Introduction

Opening the door of cinema is very much like undraping a mirroring window that offers the spectator a fantasmatic glance at the Other, engages with his desires and fantasies, and allows him to put his own subjective position within the Other into question. When a year comes to a close, is is the perfect time is to look back and undertake the difficult task of deciding which Japanese films had the most subjective impact, which films were the most effective mirroring windows.

One year of cinema is, sadly, not enough to offer a definite list of best films of a certain year – certain films stay under the radar, others only manage to escape the festival circuit the following years. Any list is, thus, a selection of a subset of the set of Japanese films produced in a given year. However, as year-ends concatenate, the set of Japanese films of a given year expands, inviting us to revisit our past evaluations and adjust our lists accordingly.

In our re-evaluation of the best Japanese films of 2023, five films have managed to upset our ranking, Ryusuke Yamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist, Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One, Takeshi Kitano’s Kubi, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster, and Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s Yoko. Yamaguchi delivered a though-provoking exploration of what we, as a society, call ‘violence’, Yamazaki offered audiences a refreshing re-interpretation of Godzilla, Kitano crafted a genre-blending period piece only he can, and Kore-eda put, once again, the Japanese societal fabric under his critical microscope. Kumakiri, on the other hand, delivered a coming-into-being like not other.

Honourable mentions

* Monster by Hirokazu Kore-eda

Hirokazu Kore-eda strikes again with Monster. By being able to rely on an extremely talented cast, he does not merely succeeds in delivering an utterly engaging narrative about the fundamental misunderstanding that underpins our fabrication of our truth, but also an exploration of how the Japanese societal field, as marked by an oppressive atmosphere of harmony, suppresses the subject from entering the stage with his own subjectivity.

* Best Wishes To All by Yuto Shimotsu

Best Wishes To All is a surprisingly satisfying horror-narrative. What makes Shimotsu’s film so good is that he found a style of horror that does not cheaply exploit well-trod compositional tricks and avoids being a mere knock-off of another director’s approach to horror. Shimots proves that one can still be creative in the horror-genre. In fact, he even shows the way J-horror needs to go to regain its relevance and acclaim.   

* Side By Side by Chihiro Ito

Side By Side is a rather peculiar narrative – a peaceful dream-like visual experience that celebrates both the impact subjects have on each other as well as the manner in which the subject remains opaque to himself and the other. Ito proves that she has mastered the art of atmospherics and has the skill to engage the spectator with her visuals and her unusual but well-structured stories.

* Ripples by Naoko Ogigami

With Ripples, Ogigami delivers an incredible narrative. With her quirky sense of humor, she delivers one of the most illuminating explorations of the effect the gap between the imaginary equilibrium of the ego and the hidden broiling subjective discord has on relational functioning.

* Kubi by Takeshi Kitano

With Kubi, Takeshi Kitano proves that one can still craft something refreshing within the genre of the jidai-geki. He mixes excesses of bloody violence, surges of romance, nifty scheming and cynical puns into a whole that does not merely keep the spectator engaged from start to finish, but succeeds in scratching his various genre-itches satisfactorily. Whether Kitano’s addition to the genre will be considered a classic or not in the future cannot be predicted, yet one can, without hesitation, state that it is one of best period dramas in recent years.

Top Ten Japanese Movies

10) Evil Does Not Exist by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

With Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Evil Does Not Exist offers a highly meditative exploration of the position of violence within the natural real and the human symbolic. He proves himself to be a master of composition, delivering evocative poetry with his images, and a refined wielder of the signifier, orchestrating a finale that will not only shock, but demand the spectator’s interpretation.

9) Okiku and The World by Junji Sakamoto

Okiku And The World proves that one can still deliver a refreshing narratives within the jidai-geki genre. While this kind of humanistic story about the lower classes has been created before, Junji Sakamoto proves that the frame of the period drama can still be elegantly exploited to explore the human condition.

8) Is This Heaven? by Shinji Imaoka

Is This Heaven? is an experimental narrative that gives the idea of wandering spirits a fresh and whimsical spin. With his narrative, structured around alcohol and its effect on the social fabric, Imaoka elegantly invites the spectator to analyse the effects of the myriad encounters and formulate an answer to the question as to whether this place is truly heaven or not. 

7) Techno Brothers by Hirobumi Watanabe and Yuji Watanabe

Techno Brothers offers an amazing blend of arthouse minimalism and weird deadpan comedy. While Watanabe’s unique techno road-trip will not satisfy everyone – the strangeness will be off-putting for many, anyone who loves directors with a clear artistic vision will enjoy Watanabe’s latest unique comedy.  

6) Single8 by Kazuya Konaka

With Single8, Kazuya Konaka does not merely deliver a fictional account of a period in his adolescence, but offers the spectator a heartwarming invitation to re-find, within oneself, one’s (nearly extinguished) passion for creation. Yet, what allows Konaka’s narrative to have such an effect on the spectator is not simply the pleasantly structured narrative, but the performances that bring the passion that drives our students to finish their low-budget movie genuinely to life.

5) Godzilla Minus One by Takashi Yamazaki

Godzilla Minus One is not only a triumphant return of the most beloved Kaiju of all, but also a deeply emotional experience that re-assessing the themes of the original Godzilla in a refreshing way. Takashi Yamazaki’s careful re-assessment allows him to evade the trap that many of the earlier films walked into: turning Godzilla is a latent or manifest nationalistic symbol.

4) Tea Friends by Bunji Satoyama

Tea Friends investigates, in a very touching way, the radical discordance between the societal field and the elderly subject. Sotoyama does not merely touch upon the failure of society to deal with problem of isolation and solitude, but reveals how the discourse young people have of the elderly subject aggravates the hidden contemporary social drama. Highly recommended.  

3) Ice-cream Fever by Tetsuya Chihara

Ice Cream Fever offers a gorgeous stylish exploration of the subjective struggles and the solutions subjects invent within the field of love and desire. What elevates Chihara’s narrative is  the fact that the stylistic choices are not merely window-dressing, but end up heighten the emotional impact of the subjective trajectories on the spectator. Tetsuya Chihara, thus, does not merely fulfills the expectations, but exceeds them.

2) Yoko by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri

With Yoko, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri succeeds in delivering a tactile emotional experience. The spectator is not merely led to grasp something of Yoko’s subjective struggle, but to feel it as the narrative unfolds. By giving the talented Rinko Kikuchi space and time with his thoughtful composition, Yoko offers a complex full-bodied filmic wine that cannot but stir the spectator’s emotions. 

1) Burden of The Past by Atsushi Funahashi

With The Burden Of The Past, Funahashi’s delivers a contender for this year’s best Japanese film. It is not only an emotionally upsetting experience but also a powerful piece that confronts the spectator, subjected to the societal Other, to his own complicity to the high rate of recidivism. The Other, riddled by blind fear and violent preconceptions, does not merely fail the ex-convict, but ultimately ‘invites’ him/her to repeat their past criminal failures.