Hello, friends! The Japanuary challenge is back! The primary purpose of the challenge is to guide people through the world of Japanese cinema. This list presents many of the most significant Japanese directors and captivating genres as individual categories, with the hope that anyone who participates in the challenge watches a film from a different category each day.

Now, the structure of Japanuary 2022 mirrors that of the 2021 challenge; however, I have made one significant adjustment. Last year, a mix of genres and directors rounded out the 31 categories. This year, there are 31 "main" categories, all of which are directors. I made this change because many extraordinarily influential and exciting directors I feel the list should highlight are not necessarily associated with any genre.

Do not fret, though; genres and non-director-based categories live on in this 2022 challenge! This year, they are "bonus/alternative" categories. These categories are no less important or relevant than the director categories! Ultimately, this adjustment allows me to highlight more essential artists and works and hopefully offers all you participants a fun way to personalize your Japanuary experience.

Perhaps you are having a hard time gaining access to the works of a director, or maybe you want to branch away from specific directors and explore some corners of Japanese cinema you are less familiar with. These bonus/alternative categories allow you to substitute some of the 31 main categories for broader ones. Furthermore, suppose you anticipate rolling through the 31 main categories before the end of January. In that case, you now have some extra categories to help keep you busy the rest of the month, too!

Next, the films listed here for each director are simply meant to give you some ideas of what you could choose! Feel free to explore their filmographies further and choose whatever looks best to you. Also, there is no pressure to complete all the categories this month. You can reference this list throughout the year! If you would like to strive to watch a specific number of films throughout January, shoot for 10! That was the number for the 2021 challenge, and it appeared to be an achievable goal!

And, yes. I am sure the list still has some notable omissions. Any list like this always will. Still, I hope this challenge finds you well and assists you in your journey of exploring Japanese cinema. I will be doing the challenge right alongside you, as there is so much more for me to learn and discover, too. I plan to work through the 31 main categories, watching one film for each day of the month. Last year, I wrote a review for each category, and I will do my best to accomplish that again. Then, if I have the time and feel motivated, I will watch one movie each from the bonus/alternative categories before the month's end.

My favorite part of challenges like this is bonding with each other over something we all love – cinema. Letterboxd has introduced me to great thinkers, beautiful writers, and even better people. I have met some of my best friends through this site, and I will forever be thankful for that. I hope to make even more, and I hope you all make some new friends along the way throughout this challenge too. I encourage you all to interact with each other's reviews, or join the r/letterboxd discord server. You never know when you might meet a new friend for life in a comment section or discord server!

Speaking of making friends on Letterboxd, I co-host a podcast with my friend Jack: Adventures Through Asian Cinema. Our first episode is available now on most platforms, and we discuss two Japanese films: Tokyo Drifter and August in the Water. Moving forward, we plan to cover films from all over Asia, two films per episode. Many will be our favorites, and some will be entirely new to us. We want to share our passion, love, and enthusiasm with all of you and hope that we can all laugh and learn a thing or two together.

Last but not least – please tag your reviews with "Japanuary2022" – tagging them will make them easier for people to find and interact with!

31 Main Categories:
1. Akira Kurosawa (1-5)
2. Hayao Miyazaki (6-10)
3. Hirokazu Kore-eda (11-15)
4. Kaneto Shindō (16-20)
5. Kiyoshi Kurosawa (21-25)
6. Takashi Miike (26-30)
7. Yasujirō Ozu (31-35)
8. Kon Ichikawa (36-40)
9. Shinya Tsukamoto (41-45)
10. Nobuhiko Ōbayashi (46-50)
11. Nagisa Ōshima (51-55)
12. Hiroshi Teshigahara (56-60)
13. Sion Sono (61-65)
14. Seijun Suzuki (66-70)
15. Masaki Kobayashi (71-75)
16. Shōhei Imamura (76-80)
17. Takeshi Kitano (81-85)
18. Kinji Fukasaku (86-90)
19. Mikio Naruse (91-95)
20. Hiroshi Shimizu (96-100)
21. Yasuzō Masumura (101-105)
22. Yoshishige Yoshida (106-110)
23. Shunji Iwai (111-115)
24. Toshiaki Toyoda (116-120)
25. Naomi Kawase (121-125)
26. Miwa Nishikawa (126-130)
27. Kōji Wakamatsu (131-135)
28. Gakuryū Ishii (136-140)
29. Ishirō Honda (141-145)
30. Keisuke Kinoshita (146-150)
31. Kenji Mizoguchi (151-155)

Bonus/Alternative Categories:
Feel free to substitute any of the 31 director categories listed above with the options below.

32. Animated Film - Not Directed by Hayao Miyazaki (156-180)
33. Pink / Pink Violence Film (181-190)
34. Samurai Film (191-200)
35. J-Horror (201-220)
36. Directed by Women (221-240)
37. Kaiju (241-260)
38. Short Film (261-270)
39. Documentary (271-280)
40. Recommendations from Ben (281-300)