Since the pandemic did not disrupt the production of films in the Japanese movie industry, at least not as much as in other countries, 2020 was another year with a plethora of great productions, highlighting, once more, the strength of the local cinema. In that regard, this list could easily entail 25+ movies, and the decision to cut out some was as difficult as coming up with the top ones, since the six last could all easily be in number 1.
Without further ado, here are the best Japanese films of 2020, in reverse order. Some films may have premiered in 2019, but since they mostly circulated in 2020, we decided to include them.
*By clicking on the title, you can read the full review of the film
20. Red Post on Escher Street (Sion Sono)
Sono repeatedly and almost venomously attacks the studio system of Japan through his particular sense of humour, more refined to suit...
Without further ado, here are the best Japanese films of 2020, in reverse order. Some films may have premiered in 2019, but since they mostly circulated in 2020, we decided to include them.
*By clicking on the title, you can read the full review of the film
20. Red Post on Escher Street (Sion Sono)
Sono repeatedly and almost venomously attacks the studio system of Japan through his particular sense of humour, more refined to suit...
- 12/18/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
After “Fake” and the portrait of Mamoru Samuragochi, Tatsuya Mori deals with another rather interesting personality, that of journalist Isoko Mochizuki, who has already inspired a feature film before this documentary, namely the multi-awarded “The Journalist“.
“i: Documentary of the Journalist” is screening at Nippon Connection 2020
The majority of the documentary has Mori following Mochizuki with his camera, as she partakes on many press conferences and researches the most important stories of Japan in 2019. In that fashion, her non-stop work has her deal with the transfer of the Us base in Hinoko, Okinawa, the Moritomo Gakuen scandal, which involved Shinzo Abe’s wife, and Shiori Ito’s charges of rape towards Noriyuki Yamaguchi, and the scandal of the cover up that followed. Her research of these cases, which include following Shiori Ito in the various events she participates to communicate her case, interviews with people involved, and questions to the various political offices,...
“i: Documentary of the Journalist” is screening at Nippon Connection 2020
The majority of the documentary has Mori following Mochizuki with his camera, as she partakes on many press conferences and researches the most important stories of Japan in 2019. In that fashion, her non-stop work has her deal with the transfer of the Us base in Hinoko, Okinawa, the Moritomo Gakuen scandal, which involved Shinzo Abe’s wife, and Shiori Ito’s charges of rape towards Noriyuki Yamaguchi, and the scandal of the cover up that followed. Her research of these cases, which include following Shiori Ito in the various events she participates to communicate her case, interviews with people involved, and questions to the various political offices,...
- 6/9/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
“The Journalist,” Michihito Fujii’s drama about a young female reporter who investigates a scandal that extends to the highest reaches of Japanese politics, won the Best Picture prize at the 43rd Japan Academy Awards ceremony, held in Tokyo Friday.
Due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus, no guests were invited and no media were on site to cover the ceremony at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa.
Based on Isoko Mochizuki‘s non-fiction book, “The Journalist” was a surprise box office hit last year, breaking an industry taboo against dramatizing real-life political controversy in commercial films.
Shim Eun-Kyung, who played the Korean-Japanese reporter, took the Best Actress prize. Meanwhile, Tori Matsuzaka, who co-starred as a conflicted elite bureaucrat the reporter uses as a source, was named Best Actor.
Japan’s biggest hit in 2019, Makoto Shinkai’s “Weathering With You,” scooped Best Animation honors, while the group Radwimps, which...
Due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus, no guests were invited and no media were on site to cover the ceremony at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa.
Based on Isoko Mochizuki‘s non-fiction book, “The Journalist” was a surprise box office hit last year, breaking an industry taboo against dramatizing real-life political controversy in commercial films.
Shim Eun-Kyung, who played the Korean-Japanese reporter, took the Best Actress prize. Meanwhile, Tori Matsuzaka, who co-starred as a conflicted elite bureaucrat the reporter uses as a source, was named Best Actor.
Japan’s biggest hit in 2019, Makoto Shinkai’s “Weathering With You,” scooped Best Animation honors, while the group Radwimps, which...
- 3/6/2020
- by Mark Schilling
- Variety Film + TV
Questioning the role of the traditional media seems to be a global phenomenon at the moment, particularly in the countries that comprise the “First World”. The questions raised, from the Us to Japan and in many countries between, usually reveal answers that highlight the press as another pole of the national-level corruption, along with organized crime, the “capital”, the authorities, and politicians. Michihito Fujii presents his take on the issue, through an approach that unfolds much like a Korean thriller.
“The Journalist” is screening at Japan Cuts 2019
The story, which is based on reporter Isoko Mochizuki’s book “Shinbun Kisha”, revolves around two individuals. Yoshioka is a Us-educated Tokyo reporter working for Toto Newspaper, whose father’s destroyed journalism career and subsequent suicide is the driving force behind her zeal to pursue the truth at any cost. Takumi Sugihara is a bureaucrat and careerist who works for the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office,...
“The Journalist” is screening at Japan Cuts 2019
The story, which is based on reporter Isoko Mochizuki’s book “Shinbun Kisha”, revolves around two individuals. Yoshioka is a Us-educated Tokyo reporter working for Toto Newspaper, whose father’s destroyed journalism career and subsequent suicide is the driving force behind her zeal to pursue the truth at any cost. Takumi Sugihara is a bureaucrat and careerist who works for the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office,...
- 7/28/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
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