Japanese movies(films) can be a lot of fun to watch. They can also be a great way to improve your language skills, especially if you don’t normally get a lot of listening experience with your daily study.
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What Should I Watch to study Japanese?
But sometimes it’s hard to know what to watch, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the types of movies that come out of Japan. There’s a lot of variety, and they can be a lot different from the films you’re used to watching.
Japanese films : Kimi no Na wa | Your Name
Your Name was animated by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho. The film premiered at the Anime Expo 2016 convention in Los Angeles, California on July 3, 2016, and premiered in Japan on August 26, 2016. At Anime Expo 2016, it was announced that the film had been licensed by Funimation.
Japanese films : The Last Samurai
As the Emperor attempts to eradicate the ancient Imperial Samurai warriors in preparation for more Westernized and trade-friendly government policies, Algren finds himself unexpectedly impressed and influenced by his encounters with the Samurai, which places him at the center of a struggle between two eras and two worlds, with only his own sense of honor to guide him.
Japanese films : Tokyo Story’ | Critics’ Picks | The New York Times
Rashomon
Japanese Movie Genres
Let’s take a look at some of the more unique genres in Japan, and examples of movies from each.
Classic Samurai
One of the most stereotypical genres from Japan has to be classic samurai films. This includes old classics like Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961) by director Akira Kurosawa, but there are too many to list.
Samurai films can be a lot of fun to watch. They feel a lot like old American westerns, except everyone talks like a samurai.
A surprising amount of movies you’ve probably seen or heard of have been influenced by samurai films, especially the work of Akira Kurosawa (Star Wars, anyone?). So it’s definitely worth it to check some out.
Japanese Drama
Whether you’re watching movies or TV shows, drama can feel a lot different in Japanese media. You can still find the same sort of subgenres of course, including romance, family drama, and other elements we see all the time in western media. But a lot of Japanese drama just feels different.
One good example of this is the movie Departures (2008). It’s definitely unconventional, as it follows a character who dresses deceased bodies for a living, but it’s still very interesting to watch. There are a lot of subtle cultural elements that are often brought out in drama.
Horror and Suspense
If you’re a fan of scary movies, Japan is going to have a lot to offer for you. There are plenty of interesting supernatural horror films to pick from. One of the most popular (and my favorite scary movie ever) is, of course, Ringu (1998). There is an American version of this movie (The Ring), but it doesn’t really compare to how tense and suspenseful the original is. Japanese horror films tend to be a lot more subtle, which is a nice change of pace from all those jump scares.
Japan also has films that fit into this category, but don’t necessarily have supernatural elements as a main focus. If you’re up for a more brutal version of the Hunger Games, you can check out Battle Royale (2000).
Japanese films :Animated
You’re probably not surprised to hear that Japan has a lot of animated films. The difference here is how animated films tend to be treated.
One fairly recent example of this is the movie Kimi no Na wa (2016). While most western animated films are geared towards children, Japanese animated films are regularly geared towards a more general audience. Kimi no Na wa was very successful when it was released in Japan, enough that it even warranted a limited release in the United States.
It’s important to remember that anime actually isn’t a genre (I’m sorry I deceived you), it’s a type of media. Animated films in Japan can be just as varied as any live action film, so you’ll be able to find pretty much anything as an animated film.
That being said, films from Studio Ghibli kind of fit into their own category. Some of them feel a lot like children’s movies, such as My Neighbor Totoro (1988), while others have more mature themes, such as Grave of the Fireflies (1988). Bring a tissue if you’re going to watch that one. Trust me.
Why Watch Japanese Movies(films)?
Watching movies in Japanese isn’t going to magically make you fluent. But it can certainly help. Japanese movies are a great option for study if you don’t have any sort of way to practice listening to Japanese.
Listening will help you improve your pronunciation, and it can also give you good references for how to use new vocabulary and grammar.
Keep in mind the setting and time of the movie while you listen. If you try to talk like a samurai from an Akira Kurosawa film, your Japanese is going to be weird. But if you take notes from more modern films, you can get more of a handle on how modern, native Japanese speakers talk, and you can make your Japanese sound more fluent.
Subtitles can be really helpful for improving your vocabulary. Even I still use subtitles, but I usually just glance down at them when I don’t understand a word.
Watching movies can add fun and variety to your language study. So if you’re feeling like studying has become a bit tedious, why not shake it up with some movies?