“9 Films That Let Me Experience Japan Without Leaving My Sofa”
A trip to Japan is often considered a dream holiday, and a few weeks ago I was lucky to go on one myself. I spent some time in northern Japan and Tokyo, explored both the capital and Akita city, and tried some incredible food everywhere I went. Before I made the trip, I started watching Japanese films that I hoped would show me more of Japan before I landed.
As someone who writes about films daily, it was a great way to immerse myself in the country’s culture before I visited. From the beloved works of Studio Ghibli to modern hits like Drive My Car, these are some of the films I watched before my trip to Japan and would recommend, whether you’re headed there soon or have it on your travel bucket list.
Drive My Car
Drive My Car was released in 2021, and has been called one of the best films of the decade so far – earning itself the first Best Picture nomination for a Japanese film. Yūsuke (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is an ageing actor whose wife tragically dies and leaves him a widower. To help him move on with his life, he decided to take a directing job in another city as part of a theatre festival, as he grapples with the loss. He’s required to get a chauffeur for insurance purposes, and so hires a young woman, Misaki (Tōko Miura), to drive him around. Despite his initial reluctance, he begins to form a bond with her while confronting the mystery of his wife’s death that haunts him.
My Neighbour Totoro
A beloved classic since first arriving in 1988, My Neighbour Totoro is now iconic. Studio Ghibli’s film is both an enchanting watch and an intriguing window into Japanese culture. It centres on two sisters, who travel to the countryside and settle with their father in an old house. Their mother is ill and in the hospital, and the young girls are understandably affected by her absence. As Satsuki (Noriko Hidaka) and Mei (Chika Sakamoto) explore and get used to their new surroundings, they encounter a host of woodland spirits, including the titular Totoro, now Studio Ghibli’s mascot. Like every Ghibli film, there’s much symbolism beneath the colourful surface to uncover.
Spirited Away
Such is Studio Ghibli’s role in establishing the popularity of Japanese cinema that we’ve included two of their films on this list. Spirited Away is, along with My Neighbour Totoro, their most famous work, and features similar themes. A ten-year-old girl named Chihiro (Rumi Hiiragi) goes with her parents to an abandoned amusement park, one which she finds is inhabited by supernatural creatures and spirits. Her mother and father are turned into pigs after she is born, and she sets out to free them. Along the way, she encounters a boy named Haku (Miyu Irino). If you’ve never seen a Ghibli film, both Spirited Away and Totoro are perfect starting points.
Adrift in Tokyo
In Adrift In Tokyo, we meet Takemura, a law student who’s been studying for years and is now in considerable debt. He has no friends or family to fall back on. Alone and drifting, his life seems empty. When he meets a mysterious man who collects debts, he offers a way out for Takemura with the chance to pay off everything he owes. His price is for the young student to accompany him across Tokyo, and Takemura agrees to the deal. As the two begin their journey across the capital, their pasts are revealed as they discuss their life stories.
Tokyo Story
A true classic in Japanese cinema, Tokyo Story was released in 1953 and remains an essential watch. It tells the story of an elderly couple, Shūkichi and Tomi Hirayama, who decide to visit their children in Tokyo. However, once they arrive, the difference between generations becomes apparent: the children have made lives for themselves, married, and are embracing modernity. The parents, meanwhile, are steeped in tradition and perhaps are unable to accept change. The themes are still as relevant today as they were over 70 years ago.
Perfect Days
This drama follows Hirayama (Kōji Yakusho), who works as a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo, but leads a contented, highly routine life. He’s able to take solace from the simple and the tranquil, and has made a happy world for himself. He delights in listening to music, reading literature, taking photos and walking around the city. He also has a few unexpected encounters throughout his days, and the experiences shape both his perception of the world and himself as he reflects on who he is. This is a slow, meditative film- but one that packs in emotion and a real sense of Japan’s capital.
Ikiru
Another classic of Japanese filmmaking, Ikiru is directed by Akira Kurosawa, one of the most acclaimed and influential directors in history. Kurosawa is best known for his samurai films, but we’ve chosen Ikiru for this list. It tells the story of a bureaucrat, Kanji Wantanabe (Takashi Shimura), who sadly learns that he has terminal cancer. Now facing the prospect of the end of his life, and with his wife dead and children elsewhere, he contemplates the meaning of his existence. He decides to help build a playground in a poor part of town, in this film about mortality, family and bureaucracy.
Lost in Translation
The only non-Japanese film on this list, Lost in Translation, remains the ideal watch, as it encapsulates the culture shock and sense of being in an entirely new country that tourists experience. Bill Murray plays the ageing, fading American movie star Bob Harris, who feels like he has no idea what to do with himself – in other words, he’s having a midlife crisis. He gets on a flight to Tokyo to do a Japanese whiskey commercial, where he meets another person staying at the hotel: a young graduate named Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), who is also in a bit of a conflict. As the two get to know each other, they explore Japan and begin to form a bond. It’s told from an American perspective, but remains a popular film for its performances and visual appeal.
Departures
A failed cellist, Daigo (Masahiro Motoki), is told that his orchestra is being disbanded and that he is losing his job. Deciding to head back to his hometown with his wife Mika (Ryōko Hirosue), he finds a new job as a Japanese mortician -or Nökanshi – involved in a very ritualistic process. He finds, however, that his life begins to change as others start treating him differently, with hostility, due to his work. As he tries to mend his relationships, including with his wife, Daigo discovers that his job has a certain beauty.
