This list serves as a challenge for January, with the goal being to expose people to some of the most important and exciting Japanese directors and genre films.
There are 31 sections to choose from, and each section has several films listed, which are numbered below. The sections are either a specific director or a specific genre.
Consider the challenge completed if you can watch a film from 10 of the 31 sections in January. If you want to be truly well-versed in Japanese cinema, you will have to watch at least one movie from each of the 31 sections. I would never expect someone to watch a movie a day, so watching 1 film from each of the 31 sections…
This list serves as a challenge for January, with the goal being to expose people to some of the most important and exciting Japanese directors and genre films.
There are 31 sections to choose from, and each section has several films listed, which are numbered below. The sections are either a specific director or a specific genre.
Consider the challenge completed if you can watch a film from 10 of the 31 sections in January. If you want to be truly well-versed in Japanese cinema, you will have to watch at least one movie from each of the 31 sections. I would never expect someone to watch a movie a day, so watching 1 film from each of the 31 sections does not have to be a one-month goal.
Feel free to refer to this list throughout the year if you are interested in gaining a better appreciation for Japanese cinema, as it is a pretty comprehensive list.
1. Takashi Miike (1-5)
2. Shinya Tsukamoto (6-10)
3. Sion Sono (11-15)
4. Kiyoshi Kurosawa (16-20)
5. Hirokazu Kore-eda (21-25)
6. Anime film, not directed by Hayao Miyazaki (26-35)
7. Yasujirō Ozu (36-40)
8. Shōhei Imamura (41-45)
9. Akira Kurosawa (46-50)
10. Hiroshi Teshigahara (51-55)
11. Takeshi Kitano (56-60)
12. Pink film (61-65)
13. Masaki Kobayashi (66-70)
14. Kaneto Shindo (71-73)
15. Kinji Fukasaku (74-78)
16. Nagisa Ōshima (79-83)
17. Pink Violence film (84-89)
18. Kenji Mizoguchi (90-94)
19. Hayao Miyazaki (95-100)
20. J-Horror film (101-105)
21. Kaiju film (106-110)
22. Japanese Punk/Rock film (111-115)
23. Naomi Kawase (116-120)
24. Nobuhiko Ōbayashi (121-125)
25. Seijun Suzuki (126-130)
26. Toshiaki Toyoda (131-135)
27. A bizarre film (136-140)
28. Katsuhito Ishii (141-145)
29. Documentary (146-150)
30. Comedy (151-155)
31. Random film Ben thinks you should watch (156-160)