Top 10 Best Japanese Movies

10. Ikiru, 1952
Kanji Watanabe is a longtime bureaucrat in a city office who, along with the rest of the office, spends his entire working life doing nothing of significance. After discovering he is suffering from a terminal illness, Kanji becomes intensely self-absorbed until he finds a mission to build a playground for the children in an urban ghetto as a way of coming to peace with his life.

9. Yojimbo, 1961
Yojimbo is a 1961 jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of a ronin, portrayed by Toshiro Mifune, who arrives in a small town where competing crime lords vie for supremacy.

8. Tokyo Story, 1953
An elderly couple visit their children in Tokyo, only to be passed around from family to family.

7. Hotaru no haka, 1988
Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese animated drama film written and directed by Isao Takahata and animated by Studio Ghibli. It is based on the 1967 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka.

6. Mononoke Hime, 1997
Directed by renowned animator Hayao Miyazaki, this anime has broken a number of box office records in its native Japan. Essentially a statement on the ecological devastation brought on by human advancement, the story follows the battle between Princess Mononoke and a mining village.

5. Ran, 1985
A version of Shakespeare's "King Lear," set in feudal Japan where aging ruler, Lord Hidetora, unleashes a power struggle amongst his three sons.

4. Battle Royale, 2000
Battle Royale is a 2000 Japanese action thriller film adapted from the 1999 novel of the same name by Koushun Takami. It is the final film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, the screenplay written by his son Kenta, and stars Takeshi Kitano.

3. Rashomon, 1950
Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese period drama film directed by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. It stars Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori and Takashi Shimura.

2. Seven Samurai, 1954
A Japanese farming village, constantly besieged and pillaged by an army of bandits, recruits seven independent samurai to defend it.

1. Spirited Away, 2001
Tale of the fanciful adventures of a ten-year-old girl named Chihiro, who discovers a secret world when she and her family get lost and venture through a hillside tunnel. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, Chihiro must fend for herself as she encounters strange spirits, assorted creatures and a grumpy sorceress who seeks to prevent her from returning to the human world.