7.3 Madadayo Apr. 17, 1993 Madadayo IMDb: 7.3 1993 134 min 14 views In postwar Tokyo, beloved writer-professor Hyakken Uchida retires and is buoyed through hardship by the fierce devotion of his former students, ... ComedyDrama
7.2 Rhapsody in August May. 25, 1991 Rhapsody in August IMDb: 7.2 1991 98 min 10 views An elderly Nagasaki hibakusha spends a summer caring for her four grandchildren, whose curiosity about the 1945 bombing stirs buried memories and ... Drama
7.7 Dreams May. 11, 1990 Dreams IMDb: 7.7 1990 119 min 10 views Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s ... DramaFantasy
8.2 Ran Jun. 01, 1985 Ran IMDb: 8.2 1985 160 min 13 views Shakespeare’s King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his ... ActionDramaHistory
7.9 Kagemusha Apr. 26, 1980 Kagemusha IMDb: 7.9 1980 180 min 13 views Akira Kurosawa’s lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order ... ActionDramaHistoryWar
8.2 Dersu Uzala Aug. 02, 1975 Dersu Uzala IMDb: 8.2 1975 141 min 10 views A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi man in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men, one ... AdventureDrama
7.3 Dodes’ka-den Oct. 31, 1970 Dodes’ka-den IMDb: 7.3 1970 140 min 11 views On a Tokyo dump’s shantytown edge, interwoven vignettes follow residents scraping by: a boy who “drives” an imaginary trolley, a homeless father ... Drama
8.3 Red Beard Mar. 04, 1965 Red Beard IMDb: 8.3 1965 185 min 13 views Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes ... Drama
8.4 High and Low Mar. 01, 1963 High and Low IMDb: 8.4 1963 142 min 13 views A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway. CrimeDrama
8 Sanjuro Jan. 01, 1962 Sanjuro IMDb: 8 1962 96 min 13 views Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa’s tightly paced, beautifully composed “Sanjuro.” In ... ActionComedyDrama
8.2 Yojimbo Apr. 25, 1961 Yojimbo IMDb: 8.2 1961 110 min 16 views A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the ... DramaThriller
7.9 The Bad Sleep Well Sep. 19, 1960 The Bad Sleep Well IMDb: 7.9 1960 150 min 9 views In this loose adaptation of “Hamlet,” illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and ... CrimeDramaThriller
8 The Hidden Fortress Dec. 28, 1958 The Hidden Fortress IMDb: 8 1958 139 min 16 views Sergeant Thomas Jefferson Hooker is a tough-as-nails veteran police officer with the LCPD who turns his back on a gold badge and goes back to ... CrimeDrama
8 Throne of Blood Jan. 15, 1957 Throne of Blood IMDb: 8 1957 108 min 14 views Returning to their lord’s castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part ... DramaHistory
7.3 I Live in Fear Nov. 22, 1955 I Live in Fear IMDb: 7.3 1955 103 min 10 views An aging foundry patriarch, gripped by terror of nuclear annihilation, tries to uproot his family to Brazil. When they petition to have him ... Drama
8.6 Seven Samurai Apr. 26, 1954 Seven Samurai IMDb: 8.6 1954 207 min 16 views A samurai answers a village’s request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai ... ActionDrama
8.3 Ikiru Oct. 09, 1952 Ikiru IMDb: 8.3 1952 143 min 14 views Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to ... Drama
7.1 The Idiot May. 23, 1951 The Idiot IMDb: 7.1 1951 166 min 10 views A gentle, war-shattered ex-soldier, Kinji Kameda, arrives in wintry Hokkaidō and is pulled into a volatile tangle of love and pity between the ... DramaRomance
7.2 Scandal Apr. 26, 1950 Scandal IMDb: 7.2 1950 104 min 10 views A celebrity photograph sparks a court case as a tabloid magazine spins a scandalous yarn over a painter and a famous singer. Drama
8.1 Rashomon Aug. 26, 1950 Rashomon IMDb: 8.1 1950 88 min 15 views Four people recount different versions of the story of a man’s murder and the rape of his wife. CrimeDramaMystery
7.3 The Quiet Duel Mar. 19, 1949 The Quiet Duel IMDb: 7.3 1949 95 min 11 views A young army surgeon, Kyoji Fujisaki, accidentally contracts syphilis during a WWII field operation. Back at his father’s clinic, he treats ... Drama
7.8 Stray Dog Oct. 17, 1949 Stray Dog IMDb: 7.8 1949 122 min 14 views A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes ... CrimeDramaThriller
7.6 Drunken Angel Apr. 27, 1948 Drunken Angel IMDb: 7.6 1948 98 min 11 views In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculosis, forging an uneasy bond that’s tested when ... Drama
7.1 No Regrets for Our Youth Oct. 29, 1946 No Regrets for Our Youth IMDb: 7.1 1946 111 min 6 views After her anti-fascist professor father is dismissed, Yukie navigates love, political repression, and wartime upheaval—ultimately forging her own ... DramaHistoryWar
6.7 The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail Apr. 24, 1952 The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail IMDb: 6.7 1952 59 min 8 views A fugitive lord and his six retainers disguise themselves as monks to bluff their way through a hostile checkpoint. AdventureDramaHistoryThriller
6.7 Sanshiro Sugata Mar. 25, 1943 Sanshiro Sugata IMDb: 6.7 1943 80 min 10 views A hotheaded youth in 1880s Meiji Japan apprentices to judo master Shōgorō Yano, trading brute jujutsu bravado for discipline and humility. As ... Drama
6 Sanshiro Sugata Part Two May. 03, 1945 Sanshiro Sugata Part Two IMDb: 6 1945 83 min 17 views A few years after his breakthrough, Sanshiro resumes his path to judo mastery—testing his discipline against an American prizefighter and later ... ActionAdventureDrama