Yoshihiro Ikeuchi in Kyoto. The name Itami was passed on from his fath ...

, who directed his first film, '' The Funeral'', in 1984, and achieved critical and box office success with ''

Tampopo is a 1985 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Juzo Itami, and starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kōji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe. The publicity for the film calls it the first "ramen western", a play on the term Spaghetti We ...

'' in 1985.

Shinji Sōmai was a Japanese film director. He directed 13 films between 1980 and 2000. Career and style His film '' Moving'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. His 1998 film, '' Wait and See'', won the FIPRESCI ...

, an artistically inclined populist director who made films like the youth-focused ''Typhoon Club'', and the critically acclaimed Roman porno ''Love Hotel'' among others.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic and a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Although he has worked in a variety of genres, Kurosawa is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre, his honorific ...

, who would generate international attention beginning in the mid-1990s, made his initial debut with pink films and genre horror. During the 1980s,

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

rose in popularity, with new animated movies released every summer and winter, often based upon popular anime television series.

Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including '' Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer'' (1984), ''Angel's Egg'' (1985), ...

released his landmark '' Angel's Egg'' in 1985.

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

adapted his manga series '' Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind'' into a feature film of the same name in 1984. Katsuhiro Otomo followed suit by adapting his own manga '' Akira'' into a feature film of the same name in 1988.

Home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

made possible the creation of a

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

film industry. Mini theaters, a type of independent movie theater characterized by a smaller size and seating capacity in comparison to larger movie theaters, gained popularity during the 1980s. Mini theaters helped bring

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

and arthouse films from other countries, as well as films produced in Japan by unknown Japanese filmmakers, to Japanese audiences.

Heisei period

Because of economic recessions, the number of movie theaters in Japan had been steadily decreasing since the 1960s. The 1990s saw the reversal of this trend and the introduction of the

multiplex Multiplex may refer to: * Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make * Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain * Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company * Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measu ...

in Japan. At the same time, the popularity of mini theaters continued.

Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, filmmaker, and author. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. With th ...

emerged as a significant filmmaker with works such as '' Sonatine'' (1993), ''

Kids Return is a 1996 Japanese film written, edited and directed by Takeshi Kitano. The film was made directly after Kitano recovered from a motorcycle wreck that left one side of his body paralyzed. After undergoing extensive surgery and physical therapy, h ...

'' (1996) and '' Hana-bi'' (1997), which was given the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Shōhei Imamura again won the Golden Palm (shared with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian director

Abbas Kiarostami Abbas Kiarostami ( fa, عباس کیارستمی ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of ...

), this time for '' The Eel'' (1997). He became the fifth two-time recipient, joining

Alf Sjöberg Sven Erik Alf Sjöberg (21 June 1903 – 17 April 1980) was a Swedish theatre and film director. He won the Grand Prix du Festival at the Cannes Film Festival twice: in 1946 for '' Torment'' ( sv, Hets) (part of an eleven-way tie), and in 1951 ...

, Francis Ford Coppola,

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...

and

Bille August Bille August (born 9 November 1948) is a Danish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer of film and television. In a career spanning over four decades, he has been the recipient of numerous accolades, making him one of the most acclaimed co ...

. Kiyoshi Kurosawa gained international recognition following the release of '' Cure'' (1997).

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent a ...

launched a prolific career with titles such as ''

Audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

'' (1999), '' Dead or Alive'' (1999) and ''

The Bird People in China is a 1998 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Takashi Miike from a screenplay by his frequent collaborator Masa Nakamura. The film is considerably more mellow in tone compared to some of the director's more famous works. Plot When Mr. Okam ...

'' (1998). Former documentary filmmaker

Hirokazu Koreeda is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He began his career in television and has since directed more than a dozen feature films, including '' Nobody Knows'' (2004), '' Still Walking'' (2008), and '' After the Storm'' ( ...

launched an acclaimed feature career with ''

Maborosi ''Maborosi'', known in Japan as , is a 1995 Japanese drama film by director Hirokazu Kore-eda starring Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano, and Takashi Naito. It is based on a novel by Teru Miyamoto. The film won a Golden Osella Award for Best Cinemat ...

'' (1996) and '' After Life'' (1999). Hayao Miyazaki directed two mammoth box office and critical successes, ''

Porco Rosso is a 1992 Japanese animated adventure-fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is based on '' Hikōtei Jidai'' ("The Age of the Flying Boat"), a three-part 1989 watercolor manga by Miyazaki. It stars the voices of Shūichirō M ...

'' (1992) – which beat '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982) as the highest-grossing film in Japan – and ''

Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida ...

'' (1997), which also claimed the top box office spot until ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

'' (1997). Several new anime directors rose to widespread recognition, bringing with them notions of anime as not only entertainment, but modern art. Mamoru Oshii released the internationally acclaimed philosophical science fiction action film ''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the seinen manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized in 1989 under the subtitle of ''The Ghost in the Shell'' ...

'' in 1996.

Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaido and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art Univer ...

directed the award-winning psychological thriller ''

Perfect Blue is a 1997 Japanese animated psychological thriller film directed by Satoshi Kon. It is based on the novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, with a screenplay written by Sadayuki Murai. Featuring the voices of Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shiho Niiy ...

''.

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (1995)''.'' His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotio ...

also gained considerable recognition with ''

The End of Evangelion is a 1997 Japanese anime science fiction film written by Hideaki Anno, directed by Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki, and animated by Gainax and Production I.G. It serves as an alternate ending to the television series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', wh ...

'' in 1997. HayaoMiyazakiCCJuly09

In the beginning of 21st century, the number of movies being shown in Japan steadily increased, with about 821 films released in 2006. Movies based on Japanese television series were especially popular during this period. Anime films now accounted for 60 percent of Japanese film production. The 1990s and 2000s are considered to be "Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age", due to the immense popularity of anime, both within Japan and overseas.Dave Kehr
Anime, Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', January 20, 2002. Although not a commercial success, '' All About Lily Chou-Chou'' directed by

Shunji Iwai is a Japanese film director, video artist, writer and documentary maker. Life and career Iwai was born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987. In 1988 he started out in the Japanese entertainment ...

was honored at the Berlin, the Yokohama and the Shanghai Film Festivals in 2001. Takeshi Kitano appeared in '' Battle Royale'' and directed and starred in ''

Dolls A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are found ...

'' and ''

Zatoichi is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period (1830s and 1840s). He first appeared in the 1948 essay , part of Shimozawa's ''Futokoro Techō'' se ...

''. Several horror films, ''

Kairo Kairo may refer to: * Kairo (band), Mexican boy band from 1993 to 1999 with Eduardo Verástegui as member until 1996 * ''Kairo'' (video game), independently published exploration video game made by Richard Perrin * ''Kairo'' (film), A.K.A. ''Pul ...

'', ''

Dark Water Dark Water may refer to: Books * '' Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil'', 1920 book by American philosopher W.E.B. Du Bois * ''Dark Water'' (book) (仄暗い水の底から; ''Honogurai mizu no soko kara''; literally ''In the Depths of Dark ...

'', '' Yogen'', the ''Grudge'' series and ''

One Missed Call One Missed Call may refer to: * ''One Missed Call'' (2003 film), a Japanese horror film, followed by two sequels * ''One Missed Call'' (2008 film), an American remake of the Japanese film * ''One Missed Call'' (TV series), a Japanese television ...

'' met with commercial success. In 2004, '' Godzilla: Final Wars'', directed by

Ryuhei Kitamura (born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Biography Early life Kitamura was born in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He dropped out of high school at age 17 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, where he attended a sch ...

, was released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Godzilla. In 2005, director

made his 56th film, '' Princess Raccoon''.

claimed film festival awards around the world with two of his films ''

Distance Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...

'' and '' Nobody Knows''. Female film director

Naomi Kawase is a Japanese film director. She was also known as , with her former husband's surname. Many of her works have been documentaries, including ''Embracing'', about her search for the father who abandoned her as a child, and ''Katatsumori'', about ...

's film '' The Mourning Forest'' won the Grand Prix at the

in 2007.

, director of the

Otoko wa Tsurai yo is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans. Spanning 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995, all of the ' ...

series, made a trilogy of acclaimed revisionist samurai films, 2002's ''

Twilight Samurai ''The Twilight Samurai'' is a 2002 Japanese historical drama film co-written and directed by Yoji Yamada and starring Hiroyuki Sanada and Rie Miyazawa. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the lif ...

'', followed by '' The Hidden Blade'' in 2004 and '' Love and Honor'' in 2006. In 2008, '' Departures'' won the Academy Award for best foreign language film. In anime,

directed ''

Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film, and Mitsubishi and distrib ...

'' in 2001, breaking Japanese box office records and winning several awards—including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003—followed by ''

Howl's Moving Castle ''Howl's Moving Castle'' is a fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones, first published in 1986 by Greenwillow Books of New York. It was a runner-up for the annual Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and won the Phoenix Award twenty years ...

'' and ''

Ponyo is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi, and distributed by ...

'' in 2004 and 2008 respectively. In 2004, Mamoru Oshii released the anime movie '' Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence'' which received critical praise around the world. His 2008 film ''

The Sky Crawlers is a Japanese novel series by Hiroshi Mori. First published by Chuōkōron-shinsha in June 2001 and spanning six books, it follows the journeys and tribulations of a group of young fighter pilots involved in dogfight warfare, and is set du ...

'' was met with similarly positive international reception. Satoshi Kon also released three quieter, but nonetheless highly successful films: ''

Millennium Actress is a 2001 Japanese animated drama film co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse. Loosely based on the lives of actresses Setsuko Hara and Hideko Takamine, it tells the story of two documentary filmmakers investigating th ...

'', ''

Tokyo Godfathers is a 2003 Japanese animated tragicomedy adventure film written and directed by Satoshi Kon. The film stars live-action actors such as Toru Emori, Yoshiaki Umegaki, and Aya Okamoto as the lead voice actors. Kon was inspired by the 1948 America ...

'', and '' Paprika''. Katsuhiro Otomo released '' Steamboy'', his first animated project since the 1995 short film compilation ''

Memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

'', in 2004. In collaboration with Studio 4C, American director Michael Arias released '' Tekkon Kinkreet'' in 2008, to international acclaim. After several years of directing primarily lower-key live-action films,

formed his own production studio and revisited his still-popular ''Evangelion'' franchise with the ''

Rebuild of Evangelion ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', known in Japan and on Amazon Prime Video as , is a Japanese animated film series and a retelling of the original ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' anime television series, produced by Studio Khara. Hideaki Anno served as t ...

'' tetralogy, a new series of films providing an alternate retelling of the original story. Since February 2000, the Japan Film Commission Promotion Council was established. On November 16, 2001, the Japanese Foundation for the Promotion of the Arts laws were presented to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. These laws were intended to promote the production of media arts, including film scenery, and stipulate that the government – on both the national and local levels – must lend aid in order to preserve film media. The laws were passed on November 30 and came into effect on December 7. In 2003, at a gathering for the Agency of Cultural Affairs, twelve policies were proposed in a written report to allow public-made films to be promoted and shown at the Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art. Four films have so far received international recognition by being selected to compete in major film festivals: '' Caterpillar'' by

Kōji Wakamatsu was a Japanese film director who directed such ''pinku eiga'' films as and . He also produced Nagisa Ōshima's controversial film ''In the Realm of the Senses'' (1976). He has been called "the most important director to emerge in the pink film ...

was in competition for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival and won the

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

, '' Outrage'' by

was In Competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, '' Himizu'' by

Sion Sono Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

was in competition for the Golden Lion at the

68th Venice International Film Festival The 68th annual Venice International Film Festival was held in Venice, Italy between 31 August and 10 September 2011. American film director Darren Aronofsky was announced as the Head of the Jury. American actor and film director Al Pacino was p ...

. In 2011,

's '' Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai'' was In Competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, the first 3D film ever to screen In Competition at Cannes. The film was co-produced by British independent producer

Jeremy Thomas Jeremy Jack Thomas, CBE (born 26 July 1949) is a British film producer, founder and chairman of Recorded Picture Company. He produced Bernardo Bertolucci's ''The Last Emperor'', which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he rec ...

, who had successfully broken Japanese titles such as

's ''

Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence , also known in many European editions as , is a 1983 war film co-written and directed by Nagisa Ōshima, co-written by Paul Mayersberg, and produced by Jeremy Thomas. The film is based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post (portrayed b ...

'' and ''

Taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

'',

's ''

Brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

'', and Miike's ''

13 Assassins ''13 Assassins'' may refer to: *13 Assassins (1963 film), ''13 Assassins'' (1963 film), a Japanese film directed by Eiichi Kudo *13 Assassins (2010 film), ''13 Assassins'' (2010 film), a Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike {{Disambig ...

'' onto the international stage as producer. In 2018,

Hirokazu Kore-eda is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He began his career in television and has since directed more than a dozen feature films, including ''Nobody Knows'' (2004), '' Still Walking'' (2008), and '' After the Storm'' ( ...

won the Palme d'Or for his movie ''

Shoplifters Shoplifting Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters ma ...

'' at the

71st Cannes Film Festival The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 19 May 2018. Australian actress Cate Blanchett acted as President of the Jury. The Japanese film ''Shoplifters'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, won the Palme d'Or. Asghar Farhadi's psycho ...

, a festival that also featured

Ryūsuke Hamaguchi is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. An alumnus of the University of Tokyo and the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, he started getting attention in his home country with the graduate film ''Passion'' (2008). Hamaguc ...

's '' Asako I & II'' in competition.

Reiwa period

In October 2020, a Japanese anime film '' Demon Slayer: Mugen Train'' based on the ''

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. It follows teenage Tanjiro Kamado, who strives to become a demon slayer after his family was slaughtered and his younger sister, Nezuko Kamado, Nezuko, turned into a ...

'' manga series broke all box-office records in the country, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time and the highest-grossing film of 2020. The 2021

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

road film A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

Drive My Car won

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

79th Golden Globe Awards The 79th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in film and American television of 2021, as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The ceremony took place privately on January 9, 2022. The nominees were announced on December ...

and received the

Academy Award for Best International Feature Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

at the

94th Academy Awards The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The awards were scheduled after its usual late February dat ...

Genres

Anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

animated films Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

Mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is ...

: films featuring

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is ...

robots * '' Gendaigeki'': films set in the present day, the opposite of ''jidaigeki'' * Japanese horror:

horror films Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoc ...

Japanese science fiction Science fiction is an important genre of modern Japanese literature that has strongly influenced aspects of contemporary Japanese pop culture, including anime, manga, video games, tokusatsu, and cinema. History Origins Both Japan's history ...

science fiction films Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

** Japanese cyberpunk:

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and c ...

films ** '' Kaiju'':

monster films A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally large ones. The film may also fall und ...

** ''

Tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, war, fantasy, or horror media featuring such technology but is som ...

'': films that make heavy use of special effects, usually involving costumed superheroes * ''

Jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—'' Portrait of H ...

'':

period film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...

s set during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

(1603–1868) or earlier, the opposite of ''gendaigeki'' **

Samurai cinema , also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of '' ...

: films featuring swordplay, also known as ''chanbara'' (an

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', '' ...

describing the sound of swords clashing) *

Ninja films The following is a list of films where at least one ninja character appears as a significant plot element. Japanese cinema Jidai-geki films Ninpo-cho films Silent films Gendai-geki films Tokusatsu films Anime films Erotic film ...

: films featuring

ninjas A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 21– ...

* Pink films: softcore

pornographic films Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotica ...

* '' Shomingeki'': realistic films about common working people *

Tendency film is a genre of socially conscious, left-leaning films produced in Japan during the 1920s and 1930s. Tendency films reflected a perceived leftward shift in Japanese society in the aftermath of the 1927 Shōwa financial crisis. Japan's left-wing l ...

s: socially conscious,

left-leaning Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

films *

Yakuza films is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of '' yakuza'', Japanese organized crime syndicates. In the silent film era, depictions of '' bakuto'' (precursors to modern yakuza) as sympathetic Robin Ho ...

gangster films A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...

about

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...

mobsters

Box office

Film theorists

Film scholars experts in Japanese cinema include: *

Isolde Standish Isolde Standish is an Australian and British academic film theorist who specialises on East Asia (mainly Japan and South Korea). Mostly known for her works on Japanese Cinema, she is currently an ''Emerita Reader'' (Professor Emeritus) at the Sc ...

, Australian and British film theorist Javanese

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * Available online at th
Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan
* * * * *

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

by Joaquín da Silva * Toki Akihiro & Mizuguchi Kaoru (1996
''A History of Early Cinema in Kyoto, Japan (1896–1912). Cinematographe and Inabata Katsutaro''
* Kato Mikiro (1996
''A History of Movie Theaters and Audiences in Postwar Kyoto, the Capital of Japanese Cinema''

Japanese Cinema Database
maintained by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (films after 1896, in Japanese)
Japanese Film Database
maintained by UniJapan (in English, films after 2002)
Kinema Junpo Database
maintained by

(films after 1945, in Japanese)
National Film Center Database
(films in the national archive collection, in Japanese)

(includes film database, box office statistics)
Japanese Movie Database
(in Japanese) *

JAPAN CUTS JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film is an annual festival of modern Japanese cinema held at New York City's Japan Society. The festival was first held in 2007, growing out of the Japan Society's popular bi-annual series, ''New Films from J ...

: Festival of New Japanese Film ( Japan Society, New York)
Kinema Club

Midnight Eye

Japanese Reference Materials for Studying Japanese Cinema at Yale University
by Aaron Gerow
Japanese Cinema to 1960
by Gregg Rickman * Japanese Film Festival (Singapore) – An annual curated film program focusing on classic Japanese cinema and new currents, with regular guest directors and actors. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cinema Of Japan

History

Early silent era

20th century

Wartime movies

American occupation and Post-war period

Heisei period

Reiwa period

Genres

Box office

Film theorists

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links