Japanese movies about photographers

List of the best Japanese movies about photographers selected by visitors to our site: A Silent Voice, You & Me, Lost in Translation, Radiance, Minamata, The Virgin Psychics, Shutter, Earthquake Bird, GARO and the Wailing Dragon, Paranormal Activity: Tokyo Night.

In the top there are new films of 2023, a plot description and trailers for films that have already been released.

Country
Markimdb: 8.2
Genremelodrama, drama, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration02:32

Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again... until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late...?

Markimdb: 6.9
Genredrama
CountryJapan
Duration00:45

Nakamura Aoi stars as a young aspiring manga artist who's able to deal with loneliness and separation from his family through the companionship of an American Shorthair cat named Gin-o-gou.

Markimdb: 7.7
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUSA, Japan
Duration01:41

Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryJapan, France

The story follows the social intercourse between a cameraman, Masaya, with a visual impairment, and Misako who disconnects from the world.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genredrama, biography
CountryUnited Kingdom, USA, United Arab Emirates, Japan

A movie about reporter W. Eugene Smith and his research on mercury poisoning in Minamata, Japan, resulting in severe neurological symptoms.

Markimdb: 5.4
Genrefantastic, comedy, detective
CountryJapan

A high-school student Yoshiro has never got a spotlight in his life and spends his days aimlessly. What only shines in his life is a girl Sae at his school. Even if being completely disregarded by her, he still dreams of becoming her true love in the future. One day, he finds himself having a mind-reading psychic power. As he looks around, there seem more psychics born in the city, and somehow they are all virgins! One uses his psychokinetic power to fulfill his sexual desire or turns into a flasher using teleportation ability... On the arrival of the psychics like Yoshiro, the city gets gradually infested with the erotic terrorism evoked by a mysterious group. Knowing he has never got any attention from the girl of his dreams, Yoshiro determines to use his power to save the world from this steamy chaos and show off what he has got to the love of his life!

Markimdb: 5.2
Genrehorror, thriller, detective
CountryUSA, Japan, Thailand
Duration01:30

A newly married couple discovers disturbing, ghostly images in photographs they develop after a tragic accident. Fearing the manifestations may be connected, they investigate and learn that some mysteries are better left unsolved.

Markimdb: 5.9
Genrethriller, melodrama, crime, detective
CountryUnited Kingdom, Japan, USA

Tokyo, Japan, 1989. Lucy Fly, a foreigner who works as a translator, begins a passionate relationship with Teiji, a mysterious man obsessed with photography.

Markimdb: 6.6
Genrehorror, action, fantasy
CountryJapan
Duration01:36

Garo: Soukoku no Maryu (lit. Blue Cries of the Demon Dragon) is the second film to the Garo series. The film serves as an epilogue after Makai Senki and leads up to The One Who Shines in the Darkness. The story continues after the events of Makai Senki. Having made a contract with Gajari, Kouga Saejima honors his end of the deal by traveling to the Promised Land to retrieve a part of Gajari: the Fang of Sorrow. After Kouga defeated Sigma, Gajari transported him to the Promised Land, however, his quest had unexpected results.

Markimdb: 5.1
Genrehorror, thriller, detective
CountryJapan
Duration01:30

This Japan production spins-off the story of the first Paranormal Activity film by having the ghost from the first film follow a student back to her homeland after a visit to San Diego where she is tragically injured during a car accident. Back home in Japan, she is cared for by her brother, Koichi, who begins to suspect that something is amiss when his sister's wheelchair begins to move on its own. From there, the picture takes on the usual candid cam shocks of the series. Tokyo Night is notable for being an official part of the franchise (it was released in Japan two days before Paranormal Activity 2's release in the States), even though the U.S. has yet to see an official release.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genreaction, fantasy, drama
CountryUSA, United Kingdom, Japan, Hungary
Duration01:59

Based on the original 1941 movie from Japan, and from ancient Japan’s most enduring tale, the epic 3D fantasy-adventure 47 Ronin is born. Keanu Reeves leads the cast as Kai, an outcast who joins Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), the leader of the 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honor to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.

Mark
Genredrama, history
CountryJapan

In August, 1918, Matsuura Ito lives in a coastal village of Toyama with her husband and three children. During the summer, there wasn't much fish to catch, so her husband has been far away from home to catch fish. To support herself and her children, Ito carries goods from ships like the other women in the village. Meanwhile, the residents encounter rising prices for rice. The women are unable to feed their family due to the high prices of rice. The women ask a nearby rice store to sell rice at lower prices, but it fails. The price of rice continues to rise daily. Due to an incident, Ito and the other village women step up to the plate.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryJapan
Duration02:16

Following the death of the unmarried and childless Taki, Takeshi, a young relative of hers, discovers several pages of closely written lines in which the old lady has recorded her memories. This is how he learns the truth about her youth working as a housemaid and nanny for the Hirai family in a little house in Tokyo with a red gabled roof.

Markimdb: 8
Genrefantasy, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration02:05

Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthralls all who encounter her - but ultimately she must confront her fate, the punishment for her crime.

Markimdb: 8.3
Genredrama, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration01:26

When a certain man is released from prison, he knows exactly where he's heading first. After falling in love with a traditional comic storyteller's rendition of the story called "Shinigami," he is determined to become his apprentice. The performer, Yakumo, has never taken an apprentice before, but to everyone's surprise, he accepts the eager ex-prisoner, nicknaming him "Yotaro." As Yotaro happily begins his new life, he meets others in Yakumo's life, including Yakumo's ward Konatsu. Konatsu was the daughter of a famous storyteller, and Yakumo took her in after her father's tragic death. Konatsu loved her father's storytelling, and would love to become a performer in her own right—but that path is not available for women.

Markimdb: 8
Genremelodrama, drama, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration01:00

Spring time in April and the last of the cherry blossoms are still in bloom. The usually aloof bookworm with no interest in others comes across a book in a hospital waiting room. Handwritten on the cover are the words: "Living with Dying." He soon discovers that it is a diary kept by his very popular and genuinely cheerful classmate, Sakura Yamauchi, who reveals to him that she is secretly suffering from a pancreatic illness and only has a limited time left. It is at this moment that she gains just one more person to share her secret. Trying to maintain a normal life as much as possible, Sakura is determined to live her life to the fullest until the very last day. As her free spirit and unpredictable actions throw him for a loop, his heart begins to gradually change.

Markimdb: 5.7
Genrehorror
CountryJapan

Mirai and Haruna are shooting a show streamed on smartphones which introduces different viewer submitted videos. That day the videos were all of paranormal phenomena, carefully selected alleged accurate accounts of haunted occurrences. In the middle of one video, the image gets interrupted, immediately turning back on to show a footage that was not in the script. The video capture an urban legend rumoured at Haruna’s school. A psychic on the show assesses that a certain demonological ritual must be performed in order to rid the school of this phenomena. The director, agents and the two girls go to the school accordingly to find there is more to the video than meets the eye…

Markimdb: 7.5
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryJapan

An unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap, and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding are the three episodes, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genrefantasy, melodrama, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration02:03

High school student Hodaka leaves his home on an isolated island and moves to Tokyo, but he immediately becomes broke. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds a job as a writer for a shady occult magazine. After he starts his job, the weather has been rainy day after day. In a corner of the crowded and busy city, Hodaka meets a young woman named Hina. Due to certain circumstances, Hina and her younger brother live together, but have a cheerful and sturdy life. Hina also has a certain power: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.

Markimdb: 5.1
Genreaction, comedy
CountryJapan
Duration01:30

Nakatsu was laid off at his company and now works part-time at a convenience store. One day, Nakatsu forms a vigilante group to protect his town with Toshida, who has a mysterious physical ability, Kanari, who is a female high school student with excellent information gathering abilities, and Kusaki, who wields hammers under his sleeves. As they punish evil doers, the group gains popular support and flourish.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrefantastic, action, cartoon, detective, anime
CountryJapan

The upcoming installment's story takes place amidst signs of postwar reconstruction in the winter of 2028. Tensions are rising in New Port City as demonstrations are held concerning the interests of foreign cartels. This leads to a shooting incident involving riot police. It all started with a cyberbrain infection released by the terrorist "Fire Starter." An independent offensive unit led by Makoto Kusanagi entrusts the suppression of the situation to their ghosts and aims for their own justice. Below the surface of the incident, lies the "tin girl" Emma and the "scarecrow man" Burinda Junior. As Kusanagi deals with the incident, she draws near to what those two ghosts were seeking.

Markimdb: 6.6
Genrehorror, cartoon, history, anime
CountryJapan
Duration01:16

Abandoned in the barren wasteland of Kyoto, a savage, enraged orphan does whatever it takes to survive in the wild. When he crosses paths with civilization, he must learn to tame the beast within.

Markimdb: 6.9
Genredrama
CountryJapan
Duration01:50

A prison officer hands in his resignation after his wife's death, to drive to the port where she wants her ashes scattered at sea. Eiji (Ken Takakura) works as a prison officer in Hokuriku. At the age of 53 Eiji loses his wife who he loved the most. Eiji then receives a letter from his dead wife which requests that her ashes be spread by in the sea next to her hometown. Her wife never mentioned such a thing while she was alive. In order to find out her real intentions, Eiji heads to his wife's hometown of Nagasaki with his homemade camper van.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genredrama, cartoon, short, anime
CountryJapan
Duration00:06

Aya Okamura has been working for two years and has begun living on her own for a job opportunity. With her mother working overseas as a doctor, her father is now living alone with the family's longtime pet cat Mii-san. One night, Aya returns from a long day at work, and as she rests on her bed, she reminiscences about the times the family had together. She remembers the sadness she felt when her mom went overseas, and the solace she felt when her father brought home Mii-san to give her comfort. Then, she receives a phone call...

Markimdb: 6.6
Genremelodrama, drama, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan, China
Duration01:31

Three different stories of youth set in different cities of China. 1 Shanghai Love. 2 Sunny Breakfast. 3 Small Fashion Show. Directed by Zhenxing Yi, the plot revolves around a young man working in Beijing. He used to live with his grandma in his less developed hometown Hunan. While he is drown in his childhood reminiscence, he receives an unexpected call – Grandma is in critical condition.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genrecomedy, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan

First year high school student Sakamoto isn't just cool, he's the coolest! Almost immediately after starting school, he began attracting everyone's attention. The girls love him, and most of the boys resent him. There's even a boy in the class who works as a model, but who is constantly upstaged by Sakamoto! No matter what tricks the other boys try to play on him, Sakamoto always manages to foil them with ease and grace. Though Sakamoto may seem cool and aloof, he helps others when asked, such as in the case of the boy in his class who was being constantly bullied. No matter what difficulties Sakamoto encounters, he moves through his high school life with confidence and class.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration02:23

As a child, Masamune Makabe once suffered greatly at the hands of a wealthy and beautiful girl named Aki Adagaki, who nicknamed him "Piggy" due to his chubby appearance. Seeking revenge against his tormentor, Masamune works hard to improve himself and returns as an incredibly handsome, albeit narcissistic, high school student. When he encounters Aki once again, he is prepared to exact vengeance. With the aid of the rich girl's maid, Yoshino Koiwai, Masamune slowly begins to build his relationship with Aki, intending to break her heart when the time is right. However, as his friendship with Aki begins to grow, Masamune starts to question the objectives of his devious plans, and if bringing them to fruition is what his heart truly desires.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryJapan
Duration02:13

Set in the 1960s, high school student Toru Watanabe loses his only friend Kizuki after he commits suicide. Toru, now looking for a new life, enters a university in Tokyo. By chance, Toru meets Kizuki's ex-girlfriend Naoko in the university. They grow close because they both share the same loss. As Toru and Naoko grow even closer, Naoko's sense of loss also grows. After Naoko's 20th birthday, she leaves for a sanitarium in Kyoto. Watanabe, devastated by the situation, meets pure-hearted Midori during the spring semester. Midori looks like a small animal that just came into the world ...

Markimdb: 6.4
Genrecomedy, melodrama
CountryJapan
Duration01:55

Hyasaka Yukari only wants one thing: to enter the college that her mom wants. One day, she meets an extravagant group that loves fashion. They were searching for a model and Yukari fits their ideal model. From now Yukari will know the world of fashion and modeling, and what she really wants.

Markimdb: 7.8
Genrefantastic, fantasy, comedy, drama, adventure, cartoon
CountryUSA, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom
Duration01:28

In the future, an outbreak of canine flu leads the mayor of a Japanese city to banish all dogs to an island that's a garbage dump. The outcasts must soon embark on an epic journey when a 12-year-old boy arrives on the island to find his beloved pet.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrehorror, fantastic, action, thriller, drama, adventure
CountryJapan
Duration01:32

From the mind behind Evangelion comes a hit larger than life. When a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and tears through the city, the government scrambles to save its citizens. A rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster's weakness and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower. But time is not on their side - the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the world is about to evolve right before their very eyes.

Markimdb: 7.6
Genreaction, fantasy, comedy, adventure, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration01:49

Sixteen years ago, a mysterious masked ninja unleashes a powerful creature known as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox on the Hidden Leaf Village Konoha, killing many people. In response, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze and his wife Kushina Uzumaki, the Demon Fox's living prison or Jinchūriki, manage to seal the creature inside their newborn son Naruto Uzumaki. With the Tailed Beast sealed, things continued as normal. However, in the present day, peace ended when a group of ninja called the Akatsuki attack Konoha under the guidance of Tobi, the mysterious masked man behind Fox's rampage years ago who intends on executing his plan to rule the world by shrouding it in illusions.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrecomedy, melodrama, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan

Miou Aida and Haruki Serizawa might seem like polar opposites to those around them, but as the two third-years prepare to end their high school experience, they couldn't have been been closer. While Miou is a shy and reserved member of the school art club that prefers to stay out of the limelight, Haruki is the boisterous and confident ace of the movie club, already winning awards for his directing prowess. However, after a previous chance encounter during their school entrance ceremony, they quickly become friends despite their stark differences in personality. But although their closeness might be growing, they've never become anything more than just that, much to the bewilderment of their friends.As their time in high school draws to a close, Miou and Haruki, along with their friends in the art and movie clubs, have just one year left to face their hidden feelings and the daunting task of deciding their future careers. The two might always be only an arm's reach away, but as Haruki chases his dream of becoming a professional movie director and Miou struggles with choosing a path for herself, they'll learn just how hard it is to get past those last 10 centimeters.

Markimdb: 4.8
Genrehorror
CountryJapan
Duration01:22

Eri (Matsubara) is a high school student who is anonymous unlike her friend Mitsuko (Yokoyama) who is the target of amorous advances from their teacher, Ichida (Tsubouchi). Eri comes across a novel way to protect Mitsuko: find a cursed funerary urn that contains ashes reputed to cause death and give said ashes to teacher.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genredrama
CountryJapan
Duration01:30

After being neglected by her mother, a little girl is taken in by her uncle and his transgender girlfriend, who create a loving home for her.

Markimdb: 8.6
Genrefantastic, action, comedy, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration02:19

Shigeo Kageyama, a.k.a. "Mob," is a boy who has trouble expressing himself, but who happens to be a powerful esper. Mob is determined to live a normal life and keeps his ESP suppressed, but when his emotions surge to a level of 100%, something terrible happens to him! As he's surrounded by false espers, evil spirits, and mysterious organizations, what will Mob think? What choices will he make?

Markimdb: 5.2
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryJapan
Duration01:51

A phone conversation occurs between a man and a woman. They both state their love for each other and that they will do this so they can be together. The woman is in a hotel room with a view of the port. The man is inside of a parked car with a view of the ocean. A man named Colonel appears and hands the man a box with a loaded gun inside. The Colonel states "its a present from the witch". The woman's name is Meiko (Michiko Kichise) and she is the young wife of Takamitsu Temiyako (Takamitsu Temiyako) - president of a large medical corporation. The man in the parked car is Dr. Tokito Takahiko (Hiroshi Abe) an employee of the large medical corporation. This evening, Meiko and Tokito will implement their plan to murder Meiko's husband and frame his death as a suicide.

Markimdb: 8.5
Genrefantastic, thriller, drama, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration01:56

Satoru Fujinuma is a struggling manga artist who has the ability to turn back time and prevent deaths. When his mother is killed he turns back time to solve the mystery, but ends up back in elementary school, just before the disappearance of his classmate Kayo.

Markimdb: 6
Genredrama, biography
CountryFrance, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Belgium, USA, Japan, Netherlands

In the lush tradition of the glorious films of Merchant and Ivory, comes the true life story of Leonie Gilmour (Emily Mortimer), whose life crossed continents, wars and cultures, embodied with courage and passion in search of art and freedom. A tender and inspiring story of a remarkable woman who nurtures the amazing artistic talent of her son who has only one way to succeed and one person to guide him, as he grows into the world renown artist, Isamu Noguchi.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrefantastic, action, adventure
CountryUSA, United Kingdom, Japan
Duration02:06

Wolverine faces his ultimate nemesis - and tests of his physical, emotional, and mortal limits - in a life-changing voyage to modern-day Japan.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
CountryJapan

Sakurai Misaki has not dated in a long time. She has focused on her work as a pâtissier to eventually run her own business. One day, she gets fired from work. She then meets her first love from high school Shibasaki Chiaki. Misaki works part-time at Chiaki's restaurant and also stays there. While she lives with Chiaki at his restaurant, she realizes that Chiaki's two younger brothers Touma and Kanata also live there.

Markimdb: 4.7
Genrehorror, comedy
CountryUSA, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, Japan
Duration02:09

An ambitious anthology film featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film. Inspired by children's educational ABC books, the motion picture is comprised of 26 individual chapters, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet. The directors were then given free reign in choosing a word to create a story involving death. Provocative, shocking, funny and ultimately confrontational; THE ABC's OF DEATH is the definitive snapshot of the diversity of modern horror.

Markimdb: 7
Genredrama
CountryJapan
Duration02:20

Sci-fi writer Sakutaro (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) and bank employee Setsuko (Yuko Takeuchi) met at as high school freshmen during their summer vacation. Since that time, the couple has always been together and eventually married.One day, Setsuko complains of a stomach ache and is hospitalized. Sakutaro then learns that his wife has colon cancer. Sakutaro takes the advice from his doctor that laughter helps the immune system and proceeds to write a short story for his wife every day. At first, Setsuko was expected to live for only 1 more year, but she lived for 5 more years and Sakutaro eventually wrote 1,778 short stories for his wife.

Markimdb: 8.4
Genrefantasy, melodrama, drama, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration01:35

High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genredrama, cartoon, history, anime
CountryJapan
Duration01:42

In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast... and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history. Inspired by true events.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryJapan
Duration01:14

Ôtomo gets involved with new Yakuza battles after he comes back the Yakuza society.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genreaction, cartoon, military, history, anime
CountryJapan

The story follows a group of samurai attempting to defend Japan from the first Mongol invasion in 1274.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genrecomedy, crime
CountryJapan
Duration01:11

Ryuzo and his 7 former henchmen are all retired yakuza, but they now live as regular old men. One day, Ryuzo becomes the victim of a phishing fraud. He calls his 7 men together to reform their society.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrefantasy, cartoon
CountryJapan

In the near future, spirits and monsters are in full sight. A boy leads a group of people with special abilities as they plot against a massive organization that takes advantage of a certain incident and eventually know the truth about their world in the process.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, cartoon, anime
CountryJapan
Duration01:05

While sorting through a mess of books in the staff room, Ohana happens upon one of Denroku's log books from long ago. Within it, it recounts a story of Ohana's mom when she was the same age as her.




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