The 10 Best Japanese Movies of 2021
2021 was a big year for Japan, with the Tokyo Olympics finally occurring and a big COVID surge thereafter. Despite ups and downs, Japanese theaters and film festivals still persisted for a good part of 2021.
So what were the Best Japanese Movies of 2021?
Cinema Escapist has selected 10 Japanese movies that we feel are the top releases from 2021. Our choices include both indie and blockbuster films, with samplings across genres like comedy, action, romance, animation, and more. Note while feature-length sequels to popular anime or manga franchises took Japan’s box office by storm in 2021, we’ve tilted this list towards more original movies that display better narrative innovation and societal significance. We’ve also tried to include streaming links on services like Netflix, when available.
Let’s look at 2021’s top Japanese films!
11. Ito
Japanese title: ã„ã¨ã¿ã¡ | Director: Satoko Yokohama | Starring: Ren Komai, Daimao Kosaka, Mei Kurokawa | Genre: Drama, Music
Teenage girl rebels against family and finds a job at a maid cafe—that’s one way to describe the 2021 Japanese film Ito. However, this isn’t some sordid tale of a young woman fallen from grace. Instead, it’s an exploration of Japan’s cultural traditions, and outer prefectures that you don’t often see in cinema.
Ito’s title comes from its protagonist, a girl named Ito Soma. She’s really good at a variety of music called Tsugaru-shamisen that’s a centerpiece of local culture in her native Aomori prefecture (in the north of Japan). However, Ito has significant anxiety about playing in public, and feels ashamed by her regional Aomori dialect. Pining for self-transformation, she ends up getting a job at a maid cafe (a wholesome one) and learning about life from the people she meets there.
Though Ito might feature some highly specific Japanese traditions, it managed to gain a decent amount of festival distribution in New York, Hawaii, and more. The film also won the Audience Award at 2021’s Osaka Asian FIlm Festival in Japan.
10. Masquerade Night
Japanese title: マスカレード・ナイト| Director: Masayuki Suzuki | Starring: Takuya Kimura, Masami Nagasawa, Fumiyo Kohinata | Genre: Fantasy, Thriller, Mystery
Masquerade Night is the sequel to Masquerade Hotel, which was on our list of 2019’s best Japanese movies.
The film returns to the Hotel Cortesia Tokyo, where detective Kosuke Nitta goes undercover to investigate a murder threat. At the hotel, Detective Nitta runs up against Naomi Yamagashi—a concierge who’s ruthlessly committed to fulfilling guest requests.
If you enjoyed Masquerade Hotel, you’ll find Masquerade Night strikingly similar in terms of substance and characters. Even if you haven’t seen its predecessor film, Masquerade Night should prove a spirited and entertaining movie with your standard murder mystery elements. Japanese audiences seemed to like it at least; Masquerade Night was the eighth highest grossing film of 2021 in Japan.
9. The Blue Danube
Japanese title: ãã¾ã˜ã‚楽隊ã®ã¼ã‚“やり戦争 | Director: Akira Ikeda | Starring: Kou Maehara, Hiroki Konno, Hiroki Nakajima | Genre: Drama, Experimental, Comedy, War
Movies critiquing militarism are part and parcel of Japanese cinema, given the nation’s pacifist legacies in the wake of WWII. The Blue Danube continues this tradition in its own absurdist, artistic way.
This 2021 Japanese film examines war through the perspective of two towns on opposite sides of a river. Every day, these towns wake up and start shooting at each other—though nobody really knows why. When a bugler named Tsuyuki is assigned to play in a marching band, he begins to play the Blue Danube Waltz by the riverbank whilst wondering what people in the other town are like.
The Blue Danube proceeds almost like a series of episodic sketches. It’s reminiscent of a Samuel Beckett play—full of boredom and bleakness, yet somehow still able to find humor amidst it all. It’s no wonder the film did decently on the festival circuit, screening at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and Japan Cuts, among others. If you’re someone who enjoys independent, experimental films, The Blue Danube is worth a watch.
8. We Made a Beautiful Bouquet
Japanese title: 花æŸã¿ãŸã„ãªæ‹ã‚’ã—㟠| Director: Nobuhiro Doi | Starring: Masaki Suda, Kasumi Arimura | Genre: Romance
Masaki Suda and Kasumi Arimura are two of Japan’s most popular actors; they unite for the 2021 romance film We Made a Beautiful Bouquet.
Suda and Arimura respectively play a man named Mugi and a woman named Kinu. One day, the two meet after missing the last train home.
However, the movie starts five years after that encounter, and establishes that their relationship will not last. What makes this film interesting, then, is its exploration about the ephemerality of love and happiness, and how that fleeting nature imbues relationships with meaning.
Furthermore, We Made a Beautiful Bouquet offers a realistic, modern take on the challenges of romance. The film dives into the character’s financial issues and professional obligations, offering a welcome respite from the sudden cancer diagnoses or memory loss-inducing car accidents that often plague East Asian melodramas. Read More…
