Japanese cinema has maintained a distinctive identity throughout its 100-year-old history, offering the world with unique genres and some of the most influential filmmakers of all time. The impact of Japanese filmmaking sensibilities can be seen in some of the most iconic Hollywood treasures, from classic Westerns like A Fistful of Dollars to the Star Wars franchise.

Around the turn of the new millennium, Japanese filmmakers were going through a major creative period, and had started making a name for themselves in the global arena. The 90s saw many Japanese films become global hits, with films like Cure and Audition becoming instant classics in the horror genre. By the time the 2000s rolled around, the western audience had developed a taste for anime, and Japanese filmmakers were more prolific than ever. The best Japanese films of this decade form an intriguing snapshot in the development of modern J-cinema — while some of them became global cultural icons, others explored some eclectic artistic tastes that are rarely seen today. Let’s check out the best Japanese movies of the 2000s.

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11 Battle Royale (2000)

     Toei Company

Those who love the Hunger Games franchise, or have enjoyed the recent Daniel Radcliffe film Guns Akimbo, have this movie to thank for their existence. Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale was the very first movie of its kind, instrumenting a unique genre formula that allowed for thrilling action flicks that were engaging despite their perceived simplicity. The movie introduced the battle royale trope by dumping a group of high school students on an isolated island, where they were forced by an authoritarian government to engage in a survival of the fittest-type game. The movie remains a cult classic among action movie fans.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

10 Ju-On: The Grudge (2002)

     Lionsgate Films

Before The Conjuring was scaring horror fans around the world, there was the Ju-On franchise that made waves in Japan as well as abroad. The Ju-On films were a horror staple during the 2000s, based on an unforgettable tale about a curse borne out of vengeful rage. Ju-On: The Grudge was the third film in the franchise, and the first one that was not an anthology. Viewers would be terrified by visuals of the ashen-white ghosts, and the creepy vocal fry-type sounds that forebode the appearance of the spirits.

9 Memories of Matsuko (2006)

     Toho

Memories of Matsuko represents the best of the eclectic cinematic sensibilities of 2000s Japanese cinema. Couched within the terms of a rosy and colorful musical, the movie tells an extremely tragic story of a talented young schoolteacher whose life takes her down one wrong turn after another, through no fault of her own. The movie carries a picturesque, even fantastical cinematography along with a soothing background score. All the while, however, we see Matsuko’s circumstances turn from bad to worse, moving from one abusive relationship to another, until the shocking end.

8 When the Last Sword is Drawn (2002)

     Shochiku

The 2000s also saw the release of beautiful samurai films that followed in the vein of the genre’s golden days, presenting searing explorations of humanity couched within the setting of samurai movies. When the Last Sword is Drawn is a name that often comes second to other samurai films of the decade, like The Twilight Samurai. However, the movie has a devastating effect on the viewer. Set during the Tokugawa shogunate, it narrates the stories of two samurai with widely differing motivations and temperaments, and how they deal with the trials and tribulations brought on by the times.

7 Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Some of the most significant anime movies of all time were also released within this decade. Howl’s Moving Castle continues to be loved and revered as one of the best works by the legendary anime creator Hayao Miyazaki. The movie is set in a fantasy world where two neighboring kingdoms are at war. The protagonist, Sophie, finds herself entangled with Howl, a powerful sorcerer who strongly opposes the war, yet continues to be pursued by the king to fight in it. Miyazaki intended for the movie to be a kind of protest against the Iraq War, and it features strong life-affirming themes of nonviolence, compassion, and human bonds.

6 Nobody Knows (2004)

     Cinequanon

Nobody Knows is a movie based on a real-life child abandonment case of Japan, and makes for a very difficult watch due to its unflinching realism. The movie follows the lives of four children over the course of one year, as they cope with extreme neglect and while their mother disappears for months at a time. Actor Yuya Yagira, who played the role of the eldest child in the movie, won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for this role.

5 All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)

     Rockwell Eyes

All About Lily Chou-Chou is one of the standout releases from 2000s Japan, managing to puzzle critics with its idiosyncratic style. The movie followed a group of Japanese teenagers across their school years, revealing some harrowing shared experiences that they cope with using the music of the band Lily Chou-Chou. Filmmaker Shunji Iwai chose to forego the standard practices in favor of a dynamic, unconventional cinematic language that appeared to directly mimic the lives of its characters.

4 Still Walking (2008)

     IFC Films

Still Walking from director Hirokazu Kore-eda was universally praised by critics upon its released, proclaiming it as a high achievement in the cinematic arts. The movie takes place over the course of 24 hours, as a family comes together in a yearly gathering to commemorate the untimely death of the family’s eldest son. Still Walking is a movie defined by subtle layers, as complex and deep-seated resentments continuously play out underneath the guise of small talk.

3 Departures (2008)

Departures was the highest-grossing Japanese film of 2008, winning hearts with its moving tale and earning a slew of awards along the way. The movie was the recipient of the 2009 Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film. Masahiro Motoki stars in the film as a cellist who loses his job at the very beginning of the story. Desperate for an income, he answers a newspaper advertisement for a vague job, only to realize that he just signed up to be a mortician. The movie is etched full of deeply meaningful symbols, a constellation of recurring events such as placid scenes of encoffinments adding emotional weight to the character’s journey as the movie progresses.

2 The Twilight Samurai (2002)

The Twilight Samurai is one of the best samurai films of the 21st Century, the first movie in a trilogy of samurai films by Yoji Yamada. The movie stars Hiroyuki Sanada as a low-ranking samurai who struggles to care for his family after the death of his wife. The movie weaves an elaborate setting that sees Yamada’s character face ridicule for simply taking care of his young daughters. The Twilight Samurai ended up winning 12 Japanese Academy Awards, and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

1 Spirited Away (2001)

Spirited Away is the quintessential Japanese anime film, considered the best of Hayao Miyazaki’s work and one of the best movies of all time — appearing in all-time best lists by the BBC and Sight & Sound, among others. It also won Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The movie tells the story about a young girl, Chihiro, who unwittingly enters the world of spirits, and takes on a job at a spirit bathhouse with the hope of finding a way back home. As a fantasy film, Spirited Away holds a boundless magic and has the power to captivate people of all ages with its wistful quality.