Movies are a great introduction to learning about other cultures. Japanese cinema has a long history of excellent filmmaking running the gamut from Kurosawa masterpieces to Godzilla films and anime.
Some recent films that offer a glimpse into the modern Japanese lifestyle are both heartfelt and educational. These films have become modern day classics because they offer a look at how Japanese view and deal with the normal everyday events and challenges of our human life.
Departures
Yōjirō Takita’s Departures, the first Japanese winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, follows a cellist who takes a job preparing the dead for funerals. Loosely based on Shinmon Aoki’s Coffinman: The Journal of a Buddhist Mortician, the film presents the rituals surrounding death and explores the feelings induced by them. Owing to prejudices against those who handle the dead, it initially struggled to find a Japanese distributor, but eventually won international recognition.
This dramatic film made in 2008 was groundbreaking in many ways because it dealt with the Japanese handling of death in modern times from the viewpoint of both those that prepare the bodies for encoffinment and the stigma surrounding how that profession is seen by Japanese society. The film also address multiple themes such as family, marriage, changing careers and relationships between parents and children.
Spirited Away
Spirited Away tells the tale of a girl fighting to survive in a spirit world after both her parents are turned into pigs. Both in terms of its visionary animation and unsettling narrative, Hayao Miyazaki’s landmark fable is unsurpassed among the surreal classics produced by Studio Ghibli. Its accolades included the Academy Award for Best Animation and the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear. It is also the most successful domestic release in Japanese history.
This amazing anime film released in 2001, is a coming of age story about a 10 year old girl named Chihiro and is based in a fantastical spirit world. It has been compared to Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland and is considered one of Miyazaki’s best works.
Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad, follows the story of a lost young man tasked with taking care of his cancer-stricken mother whom he invites to live with him in Tokyo. His mother’s wise, warm and virtuous nature inspires him to change his life and is a heartwarming drama about love, loss and family.
In the film, a young man inherits his father’s irresponsible lifestyle in Tokyo until he is abruptly tasked with the responsibility of looking after his cancer stricken mother. It is worthy to note that the mother in this film is played by the late great Japanese actress Kiki Kirin who passed away on September 15th, 2018. Kirin had been diagnosed with cancer only three years before the launch of this movie. Much of her role in this film was derived from her personal experience.
Sweet Bean
Released in 2015, Sweet Bean tells the story of a middle aged man who runs a doriyaki (sweet bean cake) shop who reluctantly hires an elderly woman to assist him at his shop who turns out to make sweet bean paste that is superior to his own. This is the setting from which the film blossoms into a beautiful drama with themes addressing ageism, joy, discrimination, life well lived, and redemption.
There are many more great Japanese films to watch to learn more about Japanese culture, these are just a few to get you started. Happy watching!
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