As this year’s film awards season gets underway, albeit virtually, here’s a round-up of some of our favourite Japanese films from the last two decades. From animation to comedy, drama to horror, these are all currently available to stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime in the UK.
Happy watching! 🎥🍿
1. Your Name (2016), dir. Makoto Shinkai
Prepared to be moved by this stunning, animated romantic fantasy, where two high-school teenagers from different cities discover a mystical, body-swapping connection. We’ll leave it there…. Make sure you check out the popular soundtrack by Japanese band Radwimps.
Won the 40th Japan Academy Prize for Screenplay of the Year and Animation of the Year
Available to stream on Netflix
2. Shoplifters (2018), dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
Auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda’s drama depicts a non-biological family of misfits living in poverty, who welcome a young girl into their world of petty theft. Much like his previous films, Shoplifters is tragic, uplifting, devastating and funny all at once. Expect to question your own beliefs.
Won the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2019 Academy Awards
Available to rent on Amazon Prime
3. Battle Royale (2000), dir. Kinji and Kenta Fukusaku
In a dystopian future, the Japanese government tackle juvenile delinquency by passing a bill that forces its young people to fight one another until death, with only one winner. A shocking cult satire with an undercurrent of social commentary.
Nominated for Picture of the Year, Director of the Year, Screenplay of the Year and Actor of the Year at the 2001 Japanese Academy Awards
Available to rent on Amazon Prime
4. Creepy (2017), dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
The Ring, Ju-on (or The Grudge), …there are some iconic J-Horror films. This lesser-known psychological thriller builds slowly but has you on edge from the start, when a retired police detective moves to a new town and suspects that his mysterious neighbour is the key suspect in a missing person’s case.
Available to stream on Amazon Prime
5. 37 Seconds (2020), dir. Hikari
Join a talented, 23-year-old aspiring manga artist with cerebral palsy, Yuma, as she navigates her way through disability and identity, independence, self-determination and success, in this Netflix original film.
Won the Audience Award and the International Confederation of Art Cinemas’ Art Cinema Award
Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Magnolia Pictures